St. Patrick Parish

Dear Friends in Christ,

On Christmas Day 1863, a man from Cambridge, Massachusetts was heavily burdened. He was still mourning the death of his wife who had died in a tragic fire. More recently, he had received a telegram informing him that his eldest son was seriously wounded in battle during the Civil War. As he sat at his desk, he could hear the church bells ringing throughout Cambridge. He felt within himself a certain dissonance. How, he wondered, is it possible to experience the peace and joy of Christmas while there is so much suffering, pain, and grief?

That man, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, put pen to paper that Christmas Day and wrote the poem that we know as, “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day.” Longfellow expresses something about the beauty of faith and about Christmas.

Perhaps at no other time during the year, do we feel the dissonance between what Christmas proposes and what the world seems to be like. Christmas promises joy, peace, goodwill, hope, and love. At this very same time of the year, we look around and are more sensitive to all the ways that those things seem to be lacking in the world. We see sorrow, conflict, grief, and despair. And yet, as Longfellow beautifully describes, faith is relentless. No matter how dark the circumstances or how heavy the burdens, the Good News keeps calling out to us. It keeps reminding us that the bad news can never conquer the indomitable power and grace of Christ’s Birth.

Fr. Sijo, our deacons, lay staff, and I wish all of you a Blessed Christmas. In a particular way, I want to single out any of you who may be feeling that dissonance a bit more this year. I pray that the joy and peace that Christ’s birth ushers in, relentlessly pursues you and sustains you. I pray that the full joy and peace of Christmas penetrates your heart in new and grace-filled ways.

A Blessed Christmas,

Fr. David Barnes