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MINISTER PROVINCIAL
Fr. Anthony Criscitelli, T.O.R.
Church of St. Bridget
3811 Emerson Ave. N.
Minneapolis, MN 55412 |
�
Peace and Good Things!
Going through a box of Christmas �stuff� the other day I came across
a Christmas letter I received a number of years ago from the
venerable Godfrey Diekman, OSB.� Some of you may recall that
Godfrey, a monk of St. John�s Abbey, used to reside with us at St.
Thomas More Friary when he was teaching at the Catholic University
of America.� In the letter he reflected on pieces of a cr�che scene
that were made and presented to him by some dear friends.
In part, he wrote,
�I
don�t remember when Advent has meant as much to me as it has this
year.� And all because of a little donkey shaped out of clay�he has
been resting on a piece of cork on my desk, looking at me with
doleful, questioning eyes.� In thanking my friend for her gift, I
asked her why the donkey looks so sad�come to think of it, all
donkeys do!� Her answer: �Could it be that donkeys are sad because
they were considered
unclean,
while the cloven footed oxen were declared
clean?�
So the ox at the crib represents the Chosen People, and the donkey
all the rest of us who were not so privileged.�� Something to think
about, especially since the donkey continues to look so sad.�
I
think this has something terribly important to say to us about the
feast we are preparing to celebrate.� How often have we felt like
the donkey�sad and feeling �un-chosen?�� How often have we felt like
we were on the outside looking in or felt less than worthy of
another�s love and concern, never mind the love and concern of God?�
If this feast says anything to us, it says that in God�s way of
looking at things, no one is un-chosen, no one is unworthy, no one
has reason to be sad or feel left out.
The marvelous fact of Christmas�the reason Francis was so swept up
in the miracle of the Incarnation�is that the Savior whose birth we
celebrate extended the promise of God to all people.� The
Word-Made-Flesh was not born in a palace, but a stable; not among
admiring friends, relatives, and sycophants, but with an ox and ass
for company; and the news of his birth was heralded not to the
wealthy and powerful, but to shepherds�the poor and dirty and
despised of their day.� Think of the implications this has for us
personally and those to whom we strive to carry the Good News.� In
these days, the world is getting increasingly polarized as more and
more lines of division and separation are drawn.� The Incarnation
reminds us that so many of the things we use to separate ourselves
from one another are really of little or no consequence; because of
Christmas all is transformed.� Darkness is overcome by light and
despair gives way to hope-filled expectation.� The story of
Christmas is one of God�s grace; God�s free and unmerited favor.� We
don�t earn it and we have no claim on it�God pours it out on us
without asking and without condition.� No racial, intellectual,
spiritual, or social qualifications are required, for our God shows
no partiality.� In Christ and because of Christ all are chosen, all
are one.
Fundamentally, what we celebrate at Christmas is hope and love.� And
if we would benefit by the dynamic and transforming power of this
feast, we would give ourselves permission to put our gloom and
despair away and not allow it to blind us to the message that, in
spite of all the evident to the contrary�war and poverty, division
within the Church, our dwindling and aging numbers, global warming,
hunger, and all the rest�God is with us and within us!
May this hope and love take root in your heart this Christmas and
throughout the year and may you know always that you are chosen by
the God who continues to come to us!�
�
Fraternally in
Saint Francis,
�
� ������������������������������������ (Very Reverend) Anthony M.
Criscitelli, TOR
Minister Provincial
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