The Christmas story tonight is no different than it has ever been. Same characters; same stable; same angels; same shepherds; same star year after year after year. You would think after 2,000 years, Christians would get tired of telling the same story.
Growing up isn’t easy. That’s not really news. It has always been true. True for your peers and sisters and brothers. True for your friends. True for your parents and their parents before them. True for your teachers, your priests and even for your bishop! Think with me for a minute. What are the challenges and problems you face? Life can be complicated especially when you are a teenager. So many things change: the way you think. The things you believe. The way in which you relate to one another.
Every year after Thanksgiving, my secretary and I bring the storage boxes containing Christmas trees, lights and decorations in from the garage. No doubt this same ritual is observed in many homes throughout the Diocese. Although still in the Holy Season of Advent, I must confess I have already started to celebrate the joys of Christmas.
As Bishop of the Diocese of Trenton, I have the great joy of announcing the appointment of two of our priests as “Missionaries of Mercy” by Pope Francis:
To the Clergy, Religious and Faithful of the Diocese of Trenton: President John Fitzgerald Kennedy once stated that Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future (Address in the Assembly Hall at the Paulskirche in Frankfurt (266),” June 25, 1963.