Beloved in Christ,
Behind the cloud of secularism that
so often shrouds the depth and meaning of each holiday, as a community in
Jesus Christ, giving thanks can never be captured in a calendar. The joy
that is Christ, our Life, is ever within us, we have only to open our
hearts to the One who is Infinite Gift.
The
Gift of Peace and Freedom; God’s Presence needn’t be sought out abroad.
He is no more present
in Rome, in Canterbury, in Greece –
–
or
in Ohio for that matter
– than He
is in the depths of our humanity;
closer to us than we are to our very selves. It is for this ever present Gift that we give pause to the
ordinary and gather with loved ones in celebration of
what is,
of the
One Who Is, and of
we who are
– united one to another – as His instruments.
In the name of the Reformed Catholic
Church we have answered the call to be the chimes of peace in the lives of
the broken; the harp whose chords – plunked – draw those asleep in
darkness back into the light of faith. We are the piano of hope, keys of
every shape and color, which play the song of the Lord for those whose
ears have been made deaf to the chords of joy. In the sounding of the
trumpet, we are the unwavering call to justice; we are instruments
prophetic who will not be silenced in proclaiming the good news that
All are Welcome
in
the house we have been commissioned to build.
As the
melodic whisper of the gentle flute – in a world in which “religion”
equals institution – we incarnate the love of God in Jesus Christ; the
sweetness of the feast of grace, made ready for every person who has ever
been “rendered” unlovable. And in this symphony, rising and falling with
the beating of our hearts, we praise God with whom we joyfully labor in
carrying out the vocation to be His Catholic Church re-formed.
“Here we grow again,” has become a
frequent term in the RCC and it will doubtlessly remain as such as the
Holy Spirit continues to call the family of God back into a renovated home
where there is room for all. How can we not help but to marvel, how could
we dare to impede, this awesome movement of the Spirit! We have been
commissioned from around the globe to proclaim the unconditional love of
God and to shout to the ends of the earth:
there is
always room in this inn, welcome home! The gifts we share
with each of our sisters and brothers,
perpetually coming to harvest, are the spirit grounding the work of the
array of pages to follow. Upon each page is another portrait of the new
work that God has graced us with in our dioceses, parishes and apostolates.
Let us rejoice friends, in the unique gifts we have each been given; and
let us reflect during this time in the life of our Church upon the awesome
magnitude of God’s love for us in our RCC Family. In the spirit of thanks
marking every day, I celebrate
this day
with each of you:
For the Greater Glory of God,
Father Michael Abair, Pax
Press Newspaper Editor
