Dear Friends,
Happy New Year! May the new year be filled with wonder and blessings.
Pope Francis is always challenging us to see and hear the gospel message in a way that calls us to change our stance. His Christmas homily is an example of that. I want to share part of that homily with you:
“If we want to celebrate Christmas authentically, we need to contemplate this sign: the frail simplicity of a tiny newborn child, the meekness with which he is placed in a manger, the tender affection with which he is wrapped in his swaddling clothes. That is where God is.
With this sign, the Gospel reveals a paradox. It speaks of the emperor, the governor, the high and mighty of those times, yet God does not make himself present there. He appears not in the splendor of a royal palace, but in the poverty of a stable; not in pomp and show, but in simplicity of life; not in power, but in astonishing smallness. In order to meet him, we need to go where he is. We need to bow down, to humble ourselves, to make ourselves small. The newborn Child challenges us. He calls us to leave behind fleeting illusions and to turn to what is essential, to renounce our insatiable cravings, to abandon our endless yearning for things we will never have. We do well to leave such things behind, in order to discover, in the simplicity of the divine Child, peace, joy and the luminous meaning of life.
Let us allow the Child in the manger to challenge us, but let us also be challenged by all those children in today’s world who are lying not in a crib, caressed with affection by their mothers and fathers, but in squalid “mangers that devour dignity”. Children who hide underground to escape bombardment, on the pavements of large cities, in the hold of a boat overladen with immigrants… Let us allow ourselves to be challenged by those children who are not allowed to be born, by those who cry because no one relieves their hunger, by those who hold in their hands not toys, but weapons.
The mystery of Christmas, which is light and joy, challenges and unsettles us, because it is at once a mystery of hope and of sadness. It has a taste of sadness, inasmuch as love is not accepted, and life discarded. Such was the case with Joseph and Mary, who met with closed doors, and placed Jesus in a manger, “because there was no place for them in the inn”. Jesus was born rejected by some and regarded by many others with indifference. Today too, that same indifference can exist, whenever Christmas becomes a holiday with ourselves at the center rather than Jesus; when the lights of shop windows push the light of God into the shadows; when we are enthused about gifts but indifferent to our neighbors in need. This worldliness has kidnapped Christmas; we need to liberate it!
Yet Christmas has above all a taste of hope because, for all the darkness in our lives, God’s light shines forth. His gentle light does not frighten us. God, who is in love with us, draws us to himself with his tenderness, by being born poor and frail in our midst, as one of us.”
What wonderful insight and great pastoral care we are all receiving from Pope Francis. I hope you all had a good Christmas week and had a chance to spend time with family and friends. My thanks go out again to the many of you who showered goodies and gifts upon me. They were appreciated. Thanks to all who helped with Christmas decorating and for those who helped with the music. Everything went so well. Thanks.
I am joining a couple of other priests on a two-week vacation starting this week. Fr. O’Kane will cover the Masses here. With the great volunteers in the parish office, the parish should operate smoothly. Of course, I am going to where the weather is warmer – the island of Palau which is near Guam. Sitting on a sunny and warm sandy beach will give me plenty of time to think and reflect. You will be in my prayers. See you when I return!
Peace,
Fr. Damian