O Come Let Us Adore Him!
December 25, 2024
Fr. John Riccardo
Beloved: When the kindness and generous love of God our savior appeared, not because of any righteous deeds we had done but because of his mercy, he saved us through the bath of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he richly poured out on us through Jesus Christ our savior, so that we might be justified by his grace and become heirs in hope of eternal life
(Titus 3:4-7).
The other day we received a letter from an attorney notifying us that we had been named as a beneficiary in someone’s trust. The dear woman had been called home and we were told to watch for a gift that would be arriving soon. It was an absolute surprise since we didn’t know the person. Despite our brokenness, the Lord had apparently used us in some small way to change her life and introduce her to God.
I keep thinking of that letter this Christmas morning. Imagine if today, as you were gathered together with your family exchanging presents, the doorbell rang and you opened it only to receive a letter from a courier like the one we received. Entirely out of the blue, absolutely unexpected, you were being told that you had been named a beneficiary of a gift. The amount? $100,000,000.
Wait a minute! Where’s the hidden camera? This is that crazy Millionaires Sweepstake thing with Ed McMahon from years ago. There’s no way this can be real.
But it is. It is real. You have, for an inexplicable reason, been named as a beneficiary of a gift that will forever change your life.
Take a moment to picture the scene. Indulge your imagination and your senses and allow yourself to enter into the moment. How would you react? See yourself as you discover it is not a hoax. How would you feel? Taste the joy, the euphoric relief that what causes so many of us to constantly worry — money and not enough of it — will never be an issue for you ever again. New car? Get it! Pay off the house? Done! Build your dream house? Why not? Retire? Absolutely! Provide for a loved one? Of course! Imagine how you would live your life if such a letter arrived today. Please, do this. Let it occupy your prayer this morning before the chaos begins or later tonight once the festivities quiet down.
Because such a letter has arrived. Only it dwarfs a mere $100,000,000 gift.
Paul says that through Jesus Christ our savior we have been justified by grace and become heirs of eternal life. Beneficiaries not just of a life that won’t end — that’s not what eternal life is and it wouldn’t necessarily be a gift (who would want to live forever with sickness, pain, fear, and more always lurking). No, Paul says, heirs, beneficiaries, of abundant, unending life. A life no ear has heard, no eye has seen, and that is beyond anything we can conceive (cf. 1 Cor 2:9). A life where Death has been destroyed and never again to be feared. A life where no one ever gets sick. A life where there is no fear and no anxiety. A life where my body and will and reason are in perfect harmony. A life where no one ever loses a friend. A life that makes the beauty of the Alps or the Pacific Ocean seem like a grassy knoll and a puddle in comparison. A life where we encounter animals and creatures beyond our imagination. A life where we’re reunited with our loved ones. A life where we regularly run into people like Our Lady, Peter, Paul, Joan of Arc, Padre Pio, Mary Magdalene and so many other saints and heroes we have longed to meet. A life, most especially, where we see and hear and live with God, where Jesus walks with us, where we’re overwhelmed by the staggering reality that the God who created the universe loves us. Not the generic human race. Us. You. Me. By name.
This is the message of Christmas. This is what’s in the letter that arrives today from St. Paul to Titus. This is what is announced to us by the angels, even as they heralded good news to the shepherds. This is what we’re looking at in our manger scenes — the word announced in the letter has become flesh.
A God who many of us don’t even know, whom we had no idea was real, let alone who loves us, is answering the cry of our hearts. He has come among us, hidden in human flesh, to reveal that God is love, that we are not disqualified or discarded because of our brokenness and sins, and to fight against the enemies we could never defeat (Death, Sin and the devil).
For you a child is born! For you a son is given! And His name is Jesus — God saves, He delivers, He rescues, He loves.
You.
Merry Christmas!
ACTS XXIX Prayer Intentions
December 2024
For our time at the first European SEEK Conference in Germany at the end of the month as well as for meetings with partners in the UK in early January.
For a joyful Christmas season for our Episcopal Advisory Committee, Board members, benefactors, prayer partners and all those running
The Rescue Project in their parishes, homes and
college campuses.For God’s protection upon Fr. John Riccardo and
the ACTS XXIX family.