Bishop Wester's Christmas message
One of the most deeply felt needs we have as human beings is our desire to be one with each other. From the very first moment of our existence, we experience an intimate connection with our mothers and, once born, we are constantly striving for community, experienced first in the sacred bond of family life and then lived in innumerable relationships that enrich our lives. It would be a mistake, however, to think that our relationships are limited to our fellow human beings. In fact, our most fundamental desire is to be one with God. This "determination of faith" is a part of our makeup and a realization that we will only be happy if we were completely and ultimately one with God. That is why the Garden of Eden is seen as the idyllic existence for us, because it was there that human beings walked side by side with God before Original Sin entered the picture. And that is why Original Sin is so devastating: It is a "disconnect" between God and ourselves, preventing us from achieving our true purpose in life, namely, to be one with God. No wonder, then, that we read about Christmas, or the Incarnation, in the Gospel. Gospel means "good news," and there could be no better news than the fact that God is with us! That is the meaning of "Emmanuel:" God is with us and we are no longer disconnected from God. All Advent we have been praying, "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel …" and now we rejoice that God has indeed come to us in the person of a newborn baby, wrapped in swaddling clothes and held so lovingly by his mother, Mary. Yes, God loved the world so much that he sent his only Son. In the prologue to John’s Gospel we read that God came to dwell with us. This is translated literally as "he pitched his tent in our midst." This is a reference to the Exodus, during which the Israelites lived in tents in the desert and God lived in his tent, or tabernacle, right there in their midst. I suppose for us it would be a more fitting translation to say that God moved in next door or even better, that he is sleeping on our couch! But this good news does not stop with the incarnation. The reality is that God loves us and wants to be one with us more than we can ever imagine. He desires unity with us even more than we do with him. And so his only Son, following the will of his Father and expressing his own love for humanity, gave us the ultimate gift, his very life offered on the cross. It was this offering of perfect love that led to the Resurrection and our salvation, i.e., our ticket into heaven and perfect union with God forever. Eden has been restored. We come to understand, then, that there is a connection between the wood of the manger and the wood of the cross. Both the Incarnation and the Paschal Mystery are expressions of God’s unfathomable love for us and his desire to be one with us forever. As creatures made in the very likeness and image of God, as human beings who desire unity with God and with one another, the best way to celebrate Christmas is to deepen the bonds of love in our lives. This call is the basis of Pope Francis’ World Day of Peace message, in which he states that "fraternity is an essential human quality, for we are relational beings. A lively awareness of our relatedness helps us to look upon and to treat each person as a true sister or brother; without fraternity it is impossible to build a just society and a solid and lasting peace." Especially at this time of year, we are called to allow the star of Bethlehem to illumine our lives, showing us the way to reconciliation, compassion and love. As we celebrate the good news of Emmanuel, God with us, this Christmas, I wish to assure you of my prayers and best wishes. I pray that the joy of the angels and the shepherds at that first Christmas will fill our hearts and find its expression in our outreach to God and to one another, an outreach that fulfills our deepest desires. May Emmanuel raise his arms of benediction over all of us and bless our homes, our parishes, our friendships and our communities of faith. I wish you all a very blessed Christmas and a grace-filled new year. +The Most Rev. John C. Wester Bishop of Salt Lake City
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