Father Gagne's 2018 Christmas Message

Dear Parishioners,

The writer, Carl Sandburg wrote, “a baby is God’s opinion that life should go on.” A baby is the sign God chose to reveal his simplicity. God makes himself small for us because he does not want us to be overwhelmed by his strength. In this act of Mary giving birth, he takes away our fear of his greatness and asks only for our love. We respond to God’s love in the holy child by stooping down, as did the shepherds, when they stopped what they were busy about, and humbled themselves to stoop and peer into the cave at Bethlehem.
A baby’s love invites us to stop what we are busy about, and simply spend a quiet moment to hold and to be held.
How our world needs to stop what it is busy about, the violence, the hate, the shootings, the pain we cause each other through our greed, and our need to stand in power over other people.
May the gift of God’s love, given to us in the Holy Christ child, Jesus, dispel the darkness that surrounds us, and fill us with new hope, new faith, and a deep conviction that life should continue.
“O God, who wonderfully created the dignity of human nature and still more wonderfully restored it, grant we pray,” this Christmas, “that we may share in the divinity of Christ, who humbled himself to share in our humanity.” (from the opening prayer from the third Mass of Christmas) Let us share our gifts freely with others this Christmas, as he has freely given himself and shared his gifts with us.

Father Gagne,
Pastor