A Christmas Message from our Pastor
Dear Family in the Lord!
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life.” (Jn 3:16)
Jesus was born of the Blessed Virgin Mary to reveal an extraordinary message; a message of love, hope, joy and peace. When the Infant Babe of Bethlehem grew up and assumed the mantle of his divine ministry: of calling all to leave sin behind and embrace the truth; of healing us of our miseries and raising us to life; of teaching us to love one another, to be reconciled to one another, and to accept one another; of his passion, death and resurrection…He was saying something with every fiber of his divinity and his humanity: “I have come so that you may have life and have it more abundantly.”
Giving us life is the first purpose for which Jesus came into the word. His birth in the stillness of that starry night in Bethlehem, to a likely bewildered, if not frightened, young mother and foster father, meant nothing less than the promise of our salvation has been realized! We have been delivered from the slavery of sin. We are now children of God in the most wonderful way; and we never have to wander in darkness again, because we have the Source of Light, who is Jesus Himself! The mystery of God is among us!
This Christmas, I invite each of us to re-discover, or to discover for the very first time, that we have been entrusted with a special gift, a sacred responsibility: to show others how the mystery of God is among us. Please go out into the world, into your families, places of work, your school, with your friends and colleagues, and share the message of God’s love for all mankind.
Please let the joy of Christmas, and its deep meaning for the whole manner of our very existence, penetrate our hearts and souls; so that we may change our lives to become more loving and truthful, and more open to the great possibilities God has in store for those who love Him.
With my profound gratitude for all you are and all you do to grace Saint Matthew Parish, I hold you in my heart and in my prayer this Christmas season, asking God to bless you and your families with renewed faith, fresh hope, and an ever-growing love.
A blessed Christmas to all,
Monsignor Anthony