Photo by Tudor Baciu on Unsplash
OFFICE FOR SOCIAL MINISTRY
“Yet in the Spirit of this wonderful Christmas Story we will find Jesus most concretely when we travel out of our comfortable places. As he was first found in the poorest conditions on the night of his birth, we find him in the poor, the homeless and the hungry as we leave our comforts to reach out to them with the love of Christ that has been born in our hearts. Christmas is a comforting feast! Yet is was never meant to be comfortable, but to challenge us to make our journey outward to others.” (Bishop Larry Silva’s 2019 Christmas message)
It’s that time again when people are talking story about New Year’s resolutions. If you need ideas, Bishop Larry Silva’s Christmas message provides inspiring suggestions. Bishop Larry proposes that we will find Jesus most concretely when we leave our comfort zones and experience Christ in the vulnerable around us. How about resolving to reach out to others in need not only inside but outside our circle of family and friends? Maybe we can make more time and space to respond to others suffering with physical, emotional or mental illness, or those struggling with loss or severe limitations. This kind of New Year’s resolution allows us to deepen the experience of the vulnerable Christ child born in our hearts at Christmas. But, as Bishop Larry says, it involves “traveling out of our comfortable places … leaving our comforts to reach out.”
We often make resolutions that supposedly take us out of our comfortable places. For instance, how many times have we resolved to leave the comfort of our couches and exercise more, or change our diet by cutting our unhealthy comfort food? Along with diet and exercise, how about setting aside a definite amount of time each week, or month, to get out of our comfort zone to spend time and talk story with the vulnerable in our midst? What about volunteering to visit the sick who are homebound or in hospitals or hospice, where our presence and sharing can bring a smile and small light to a dark situation. Or what about eliminating some of our spending on desserts or alcohol and giving that money to your parish food pantry, or even better, volunteering your time there or at a homeless soup kitchen where you can actually interact with the hungry and homeless?
There are many opportunities to leave your comfort zones and reach out to others, and in so doing, experience and share the love of Christ throughout the year.
Pope Francis expressed a similar suggestion in his Christmas “Ubi et Orbis” message: “May Emmanuel bring light to all the suffering members of our human family. May he soften our often stony and self-centered hearts, and make them channels of his love. May he bring his smile, through our poor faces, to all the children of the world: to those who are abandoned and those who suffer violence. Through our frail hands, may he clothe those who have nothing to wear, give bread to the hungry and heal the sick … may he draw close to the elderly and the lonely, to migrants and the marginalized. On this joyful Christmas Day, may he bring his tenderness to all and brighten the darkness in this world.”
These Christmas messages of Bishop Larry and Pope Francis are well worth reflecting on and taking to heart as we make our resolutions for the New Year. Let’s resolve to reach out and share the bright light of Christ’s tender loving care with others in need during 2020, both inside and outside our comfort zone!
Mahalo and Hauoli Makahiki Hou!
Your friends at the
Office for Social Ministry
