Cardinal Tobin: We are comforted, and made uncomfortable, by the Lord’s coming again| December 20, 2024

Click a button to jump to the section:

Vol. 6. No. 8 

My dear sisters and brothers in Christ,

In this season of joy, we become aware once again that God is closer to us than we dare admit. Through the incarnation of Jesus, the Word made flesh, the immense, all-powerful, all-knowing God who created the universe has become Emmanuel (God-with-us). God’s most profound intervention in human history—and in the lives of each one of us—shows beyond any doubt how much God cares for us.

The fact that Jesus is born so humbly, in a stable surrounded by his loving family and by social outcasts (shepherds) and domestic animals, is a scandal by any human standard. We are conditioned to look for God among the wealthy and powerful, the “important people” who govern our society, who drive our economy and who control institutions of influence such as the media, our businesses, schools, social service and cultural institutions, and, yes, the Church.

But God surprises us. God inverts our values, showing us that the first will be last, the lowly will be raised up, the rich will be sent away empty, and the poor will inherit the Earth and all its treasures.

God’s ways are not our ways. High is low. Rich is poor. Power is service. These are God’s ways, not our ways. Most amazing of all the divine paradoxes is the fact that the all-powerful God comes to us in the absolute vulnerability of a newborn infant, who can do nothing for himself and is completely dependent on the loving care he receives from his mother, Mary, and his foster father, Joseph.

Jesus, who is both divine and human, can be held in the arms of his parents, nursed by his mother, protected by his father, and sheltered from the elements by a mere stable. His life can be threatened by a jealous and cruel despot who slaughters the innocent, and after narrowly escaping and being forced to flee to another country as a homeless refugee, he can return to his native land to “grow in wisdom, age and grace” in a community that nurtures and supports him and his family according to the ancient faith of Israel.

This is a strange story that has become so familiar over the years that we risk losing sight of its power. The Christmas story is so much more than the quiet, domestic tale we have turned it into. Yes, there is plenty of warmth, beauty and hope here. In the dead of winter, when days are short and nights are long, we are right to be comforted by the Christmas story. And in tense and uncertain times such as ours, it is good to be reminded that God does not abandon us or keep us at arm’s length.

But the fact of God’s intimate closeness also makes demands on us that are uncomfortable. Do we live the Christmas paradox in our daily lives? What are we doing to care for the poor and homeless? How are we working to transform cultural, political, and economic structures that are oppressive and unjust? Do we welcome strangers—especially those who have been cast out of their homeland? Do we insist that the most vulnerable members of our society, including the unborn, the aged and the infirm, are protected and cared for in the same way that Mary and Joseph cared for the newborn child entrusted to their care?

Christmas is a season of joy and hope. It’s a time for giving and sharing all that we have received from God’s abundance. The material gifts that we exchange at Christmas are symbols of the much deeper sharing God invites us to embrace. We are called to follow God’s example, gratefully giving ourselves out of love for God and the human family.

Have a Merry Christmas and God’s peace in the New Year!

Sincerely yours in Christ the Redeemer, 
Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin, C.Ss.R. 
Archbishop of Newark  

O Come, O Come, Emmanuel

The popular Advent hymn ‘O Come, O Come Emmanuel’ was originally written in Latin with the title ‘Veni, Veni, Emmanuel.’ The Latin hymn dates back to 1701. The English translation by James Mason Neale first appeared in 1851. The hymn text is based on the traditional O Antiphons which accompany the Magnificat at evening prayer during the final days of Advent (December 17-23). These antiphons give voice to the longing that all God’s people have for the coming of our Redeemer. They invite us to Rejoice in the Lord, confident that He comes—putting to flight death’s dark shadows now and forever!

A Message from Pope Francis: Words of Challenge and Hope

(The following is a selection from the Encyclical Letter Dilexit Nos (He Loved Us).

217. Dilexit Nos can help us see that the teaching of the social Encyclicals Laudato Si’ and Fratelli Tutti is not unrelated to our encounter with the love of Jesus Christ. For it is by drinking of that same love that we become capable of forging bonds of fraternity, of recognizing the dignity of each human being, and of working together to care for our common home.

218. In a world where everything is bought and sold, people’s sense of their worth appears increasingly to depend on what they can accumulate with the power of money. We are constantly being pushed to keep buying, consuming and distracting ourselves, held captive to a demeaning system that prevents us from looking beyond our immediate and petty needs. The love of Christ has no place in this perverse mechanism, yet only that love can set us free from a mad pursuit that no longer has room for a gratuitous love. Christ’s love can give a heart to our world and revive love wherever we think that the ability to love has been definitively lost.

219. The Church also needs that love, lest the love of Christ be replaced with outdated structures and concerns, excessive attachment to our own ideas and opinions, and fanaticism in any number of forms, which end up taking the place of the gratuitous love of God that liberates, enlivens, brings joy to the heart and builds communities. The wounded side of Christ continues to pour forth that stream which is never exhausted, never passes away; but offers itself time and time again to all those who wish to love as he did. For his love alone can bring about a new humanity.

220. I ask our Lord Jesus Christ to grant that his Sacred Heart may continue to pour forth the streams of living water that can heal the hurt we have caused, strengthen our ability to love and serve others, and inspire us to journey together towards a just, solidary, and fraternal world. Until that day when we will rejoice in celebrating together the banquet of the heavenly kingdom in the presence of the risen Lord, who harmonizes all our differences in the light that radiates perpetually from his open heart. May he be blessed forever.

My Prayer for You  

Come, Emmanuel, God with us, and fill our hearts with the same loving kindness that we encounter in your Sacred Heart. Help us to cherish this love and to share it generously with others—especially our sisters and brothers who are poor, homeless, sick, or suffering from any form of oppression (physical, emotional, or spiritual).

As we continue our synodal journey during this holy season of Advent, fill our hearts with gratitude for your coming two thousand years ago, for the joy of your presence among us now (especially in the Holy Eucharist), and for your coming again in glory on the Last Day. Amen.