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THE ANCHOR-Diocese of fall River-Thur.. Dec. 25, 1980
themoorin~ A Glimmer of Hope
the living word
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Perhaps this Christmas we are beginning yet again to realize that our joy is not caused by tinsel and show. Of course, for many this realization does not COIne easily. For some it has even been imposed by outside forces. If we were left to ourselves our celebration of Christmas as feast would remain for many in the realm of the natural, not the supernatural. For many years the "good life" has made pagans of many of us. As a result the wonder and amazement of' the climactic event of the birth of Christ have been reduced for them to the sensual and senseless. How many times have we measured this day by what the world gave us and not by what the heavens proclaimed to all men of goodwill. ' .Somehow in the ongoing process' of revelation, a glimmer of light is attempting to pierce our commercial and material darkness. Forces beyond our personal control which for many of us have brought the "good life" to a crashing halt have made us realize that in reality this good life has been a cheat and thief, robbing us of the truth of Bethlehem. Now, with lowered thermostats and shrunken larders, essentials have once again become our priorities. To be sure, there are many who will still try to have it their way with the fantasy of their plastic buying power. Yet even they will have to face reality when monthly payments are due. Fewer jobs,' soaring interest rates, uncontrolled inflation and countless other constraints have curtailed our greed and avarice where spiritual considerations failed to, do so. In the shock waves flowing from these economic events, many people have had to view life' without rosecolored glasses. And many have seen the golden calf for the false god that it is. With difficulty and in despair people are making some hard choices. For the first time in many years some of these decisions are even spiritual. And as lives change on the physkal level, so too on the spiritual. It is this latter change that makes this Christmas one of hoPe and heart. There are. many more Catholics who despite the difficult road are trying to reach Bethlehem. Caring and sharing .are real. People with broken hearts and homes are' finding that there is room for Christmas in their lives. Others are once again seeing that their lives can be changed, that the Word made Flesh can live in them. More and more are acknowledging that Christmas is Jesus, with all that realization implies in changing their lives. . He is the great light that dismisses our gloom. He is our trust and assurance even when the gifts of man tarnish and rust. For those who allow the Desired of the Nations to enter their hearts and souls, Christmas will never again be the same. .
Christmas Greetings Christmas'is a time when we try to realize that giving h~s little meaning unless it is done with gratitude .and ap-
preciation. It is with this in mind that we wish to extend to all our readers and advertisers' the very best wishes of this Holy Season. In a spirit of thankfulness all of us at The Anchor who try each week to bring the Good News int~ your home, pray that He who has come will walk with you and you with Him, each day of the New Year. ,
theanc
OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER OF THE DIOCESE OF FALL RIVER' A10 Highland Avenue fall River, Moss. 02722 675-7151 PUBLISHER Most Rev. Daniel A. Cronin, D.O., S.T.D.
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Rev. John F. Moore
Rev. Msgr. John 1. Regan ~ l~ary
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space for God really cares about me being me cause it tells us who we are, it - does it make any difference gives us our identity. "Too'often we allow the world to anyone that I am or am not? Am I noticed in any significant, to define us, to tell us who we, are and what we are - but this affirming way?" These situations, according to is the false self, the illusory self, Father Nouwen, are common ex- the self we have to die to. We, periences of a lack of personal as Christians, are not what the world tells us we are. We are fulfillment. the ones created and recreated "They suggest. that we are disconnected, that we are l~nely, in the unimaginable love of in the existential sense of lone- God." In creating inner space for liness." ·We suggested that too often people try to find some God, people are, in a sense, goperson or group who can take ing out into the desert ·that is both a wilderness and a paradise, that sense of loneliness away. the priest said. Personal relationships born "In it we come to grips with out of this type of situation are idolatrous, said Father Nouwen, our own inner chaos. It is filled "in the sense that you hang on- with our demons, personal to the other person with a poss- drives and impulses. This desert essive grip, pleading that he is also paradise, for. here we take away your loneliness, that find that we are loved by someone who loves us simply because he be your reason for living. , "In this process, rather than he loves. "Anyone who wants to serve making the other person your god (in the sense of idolatry), . in the name of the Lord must first go into this desert'. If he you make yourself a demon." becomes a priest without coming One approach to relieving this to grips with this struggle, he is critical situation, according to like all the rest of the world, he Father Nouwen, is the creating is a secular salesman - only he of an inner space in which God is tryirig to sell the Gospel," can, make himself known. . Father Nouwen said. American priests suffer from a sense of anger, caught up in "In this space you can become "the system," and find them- aware that you are loved so fully THE ANCHOR selves "doing things without, that you Wm live in the midst of (USPS-545-G20) their hearts really being in them. this world without being of it, Second Class Postage Paid at Fall River, Their anger comes from their without holding onto people. Mass. Published every Th,ursday at 410 inability'to break free." "You can get in touch with Highland Avenue, Fall River, Mass. 02722 God first by the catholic Press of the Diocese of Fall Depression victimizes these the 'first love' priests, Father Nouwen said.·. loved us. Each of us has a holy River. Subscription price by mall, postpaid per year. Postmasters send addreu "This depression is a gnawing obligation to get in touch with $6.00 ;hanges to The Anchor, P.O. Box 7, Fill question' that asks if anyone and listen to this 'first love' be- River. MA 02722 BALTIMORE (NC) "Despite the fact· that we at:e very busy people, with very' filled lives, we often find ourselves to be unfulfilled people." Father Henri Nouwen told seminarians in Baltimore. The theologian.psychologist said. "We fill every minute of our lives with activities and people. We have a sense of fear, of horror at the thought of empty space. The tragedy of all this is that underneath all this activity, all this business, we feel basically unfulfilled." Father Nouwen was retreat master for a seminarians' reo treat at St. Mary's Seminary and University. Addressing himself to ministry in general and or': dained ministry in particular, he outlined problems facing the the American priesthood. Too many priests find themselves coping with boredom, he said. "By boredom I do not mean that they have nothing to do with their time. Boredom in this case means a sense of questioning whether w'hat they are doing in their 'ministry is worth doing at all."