St. Anthony's Catholic Church

Fr. Matt’s Corner:  . . . and He shall be a Son to Me. . .

            Mary Christmas, everyone!!!  Have you heard the news?!  Today is born our Savior, Christ the Lord!  In the fullness of time – in the silence of this holy night – God sent his only Son to be our Savior.  Perhaps the most amazing parts of this whole story are (1) that He came, and (2) how He came.  That He came tells us of God’s great love for us.  How He came tells us something of the Great Love who is God. 

          Not as some superhero we can only marvel at (sorry about the pun) did He come; but as the Babe of Mary – in the words of St. Paul:  born of a woman, born under the law, to ransom those (us) under the law (of sin) so that we might receive adoption (as sons and daughters of God). [Gal 4:4b-5]  At this, we can not only marvel, but also draw near in wonder and silence to the One who draws Himself into our life, into our hearts. 

          A friend once told me, “Matt, Christmas is for kids.  My wife and I don’t celebrate Christmas anymore since the kids have grown.”  His first statement was, I think, right on; but his conclusion was all wrong.  Yes, Christmas is for children (as the child – the babe shows us).  Let us not forget, then, that we are all children of this Babe of Mary.  So who is this little Babe?  He’s the One we’ve been singing about for four weeks now:  O Wisdom, O Lord and Ruler, O Root of Jesse, O Key of David, O Dawn of the East, O King of the Gentiles . . . O Love . . . O Emmanuel – God is with us – has come.  Let us continue to sing with the wonder of children.  He has come in such humility and love, the Greatest Gift of all. 

          May you all have a very Mary Christmas.  Peace to all of you this holy day and to all who love the Lord in simplicity of heart.

ps:  I would like to thank all who have been so generous this Christmas with greetings, cards, and gifts – especially to the needy in our community.  Thank you to all of you especially for the gift of yourselves!  Let us not only keep Christ in Christmas, but let’s keep Christ’s Mass in Christmas both today and throughout the coming year.  Merry Christmas!

Fr. Matt