Dear St. Agnes Cathedral School Parents and Guardians,
There can be a beautiful simplicity about Christmas that is calming to our senses amidst the furious activity of daily life at this time of the year. When we listen to carols and view the stable scenes that are outside our school and Cathedral, we are comforted as we are when we read a verse such as this:
“Long ago, one winter’s night The air without was cold, Mary and Joseph shelter sought The inns are full they’re told. They found a cave – a stable And with oxen resting there, The Babe was born, the King of Kings, Yes, in a manger bare. The shepherds came, adoring Him Great joy their hearts did fill, Angels sang, Glory to God on High, Peace on earth to men of good will.” Christmas, Patrick McCormack.
However, for Mary and Joseph, the birth of Jesus was far from being calming and comforting. Mary and Joseph lived in Nazareth, four days journey north of Bethlehem. Mary is a teenage mother to be and a journey late in her pregnancy is difficult for her. For Mary and Joseph, this was a time of hardship and anxiety. Long after the angels disappear into the heavens, the shepherds return to their flocks, the wise men journey home, Jesus remains.
The infant babe, in whom we rediscover God’s great love for humanity, becomes the adult who challenges us to imitate His selflessness and compassion, to recreate our lives, to make the peace, justice, and hope of Christians a reality throughout the seasons of the year.
Christmas is not only the commemoration of an historical event that occurred over 2000 years ago, it is a spiritual event to be lived within each of us. Our mission is to make holy the secular aspects of Christmas and we do this by being holy people – kind, patient, generous, loving, laughing people no matter how maddening the world is around us.
A poet was once asked if he could explain one of his poems in “ordinary terms”. He replied with some feeling, “If I could say what I meant in ‘ordinary terms’, I would not have had to write the poem!” In a similar manner, it is difficult to put into “ordinary terms” the mystery of Christmas: the birth of Jesus, the Son of God, who grew in wisdom and age, who preached a way of love, who suffered, died and rose again, who became the model for our human and spiritual growth. The birth of Jesus made possible, not just a new way of understanding life, but a new way of living it.
“O blessed be Thy holy name, Our Babe, our Lord, our King, All praise and all thanksgiving Let Christmas joy-bells ring.”
Please click on the link below to access our Christmas card to you. Thank you, Mrs. Mary Brower, for creating it under extraordinary circumstances.