A Christmas MessageFrom Father Markus Ramolla
My dear faithful :
on
this most blessed and solemn of days,
the
anniversary of the birth of our Divine Savior,
I
would like to take just a few moments of your Christmas
to
take stock of the new situation
in which we all now find
ourselves. In looking back upon
the last twelve months,
it
is difficult to imagine
how
the winds of change now affecting us
could
have blown so noiselessly over us,
and
swept us out of the church we loved so well.
It is hard to imagine
that
this time last year
we
were enjoying a peaceful and godly Christmas
in
a parish that we hoped
was
a safe harbor
from
all the stormy tempests round about us.
Of course, this was an illusion.
And like all illusions,
it
dissolved in the light of reality.
A reality which lately intruded
itself into our lives,
and
which has forced us, one by one,
family
by family
to
recognize
that
we can no longer support that dark vision
that
lies concealed
beneath
the glittering surface
of
our beloved church of St. Gertrude the Great. Today we were present
together at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
Our surroundings were not what
we so happily remember from Christmas past.
No.
Our surroundings were
humble.
It should not surprise us
that
as we follow our Blessed Savior
in
upholding His Truth,
and
in striving for His Justice,
that
we should at the same time
follow
His earthly path of humility
and
celebrate our Christmas as He celebrated His --
in
mean and unassuming surroundings,
and
in the company of simple folk
who
wanted not the illusions of empty pomp and ceremony
but
who had sought out that greatest richness of all,
the
true and intimate celebration of the Divine King's birth,
the coming of the Messias into their hearts and souls at
Holy Communion. Like the shepherds,
keeping
watch over their flock by night,
the
angels of the Lord have come upon us.
Over the past few weeks
the
angelic tidings heard on that first Christmas night
have
summoned us more and more urgently
to
our own poor stable.
And yet this very setting of our
Midnight Mass
unimposing
as it may have been,
highlighted
beautifully those words
sung
by the multitude of the heavenly host,
that
true glory
is
due only to God
in the highest.
And that on earth
peace,
true
peace,
is
a gift from God
meant
only for men of
good will. And to this stable
you have brought your gifts.
From all our faithful
we
have been truly blessed
by
an outpouring of support and assistance
in
all our needs,
so
that we may continue to provide for you
that
worthy and unspotted Sacrifice,
which
is our Holy Mass.
For all your help and good will,
I
can never be sufficiently grateful.
And I believe from my heart
that
such unity of purpose and effort
will
bear its fruit in the coming months and years.
We are united in the Truth,
and
it is only on this sure foundation
that
a lasting edifice of charity
and
apostolic holiness
can
be built. I know that many of
you are
wondering what the New Year will bring.
We live in difficult times,
a
world of instability.
We sometimes feel that events
are spiraling out of our control.
Our current situation in the
church
has
even heightened these fears
that
we have lost our anchor,
and
are tossing about on choppy seas.
And so in closing,
I
would like to leave you
with
two small messages of hope.
The first is a vision of the
future.
Something we can dream of in the
months to come.
Something we can all work for
in
unity and strength of purpose.
After this message,
I
invite all of you
to
take a little journey with me.
A journey not into a world of
fantasy,
but
to a concrete vision
of
what the future can truly hold for us.
There is a hidden page on our
website,
and
I am going to show you how to find it.
Go to our homepage.
There you will see the familiar
image of a priest saying Mass.
Beneath this image are the
words, "Behold, I make all things new."
Click on these words,
and
let us walk together
into
the gentle radiance of a brighter future.
I take my second
message of hope
from
the words of an earthly king.
A king who sought to comfort his
war-torn people from the uncertainties of the New Year.
I think we may all find a
message of encouragement in his words today....
"I
said to the man
who
stood at the Gate of the Year, 'Give me a light
that
I may tread safely into the unknown.'
And he replied, 'Go out into the
darkness,
and
put your hand into the hand of God.
That shall be to you
better
than light
and
safer than a known way...'
And may that almighty Hand
guide and uphold us all."
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