Remembering God’s Great Gift To Us by Archbishop Donoghue

Archbishop John F. Donoghue

Published: December 23, 2004

Dear Friends in Christ,

One of the prayers for Mass on the 4th and last Sunday of Advent begins with these words: “Father, all-powerful God, your eternal Word took flesh on our earth when the Virgin Mary placed her life at the service of your plan.” Every element of this declaration speaks to us of the Advent and Christmas Seasons, and suggests just how profoundly our lives are encompassed by the mysteries of our Lord’s Nativity: that Jesus became man, by the miracle of the Incarnation, and by design—the design of the all-powerful Creator-Father that His children should not be left without hope, without the promise lost so cruelly in Eden, the promise of life eternal, the promise of hope, the desire of lost children to be found and brought home; that even in the presentation of this gift above all gifts, the Father would seek the warmth of human desire and the cooperation of human free will, enlisting the choice of the Virgin Mary, to place her life in His hands, that He might honor her as the vessel from which our salvation would be born; and that these miracles take place as part of a plan—God’s plan for the unfolding of His eternal love, for the distribution of His justice and mercy—to right wrong, to reclaim sinners, to restore the perfect order of His will, through Jesus Christ, the One Son of His all-powerful Being. Every aspect of what had been planned, of what unfolded during the time before our Lord’s birth, and the miraculous events that would follow thereafter—these are the proper focus of our thoughts and prayers during this season of Christmas—for thinking on these marvels will bring us closer to God, to His Son and the Holy Spirit, and to the protection of God’s own Mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary.

But it is what this prayer says of the Virgin Mary, and of her life “at the service of God’s plan,” which must outstretch this season of our joy, and taking us, remain the controlling power of our daily lives. For we do, if our souls are reconciled, if we are filled with the life‑giving Body and Blood of our Lord—we do play a part in the plan of God to move all things towards His love. The bishop and his priests and deacons, to gather the Faithful into the grace and safe harbor of the Church—the religious, brothers and sisters, to build up all the nurturing forces of the Church, teaching, supporting, spreading through their work the life the Holy Spirit breathes into us by the means of apostolic works—the zealots and the young, who so passionately follow the ideals of the Gospel, lived by the saints, and brought to life generation after generation by hearts who live solely to do the Lord’s will and bring people to the Lord’s way—and husbands and wives, who become mothers and fathers, grandmothers and grandfathers, and who stand at the head of the first reality of human life as God distributes it from His own vitality, the family, the human family, the source of all the love that we are able to return to God, by loving one another, as an answer to His love for us. In every manner, the life of Faith, the life of GRACE unfolds as a reflection of God’s goodness, and is made visible and active, when, like Mary, we put our individual lives at the service of God’s plan.

I have lived with this belief all my life, but I can truthfully say, that after 11 years as Archbishop of Atlanta, of the Catholic Church here in North Georgia, the plan has never been as clear to me as it is now, during this Season of Christmas 2004, and the New Year of our Lord’s favor, 2005. I will carry this goodness with me, as I turn over care of you, who have been my children, my family, my friends for these years, into the hands of my successor, Archbishop Gregory. And I know that I can receive no better gift from God, at this time of remembering His great Gift to all of us, than to know you will be well-served, well-led, well-cared-for. God bless you, and may the great Mother of God, Mary Most Holy, protect us all during our time on earth, this earth where our Lord took flesh, that He might come and be among us.

Sincerely yours,

Most Reverend John F. Donoghue

Archbishop-Emeritus of Atlanta,

Archdiocesan Administrator