Christmas 2007
 

My dear friends,
 

I think that most of us would agree that Christmas is a symbol of hope. I was visiting a second grade class recently and I asked the children what are some reasons for celebrating Christmas. After some comments were made about receiving presents and Santa Claus, one of the second graders summed it all up perfectly when he said that it is because it is the day when Christ came into our world so that we might find our way back to his. I don’t know if that insightful little boy ever studied St. Peter’s letters in depth, because what St. Peter wrote reflects something very similar. In 1 Peter 3:18, we’re told that Christ came into our world and died for our sins in order to lead us back to God. That through Christ we might find our way back to God is our great hope, the distillation of all our yearnings and the end of all our journeys.

Yes, my friends, at Christmas Christ came into our world to lead us to the Father. Often because of past or present hurts and disappointments it is hard for us to hear his call. We have a difficult time believing that God, the maker of the heavens and the earth, loves us so much. God pauses in a moment of time to send his Son into our world so that he might take us aside and be part of our lives. This is precisely what God intended when Christ came into our world.  St. Paul expressed it this way: “Let us praise God for his glorious grace, for the free gift he gave us in his dear Son. How great is the grace of God, which he gave to us in such large measure!” (Ephesians 1:6.)

How much richer and happier we would feel, if in spite all of our trials, we were to accept that fact that God is part of our lives, in fact, so near to us, that he lives in us as “the free gift he gave us in his dear Son!” 

Christmas is the time of celebration. That which we celebrate, however, is not necessarily just the exchange of gifts, the tinsel and garland, but the Christ who came to our earth and still is to be found within us.

I pray that each of you will take advantage of this wonderful season to spend some time in silence and reflection on the wonders which are around us, the lights, the joyful music and the good cheer, that is so characteristic of this time of year. And in that silence which goes beyond what is apparent only to the eye, we would discover even greater wonders and the greatest wonder of them all, that God, the Emmanuel, is here with us.

May you and your family enjoy the fullness of grace at Christmas and each day of the New Year.    

Sincerely yours in Christ,
Most Rev. John H. Ricard, SSJ
Bishop of Pensacola-Tallahassee