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| Bishop Speaks | ||
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| December 20, 2007 Edition | ||
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Dear Friends,
Christmas is upon us - the time when we celebrate the mystery that, as St. Paul so beautifully described, "Grace has appeared." With the appearance of Grace in Christ, we receive the true definition of our humanity and the authentic truth about human freedom. Human freedom is ultimately freedom to be like Christ.
Our Holy Father gave us a wonderful Christmas gift in his Encyclical on hope, entitled Spe Salvi, "it is hope by which we have been saved," which again quotes St. Paul. Our Holy Father makes a most helpful distinction in terms of clarifying which hope it is that saves us. He speaks about our everyday lesser and greater hopes.
As I plan to go on vacation after Christmas, for instance, I hope for good weather. Many people who have suffered misfortune in terms of financial difficulties, or family problems, or health in 2007 tell me often of their hope that 2008 will be a better year for them. And then there are those who get caught up in hope of winning the lottery or other such things. These hopes are normal, good human experiences, but they are hopes which can easily be disappointed. None of these hopes could ever become the hope that saves us.
Benedict proclaims the truth that the hope that saves us is Jesus Christ himself, the sure anchor of our hope, as he is called in the Letter to the Hebrews. Christmas is a very special time to look into the face of Jesus Christ and place all of our other hopes in the perspective and under the burning glow of His own light, so that we can see the true priority of our hopes.
How things go in this world of ours can never be the end of the matter. Whether or not our greater or lesser hopes of everyday life are fulfilled can never be the end of the matter. If we experience poor weather on our vacation, if we experience ill health, if we experience financial difficulties, if we experience family problems - nothing of that sort can be the end of us. Even if those normal and good human hopes turn out to be disappointed, we still are blessed by our call to gaze into the face of Christ at Christmas - the one who is the anchor of all of our hopes, the one who alone fulfills our deepest hopes, the one who defines our humanity.
It is interesting that at Christmas time the Legislature of Wisconsin has voted explicitly against conscience protection for those institutions or individuals who might want both to protect women who have been raped - a terrible tragedy - and to protect possible pre-born babies who might have been conceived because of that rape. The legislature seems to be yielding to the promotion in our culture of a contraception ideology, which has its own dynamic and is focused on expanding state-coerced contraception and possibly abortion.
Women who have suffered the tragedy of rape need to be protected, but if a pre-born child has been already conceived, the future of that child also requires our protection. What better time to proclaim this conviction of science, human reason, and faith than during this season of the birth of the Messiah. I encourage you to read the letter which I have written to our legislators in this regard, which is also contained in this issue of the Catholic Herald.
Lastly, let me close with a beautiful quote from our Holy Father during his discourse at the Angelus, at St. Peter's Arch-Basilica, on Sunday, December the 9th, last: "In the twilight of our days on earth, when we are about to die, we shall be judged on the basis of our similarity to the Child whose birth shall occur in the plain grotto in Bethlehem since it is he who is the God-given standard by which humanity shall live." This reflection of our Holy Father gives us, indeed, much to think and pray about at Christmas time.
Be sure of my remembrance at the Masses of Christmas Day for you and yours. May you have a truly blessed Christmas and a New Year of health, safety, and above all deeper faith in the Lord who alone is our Hope! Thank you for reading this. God bless each one of you.
Praised be Jesus Christ!