Throughout this year, we have marked many significant milestones in the life of the Church leading us to the Lord's Nativity and this holy season of Christmas, most especially the passing of Pope Francis at Easter and the election of Pope Leo XIV in May.
What a gift it has been to walk these months with our new Holy Father, to learn from his teaching, and witness his example.
On Oct. 4, the Memorial of Saint Francis of Assisi, Pope Leo released his first Apostolic Exhortation, “Di/exit Te - I Have Loved You.” It is a profound meditation on love for the poor and speaks powerfully to the mystery of the Lord's Birth and the grace of this season.
The Holy Father reminds us: "The Gospel shows us that poverty marked every aspect of Jesus' life. From the moment he entered the world, Jesus knew the bitter experience of rejection. The Evangelist Luke tells how Joseph and Mary, who was about to give birth, arrived in Bethlehem, and then adds, poignantly, that 'there was no place for them in the inn' (Luke 2:7). Jesus was born in humble surroundings and laid in a manger; then, to save him from being killed, they fled to Egypt (Matthew 2:13-15). At the dawn of his public ministry, after announcing in the synagogue of Nazareth that the year of the grace, which would bring joy to the poor was fulfilled in him, he was driven out of town (Luke 4:l4-30). He died as an outcast, led out of Jerusalem to be crucified (Mark 15:22). Indeed, that is how Jesus' poverty is best described: he experienced the same exclusion that is the lot of the poor, the outcast of society. Jesus is a manifestation of this privilegium pauperum. He presented himself to the world not only as a poor Messiah, but also the Messiah of and for the poor.”
Before these words of Pope Leo, we recall the wonderful truth: Christ became poor so that we who are poor might become rich (Cor. 8:9). This is the good news of Christmas. We are not alone. We are not left to ourselves. A Savior has come - Christ the Lord.
As we celebrate the Christmas season, we remember with Pope Leo that "Christian holiness often flourishes in the most forgotten and wounded places of humanity."
How beautifully the followers of Christ have responded to the cry of the poor and looked with love upon the most vulnerable among us. As we rejoice in Christ's birth, we renew our commitment to love others as he has loved us.
On Dec. 28, at the Cathedral of Saint Agnes, on the Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, we will conclude our Jubilee Year of Hope.
We thank both Pope Francis and Pope Leo XIV for igniting hope within our families, the global mission of the Church, and the human family, and we contemplate the light and grace that radiates from the refugee Holy Family and that radiates to every family.
Our Catholic biblical and sacramental worship, especially at the Catholic Mass, focuses and ignites both our global mission to the poor and our humble openness to being evangelized by the poor, the treasures of our Church.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and your families!
May the Light and love of the Christ Child animate and guide our global Catholic missionary spirit this Christmas and throughout the New Year.
Sincerely in Christ,
Most Reverend John O. Barres
Bishop of Rockville Centre
The Most Reverend John O. Barres is the Bishop of the Diocese of Rockville Centre.
