CHRISTMAS 2022

Detail from "Nativity" (c.1311 - c.1320) by Giotto [WikiArt.org]

Dear Parishioners,

For those like me who enjoy reading the morning paper, I always check out the headline first. The headline sets the tone for the day and provides an opportunity for me to reflect on my faith and actions in light of the current events of each day. The headline expresses the publisher’s opinion as to what is important news.

Sometimes I ask myself, is that the headline; is that what is really important? If I were the publisher, I would have chosen another headline and leading story. But then unlike publishers, whose job it is to sell papers, my purpose would be very different. I would choose my headline from the gospels, and how they relate to the daily events of life. My headlines would be the good news response to the stories that have affected the lives of people.

Christmas is God’s headline. He emphatically said, hold the presses, “The Word is Becoming Flesh,” and “Choirs of Angels proclaim glad tidings to people of goodwill.” Yet the day of Christ’s actual birth remains a mystery to this day, and was only revealed to a few shepherds. The story never made the front pages of the “Jerusalem Times,” or the “Herod Gazette.” God’s ways are never our ways, or his wisdom, our wisdom, or his strength our strength.

In reflecting on Christmas this year, it occurs to me that we are the headlines that proclaim the good news to those around us. In every circumstance, in every tragedy, every violent act, in every expression of racism, hate speech, anti-Semitism, and violation of the human dignity of all our sisters and brothers, it is the people who believe in Christ’s words that continue to challenge the daily headlines and bring comfort and healing to the pain of so many people.

At a time of fragile democracy, identity issues, confusion over language, and a church struggling to look at the signs of the times in the light of the gospel, we are called to journey with others as together we make our way to the kingdom, announcing, hope, compassion, mercy, and glad tidings to people of goodwill.

May the good news of the birth of Jesus this Christmas be our headline, and our cause for joy and hope in 2023. You will have a special remembrance in all my Masses at Christmas and throughout the coming New Year. Thank you for all your prayers and support during this past year. A Blessed Christmas and a New Year filled with God’s peace.

Father Gagne