THE GOOD NEWS
ARCHBISHOP BELTRAN

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December 20, 2009

The Good News...

           ...A Very Blessed and Merry Christmas

It is truly a great joy to be able to extend to you, the Catholic people of the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City,  my very best personal wishes for a most blessed and joyous and Merry Christmas. This joyful greeting is also intended for friends and family members, associates and collaborators everywhere. In all my Masses on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and the entire Octave of Christmas, you will all be specially remembered as I commend you to the Lord and pray for His very special blessings upon you and your loved ones. This means that I shall complete the year 2009 and begin the New Year 2010 with prayers and blessings for all of you. May you experience a blessed and Merry Christmas and a Happy and Holy New Year!

Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. As we lovingly commemorate the historical moment when Jesus was born in a stable in Bethlehem, we also recognize the dynamic message of God’s love. Christmas is not just a celebration of the past. It should be an on-going realization of God’s continuing presence in our midst. Christmas is a marvelous opportunity for us to grow in faith and hope in our relationship with the Lord.

There is but one God and He is good and gracious. The very concept of God extends far beyond our limited understanding. Through personal experience we come to know that we are limited creatures both in knowledge and ability. God, on the other hand, is almighty, all powerful and eternal. It is only the goodness of God that has made it possible for us to accept and appreciate the mystery of God.

Beginning with our creation, God, out of nothing, designed us in His own Image and Likeness. Then continuing through revelation in history, God enables us to acknowledge Him and at the same time to better appreciate who we are. This revelation culminates in the coming of Christ. This is the Truth of Christmas and this Truth is unique. Jesus, who was born in Bethlehem, is indeed God. In accepting our human flesh in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Jesus is also truly human. He is indeed our Brother as well as our Lord and Savior.

Christianity does not limit God, nor does it elevate the human person to the divine. Yes, Jesus is the Eternal Son of God and therefore truly God. He is also the Son of Mary and therefore truly human. It is the same Jesus who is both God and man. From the very beginning of the Church, the unique Person of Jesus Christ has been understood as having two natures, one divine and one human. Thus every Sunday we proclaim in the Nicene Creed:

“We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,

the only Son of God,

eternally begotten of the Father,

God from God, Light from Light,

true God from true God,

begotten, not made, one in Being with the Father.

Through Him all things were made.

For us men and for our salvation

He came down from heaven:

by the power of the Holy Spirit

He was born of the Virgin Mary and became man.”

This is Jesus whose birth we celebrate at Christmas. This is Jesus whom we recognize as a Person. Thus our faith is not placed in some unknown being but in the Person of Jesus Christ, true God and true Man!

Let us joyfully celebrate Christ-mas and enter the New Year as people of faith and hope. Let us also remember that for that faith to grow,  we must come to know Jesus. The Sacred Scriptures, the Church and the Sacraments are the principal instruments for us to know Jesus.  But they remain instruments. What is absolutely essential is our personal response to this good and loving God. This is the Good News that the Scriptures proclaim, the Church announces and the Sacraments celebrate. This is the invitation that I extend to you — a very blessed and Merry Christmas and a Happy and Holy New Year!