Appeal: Annual Fund

           Christmas triggers a lot of memories. One that came floating back to me happened the first Christmas I spent out of the country, a long way from home. In 1967, I was a newly ordained priest and a graduate student at the University of Louvain in Belgium. The experience of adjusting to a new country, a new language, and a demanding academic program combined to make me very homesick as Christmas approached.

 

            There were a lot of U.S. troops in Germany in those days when the Cold War still raged and the Army was anxious to recruit English-speaking priests to come on weekends to provide Mass for the troops. That Christmas I had agreed to spend ten days visiting several outposts deep in the forests of Western Germany. I lived in Louvain at a residence with a few fellow religious and some lay students. Before I left I asked the superior of the house, Fr. Osmond, to just hold my mail for me because I would be on the road.   

 

            When I returned after my foray into the Black Forest, I eagerly looked forward to the Christmas cards and letters from family and friends.  Fr. Osmond greeted me with a big smile and asked if I had enjoyed my mail—he had decided to put everything in a big envelope and address it: “Fr. Donald Senior, U.S. Army, West Germany.” Needless to say, I never got that Christmas mail—it may still be in a bin in the basement of the Pentagon for all I know.

 

            Today I can look back on that and smile (it took me longer to get to that point then…). What makes Christmas such a compelling feast, despite some of the madness that goes with it?   Why such deep longings for home and family? As Christians we believe that when all is said and done we don’t live in a cold, impersonal universe. We cannot settle for a world condemned to violence and enmity. Our Christmas faith directly challenges that view of the world: the incredible love of God for us manifest in the Christ Child, the embrace of a fragile child by Mary and Joseph, the prophets Anna and Simeon holding the child of their hopes and singing with joy and gratitude. A gift given without restraint, without conditions. 

 

No wonder that in our best moments, Christmas can touch our hearts. In the lavish, gracious spirit of God’s own unconditional love for us, we remember the people to whom we owe everything, the people we love and who love us in return. 

 

I often have to remind myself about why I am here at Catholic Theological Union—what really is our purpose? Why strain to make ends meet? Why worry about the leak in the roof? Why keep appealing to our friends to help the cause?  

 

Christmas reminds me why: we welcome here a new generation of men and women who believe deeply in the true Christmas story, people who embody God’s love in the quality and goodness of their own lives, people willing to bring that message of goodness and tender mercy to others.  People, frankly, who give me hope--for our church and for our world. That’s my Christmas summary of our mission.

 

So, of course, as I have done for many years now, I am shamelessly turning to you again this Christmas and asking your support for our mission. Your generosity to the students we are preparing for ministry will be multiplied a hundredfold in the work they will do: preaching God’s love, comforting those who mourn, feeding the hungry, striving to bridge differences that now divide people, making peace. 

 

Thank you for all the help and the hope you give us. Without you we simply could not go on. For you and your loved ones, may this Christmas be a time of great peace and warmth.

 

Sincerely,

 

Fr. Donald Senior, C.P.

President