Pastoral Letter
Dear Friends,
It was the first day back to school after Christmas vacation, and the teacher used a good bit of the morning by going around the room and asking each child to tell how they spent Christmas. The first boy said, "Well, we are Catholics and we went to midnight mass and came home and went right to bed. The next morning we had a big breakfast and sat around the Christmas tree and opened all our presents." The second child then told her experience. "We are Methodists but we did about the same thing. We went to the Christmas Eve candlelight service and came home and went to bed. We had a big Christmas breakfast and then opened all our presents." The third child then said, "Well we aren't Christians. But we did have a big breakfast and opened presents around the tree. Then we all got into the car and went into town to my dad's department store. He showed us all the empty shelves. He showed us all the money that had come into the tills. Then we made a circle around a till, joined hands, and sang, 'What a Friend We Have in Jesus.'"
Well, the shops are all hoping for a bumper Christmas again this year. All this frenzied present giving goes back to Saint Nicholas who was born of wealthy parents in A.D. 280 in a small town called Patara in Asia Minor. He lost his parents early by an epidemic but not before they had instilled in him the gift of faith. Then little Nicholas went to Myra and lived there a life full of sacrifice and love and the spirit of Jesus. Nicholas became so Christ-like that when the town needed a bishop he was elected. He was imprisoned for his faith by Emperor Diocletian and released later by Emperor Constantine. There have been many stories of his generosity and compassion: how he begged for food for the poor, and how he would give girls money so that they would have a dowry to get a husband. The story most often repeated was about how he would don a disguise and go out and give gifts to poor children. He gave away everything he had. And in the year 314, he died. His body was later moved to Italy where his remains are to this day.
But the story of Nicholas has spread around the world. There are more churches in the world named after St. Nicholas than any other person in all the history of the church. But people have done strange things to him. The poet, Clement Moore, gave him a red nose and eight tiny reindeer. Thomas Nast, the illustrator, made him big and fat and gave him a red suit trimmed by fur. Others have given him the name Santa Claus. But what's important about him is that he had the mind of Christ. Because of his gentle selfless love, he touched the whole world.
This surely is the true meaning of Christmas, as the lovely poem by Christina Rossetti tells us:
Love came down at Christmas,
Love all lovely, Love divine;
Love was born at Christmas,
Star and angels give the sign.
Worship we the Godhead,
Love incarnate, Love divine;
Worship we our Jesus:
But wherewith for sacred sign?
Love shall be our token,
Love be yours and love be mine,
Love to God and all the world,
Love for plea and gift and sign.
Love did indeed come down at Christmas in the form of a tiny defenceless baby who came to bring God's forgiving loves into our lives. So, let us recapture the true spirit of Christmas this year. :Let's give love rather than meaningless material gifts, and let us welcome the Christ-child into our hearts and "Worship we our Jesus".
I wish you all a very happy and blessed Christmas.