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A Christmas message from our President & CEO, Rev. Patrick J. McDevitt, CM, PhD:
Soon, and very soon, we will celebrate the birth of Jesus of Nazareth—the long-awaited Anointed One of Yahweh, the Son of Man, the Son of God. But this holy night is not only about who Jesus was long ago in Bethlehem. It is also, and perhaps more profoundly, about who we are—and who we are called to become.
The mystery of Christmas tells us something astonishing: God chose to reveal the fullness of divine life through our human nature. God did not remain distant. God did not bypass humanity. God became human. And in doing so, God declared that our lives are gifts—sacred, holy, and filled with depth, meaning, and infinite possibility.
In the Incarnation, God becomes one of us so that we might recognize the divine life within us. The Christ child does not simply arrive to be admired from afar. Christ comes to anoint us—to make us, in a real way, another Christ: sons and daughters of humanity, and sons and daughters of God.
When we look upon the manger in Bethlehem, we are reminded of the sacred identity we share—not only with Christ, but with one another, and with all creation. This child binds heaven and earth together. Nothing human is foreign to God, and nothing human is insignificant.
Christmas, then, invites us to fall more deeply in love—not only with this fragile, divine infant—but also with ourselves, and with every human person who walks this earth. To recognize the Divine Spirit alive in us and in others gives us new eyes: eyes that see the good, the beautiful, and the true, even in a world often marked by pain and division.
Christ also touches our ears. Like the shepherds, we are invited to hear the angelic voices still singing today—songs of hope, peace, and joy. When we truly encounter Christ, darkness loses its power. Anger softens. Hatred gives way to compassion.
And finally, the embrace of Christ strengthens us. We are sent, like the shepherds, as heralds of good news—not just with our words, but with our lives. We are sent to carry peace into conflict, healing into brokenness, and hope into places that long for light.
May this Christmas awaken us once again to the sacred mystery we carry.
May it bring peace, healing, and hope to our world.
And may the Christ born in Bethlehem be born anew in us.
Merry Christmas!
Consider your own Christmas gift to Saint Luke Institute today.