A Christmas Message from Bishop Shaw

“How many of us as an uncle, godparent, aunt, grandparent or parent have watched a crying, fussing infant in a crib suddenly become quiet and awestruck when the color and movement of a toy is suspended above the crib? For a few moments, the child has forgotten its discomfort and anxiety as its whole being becomes focused on this wondrous new thing that has mysteriously entered its life.

“It is a Christmas image for us. For what are we but God’s children, anxious, uneasy, pained by the personal and global circumstances of our lives? And then God becomes incarnate in Jesus in Bethlehem. Like shepherd and wise men and angels we are awestruck — our whole beings drawn to this new revelation that God places in our midst. Come worship. Come adore. May the Spirit bring you all the joy of this Christmas season.”

The Rt. Rev. M. Thomas Shaw, SSJE Christmas 2009