Most Reverend Michael Mulvey is Bishop of the Diocese of Corpus Christi.
I want to wish a very blessed Advent and happy and holy Christmas to all of you. Over the past few years, and certainly over the past few months, we have witnessed a political, social phenomenon that has caused an unparalleled division among us as Americans—within families, communities, schools and yes even within the Church. At the end of Election Day last month I asked myself what effect this has had among children and young people in our country; what are they thinking? How will the behavior exhibited by adults affect them in the future as leaders in our communities?
And now that December has arrived do we put all that behind us to prepare for Christmas, the birth of the Savior? Does our celebration of Advent and Christmas have any relationship to the rancor and division?
So much of our political platforming and discourse is based on opposing ideologies, personal preferences and individual rights. All these promise a better life for all. Can the ends—peace, justice, equality and a better life for all—justify the means of slander, hate speech, anger, violence, et cetera? Yes we have a civic duty to participate in the process of government; nevertheless, we should not and cannot place all our hope in what is temporal and changing. We must enter the public square with the mind and the heart of Jesus Christ whom we profess as our Lord and God.
Christmas celebrates the mystery of the eternal God taking on our human condition in order to lift us up to His way of life. St. Irenaeus wrote “He became what we are so we could become what he is.” When I see people crying over the loss of an election, when I see people arguing and fighting or protesters misbehaving I do not look at it from the perspective of those who lost but with the question of “where is our faith in the eternal values of love? Have we misplaced our hope?”
Christmas is about love. It is the great mystery of God coming into our world in Jesus Christ. He was sent to bring eternal truth, eternal values, eternal relationships that come from his life in the most holy Trinity. If we are to hope for a better life and a better world it is incumbent on us who have faith to deepen that faith in one person, in one truth, in one eternal truth, Jesus Christ who can lead us to that noble and desired goal of not only a “better” life on Earth but also a life in eternity.
I want to invite all of us to take this year’s celebration of Christmas seriously. Christmas is about Jesus. Christmas is about God sending His way, His truth, His life. If there is a mission that we have as Christian men and women, as Catholics, it is to put Jesus Christ first, to make him our anchor, to espouse him as our eternal truth, to live everyday with the light of his Gospel.
What do we learn from the Gospel? We learn to turn the other cheek, we learn to forgive our enemies and we learn to sit down with those with whom we disagree (Jesus going to the home of Zacchaeus the tax collector and so many others). He taught us to stop in front of those who are in need and assist. And the list goes on and on.
My brothers and sisters this Christmas let us give our Savior a gift—a great gift—the gift of ourselves anchored to his Gospel. Give him the gift of anchoring your life in his eternal word. He will never disappoint us. He is sent by God, the Father, to be our way, our light of life. He is our peace. The unchanging principle, the unchanging truth is Jesus. He will give us the light in order to bring joy into the world.
God bless each one of you. Have a blessed and holy Advent and Christmas and a peaceful New Year. Let us not lose hope as we heal our families, our country and our world.