4th Sunday Of Advent
A CHRISTMAS GREETING
“Let us go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened
which the Lord has made known to us” (Lk 2. 15)
I greet you, fellow priests and religious, parents, women, men, girls and boys of this diocese of Down and Connor. I also salute all our fellow Christians and all living within this diocese.
I pray for you all, fellow believers in Jesus Christ, on the Feast of the Nativity of Our Lord and Saviour. And I ask you to pray for me on this my first Christmas among you.
With you I recall and celebrate the birth of the Son of God, as Son of Mary.
With you I ponder on the great religious mystery of the Incarnation, the birth of God as man.
United with all of you in the Advent and Christmas liturgies, I listen to those extracts from Sacred Scripture which tell of God’s involvement with humanity culminating in Christ, the Word of God, becoming man.
At the Christmas Day Mass we shall listen to verses from the opening chapter of the Gospel according to John. Once again we shall hear those simple and profound lines:
“The Word was the true light that gives light to everyone” (Jn1.9)
And then we shall hear the text assert:
“To all who did accept him
He gave power to become children of God” (Jn1.12)
This Prologue to St. John’s gospel leads on to the lines that distil the core of our faith in a few crystalline words:
“The Word was made flesh
He lived among us
And we saw his glory,
The glory that is his as the only Son of the Father
Full of grace and truth” (Jn1.14)
And the same Gospel extract will conclude:
“No one has ever seen God;
It is the only Son, who is nearest to the Father’s heart
Who has made him known” (Jn1.18)
The New Testament, the Book of the Acts of the Apostles, the letters of St. Paul and St. John, present the experience of Jesus of Nazareth’s revelation of the mystery of God, of Divine love for humankind. Reading them, listening to them in liturgical celebrations throughout the year nourishes our faith….
“gives us power to become children of God” (Jn1.12)
Allowing the dynamics of the pages of the Gospels, of the Old and New Testament, to shape our decisions in life, to illuminate our way of dealing with others, with wealth, poverty, deprivation, illness, crises, will enable us to stay on the road to Bethlehem throughout the year and the seasons of life.
May our annual celebration of the birth of God in Jesus of Nazareth renew our desire to encounter Jesus Christ by reading Scripture and celebrating the sacraments.
May the Christmas story reawaken our trust in God’s love for each of us, whatever our personal history or condition.
May our Christmas prayers strengthen our resolve to look after our needy neighbour, particularly in these times of economic crisis.
May the Child of Bethlehem, the Word incarnate, inspire us to perceive the beauty, the dignity of the choice to incarnate, to live out, Christian faith, hope and charity in what we say and what we do each day.
+ Noel Treanor
Bishop of Down and Connor
25 December 2008
If the first sign of maturity is discovering that the volume knob also turns to the left, perhaps the first sign of spiritual maturity is discovering that God knows how to turn the knob. Today’s First reading says as much when God tells Nathan to say to David: ‘Are you the one to build me a house to live in?’ In other words: ‘Do you think that I need you?’ We can forget that God rules, not us. Our Second Reading shows God at work within human history as it talks of the mystery kept hidden for long ages but now disclosed. God creates the mystery, keeps it a mystery, and in God’s own good time reveals it. Our emptiness may be God’s purpose being fulfilled – though not as we expect it. What seems like inactivity, or indifference on god’s part in the face of human tribulation may be God’s wisdom at work waiting for the opportune time to act – a time constrained by human freedom and its consequences. We need humility to admit that we don’t know it all and can be wrong in our judgements. And we need trust to accept that God’s judgement is never wrong. God wasn’t wrong in choosing a manger instead of a throne, in choosing faithfulness to the mission over personal safety, in accepting death on a cross rather than public acclaim based on false hopes. God wasn’t wrong because these ended in resurrection and glory. But no one could see it at the time.
This Advent, can we?
Copyright: Fr Tom Cahill (Intercom)
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