Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ:
"O Come, O Come, Emmanuel" has heralded this treasured celebration of the Birth of Jesus our Lord and Savior. With gladness of heart, I greet you and wish for you the deeply felt joy, hope and peace of this sacred Feast of Emmanuel, God with us.
Pope John Paul II has called upon the whole Church to prepare for the Holy Year of Jubilee by prayerful, communal concentration on the Trinity -- Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
During our Advent journey, one voice especially stands out in proclamation of the promised Savior, the voice of Isaiah, whose book contains the sign that God would give: "The virgin will be with child, and bear a son, and shall name him Emmanuel" (7:14).
Matthew tells us that the angel revealed to Joseph in a dream that Mary had conceived the child by the Holy Spirit in fulfillment of that sign concerning Emmanuel and that the child was to be named Jesus (1:20-23).
It is Isaiah, too, who describes the Peaceable Kingdom of Emmanuel in which he "shall judge the poor with justice and decide aright for the land's afflicted," and in which natural enemies such as the lamb and the wolf share food and companionship together as host and guest. That Peaceable Kingdom knows "no harm or ruin" (11:4, 6, 9).
Isaiah thus foreshadows Jesus in His mission as savior, teacher, healer, peacemaker and seeker for justice whom we meet intimately in the Gospels, who is God with us, who is our Living Word and our Living Bread.
At the crib, as we express with joy and stillness of spirit our thanksgiving to God for the gift of Jesus our Redeemer, born in a borrowed stable, we bear within us the impact of the vital nourishment of the teaching of our Savior. The images that Jesus chooses are teeming with life: the seed sown by the farmer...the yeast that leavens...the potential of the mustard seed...and the fruitfulness of the good tree. They tellingly relate to spiritual growth and to service of the reign of God.
The images in the parables of the pearl of great price and of the discovered treasure hidden in a field convey the depth of the surrender of whatever the givers have in order to obtain their heart's desire and, therefore, suggest the price of discipleship.
The Gospels provide the teaching of Jesus on relationship with God. The Lord's Prayer, given at the request of one of the disciples, reveals God's infinite holiness, power, mercy and justice, as well as the love, trust and repentance of the one who prays and is willing to forgive others (Mt 6:9-13).
The parable of the Prodigal Son communicates its tremendous truth through the ripe characterization of the merciful father and his two sons. The compassion, love and alacrity with which the father welcomes the returning son and pleads with the elder brother to join the celebration reflect God's infinite exercise of these qualities (Lk 15: 11-32). Jesus also counsels: "Be compassionate, as your Father is compassionate" (6:36).
After the Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan by John the Baptist, as Luke notes: "Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, then returned from the Jordan and was conducted by the Holy Spirit into the desert for forty days, where He was tempted by the devil," who was unsuccessful in his efforts (4:1-13). Luke continues: "Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee." After the first mission of the 72 disciples, they came back exultingly to report their success. "At that moment, Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said: 'I offer you praise, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because what you have hidden from the learned and the clever you have revealed to the merest children'" (10:17-21).
During the months preceding this Christmas and through the media, many voices in our world have continued to bear witness to the suffering of multitudes from the effects of war, division, oppression, and disregard for human dignity and life. As we share this Christmas the wonder and the joy that Mary and Joseph and the shepherds experienced in the birth of our Savior, we remember the many men, women and children who are homeless in our Diocese, in our country and in many parts of our world.
In chilling contrast to the Peaceable Kingdom of Emmanuel described by Isaiah, there flourishes what one might term a "Kingdom of Death" in our world, as seen in the increasing manufacture and sale of deadly weaponry here and abroad...in the horrible extent and effects of land mines that maim or kill so many, including children...in the so-called "hate crimes" that are occurring...and in the number of executions of death row people.
We remember, on the other hand, the many men and women around our world who have taken seriously the blessing of Jesus the Lord upon the merciful, the peacemakers, the seekers after justice and holiness, and who in large numbers have volunteered to respond to the desperate situations of people in so many war-torn and devastated areas by working with them and others toward restoration of their homes, villages, roadways and bridges.
On Dec. 7, 1997, we completed the celebration of the Sesquicentennial Year of the Founding of our Diocese of Albany with a festival of lights at an ecumenical prayer service in the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Albany. Part of our Sesquicentennial theme was that of "Discovering Tomorrow." The generous and spirited response of so many of our people and parishes to the spiritual and pastoral renewal to which our Holy Father has called the whole Church in preparation for the Great Jubilee of the year 2000 constitutes one outstanding way of "Discovering Tomorrow."
The Diocese of Albany is offering Renew 2000, a program in which many parishes and faith-sharing groups are participating. Some other parishes have chosen the Follow Me! program for their preparation for the Holy Year of the Great Jubilee.
The Holy Year will start on Christmas Eve 1999 and conclude on January 6, 2001, on the Feast of the Epiphany. Pope John Paul II has urged the whole Church, in preparation for the Holy Year, individually and communally, to reflect upon and to deepen our relationship with the Trinity, to renew our spirituality and to seek actively together for unity among all of us who are the Church, to support the advance of Christian unity and increased ecumenical and interreligious understanding, and to exercise the social mission of the Church on behalf of the poor and the oppressed of the world.
The Holy Year will also involve examination of conscience by the whole Church for our sins and will support solidarity among the nations and inclusion of 20th Century martyrs who lost their lives under Nazism, Communism or tribal or racial warfare.
The first season of Renew 2000 in our parishes and institutions and other clusters (or of the Follow Me! program) preceded part or most of our Advent journeys. Such gatherings have responded generously to the invitation of our Holy Father, expressed to the whole Church in "The Millennium Draws Near," to prepare for the Jubilee Year of 2000 by taking the time to reflect and pray, to seek unity and reconciliation, to be transformed, and to concentrate on the Trinity during this time of preparation for the Jubilee Year.
Emmanuel is "God with us" and brings, as it were, the "face" of God among us. Jesus the Lord, who partook of the lot of the poorest of the poor as He lay in the manger, has revealed to us the infinite love and the community of the Trinity, and invited us to share in the life of that community.
The Word of God calls us to be people of profound faith and people of peace and justice. In this Christmastime of 1998, let us unite our prayers for peace for our troubled and violence-torn world and for peacemakers who are striving for that tremendous goal.
May this Christmas bring you and your loved ones great peace and joy of heart, and sustaining blessings for your ongoing journey of faith, love and service of the Word of God.
Howard J. Hubbard
Bishop of Albany