Denver Catholic

2 DECEMBER 26, 2015-JANUARY 8, 2016 | DENVER CATHOLIC Archbishop's Page Vatican Denver Catholic (USPS 557-020) is published bi-weekly. Denver Catholic is printed by Signature Off set 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, Circulation Dept., 1300 S. Steele St., Denver, CO 80210 or email circulation@archden.org. EDITORIAL: 303-715-3230 or denvercatholic@archden.org | ADVERTISING: 303-715-3253 or denvercatholicads@archden.org CIRCULATION CUSTOMER SERVICE: 303-715-3230 or circulation@archden.org General Manager KARNA SWANSON Director ANDREW WRIGHT Business Manager MICHAEL O'NEILL Published by the Archdiocese of Denver, 1300 S. Steele St., Denver, CO 80210 Love does such things H ow could God, who exists out- side of time, enter into time and take on a human body? The great theologian Father Romano Guardini said he tried to intellectu- ally understand this and failed. But a breakthrough happened for him when a friend made a remark that struck his heart. At Christmas, we receive a gift that is at the same time mysterious and profound. And the fact that Jesus' birth occurred 2,000 years ago adds to the mystery. If you went to Christmas Mass during the day you heard St. John describe the Son of God's entrance into the world. "In the beginning was the Word," he wrote, "and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came to be through him, and without him nothing came to be." In his book The Lord, Father Guar- dini explains the Gospel passage by saying, "Let us consider carefully what this means: the everlasting, infi nite Creator not only reigns over the world but, at a specifi c 'moment,' crossed an unimaginable borderline and personally entered into history; he the inaccessibly remote one!" It is easier to think of God as just "up there," Father Guardini says, but instead he freely chose to enter into our imperfect reality. That led him to write: "Before such an unheard of thought the intellect bogs down." In our day, it's diffi cult for most of us to see beyond the materialistic rit- uals that are marketed as Christmas, let alone contemplate the deeper truths of God's entrance into the world. Father Guardini was able to move beyond his intellectual impasse when a friend made a remark that we all should contemplate. "But love does such things!" his friend said. The comment did not explain anything further to his intellect, but it aroused his heart and enabled it "to feel its way to the secrecy of God. The mystery is not understood, but it does move nearer …" (The Lord, p. 18). We know that in order to under- stand a person or the world around us, we must ask what its purpose is. This holds true whether we are talking about water, sunlight, a tree, you, me, and even the Son of God. Jesus' purpose in becoming a man was to make known the heart of the Father and carry out his will; it was to make love known. St. John confi rms this truth in his Gospel, "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life" (John 3:16). When we celebrate Christmas, we praise and adore God the Father for sending Jesus to us, for placing his divine love and power squarely in our midst. As we pray and think about how a child grew into a man who carried out this mission, seeking the will of the Father, each of us should refl ect on what the mission is that God has given us and how we are carrying it out. Every one of us has a God-given call- ing – a vocation that, if we faithfully fulfi ll it, brings his presence into the world and brings his kingdom nearer. Before Jesus was born, St. John wrote, "No one has ever seen God. The only Son, God, who is at the Father's side, has revealed him" (John 1:18). This was the mission that fulfi lled through his ministry, and his Passion, Death and Resurrection. Now, each of us is commissioned through our baptism with the joyful charge of making the love of the Father known to the world. In the fi fth century, Pope St. Leo the Great preached in one of his Christmas homilies: "Sadness should have no place on the birthday of life. The fear of death has been swal- lowed up; life brings us joy with the promise of eternal happiness. No one is shut out from this joy; all share the same reason for rejoicing. Our Lord, victor over sin and death, fi nding no man free from sin, came to free us all." Pope Francis reinforced the rele- vance of this teaching for our time when he opened the Holy Door at St. John Lateran and preached, "This third Sunday of Advent draws our gaze toward Christmas, which is now close. We cannot let ourselves be taken in by weariness; sadness in any form is not allowed, even though we have reason (for sadness), with many concerns and the many forms of violence which hurt our humanity. The coming of the Lord, however, must fi ll our hearts with joy." We have joy because, as Father Guar- dini reminds us, "love does such things." In this Jubilee Year of Mercy, I pray that you will know this same joy, which comes from opening yourself to the truth of who you are before the Father, receiving his inexhaustible mercy, and bringing it to others. May the tender love of the Trinity bless you and your families this Christmas! ARCHBISHOP'S SCHEDULE Jan. 9-10: Pastoral visit to Windsor and Ault Jan. 9: Mass, St. Mary, Ault (6 p.m.) Jan. 10: Mass, Our Lady of the Valley, Windsor (8 a.m. and 10 a.m.) Jan. 16: Mass before Denver March for Life, Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception (11:30 a.m.) Jan. 21: Mass for Rural Life, Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception (12:10 p.m.) PHOTO OF THE WEEK Archbishop Samuel J. Aquila shares smiles with 6-month-old Josie Lambert at the Curia Employee Christmas party. PHOTO BY KATIE LAMBERT Our Lord, victor over sin and death, fi nding no man free from sin, came to free us all." POPE ST. LEO THE GREAT " Archbishop's Column Most Rev. Samuel J. Aquila

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