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Believe in the Good News
Dear brothers and sisters,
We are living in a missionary time. We are a missionary diocese. We are missionary parishes and schools. We are missionary priests and deacons. We are all called to be missionary disciples.
We are living in a missionary time. In many homes during the Christmas season, it is a time of decorating, exchanging gifts, and gatherings of family and friends. Yet, in the midst of these Christmas activities, in a recent survey, nine out of ten people say they would not be able to give many details to the biblical Christmas story! We can no longer assume that the story of the birth of Jesus is known by most of the folks around us at any given time.
We are living in a missionary time. As missionary disciples we simply share with others how Jesus, the Son of God, was born into the world. Just recount the incredible story of Christmas (if you yourself need to brush up beforehand, read Luke 1:1-2:52 and Matthew 1:1-2:23). Or use your Nativity set as an evangelizing moment to talk about Bethlehem, the stable and manger, the shepherds, magi, angels, Mary, Joseph, the ox, and the donkey. Tell them about the beauty, truth, and goodness of a God who loves us so much that he sent his Son to become one like us. How in Jesus there is the healing, hope, and joy that we are all looking for in our lives.
You may feel like you missed your Christmas evangelizing moment as this article is appearing after Christmas Day. Don’t worry! The Church has your back. Presently we are celebrating the 12 days of Christmas, and then we will celebrate Christmastime through the Baptism of Jesus and then Christmastide which concludes our celebration of Christmas with the Feast of the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple on Feb. 2.
There is plenty of time intentionally to tell the Christmas story of how Jesus was born into this world as our Savior. If every Catholic in our diocese would share and teach the Christmas story to one out of the nine people who say they would not be able to provide many details as to how Jesus was born, 41,000 people in our diocese would benefit immensely from this simple evangelizing moment as they grow closer to Jesus as the center of the Christmas story and our lives thereafter.
We are living in a missionary time. When it comes to being a missionary disciple, the mission to bring people closer to Jesus does not end with simply telling the Christmas story. Rather, it just begins the work of making the Christmas story of Jesus the center of every moment of every day. This charge of the Missionary Disciple is aptly captured in the poem, “The Work of Christmas,” by Howard Thurman.
“When the song of the angels is stilled, / when the star in the sky is gone, / when kings and princes are home, / when shepherds are back with their flocks, / the work of Christmas begins: / to find the lost, / to heal the broken, / to feed the hungry, / to release the prisoner, / to rebuild nations, / to bring peace among people, / to make music in the heart.”
We are living in a missionary time. We are a missionary diocese. We are missionary parishes and schools. We are missionary priests and deacons. We are all called to be missionary disciples.
Let the work of Christmas begin,
Bishop Daniel Felton is the tenth bishop of Duluth.