Dear Friends in Christ,
“Rejoice always,” says St. Paul in the Second Reading at Mass today. On “Gaudete Sunday” we rejoice at the nearness of the celebration of
Christmas and the arrival of Our Lord in the flesh. To take St. Paul’s words seriously, though, can be a real challenge. With all the suffering that we face in our own lives, how are we supposed to rejoice? Violence in our city, disagreements in families and marriages, loss of jobs, sickness, old age, death… When we look at all that is wrong in the world, rejoicing can seem to be the last thing on our minds.
As Christians, though, Jesus invites us into his own way of thinking about life and the world. It has to do with not what is wrong with the world, but the change that will be realized in it through obedience to God’s will and the full realization of the effects of the death and resurrection of Christ our Savior. As one of the prayers in the Mass this past week stated very nicely: “May these mysteries, O Lord, in which we have participated, profit us, we pray, for even now, as we walk amid passing things, you teach us by them to love the things of heaven and hold fast to what endures.”
The Christian rejoices because she sees in the child Jesus the hope for the world and for herself personally and can begin to look to things of heaven – even as she continues to walk amid the challenges of this life. That should make us all rejoice. I look forward to welcoming you and your loved ones to our Masses in celebration of Christmas.
Sincerely yours in Christ,
Fr. Thomas J. Byrne