Christmas Day Message from Bishop Minerva

December 25, 2017

Luke 20:1-20

And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.  Luke 20:7

Brothers and Sisters,

Blessed Christmas to you and to the world!  Christ our Lord is born this day, full of God’s love, mercy and grace.  Heaven and earth, shepherds in the fields, and a manger were blessed to welcome Christ.  No one, however, experienced the blessing as deeply as Mary and Joseph.  They alone were chosen by God to bring the Christ to the world.

Mary and Joseph were poor and humble, and among the most vulnerable of their time.  The best they could provide the Holy Child was the love within their hearts.  It was this love that God honored sending the Christ Child to them.  It is a clear message that God chooses to come to the world through the most vulnerable.

Recently I was participating in a day of learning.  It was a secular opportunity but the woman who led us stated a sacred truth.  If we walk with the most vulnerable among us and strive to respond with compassion, love and justice to their human needs, everyone will be blessed.  I believe this is what God was attempting to teach us when he chose Mary and Joseph to serve as those who carried and first welcomed the Christ Child.

It was for people like Mary and Joseph that the Christ would most devote his ministry.  We should do the same.  On this Christmas, I am praying that we the people called United Methodists will follow the path of God to the Christ Child.  We will find him among the poor and suffering and as we walk with compassionate love with them, we will experience God’s perfect love for all of us.

Christ our Lord is born this day!  Thanks be to God!

Bishop Minerva G. Carcaño