Christmas 2023

Dear Brother’s and Sister’s in Christ,

“What is the best Christmas gift you have ever received?” This was an icebreaker question for a group meeting I recently attended. The answers were varied, some amusing, others incredibly touching. They ranged from a gadget that was at the center of a beloved childhood memory to the reuniting and reconciliation of family members.

There was one common theme that stood out clearly, the best Christmas gifts are those that assure us that we are loved. The respectful love of the giver is the true value of the gift.

At Mass on Christmas morning the Church proclaims, “And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us, and we saw his glory, the glory as of the Father’s only Son, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). Of course, this gift of our Savior is the greatest gift imaginable. We had turned our backs on God and been separated from the source of life because of sin.

God, however, did not turn his back on us, but continued to long for us with the greatest possible love. So eager is God to respect us, that he empties himself to take on our human nature, becoming like us in all things but sin.

Let’s interrogate that last note. God deigns to become like us in all things but sin. We know that Jesus was not stained by original or personal sin. This is an article of faith. Sin is foreign to God. Yet, Jesus Christ was born into a fallen world and willingly shared with us the curse that flows from our personal and social sin.

For love of us, the Word of God became flesh. He became subject to discomfort, illness, and even death. At birth, Jesus joined our plaintive wail as he drew his first breaths. Jesus assumed the duty of labor and work. He lived under an oppressive Roman regime and suffered under the whim of a ruthless puppet king. He knew racism and antisemitism. And violence.

Jesus lived in a violent world and was eventually its victim. He accepted being shunned and an outcast. Jesus knew the betrayal of a trusted friend. In the end, he experienced the isolation of abandonment. Pain, so much pain. And grief.

The Lord of the universe was born a child. He made himself small and vulnerable so that you and I might know that a love that respects us is the ultimate reality of our lives. God chose to do this for us. This is God’s gift. It is the greatest gift we could ever imagine. The respectful love of the giver is the gift.

This is the time of year when Christmas cards assure us of the affection of friends and family. The best of them also points us toward the reality of the respectful love God has for each of us. One card that I received this Advent bears this simple quote from St. Therese of Lisieux. “A God who became so small could only be mercy and love.”

This is Christmas and this is the Christmas gift we receive; the source of all creation reveals himself to us as mercy and love. As we have received, let us give. St. Therese strove to harmonize with this gift of mercy and love by making herself small and offering herself in a thousand little ways for the love of all others.

This Christmas, let us imitate the giver by living with respect and love for all others.

Please pray in an intense and charitable way this Christmas for those who grieve and suffer in the Holy Land and in every nation wracked by violence and war. Have faith that all things are possible for God and that God will use even our smallest efforts to heal the world’s greatest harms. Act on this faith.

I give thanks to God for the works of charity that come so naturally to you. And, as always, I am amazed by your faith, inspired by your kindness, and grateful for the warm welcome you extend to me on every occasion.

I am most pleased that you love one another and urge one another toward holiness.

Merry Christmas everyone. With respect and love for us, the giver makes himself the gift. Let us take up our cross and follow him.

Yours in the Joy and Love of Christmas,

+Bishop John Iffert