SEASON’S GREETINGS
It is disclosed that the 25th of December was the date of the Roman pagan feast of Saturnalia, when many gave themselves to revelry and to debauchery, albeit a season of goodwill, when it was not pious to engage in war, when no criminal was executed, and friends gave gifts to one another. For an entire day, slaves enjoyed their freedom. The Christians, however, many of whom belonged to the oppressed and lowly classes, seized upon this day to celebrate in holy festival of good will, the birth of their Lord. It is believed that custom did the rest and Christendom continues to hold this as Christmas day up till now.
As every true believer would tell you, we celebrate, not the day, but the glorious fact that Jesus was born. We will forever continue to celebrate the great fact of the Incarnation, where God, the Supreme Being, indeed became flesh and chose to forever tabernacle with Adam’s fallen race, to miraculously redeem and restore us to sonship and fellowship with Him.
The message is not lost “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ, the Lord” (Luke 2:11). We continue to rejoice in the Virgin’s birth (Matthew 1:23). It is with unrestrained joy we keep in mind the thought of Emmanuel – God with us! How dreadful this world would be if the Messiah had not come! As humble recipients of his grace, we therefore use every occasion to celebrate this most glorious event that has forever changed our lives.
May you have the greatest Christmas as you celebrate with family and friends, the precious advent of our Savior and Lord into our most darkened world. May we wisely use this time to reflect deeply on His goodness, regarding our lowly estates and constantly supplying much needed grace for every storm and trial. For many, this is the only time of the year when we get to slow down a bit and truly spend time with family and loved ones. I really trust that amid all the “busyness” of the Season that we would also slow down enough to really worship and adore the Christ child, whose coming would eventually bring peace and light to all.
Sister Chris and I could not have been more blessed to serve alongside you another amazing year. The time sure flies, especially when you are having fun. Our blessings, despite all the vicissitudes of 2022, have been too numerous to mention. We can only truly, honestly, enthusiastically say again, the good outweigh the bad and that we have seen more good days than bad days. Our souls continue to magnify the Lord and our spirits rejoice in God our Savior.
Like you, we see Christmas, not as a time of revelry and debauchery but as a most sacred time to spotlight in a renewed way the joy and blessedness of His coming to earth to redeem and rescue us. We join with Isaac Watts and sing “Joy to the World! The Lord is come.” We take back Christmas and declare unequivocally again that Jesus is the reason for the season. We bring our gifts of love and devotion and give ourselves again to Him like we have never done before. We see this Christmas as a time of deeper consecration and renewal. As He came to give His life for us, we give ourselves entirely and wholeheartedly back to Him!
Merry Christmas from our family to yours! Peace and goodwill always!
Presiding Bishop – Northeast Region
