-
Dear brothers and sisters,
“Today true peace has come down to us from heaven.” (Entrance Antiphon, Mass during the Night)
What a comforting word for a world in disarray! Thank you, God our Father, for the gift of your Son that we celebrate this Christmas. Amid our worries, our concerns, our fears that paralyze and divide us, we welcome during this Holy Night, true peace, the Prince of Peace as announced by the Prophet Isaiah.
Joseph and Mary are the first to benefit from the peaceful grace, the balm of peace that their newborn child brings them. During the long journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem, unable to find shelter in the inn, surprised and disappointed to be in a stable to give birth to a child, and surrounded by unknown shepherds, these are many reasons for them to have a troubled heart; but on the contrary peace reigns. Emmanuel, God-with-us, is very present, incarnated in their history and in our history to reveal Love to us. Let us pray, then, for the true Peace that comes from heaven, so that it may be deeply rooted in the reality of our daily lives.
The angels are truly right to announce that a Savior has been born to us. The joy is great for all humanity. On this Christmas Day, let us make room for Jesus the Christ so that He can be born into our personal and community lives. Transformed and renewed by his Word and the gift of his Life, let us become missionary disciples happy to witness to our faith. Let us be generous in our acts of charity and mercy towards the less fortunate, so that by these actions, we also sow joy and be peacemakers for the people around us.Merry Christmas!
✠ Marcel Damphousse
Archbishop of Ottawa-Cornwall