WEBVTT 00:00:01.290 --> 00:00:05.650 I'd like to read to you Archbishop Benjamin's 00:00:05.650 --> 00:00:12.849 Christmas letter to the diocese. A few introductory 00:00:12.849 --> 00:00:20.250 comments first. We rejoice when a child is born. 00:00:21.230 --> 00:00:26.129 I remember each time when my children were born. 00:00:26.550 --> 00:00:28.730 Of course, there was no, we were talking about 00:00:28.730 --> 00:00:33.259 this yesterday, leave for fathers, paternal leave. 00:00:34.200 --> 00:00:37.439 I went straight to work. These births always 00:00:37.439 --> 00:00:40.240 happen in the middle of the night, and one is 00:00:40.240 --> 00:00:45.020 exhausted, but you return to work with a different 00:00:45.020 --> 00:00:49.859 mind, a different approach, an energy that just 00:00:49.859 --> 00:00:53.140 keeps you going until you completely crash, but 00:00:53.140 --> 00:00:57.960 it's because of joy. I'm looking forward to more 00:00:57.960 --> 00:01:02.880 births. But today we celebrate a birth completely 00:01:02.880 --> 00:01:08.480 like ours in that Jesus was born from a mother 00:01:08.480 --> 00:01:12.840 and he became a human. He became a man like unto 00:01:12.840 --> 00:01:16.040 us in all things except for one, the sickness 00:01:16.040 --> 00:01:22.760 of sin. In another way, completely unlike us 00:01:22.760 --> 00:01:26.959 in that he had no earthly father. His father 00:01:26.959 --> 00:01:31.200 is the father. the Almighty God, and we call 00:01:31.200 --> 00:01:35.659 Jesus the Son of God. And he has all the power, 00:01:35.799 --> 00:01:40.120 all the glory, all the honor, all the holiness 00:01:40.120 --> 00:01:45.079 of his Father. And St. Paul tries to point this 00:01:45.079 --> 00:01:49.280 out to us. He says in the fullness of time, God's 00:01:49.280 --> 00:01:53.140 Son was born in a certain day, a certain time, 00:01:53.400 --> 00:01:57.019 a certain hour, a certain place in Bethlehem. 00:01:58.120 --> 00:02:01.519 locating it in history. And after that, everything 00:02:01.519 --> 00:02:06.980 changed. And St. Paul goes on to say he was born 00:02:06.980 --> 00:02:09.680 of a mother, born under the law, that is the 00:02:09.680 --> 00:02:14.520 Jewish law. And we, because we have been united 00:02:14.520 --> 00:02:20.580 to Jesus in our baptism, he calls us sons. He's 00:02:20.580 --> 00:02:24.319 speaking to men and women here. Because the son 00:02:24.319 --> 00:02:27.460 is the one that has all... the prerogatives, 00:02:27.460 --> 00:02:32.400 all the inheritance of the Father. You are all 00:02:32.400 --> 00:02:36.759 sons. And he says, therefore, because of that, 00:02:36.879 --> 00:02:41.539 short little epistle, but maybe you caught the 00:02:41.539 --> 00:02:45.659 therefore. Live like sons. Live like Christ. 00:02:46.560 --> 00:02:52.949 Here's what our bishop says. Once again, We gather 00:02:52.949 --> 00:02:55.069 together at the cave to wonder at the mystery 00:02:55.069 --> 00:02:58.770 of the pre -eternal Son of God coming into creation 00:02:58.770 --> 00:03:05.229 as a little child. The earth opened wide its 00:03:05.229 --> 00:03:07.629 mouth and received the one who filled its darkness 00:03:07.629 --> 00:03:11.370 with light. We are called in our celebration 00:03:11.370 --> 00:03:17.050 to open wide the caves of our heart. The Messiah 00:03:17.050 --> 00:03:20.490 comes into the world in a rather matter -of -fact 00:03:20.490 --> 00:03:25.120 way. by his mother giving birth, except for the 00:03:25.120 --> 00:03:28.419 angels singing to the shepherds and the magi 00:03:28.419 --> 00:03:33.400 being led by a star, nobody knew. Nobody came. 00:03:34.340 --> 00:03:37.259 That reality is the reality that comes down to 00:03:37.259 --> 00:03:41.340 us this day. The child we proclaim and celebrate 00:03:41.340 --> 00:03:45.659 today can only be seen by those looking for him. 00:03:46.900 --> 00:03:49.479 So we have this marvelous gospel, if I might 00:03:49.479 --> 00:03:54.189 interject. Herod looking for wrong reasons because 00:03:54.189 --> 00:03:57.830 he's threatened. The Magi looking because they're 00:03:57.830 --> 00:04:03.069 led by divine inspiration. Let's never forget 00:04:03.069 --> 00:04:07.210 that Christ takes the initiative and looks for 00:04:07.210 --> 00:04:12.729 us. He comes to us and we search him then and 00:04:12.729 --> 00:04:17.629 for his peace in our hearts. The child we proclaim 00:04:17.629 --> 00:04:20.110 and celebrate today can only be seen by those 00:04:20.110 --> 00:04:24.110 looking for him. As we ponder the cave, the child, 00:04:24.129 --> 00:04:28.089 and the miracle of God made man, may we be found 00:04:28.089 --> 00:04:34.310 looking for him. The Lord himself, quoting the 00:04:34.310 --> 00:04:36.870 words of the prophet Isaiah in the Gospel of 00:04:36.870 --> 00:04:40.750 Luke, says that he came to the world to proclaim 00:04:40.750 --> 00:04:45.720 good news to the poor. To heal the brokenhearted. 00:04:46.759 --> 00:04:50.699 To preach liberty to captives. To give sight 00:04:50.699 --> 00:04:56.759 to the blind. To comfort all who mourn. This 00:04:56.759 --> 00:04:59.199 season is so difficult in our contemporary culture. 00:04:59.620 --> 00:05:02.579 Everything has screamed at us for months. Christmas 00:05:02.579 --> 00:05:05.720 is coming. Get your shopping done. Be happy. 00:05:06.540 --> 00:05:11.399 What's for Christmas dinner? And so on. Yet. 00:05:12.079 --> 00:05:15.860 This season is also when suicides spike, when 00:05:15.860 --> 00:05:19.920 broken families have no one to gather with. Seasonal 00:05:19.920 --> 00:05:23.399 affective disorder afflicts many people. And 00:05:23.399 --> 00:05:25.779 when we are dealing with COVID and threats of 00:05:25.779 --> 00:05:28.779 lockdowns and quarantines, there are people hospitalized, 00:05:29.100 --> 00:05:32.000 people dying, people lonely, not to mention those 00:05:32.000 --> 00:05:35.420 hungry, homeless, and destitute. Some just want 00:05:35.420 --> 00:05:38.220 to go home for Christmas. Some are afraid to 00:05:38.220 --> 00:05:40.939 die. Some are afraid to open their own caves 00:05:40.939 --> 00:05:44.420 to the child. Brothers and sisters, we have become 00:05:44.420 --> 00:05:49.220 sons of God. And we have all the blessings of 00:05:49.220 --> 00:05:52.079 the Son of God, which he has by nature. We've 00:05:52.079 --> 00:05:57.019 been given them potential by grace. We have work 00:05:57.019 --> 00:06:03.699 to do. The miracle is twofold. The child comes 00:06:03.699 --> 00:06:08.240 into the world for the person that is poor. broken 00:06:08.240 --> 00:06:10.819 -hearted, captive, blind, and mourning. That 00:06:10.819 --> 00:06:16.279 person, of course, is me. Each of us has brokenness 00:06:16.279 --> 00:06:19.220 in our lives that can only be healed by the child 00:06:19.220 --> 00:06:24.939 being born in us and growing within us. But he 00:06:24.939 --> 00:06:29.360 did not just come for each of us. He came to 00:06:29.360 --> 00:06:33.600 become us. We can turn to him in our loneliness 00:06:33.600 --> 00:06:36.279 and destitute condition because he is already 00:06:36.279 --> 00:06:40.259 there waiting for us, broken, lonely, and destitute 00:06:40.259 --> 00:06:43.560 himself. The cross is the revelation of that 00:06:43.560 --> 00:06:47.100 and God's transformation for us. When we enter 00:06:47.100 --> 00:06:51.560 into the child who has no form or beauty, as 00:06:51.560 --> 00:06:55.259 Isaiah said, we ourselves are clothed with form 00:06:55.259 --> 00:07:02.459 and beauty. My beloved flock, May the child come 00:07:02.459 --> 00:07:05.060 into the world this day, heal every brokenness, 00:07:05.079 --> 00:07:09.399 cure every ill, and give the form and beauty 00:07:09.399 --> 00:07:12.620 of God himself to all who come to worship him 00:07:12.620 --> 00:07:16.160 in this broken world. May the hope given to us 00:07:16.160 --> 00:07:19.319 this day never fade away, no matter the difficulties 00:07:19.319 --> 00:07:22.439 facing us. May the gift that is placed in our 00:07:22.439 --> 00:07:26.600 hands this day always be received as the only 00:07:26.600 --> 00:07:30.980 gift that matters. Christ is born. Amen.