Print Issue: December 19, 2002

Dear Friends in Christ,

King David sang these words with his heart in the future, not knowing, but only imagining what the Savior would be. But we can sing these words with certain knowledge, for Christ, the Redeemer and Lord, has been revealed to us, and we live - we live in the reign of His kindness. How else can we describe those gifts that came to earth with His birth, that matured as He did, that passed through the trial of suffering and death, to emerge from those purifications in the shining glory of the Resurrection? We call them by familiar names, as we do those we love: redemption, forgiveness, communion - and we seek them in sacramental homes where they can always be found: Baptism, Penance, Eucharist. But whatever we name them, they are still the forever-living kindness of the Lord our God - they are home to our souls, for we live in the kingdom of His kindness. And never again, will any promise or revelation outshine or outlast this one - the revelation of God on earth, that happened in a poor stable of Bethlehem, two thousand years ago, but today in our hearts.

Let us be supremely grateful during this holy season for what we have already received. But let us remember too, that we are all ministers of the kindness of our God. This is the season of charity - of love and generosity towards all, with malice towards none. This is the season for exceptional giving - for giving to those we cannot know except through their suffering and want. This is the season to find someone to be good to - deserving or not - as our Lord's Spirit found us - so undeserving - and came to us through the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Can we not try to imitate, even if only palely, this miracle of the Incarnation, by bringing to birth, through our words and actions, acts of kindness and generosity - acts whereby we begin for someone else, the sharing of God's kindness which we have already received in abundance?

I believe that is what the Lord wants from us on His birthday, and I ask every Catholic of the Archdiocese of Atlanta, to make the Lord this gift, by giving to someone out there who might otherwise receive nothing this Christmas. And for every such gift, we can be certain that the light of the star that shone on the stable of Bethlehem, will stretch its light a little further, to shine on us, and reveal to our Father in Heaven, how much we love Him, how grateful we are, and what faithful servants He enjoys here below, in His Kingdom of Forever Kindness.

God bless you all, and keep you safe through this season of the Nativity and the New Year.

Most Reverend John F. Donoghue
Archbishop of Atlanta