Father Gagne's Christmas Message

Dear Parishioners,

In order for my Christmas message to be printed in the annual special Christmas Day Bulletin I have to write it several weeks before Christmas. While I was wondering what I could write in November that would be still be relevant a month later, it suddenly dawned on me that the message of Christmas has been relevant from its beginning, with the simple birth of Jesus in Bethlehem.

The story has remained untouched in its essence. The story, simple as it is, has been the source of great literary drama, plays, musicals, poems, music, and an endless array of celebrations that embrace every time and culture. In short, the story of Christmas possesses an inexhaustible and ageless quality that continues to touch the human experience in a variety of ways.

Christmas is a human story of divine origin that has something to say to every person, of every time and place, and in our time and place this year. It is the gift of love, “the one size that fits all.”

This holy birth story happens, surrounded by the circumstances of every day life, no room at the inn, Herod’s killing of the first born males, the flight into Egypt, and living in a world of political and religious corruption. Yet despite the darkness, light shines forth, amidst death, a child is born, and the tender compassionate love of God is revealed.

The Christmas story is the way we define ourselves each year. In a world of too many meaningless words, only one word matters, the word that was made flesh. It is that word that brings flesh back to our lives, love and peace into our hearts, light into our darkness, joy into our grief, hope into our despair, and takes away our fears.

You all will have a special remembrance in all my Christmas prayers and Masses throughout the Christmas season, and in the New Year.

Father Gagne