Christmas message from Bishop John C. Wester

Intermountain Catholic

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Bishop John C. Wester

Years ago, my brother, two sisters and I would love to watch the Walt Disney show on our television in the playroom. We were fascinated by this imaginative program. I was particularly drawn to Jiminy Cricket, who would always end the show with his signature song, "When You Wish upon a Star." It made me feel like anything was possible and that all was well with the world. Of course, thanks to God and wonderful parents, things really were well with our world. Nonetheless, it was important to have that sense of hope; that sense of being cared for by a loving and divine providence.

As time went by, I soon discovered, as we all do, that things do not always go so well in life. Friends move away, school becomes harder, people say and do mean things, people get sick and my favorite baseball team never makes it to the World Series. These are, of course, standard fare for most people in life and only a reflection of the many hardships that we all encounter day in and day out. On the global scene, we hear of wars, human trafficking, starvation and poverty. In the United States we struggle with health care, the economy, a lack of jobs and the immigration debate.

Personally, many are still out of work, marriages fail, dreams are unfulfilled and disappointments abound. Perhaps more than ever, we could use a star on which to hang our hopes. As the song goes, we need a little Christmas right this very minute! We need the star of Bethlehem.

Indeed, the light of the Christmas star is a brilliant reminder that all is not lost, our hope is not dashed. Much more than the make-believe world of Walt Disney, the Church once again celebrates the in-breaking love of God for all of creation, especially those of us made in his image and likeness. Our star is Jesus Christ himself, who loves us so much that he "did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance" (Philippians 2: 6-7). His love is so great that the life he took on with such humility he freely gave up that we might have life eternal. Thus, the wood of the manger leads to the wood of the cross: "He humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross" (Philippians 2: 8). God accepted this perfect sacrifice of his son and included us in that salvific embrace so that just as "God greatly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend" (Philippians 2: 9-10a), so too are we caught up in the glory of Christ and given eternal life. Now there's something give us hope! The star that guides us is the love of Christ, a love that creates a greater light than all the stars put together! Our hope is grounded in the love of God, a love that saves us from wishful thinking and restores us to the fullness of life. We rejoice with the shepherds and the angels in declaring that Christ is our hope. Christ is the way, the truth and the life. Christ is what this season is all about.

We live in the sure and certain hope that when we gaze on the light of Christ, the Son of God, the star of Bethlehem, all our dreams will come true: every single one of them! It is my prayer that this Christmas will bring you and your loved ones deep, abiding peace and never ending hope.

Merry Christmas!