A Christmas Message from the Prior Provincial
Dear Brothers,
The Word was the real light
that gives light to everyone;
he was coming into the world.
He was in the world
that had come into being through him,
and the world did not recognize him.
He came to his own
and his own people did not accept him.
But to those who did accept him
he gave power to become children of God,
to those who believed in his name
who were born not from human stock
or human desire
or human will
but from God himself.
The Word became flesh,
he lived among us,
and we saw his glory,
the glory that he has from the Father
as only Son of the Father,
full of grace and truth.
(John 1: 9-14; NJB)
As we celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, and rapidly approach the end of the first decade of the third millennium, I encourage you to pray with this passage from the Gospel of John. 2010 will surely bring many blessings as we face on-going challenges on a number of levels. The perennial challenge for us, of course, is to respond with our whole being to the charge we have been given to preach the Word made Flesh to the ends of the earth. We remind ourselves that we all “signed up” for this; and like in the day of many of our predecessors throughout our rich Dominican history, there is still resistance in our day to the truth of Jesus Christ coming from many who do not know him; who live in a world that does not recognize him. I encourage you to never shy away from this challenge; and I encourage you to resist the temptation to simply “tickle the ears” of your listeners. There is much at stake, brothers. Realize that we indeed have been given “power to become children of God”. With that knowledge, let us always preach the incarnation of the Word fearlessly and with great passion and integrity in the footsteps of St. Dominic, St. Martin de Porres, St. Catherine of Siena and all those Dominicans who faithfully preached the Word in their time and place. It is our turn now!
Merry Christmas & Happy New Year,
fr. Marty, O.P.
Prior Provincial
