Newsletter - December 2006

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In the midst of the distant echo of guns and bombs on foreign soil and the chaotic buzz of the shopping frenzy of the Christmas rush, it is difficult to hear the gentle phrase from St. John’s gospel “…and the word was made flesh and dwelt among us.”  

That phrase which so simply expresses one of the most profound events in the history of the world, drops from the heavens as the gentle flakes of snow that silently cover our world in a blanket of peace.  The message is centuries old, but it does not compete for our attention as the spectacular and dramatic T.V. ads that flood our screen.  We are constantly bombarded with ads to buy the perfect gift for whoever the loved one may be and we spend countless hours in wrapping and preparing the gift to be placed beneath the Christmas tree.  Those gifts, so generously and artistically wrapped, are meant to convey the perfect expression of our love and care. 

The Word was God’s gift to us.  But that Word was the full expression of the mystery of the Godhead, the mystery of love, of peace, of forgiveness and joy to the world.  That Word said it all. But, unlike our spoken word, the Word of God is not only alive, but it was the gift of the Christ Child, wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger.  The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. 

Today, more than ever, our broken, war-torn world is searching frantically for that peace and healing.  The word must be made flesh again in our own lives.  The word of love must be flesh in your world and mine.  The word of forgiveness, of care and compassion, of healing, must become flesh in our hearts and in our homes before it can fill our country and reach the distant lands that are devastated by war and terror. 

This Christmas may the Word be made flesh in us so that the peace and joy of that little Christ child, God’s perfect gift to us, may live in our hearts and conquer our world today. 

Larry Mackey, OMI
Director