Law of Love

Dear friends, we recently received a Christmas card from a very dear priest friend of ours, and the letter he attached to the card was excellent. I thought I'd share it with you all, its message is fantastic :)

Dear friends,

As I anticipate the arrival of Christmas 2010 I am able to observe, in my imagination, the Christ Child in the manger. That image brings forth from my memory the words of St. John the Baptist: "He must increase, and I must decrease."

Christ will increase or grow "in age, wisdom and grace before God and man" as our new liturgical year unfolds. But more important for me is that he increase in me during this new liturgical year, so that I can grow to the maturity of Christ in doing the will of our heavenly Father. That in turn means that I must decrease in doing my own will in the New Year.

This law of love, this law of growth of holiness, is expressed in another way by Christ: "not my will but thine be done." This year's canonization of Canadian-born Brother Andre Besset in Rome, and the beatification of Cardinal John Henry Newman by Pope Benedict XVI in England struck a noticeable contrast: the simple brother with little education and the highly educated and intellectually gifted Cardinal. Yet both followed the same law of love: "He must increase and I must decrease." In each, this tenet bore the fruits of holiness with the Holy Spirit.

I was privileged to hear the same message during the special year for priests that came to a close earlier this year. This wisdom was particularly evident in the life of St. John Vianney, the Patron Saint of Priests, and the Church has given him to us as our patron and model. I ask your prayers that we priests will renew our gratitude for our patron and model, and grow in imitation of him, for if we allow our will to increase, the devil will certainly take advantage of it.

Because of my work, I am also aware of how important it is for families that fathers follow the law of love: "He must increase, I must decrease." It particularly means that Christ's Will must increase in the father with respect to serving his family, so that he can be more like Christ in serving the Church and her spiritual children. The goal of this service is to help them to grow in holiness, so that they can be presented to the heavenly Father "without spot or wrinkle." (cf. Eph 5:21-33) The good news is that during the past year I have met many people who are renewing and recommitting themselves to living Christ's law of love.

Mary, Mother of the Redeemer, who sat beside the Christmas Crib, lived the law of love in a profound way, becoming more like Christ as she lived the Father's Will together with St. Joseph. We continue to benefit from the fruits of holiness it produced in our lives. Let us all say a special thanks to them this Christmas.

With Love and Prayers,

In J.C. & M.L.

Fr. Joseph Hattie, OMI

Wow..I feel like this is a fantastic summary of everything important about the Advent and Christmas seasons. I love how he says if we let our will increase, the devil will take advantage of it, goes well with what T and mimi said..let's move, friends! Let us live out Christ's law of love, in fact let's make that our great collective New Year's resolution :) Haha sounds easy right??

God bless you, my dear friends!