Dec. 24, 2020 Merry Christmas from Mother Regan
Merry Christmas, Dear Ones!!!
May our annual celebration of the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ bring hope and peace to you this day. May joy ignite in your heart so that the light of Christ shines brightly in and through you this day and always!
Indeed, Christmas is the time to shine like children: full of wonder and authenticity, unfettered joy, and seemingly impossible hope. It is time to set aside the heavy load we have carried this year and remember that we are children of God, loved into existence, and shown the way forward by a God willing to stay with us—to be with us—by a God willing to be one of us.
It was no mistake that God came to be one of us as a newborn babe. This was, perhaps, Jesus’ very first teaching. The Word that was, in the beginning, became came to humankind in the flesh as a wordless child. Jesus began human life as a child at the mercy of all those around him to care for and rear him, to love and guide him. The Word was born a wordless child. What might this mean?
Among all the possible answers to this question, one stands out for me this year—this heartbreaking year of loss and disappointment, of change after change after change, of grief and isolation. The answer I see clearly this year is the simple fact that children are important. Children are the promise of redemption and the hope for humankind. And as we have seen keenly this year, children have much to teach us about adaptability, forgiveness, grace, and unbridled joy. Pint-sized prophets point the way if we have eyes to see.
This year, I see that Jesus began his ministry-in-the-flesh as a child because children are the ones who know that nothing is impossible. Children know how to use imagination to co-create with God. Children know hope, and right now the world is on a precipice of re-imagining everything. We all need to know that with God, nothing is impossible. We all need to begin to see the world as children, through child-like eyes.
“At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, ‘Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’ He called a child, whom he put among them, and said, “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.” Matthew 18:1-5
I invite you this Christmas to welcome the children in Jesus’ name. To this end, I am hopeful that you will be generous in supporting the children of Christ Church’s largest mission and most significant community outreach: Christ Church Day School.
I invite you to welcome the children with a year-end gift to the CCDS’s financial aid fund to ensure that the pint-sized prophets in our midst receive an excellent education in the Anglican tradition.
Children are important. Children are so important that our Lord Jesus Christ came to us as a newborn babe. And in this very hard year with so many changes, we see clearly that children are our promise of redemption and the hope of humankind.
This Christmas, I invite you to become like a child by remembering and cultivating your child-like self. Christmas is the time to shine like children: full of wonder and authenticity, unfettered joy, and seemingly impossible hope. Set aside the heavy load you have carried this year and remember that we are children of God, loved into existence, and shown the way forward by a God willing to be one of us.
Merry Christmas!
The Rev. Regan M. Schutz
