On behalf of the clergy who serve the parish church of St. Margaret’s, we extend to you the best wishes of God’s blessing for Christmas and for the new year ahead. It is good to be able to do this, not only to those who worship here every Sunday, but also to our families, visitors and neighbors and in particular those who are serving and attached to Camp Penelton and have made North County home, even if only temporary. A welcome to all who cross our threshold. The church is big enough for everyone.
I have seen people come and go. I have watched babies grow up to adulthood. During my 27 years as a priest I have baptized over a thousand, heard the confessions of many more, prepared hundreds for marriage and buried as many in anticipation of their resurrection from the dead on the final day.
One of the essential roles of a pastor is to join the dots together among those I serve. To connect each person, through the sacraments of the church, to God - so that we might know him intimately, hear is voice and cooperate with his grace, that is his plan for our eternal life in a new world restored where the heavens and the earth will rejoice in a life giving relationship of harmony and order.
Towards that eternal goal, we can not make it up as we go along. To do so is a lonely road and often leads to despair. For that reason, we need relationships, friendships, meaningful work and a way of making sense of suffering and even death.
Do you have a family that you love and also love you? Some of us do. Some of us don’t. God entered into our world through a particular family. He allowed himself to become small and vulnerable, to be mothered by Mary and protected by Joseph. Compared to God, we are all small and vulnerable. But because God is with us through Jesus, allow Mary and Joseph to see the child of God in you. Do that, and we will see each other as brothers and sisters.
Do you have friends you are close to, to whom you can open up your soul? I’m not talking about your phone, or a network of online acquaintances. When you have genuine joy, there is someone who sees it written in your face and rejoices with you. Or when you are worried or lonely, they can feel it in you and are not afraid of stepping into the darkness with you. Some of us do have genuine flesh and blood friends. Some of us do. Some of us don’t. That is why the church community exists, why Christ said where two or three are gathered in his name, he is there, establishing his friendship with us around this altar and building up a fellowship between believers under this roof.
Do you have work that you pursue, that not only pays the bills but allows allowing you to be a better person, a fulfilled individual? Can you see how you are able to contribute to the flourishing and happiness of the community, our society and even the world? Christ began as a carpenter, but he used his trade as a tool in his everyday life, repairing what is broken, strengthening what is weak and securing what is unstable. Let Christ teach you not only how to work for a living but also how to bring your gifts and skills to build a structure of life and living that sees you rise from the dead every morning with gratitude for the gift of a new day.
Are you afraid of pain, suffering and even death? Of course we all are! But that is our animal instinct and we will do everything simply to survive the moment, and will react with anger when a wound is exposed. But we are more than that. And we know that also in our heart of hearts. Our flesh and blood, from its first moment of existence, has been infused with a soul, a divine character that longs, not simply to survive for a moment. We crave for life, not in different world beyond the stars, but the fullness of life here and now. God became a baby, a teenager, a young person, an adult human being, within a family he loves, with friends he reached out to, using the limitations and the opportunities of every day to communicate hope and healing, showing us that, through him and with him, life is worth living for, working for, suffering for, even dying for.
So tonight, on Christmas Eve, go to sleep. And tomorrow, rise from the dead with Christ and live a new day, for God has visited this world through the birth of Jesus Christ, who lived, suffered, died and rise from the dead. He lives and forever and ever. So must you.