My dear friends in Christ,
What is it precisely that faithful Christians celebratewhen they celebrate Christmas? After all the gifts have been unwrapped, the excitement of their discovery has faded, the festive meal has been shared, and we sink back into a tired contentment, what is there about Christmas that is the source of an abiding joy? There is, of course, a lot of innocent enjoyment and excitement in all of this, but if Christmas is merely merriment, providing a respite from a long, dim, and unusually cold winter, then it runs the danger of being another form of vaguely happy paganism, which lasts but a season and is soon forgotten.
The birth of Jesus Christ to Mary in that stable some two thousand years ago is the axis around which all of human history revolves. All that has occurred before that event Christians account as “before time”, and all that follows as the time that now stretches into the everlasting Kingdom. By taking on human reality, Jesus has begun the process of redeeming all of human existence, from infancy through adulthood to infirmity, passing even through natural death. In the Christ Child, God has revealed to us the fundamental dignity of each, unique, and irreplaceable human person. He has offered us the possibility of transformation according to the pattern of Jesus. God has conferred upon us a purpose and a future for our lives. He has asserted the ultimate victory of light over darkness, of goodness over sin, and love over hatred. It will take the Cross for Christ finally to accomplish this radical transformation, but the resurrection will seal its power. As the old German carol “In dulci jubilo” has it: “Christ was born for this”.
The abiding joy of Christmas is not a mere giddiness, a manufactured emotion impossible to maintain. The joy of Christmas is the perduring happiness, often quiet and sometimes challenged, promised to those who stand with Christ. In such joy Christians find peace of heart and mind, casting out all fear.
It is my prayer that all of you experience this joy during the coming holy season and throughout the coming year.
Most Reverend Frederick F. Campbell
Bishop of Columbus