Denver Catholic

2 I CATHOLIC LIFE DECEMBER 24, 2014 I DENVER CATHOLIC REGISTER ARCHBISHOP'S COLUMN MOST REV. SAMUEL J. AQUILA We spend a lot of time and energy preparing for Christ- mas, but beyond the marketing and noise there is a simple and unexpected mystery we are called to enter into. Mysteries are often this way. It seems that the impossible has happened. The Son of God was born in obscurity, in a manger that housed animals and with the company of Mary, Joseph and a few lowly shepherds. The paradox of Jesus' birth is that the Creator of the Universe, God who is all-powerful, came to us in such a humble, quiet way and offered us an unexpected gift. In his first Christmas homily, Pope Francis pointed out that the shepherds were the first to see the Christ Child because "they were among the last, the outcast" and "they were awake, keeping watch in the night, guarding their flocks." During his ministry, Jesus praised God the Father for his humble path, saying, "although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike" (Lk. 10:21). Jesus did not come as many in Israel expected. The Israel- ites of Jesus' time thought that the Messiah would give them political independence, reestablish the Davidic kingdom and bring material prosperity to a people struggling under the weight of poverty. Instead, as an angel told Joseph in a dream, God's plan of salvation was different. Pope Benedict XVI reflected on this difference in his book "The Infancy Narratives" where he wrote, "The name Jesus (Jeshua) means 'YHWH is salva- tion.' The divine messenger who spoke to Joseph in the dream explains the nature of this salvation: 'He will save his people from their sins.'" This mission is not what people expected, and perhaps not even what St. Joseph expected. In the story of the par- alyzed man whose friends lower him through the roof, we are able to see how Jesus lived it out. Christ responds to the implicit plea for healing by telling the paralytic, "My son, your sins are forgiven" (Mk. 2:5). "This was the last thing anyone was expecting," Benedict XVI says. "The paralytic needed to be able to walk, not to be delivered from his sins. The scribes criticized the theolog- ical presumption of Jesus' words: the sick man and those around him were disappointed, because Jesus had appar- ently overlooked the man's real need." Returning to the angel's explanation of Jesus' mission to St. Joseph, we see that Christ's purpose is to heal our deep- est wound, that is, the damage inflicted on our relationship with God by our sins. The angel tells Joseph, "She is to have a son and you are to name him Jesus because he will save his people from their sins." Each one of us needs a Savior, and he is Jesus. If our first, fundamental relationship with God is dis- turbed, Benedict XVI explained, then "nothing else can truly be in order." Perhaps we do not expect Christ to come this way either. Many people expect God to materially bless them, but we are in need of the much more fundamental blessing of having our relationship with him restored. If Christmas becomes a celebration of presents instead of a celebration of our salvation, then we should not be surprised when the excitement of having something new fades away. No matter what burdens you carry, no matter what your sins, I urge you to seek the healing that the Christ Child brought into the world and that only he can bestow. I pray that you may run with haste to Jesus this Christ- mas, as the shepherds did to see the sign the angels prom- ised them, "a child wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger." He waits for you to approach him, encounter him, receive his healing love and mercy, return his love, and follow him. May your Christmas and new year be blessed and be assured of my daily prayers for you! Unexpected Christmas gifts DENVER CATHOLIC REGISTER CIRCULATION CUSTOMER SERVICE: 303-722-4687 OR CIRCULATION@ARCHDEN.ORG Published by the Archdiocese of Denver, 1300 S. Steele St., Denver, CO 80210 Denver Catholic Register (USPS 557-020) is published weekly except the last week of December and the first week of January, and in June, July and August when it goes bi-weekly. The Register is printed by Signature Offset in Denver. Periodical postage paid in Denver, CO. Subscriptions: $35 a year in Colorado; $42 per year out of state. Foreign countries: $42 surface, all countries, 6-8 weeks for delivery; $135 air, all other countries (average). Mexico, $48 air; Canada, $55 air. Postmaster: Send address changes to: Denver Catholic Register, Circulation Dept., 1300 S. Steele St., Denver, CO 80210 or e-mail circulation@archden.org. Editorial: 303-715-3215 or editor@archden.org Advertising: 303-715-3253 or dcrads@archden.org Circulation: 303-715-3211 or circulation@archden.org Online: www.DenverCatholicRegister.org General Manager Karna Swanson Interim Editor Julie Filby Business Manager Michael O'Neill Rules SHARING genuine Establishes link with faithful during first-ever TeleForum BY NISSA LAPOINT It was a few nights before Christmas, when all through the land, Catholics picked up their phones to hear the arch- bishop's greeting and message of great joy. "Hello, this is Archbishop Samuel Aquila," was the record- ing thousands of parishioners heard when they answered their phone around 7 p.m. Sunday. The archbishop's Christmas call marked the first TeleForum event for the Archdiocese of Denver, in which the archbish- op spoke to thousands of Cath- olics of northern Colorado in a live town hall-like phone call. During the hour-long event, he shared insights on the gift of Christmas, his own personal encounter with Christ, and he answered 13 live questions from participants on everything from what's it like to be an archbish- op to difficulties in parish life. The TeleForum is a live phone event developed by the High- lands Ranch-based company Broadnet, and donated to the Archdiocese of Denver as a way to open communication be- tween the archbishop and the everyday Catholic in the pews. "This Christmas it would be good for each of us to ask the Lord to draw near to us and show the Lord how much we love him in return of his love," Archbishop Aquila said in his opening comments. He said the way to return love is to receive it first. He advised faithful to listen to the Lord's call of love—whether it's to a particular vocation, to reconcile with a family member, to let go of fears or pray daily—and to not be afraid. "The important thing is not to be afraid, to become an authen- tic and intentional disciple of Jesus who humbled himself to enter our world as an infant, as a child," he continued. "He came to save us all. He offers that gift of salvation to us at Christmas and throughout the year." By the time the archbish- op was ready to take ques- tions, dozens of participants were waiting in line for their opportunity to speak live with the archbishop. During the entire hour, about 460 people had either asked a question or left a voicemail message for archbishop. One participant, Linda, asked how to share the truth of the faith with fallen-away Catho- lics who hear secular media's skewed reports on Pope Francis. "It's important to really clar- ify and look at what the Holy Father said and how the Holy Father said it," the archbish- op answered. "People will take sound bites from Pope Francis and they'll manipulate them in different ways." He then suggested media outlets that are trustworthy, including the Vatican website www.vatican.va. The questions callers posed were as varied as the caller's ages. One 70-year-old woman, Marie, asked about receiving financial help for herself and her disabled daughter, and a 12-year-old boy, Adrian, called with his mother from Basalt. "Is it easy being bishop?" Adri- an asked. "Parts of it are easy and parts of it are challenging," the archbish- op said. "But for the most part it is a real gift and blessing." The archbishop then spoke to the young boy about praying to God and asking him to reveal his vocation. "Jesus has a call for every hu- man being that only you and you alone can fulfill, and no one else can fulfill that," he said. "It's very important for you to open your heart to Jesus and to ask him and pray about what his plan is for your life." One caller, David, posed a heavier question. "We have so much strife going on in our country right now," he stated to the archbishop. "How can we keep focus on the posi- tive and the good going on in this season right now?" The archbishop said the bat- tle between good and evil is very real, pointing to recent events— the execution of two New York police officers over the weekend and the slaughter of school chil- dren in Pakistan—as examples. Archbishop reveals a personal side PHOTO BY NISSA LAPOINT/DCR ARCHBISHOP Samuel Aquila talks during a live and interactive TeleForum phone call Dec. 21 at Broadnet's company headquar- ters in Highlands Ranch. The archbishop delivered a Christmas message to thousands of participants in northern Colorado during the hour-long event—the first for the Archdiocese of Denver. See TeleForum, Page 10 BY THE NUMBERS 4,471 largest number of participants at one time 1,900 stayed on the call for 20-35 minutes 268 left voicemail messages 192 asked questions 13 questions were answered live

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