Cardinal Tobin: Christmas is a season of joy and hope

My dear sisters and brothers in Christ,

During this season of joy and hope, we are once again reminded that God is closer to us than we dare admit. The all-powerful, all-knowing God who created the universe has become one of us and one with us in the Incarnation of Jesus, the Word made flesh. God’s most profound intervention in human history—and in the lives of each of us—demonstrates beyond any doubt how much God cares for us.

The fact that Jesus is born so humbly, in a stable surrounded by his loving family, social outcasts (shepherds), and domestic animals, is a scandal by any human standard. We are conditioned to seek God among the wealthy and powerful—the “important people” who govern our society, drive our economy, and control influential institutions such as the media, businesses, schools, healthcare agencies, and, yes, the Church.

But God surprises us. He inverts our values, showing us that the first will be last, the lowly will be raised up, the rich will be sent away empty, and the poor will inherit the Earth and all its treasures.

During a homily given during the celebration of Vespers on the Vigil of the Patronal Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary of Pompeii (see selection below), Pope Leo XIV reflected on God’s desire to involve us in the mystery of our salvation. Quoting Saint Augustine, the Holy Father says, “God created us without us, but he will not save us without us. Thus, we are called to cooperate with him by living out a life of grace as his sons and daughters, making our own contribution to the plan of salvation.” Through the work of the Holy Spirit, the all-powerful Creator of Heaven and Earth invites us to be co-responsible stewards of our redemption and sanctification in Christ.

God’s ways are not our ways. High is low. Rich is poor. Power is service. These are God’s ways, not ours. Most amazing of all the divine paradoxes is that the omnipotent God comes to us in the absolute vulnerability of a newborn infant, who can do nothing for himself and depends completely on the loving care of his mother and foster father.

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