Dear Our Lady of Lourdes Parish Family and Visitors,

“Draw me,” says our soul to God (Songs 1:4). God draws us to himself by becoming one of us in Jesus Christ. “The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:16). The Word of God was always with us, but when the Word of God became man in Jesus Christ, it was something new. Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem made God’s Face visible to us, and he spoke to us in human words, “We never saw anything like this” (Mark 2:12)! The shepherd boys ran to Jesus when the angels announced his birth, “Let us go to the Bethlehem,” they said, “and see this thing that happened, which the Lord has made known to us” (Luke 2:15).

Christ’s birth not only reveals God to us, but it reveals us to ourselves, “It is only in the mystery of the Word-made-flesh that the mystery of man truly becomes clear” (Second Vatican Council, Gaudium et Spes 22). Jesus is the “new Adam.” When we begin the journey of discovering Jesus, we also begin a journey of discovering ourselves.

This Christmas, embrace the innocence of your Baptism. Make a good confession and receive Holy Communion devoutly. Live every day in the light of your Baptism. Christ will make you his missionary of hope.

Our prayers go with you and your loved ones during this sacred time – and throughout the New Year.

In Christ and His Mother,

Fr. Frederick Edlefsen

Fr. Francis Peffley