The Most Reverend Salvatore R. Matano Coadjutor Bishop ChristmasMessage 2005

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ:

As I prepare to celebrate with you my first Christmas in this beautiful diocese, my thoughts and sentiments are of deep gratitude for your warm welcome and gracious acceptance of a new shepherd. Because you have welcomed me so warmly, I know that you also welcome into your hearts and homes Jesus Christ, whose birth we celebrate.
Regardless of the many approaches to this season, we must remember that it is all about the Jesus of Bethlehem, the One who came to share our lives by assuming our humanity, the Word made flesh. Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Emmanuel, "God dwelling among his people"! It is very difficult to understand how one would celebrate Christmas without Christ. And why would we forget, ignore or be indifferent to the very One who proclaimed peace, asked us to love one another, to live as brothers and sisters, to feed the hungry and clothe the naked - the One who ultimately laid down his life for our salvation? To exclude Christ from Christmas is to exclude the reason for our joy. Christian joy is not momentary or fleeting; it is forever because it unites heaven and earth and reminds us that our natural home is with God.

When Christ is integral to the Christmas celebration, we truly can be a people of hope. We encounter the Christ who never abandons us and who assures us of his abiding presence. When others may turn away from us, when it seems we are alone in a sea of people indifferent to the pains and sufferings that we endure, it is Jesus who calls us by name and repeats those beautiful words, "Know that I am with you always, to the end of time!" (Matt 28:20)

This Christmas, welcome Christ into your hearts and into your families, your communities and even into the workplace. When Christ lives in us, a true love for others is born, peace becomes a reality in the home and extends itself into the community. We finally do believe that we are brothers and sisters with an eternal destiny. Let every day be Christmas with Christ the center of our lives.

I plead with you to come and be with the Child born in Bethlehem who is now the Christ of the Most Holy Eucharist! Some among us may be the kings who went to Bethlehem, but many of us are the simple shepherds. How wonderful that Jesus loves us both without distinction and made us all a royal people and a part of his own family. I implore those estranged from the Church to please come home, to take to heart the words of the Apostle, Paul: "For I am convinced that there is nothing in death or life, in the realm of spirits or superhuman powers, in the world as it is or the world as it shall be, in the forces of the universe, in heights or depths - nothing in all creation that can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:38-39)

My brothers and sisters, I wish you all a very holy and joyous Christmas and a blessed New Year. In particular, I am mindful of those who suffer either physically, emotionally or spiritually. I know that this can be a very difficult time for our brothers and sisters whose joy has been diminished, and in some cases almost extinguished, because of personal tragedies and heavy crosses that they must endure. Know you are always in my prayers. And for all of us, let our gift to one another be a remembrance in prayer before the child born in Bethlehem. May this be the first of many Christmases that we share together in Christ Jesus.

Asking God's blessings upon you and invoking the intercession of Our Mother Mary, Patroness of our Diocese under the title of the Immaculate Conception, I remain,

Devotedly yours in Christ,

The Most Reverend Salvatore R. Matano
Bishop of Burlington      

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