Christmas, 1995

Dear Friends,

Once again, as Christmas draws rapidly near, I find myself thanking God that I can no longer put off reaching out to keep in touch with you, as I have so often wished to do but did not because I was able to convince myself that there were too many pressing matters that claimed priority. Do I detect a clever and subtle device on the part of Our Gracious God’s loving Providence operative here? Yes, I think I do!

Certainly, in His Providence, Our Heavenly Father gave us this glorious feast of Christmas to remind us of Himself and of His infinite love for us. But can we not also believe it to be true of Him what we see to be true so often in our own lives, namely, that we act out of several concurrent motives? How often I have to admit to myself that I always have at last two reasons for doing things, a GOOD reason and the REAL reason.

Though it is a defect in myself, the fact that I’m willing to divulge the GOOD reason and keep the REAL reason secret, surely the fact that I do things for a variety of reasons would be a dim, imperfect reflection in myself of what is a glorious perfection in the Divine Nature. After all, our common human nature is made in the image and likeness of God, the Trinity. Another example of how God in His limitless Wisdom is able to accomplish several things with just one deed is found in Holy Scriptures. There are so many passages that have, in addition to one clear and obvious meaning, a host of hidden, symbolic meanings. These latter surface, in the case of individual readers, whenever the reader’s soul is properly disposed and NEEDS the rich spiritual nourishment one of those hidden meanings can provide.

So, thank you, Most Loving father, for giving us the feast of Christmas, so that we are obliged once again to remember that it is an attribute of TRUE love to affirm from time to time our identity and communion with loved ones. As we ponder this great truth, we cannot but realize that, in order for our own love for our dear ones to be true and sincere, we are obliged to try to reproduce in our own human conduct what we observe in the Divine Way of doing things (in analogous situations, of course).

As imperfect as it may be, this card and Christmas letter is my way of letting you know that I most certainly IDENTIFY with you to the extent possible and appropriate. May THEY be the bonds that unite us. Though we are so far apart, and may not have seen one another during the entire past year.

It is a bit easier to be in COMMUNION with you despite the distances that separate us, because, as Blessed Elizabeth of the Trinity, O.C.D reminds us, we can find each other in God, the Trinity, Which makes its Heaven in the depths of our souls. There we can share our joys and our sorrows, our successes and our failures, even as we share them with Jesus, for in Him we are at one with God and with one another. Jesus, of course, has taken all our sorrows and all our sufferings upon Himself. May I never forget frequently to ask Him to lay upon me some of the sorrows and sufferings that afflict you, so that thereby I may help you to endure.

As for the joys and the rewards, why, I want you to have them all for yourself. I am most happy and more than amply rewarded, when I know that you and your dear ones are well and happy in both body and soul.

As I said last year, HAVE THE BEST CHRISTMAS EVER!

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