Christmas Message 2023

Dear Parishioners and Friends of St. Gertrude,

A blessed Christmas!  I hope and pray that you and your families will enjoy a Christmas season filled with joy and good health.  I am filled with hope that we will see our church filled with faithful families this Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.  You are most welcome, and your presence helps to build up our community of faith. Please invite friends and family members to join with us at the Eucharist every Sunday.

The story of Christmas goes well beyond the birth of the Babe in Bethlehem.  It reaches throughout all of history.  In speaking of the birth of Christ, the Incarnation, the late Cardinal Avery Dulles, the priest and teacher from Fordham University once put it this way: "The incarnation, the God of the ages taken on our human flesh, our human condition, does not provide us with a ladder by which to escape the ambiguities of life and scale the heights of heaven. Rather it enables us to burrow deep into the heart of life, here on planet earth and find it shimmering with divinity."

Once again, this Christmas, God has spoken to us, the Word has become flesh. Let us allow God’s word to sink into our hearts.  That’s the promise of Christmas - God’s gift of Himself in Jesus the Savior has filled this world with love, not only on that holy night long ago, but the promise of Christmas is that the gift of Jesus shines forth the presence of God - with - us today, always.  Indeed, we can believe, - we can hold tight to the promise, - we can sing – “Joy to the world, the Lord has come.”

May I take this opportunity to thank you for your generous support during the year, and your continued generosity at Christmas is most appreciated.  As the year ends, may I ask you to consider making an extra gift to St. Gertrude’s.  Every effort is appreciated as we face continued rising costs.

I thank God for the call to serve as your pastor in this wonderful parish and village.   May God bless you and your families with peace, joy, and health during 2024.

Yours faithfully in Christ,
Rev. Msgr. Robert O. Morrissey
Pastor