Christus natus est!  Alleluia!
 

Greetings from Bethlehem.  I wish you and your families a truly blessed Christmas.  This day is one so holy and central to our lives as Christians that the Church dedicates an "octave" to it; in other words, Christmas Day lasts eight days.  Because of my new role at the Georgia Tech Catholic Center, I was able to spend Christmas away from Atlanta in Bethlehem--Holy Family style!

 

Last night I concelebrated the Midnight Mass with the Patriarch of Jerusalem in Bethlehem, and this afternoon (6:30AM Eastern), I celebrated Mass in the Nativity Grotto, in thanksgiving for the generosity of the supporters of the GTCC and for all the intentions in your hearts.  I truly carried our awesome students in my heart this morning as we went to adore the Lord in the place of his birth.

 

There is something indescribable about the experience.  As I proclaimedthe Gospel, I felt very emotional reading of the Word becoming flesh and dwelling among us.  This is a kind of love we can never really understand.  Some mysteries are beyond us and command us to fall on our knees in adoration.  Venite adoremus, Dominum!  To know that I held our Lord in my hands in the very place where St. Joseph first held Jesus in his was moving beyond words.  Christmas is so near to our hearts because we find in the God of the Universe, the Lord God of Hosts, mighty and powerful in his justice, this Oriens, King of the Nations, Key of David, Root of Jesse, Wisdom from on High, Lord, Emmanuel--this immeasurable God, the humility to become like us, to enter into the world in a way that threatens no one.  After all, who could be intimidated or frightened of a baby (as long as you are not faced with diaper duty, that is)?  God comes to be like us because he wants us to be like him.  He makes the first move, lowering himself to be comprehensible and approachable by those whom he has created.

 

Each year we bring our petitions before our Lord, and each year he resolves once again to grant them in accordance with his will, but primarily to stay with us, to accompany us on the journey to the house of our Father.

 

Please know of my profound gratitude for your support of our blessed students.  Please pray for a deepening of their faith, that they will grow strong in wisdom and knowledge in devotion to the Holy Family just as Jesus did.  

 

My friends, the only child ever born to die has been born again in our hearts.  There is cause for great rejoicing this day, as the heavens quake with the thunderous song of the Angels, Glory to God in the Highest!  In the quiet and peace of your families, pray for peace in the Holy Land and for the students at Georgia Tech.

 

God Bless you and your families this day.

 

Fr. Josh