Dear Friends,
In this final letter to you, I am at a loss for words – not my usual situation! Your good wishes, both written and spoken, have moved me deeply and I thank you for your affirmation of our Parish ministry these past 4 years. What we have been able to achieve has been due to the collaboration of our Parish Team, the Augustinian Community, and all of you who participate in Parish Life in so many different ways – particularly, as the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy describes it, in faithfulness to our ‘full, conscious and active participation’ (n 14) around the Table of the Eucharist. ‘The Sacred Liturgy is the source and the summit of all life in the Church’ (n 10). Each of you shares in this affirmation.
As we move from Advent into Christmas, we carry the weekly Advent invitation to embrace the urgent reality of the themes named each time we lit a new candle in our Advent Wreath – Hope, Peace, Joy Love – energizing gifts for our lives in family and community life but by no means easy gifts as we contemplate the many challenges of our living and the sadness and many conflicts across our world.
I often find the biggest impact on our understanding of the Christmas event comes from the simplest of sources – such as the Saviour named last Sunday in Isaiah 7:14 as ‘God-with-us’ and quoted in the Gospel passage from Matthew 1:23, describing the angel of the Lord’s message to Joseph. The name ‘God-with-us’ gives us an anchor even today as it sums up the profound mystery of God’s engagement with us at every moment of our lives.
Spiritual writer Fr Richard Rohr OFM inspired the title of today’s reflection with a favourite Franciscan statement about the coming of Christ - ‘Incarnation is already Redemption!’ – and explains its impact this way:
‘Henceforth humanity has the right to know that it is good to be human, good to live on this earth, good to have a body, because God in Jesus chose and said “yes” to our humanity’ (Preparing for Christmas
p 92).
St Augustine brought his wise, faith response to the celebration of Christmas in Sermon 184, preached sixteen centuries ago in northern Africa:
May God, who desired to share in our humanity, bring us to perfection.
May God, who out of love became the Child of Mary, bring us to perfect union with God.
Rejoice, you who are just; it is the birthday of the One who makes you just.
Rejoice, you who face trials; it is the birthday of the One who saves you.
Rejoice, you who are weighed down; it is the birthday of the One who redeems you.
Rejoice, you who are free; it is the birthday of the One who gives you freedom.
Rejoice, all Christians. It is the birthday of Christ.
How does each of us describe the magnitude of this extraordinary event that defines our beauty and human dignity? Simply trust the wisdom of our personal faith as others have done. We conclude with a Christmas Greeting from Saint Mary Mackillop (December 1899):
‘With all my heart,
I wish you a very happy Christmas
And a bright and happy New Year!’ Fr Dave