Views From The Pews – Christmas Day, Sunday, December 25, 2022
My Dear Brothers & Sisters:
Today we celebrate the feast of the Nativity of our Lord Christ which is the event of the incarnation, a celebration that is centered in God entering human reality in the person of our Lord Jesus. The past two Christmas celebrations saw many of us having to do without many of the festivities we associate with Christmas.
Although many of these festivities have returned this year thank God, some have not, and for all intents and purposes many will never return. The economic challenges created in the post Covid era have simply made many things impossible. As we focus on this reality, I invite us to see this new dispensation, as providing an opportunity to seek a more meaningful Christmas experience. In this regard, I draw our attention to a section of St. Luke’s birth narrative, “I bring you good news of great joy.”
Among the many features of the Christmas Season is that it brings joy to our lives. It might interest us to know that joy occurs some three hundred and twenty-six times in the New Testament. Christian joy is rooted in Christian faith. It is our faith in Christ that provides us with the context to experience the joy of the Lord. This joy finds expression in a new attitude to life and enables our worship experience to be fulfilling. The joy which came into the world with the coming of our Lord Christ, is not confined to the Christmas Season as it characterizes our daily life and work. Our lives should reflect joyful service to Christ and find expression in our mission and ministry.
As we begin our Christmas celebrations today and continue for the twelve days of the season, it is my prayer and hope that we all experience the joy of the Lord. May this Christmas be for us and our families a time of joy to the world, the Lord has come.
From my family to your family a most blessed and joyous Christmas time.
Merry Christmas,
Fr. Eddie