To All Knights, Dames, Family, Friends and Loved Ones,
The long wait is nearly over. From January of this year, many of us have looked forward to the next Christmas, knowing afresh how much our hearts were warmed by the season. As the lights and festivities of Christmas past grew more dim behind us, we looked forward across the year to when that light would grow brighter once again.
For many, it was a hard year. Not everyone we began the year with is still gathering with us around the dinner table, or still has a stocking hung on the mantle. There have been moves and transfers, lost and gained employment, the rising and falling of both good times and hard times. We came through the harshness of Winter, the turbulence of Spring, the heat of Summer, and the crispness of Fall. Some completed their studies, others struggle on, while still others yearn for the opportunity to study at all. It's been a long walk through the year which could neither be sped up nor slowed down. We've seen miraculous good, and deep darkness-- the blessings of grace and charity, and the cold harshness of hearts grown cold. But now at the turning of the year, we are wrapped in light once again.
Among the reasons Christmas remains one of the most beloved holy days of the year, is that it shines forth as pure divine grace. Into darkness, God sends His light; into despair, God sends His hope; into coldness, God sends His warmth; into silence, God sends His Word; into death, God sends His life; into our fallen and suffering world, God sends His Savior of all mankind to rescue us by becoming one of us. This unmerited, unearned divine gift is what shapes the whole course of human history, from the promise of that gift back in the Garden of Eden, to the fulfillment of that promise in Bethlehem. That fulfilled promise of God in Jesus Christ comes to dwell with us, to suffer with us, to die with us, and to rise again from the dead with us. His joy and hope, life and salvation become ours forever, all by His pure and holy gift.
This Christmas, I pray that you all will know ever more deeply this marvelous and unearned gift of grace; that the light of Christ may illumine the darkness around you, and empower you in His Holy Spirit to reflect that light of love into all the world. Should the Lord tarry in His coming again, we will pass through another harsh Winter, another turbulent Spring, another hot Summer, and another crisp Fall. There will be those who may not be gathering with us around the dinner table this time next year. But the light of God's Gospel in Jesus Christ shines in every moment of every day of all eternity, never leaving His people. While we may be forgetful, He is always faithful. And as we gather around Christ in His Gospel Word, we are reminded that He loses none of those who trust in Him. Our Christmas dinner tables may seem to be changing or shrinking in this world, but the real and enduring table which Christ gathers us around always and only grows, as new hearts are enlivened to believe and live in Him forever. It is this Christmas Table around which we really gather, where the Lord feeds His people on His very Body and Blood, giving them life and fellowship in His Kingdom which has no end-- that Table which transcends time and space, bringing all Christ's people together in Him as the infinite and eternal is brought forth into the present. That eternal moment made present among us is the enduring incarnation of Christ's saving love and grace which he brings among us, reflecting the great gift of His Incarnation begun so many centuries ago in a humble manger.
May your eyes see in the simple holiday lights a glimpse of the eternal light of Christ which pierces all darkness; may your dinner tables around which you gather, give you a foretaste of the fellowship feast to come when all struggle and strife is over; may the communion of the saints who gather with you around Christ and His Word in your humble congregation, open your heart to perceive the great and joyous throng to which you are grafted through Christ by faith, and toward which you press each and every day By that same faith. We are a people united and blessed by grace through faith, by the pure and unimaginable gift of Jesus and His Gospel incarnate among us, called to joyous witness of God's incarnate love for all mankind.
Have a Very Merry and Blessed Christmas!
Be Blessed and Be a Blessing, ++Andrew
Most Rev. Andrew J. McMenamin, DMin, OCR
OACC USA Primate / OCR Rector of Norfolk
The long wait is nearly over. From January of this year, many of us have looked forward to the next Christmas, knowing afresh how much our hearts were warmed by the season. As the lights and festivities of Christmas past grew more dim behind us, we looked forward across the year to when that light would grow brighter once again.
For many, it was a hard year. Not everyone we began the year with is still gathering with us around the dinner table, or still has a stocking hung on the mantle. There have been moves and transfers, lost and gained employment, the rising and falling of both good times and hard times. We came through the harshness of Winter, the turbulence of Spring, the heat of Summer, and the crispness of Fall. Some completed their studies, others struggle on, while still others yearn for the opportunity to study at all. It's been a long walk through the year which could neither be sped up nor slowed down. We've seen miraculous good, and deep darkness-- the blessings of grace and charity, and the cold harshness of hearts grown cold. But now at the turning of the year, we are wrapped in light once again.
Among the reasons Christmas remains one of the most beloved holy days of the year, is that it shines forth as pure divine grace. Into darkness, God sends His light; into despair, God sends His hope; into coldness, God sends His warmth; into silence, God sends His Word; into death, God sends His life; into our fallen and suffering world, God sends His Savior of all mankind to rescue us by becoming one of us. This unmerited, unearned divine gift is what shapes the whole course of human history, from the promise of that gift back in the Garden of Eden, to the fulfillment of that promise in Bethlehem. That fulfilled promise of God in Jesus Christ comes to dwell with us, to suffer with us, to die with us, and to rise again from the dead with us. His joy and hope, life and salvation become ours forever, all by His pure and holy gift.
This Christmas, I pray that you all will know ever more deeply this marvelous and unearned gift of grace; that the light of Christ may illumine the darkness around you, and empower you in His Holy Spirit to reflect that light of love into all the world. Should the Lord tarry in His coming again, we will pass through another harsh Winter, another turbulent Spring, another hot Summer, and another crisp Fall. There will be those who may not be gathering with us around the dinner table this time next year. But the light of God's Gospel in Jesus Christ shines in every moment of every day of all eternity, never leaving His people. While we may be forgetful, He is always faithful. And as we gather around Christ in His Gospel Word, we are reminded that He loses none of those who trust in Him. Our Christmas dinner tables may seem to be changing or shrinking in this world, but the real and enduring table which Christ gathers us around always and only grows, as new hearts are enlivened to believe and live in Him forever. It is this Christmas Table around which we really gather, where the Lord feeds His people on His very Body and Blood, giving them life and fellowship in His Kingdom which has no end-- that Table which transcends time and space, bringing all Christ's people together in Him as the infinite and eternal is brought forth into the present. That eternal moment made present among us is the enduring incarnation of Christ's saving love and grace which he brings among us, reflecting the great gift of His Incarnation begun so many centuries ago in a humble manger.
May your eyes see in the simple holiday lights a glimpse of the eternal light of Christ which pierces all darkness; may your dinner tables around which you gather, give you a foretaste of the fellowship feast to come when all struggle and strife is over; may the communion of the saints who gather with you around Christ and His Word in your humble congregation, open your heart to perceive the great and joyous throng to which you are grafted through Christ by faith, and toward which you press each and every day By that same faith. We are a people united and blessed by grace through faith, by the pure and unimaginable gift of Jesus and His Gospel incarnate among us, called to joyous witness of God's incarnate love for all mankind.
Have a Very Merry and Blessed Christmas!
Be Blessed and Be a Blessing, ++Andrew
Most Rev. Andrew J. McMenamin, DMin, OCR
OACC USA Primate / OCR Rector of Norfolk