Dear One’s of St. C’s, 

As we creep closer to Christmas and I let Advent hope drift away and I move into Christmas joy, the arrival of our hope, I have been pondering the greatest gift that Alissa has taught me as priest.  And here it is, as a parish priest if you cannot love the people, you cannot do anything else.  This is always where Alissa and I begin our ministry with you.  You know what the most surprising side effect of making this my number one priority has been?  It makes me love my job, because I love being with this community so much.  

This is a great lesson as priest, but it sort of fits for all things in life, doesn’t it?  We have to start with love, if we skip this step, everything else falls a part or loses its meaning.  This idea is so simple, but it is not always easy.  I’ll admit to you that I don’t always succeed at this in life, and it is okay if you don’t either.  Even though I do not always succeed, it is always where I begin.  Growing love in your heart for people is literal work.  I take time out of my work day to think about all the ways I admire this community.   I take time to think about the belovedness of individual members of this community.

As we prepare to spend Christmas with family and friends, it is not always easy to find everyones belovedness.  But I promise you it is there.   It is not always easy to love those in our lives, especially those closest to us.  Relationships and histories are complicated and can be filled with hurt, trauma, disappointment, and betrayal.  I pray that as you attempt to love those in your life that you would give yourself grace and patience.  Love can be hard to do.

I do believe that the Christmas story is the greatest example we have of God starting with love.  God started with their love for creation and their desire to be near us.  God found a way to break into the world to be present with us. Nothing about this love was simple or easy.  But I believe God would do it again because I believe God does continually break into the world.  God continually goes back to the belovedness of humanity and chooses to love us over and over again.  It is my hope and prayer this Christmas season that you will accept this love from God and then go and discover this love from God in all that you know and all that you meet. 

with love, 

Meghan