December 2013
My beloved Parishioners,
Peace and Blessings of the Christmas Season be with you!
Let me start my Christmas message by borrowing the words of Rev. Fr.
William Bausch: “What you have in Christmas is a terrible desire on God’s part
to be with us, to be a part of the human condition: our losses, our recessions,
our disappointed and fractured relationships… things that turn us upside down…”
and if I may add, God’s desire to be part of our human longings: to be joyful,
to hope, to love, to be worthwhile, to belong.
Christmas, my dear beloved parishioners, is not just a cute little
baby born in a manger; Christmas is a fierce, passionate, loving God who wants
to be with us. Christmas is the constant
reminder of the ever-fresh love of God.
Having experienced this love, we are challenged to share this
ever-fresh love. I quote one of my
favorite preachers, Fr. Walter Burghardt: “Fresh love for a God who experienced
in our flesh all that we experience – for love of us. Fresh love for our own selves – not what we
have made of ourselves, but what God’s love have made of us – new
creatures. Fresh love for our sisters
and brothers – not a vague abstraction called humanity, but each image of God
we touch each day… however, wherever…” These are the works of Christmas.
This Tuesday, during the Christmas Eve mass or this Wednesday,
Christmas Day, try to behold in the Christmas manger an invitation, a
challenge, and an assurance. An
invitation: to open yourself up and be vulnerable before God. A challenge: to love as this child loved –
terribly vulnerable, but always with arms outstretched to embrace us. An assurance: Emmanuel – “God-is-with-us”!
This Christmas let us not just stop to greet each other “Merry
Christmas!” but let us be courageous enough to say: “Merry Christmas! I love
you.”
On this fifth (and last?) Christmas day that I celebrate in your midst
as your pastor let me say:
Merry Christmas! Thank you for your love and the love of God you
shared with me. I can say that I tried
to be a better person, priest, and pastor because I want to deserve your love.
I love you.
With
all my heart,
Rev.
Fr. Edgar B. Cleofe
Pastor
