Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
“The Christian mysteries are an indivisible
whole. If we become immersed in one, we are led to
all the others. Thus the way from Bethlehem leads
inevitably to Golgotha, from the crib to the cross.
When the blessed virgin brought the child to the
temple, Simeon prophesied that her soul would be
pierced by a sword, that this child was set for the
fall and the resurrection of many, for a sign that
would be contradicted. His prophecy announced the
passion, the fight between light and darkness that
already showed itself before the crib.” Edith
Stein
As we move into the new calendar year of 2012 we
know the above theological statement to be true. As
we leave the warmth and familiarity of the Christmas
season behind we are already anticipating our
journey with the Lord through the season of Lent,
and all that that season entails.
To walk with the Lord is to cover familiar
terrain, the ancient landscape of faith, over and
again, each time as if it were the first time,
because in fact with each succeeding year the
terrain is new, and that ancient wisdom touches
parts of our heart and head and soul that have never
been reached before, and we grow with the Lord.
There are some who place special significance on the year 2012. There are
some who anticipate it with fear and trembling, based on what has been said
in some tabloid press about ancient Mayan predictions, or the ramblings of Nostradamus.
We, the disciples of Jesus Christ, do not approach the New Year with that kind of
sensational fear, because we know that 2012 is as much a gift from God as any previous
year, and that our challenge is not to find some safe place to hole-up to wait out the
cataclysm, but rather to fully engage our hearts and souls in service to the Living God.
We do that, of course, by being “servant” to one another, particularly the most vulnerable
among us.
With the national and world economies still weak and uncertain, it seems that now, more
than ever this is the message of our Gospel – the fight, if you will, between light and
darkness. As Children of God, Children of the Light, our part in this great battle must
be that of faithful servants, leading one another by the hand to the grace that comes
from the Son of Justice.
Happy and blessed 2012.
In Christ,
Fr. Charlie Mitchell