CHRISTMAS PASTORALS: Christ Child brings that "peace which the world cannot give" (12/19/04)

CHRISTMAS PASTORALS

Christ Child brings that "peace which the world cannot give"

Below is the text of the Christmas pastoral letter issued by Bishop Basil Losten of the Stamford Eparchy of the Ukrainian Catholic Church.

Christ is born! Let us praise Him!

My Dear Friends:

It seems that Christmas can never arrive soon enough. I am not referring to the merchants of the world, who with their crass excesses have so trivialized and commercialized this sacred holy day, but for us, good Christians, all. We have endured a year which for many of us seemed at times like a desolate wasteland, assailed as we were with national concerns and international conflicts, bereft of joy, devoid of good will to all men. We need Christmas.

We need to be reminded concretely in liturgy, carols and traditions - and, yes, even in the tinsel and presents under the tree - that Christ is among us; that once again, joy will be brought to the world.

I have been sharing my thoughts with you, my dear priests, religious and faithful, for the past 27 Christmases, and my message has always been the same: rejoice in the Lord, for He has been good to us. Life is not easy; there are problems that afflict us all. Health, finances or relationships may have failed us; but there is always the comforting awareness that God, who seeing the needs of us, "poor, banished children of Eve" trying to make our way the best we can in the shadows of a world marred by sin, sent us a Savior, a Babe born in Bethlehem.

This Christmas, perhaps more so than ever in recent years, is one in which we should bring our gift of love to the Christ Child and through Him to all who are in need: our brave warriors on far-off battlefields; our neighbor, alone and destitute; our fellowman, suffering humanity, distant from us, but whose cries of pain reach not our ears but our hearts; our child or parent, alienated from our affection; our self, feeling the abandonment that comes of isolating our self from God and His Church. The essence of Christmas lies in giving: God has given us life and hope; we, too, can give: of our means, our ears, our words, our hands, our love.

My wish for you this Christmas is couched in the words of St. Paul: "I want you to be happy, always happy in the Lord. I repeat, what I want is your happiness." The happiness that comes not from possessions or position, but from the knowledge that Our Lord had walked among us and had been born, lived and died for our salvation. What greater gift can we have ever hoped for? This Christmas, may Our Lord be born in your heart and may He bring you, and those whom you love, that "peace which the world cannot give."

With my warmest greetings and the assurance of my prayers, I remain,
Sincerely yours in Christ,
Most Rev. Basil H. Losten, D.D.
Eparch of Stamford
New York and New England

Given in St. Vladimir Cathedral Feast of the Conception of St. Anne.

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