On behalf of the seminarians, faculty, and staff of Saint John’s Seminary, I want to wish you and your families a blessed, joyful, and healthy Christmas!

Every year we hear the Gospel account of the first Christmas and the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem. The child, born in the humblest of circumstances, is proclaimed by the angel as Savior, Messiah, and Lord. He is the one whom Isaiah foretold as the great light that has come into the world and overcome the world’s darkness and gloom. The child born to us, the son given us, is Wonder-Counselor and Prince of Peace. With the Church and in praise of God’s glory, we proclaim, “Today is born our Savior, Christ the Lord.”

Christmas reminds us of the way God loves and cares for us in sending us his Son. The Celebration of the Nativity of the Lord reminds us that we are never alone. In the person of His Son, who is our Lord and Savior, God has entered into our world, into our history, and into our hearts.

We are part of something greater now because of God’s love and care. Saint John the Evangelist, the patron of our seminary, affirms this when he tells us, “To those who accept him, he gives the power to become children of God;” “from his fullness we have all received…”

Consequently, at Christmas, we are reminded and encouraged to receive God’s gift of his Son and to let God love us, care for us, and save us. In order to share our human nature and circumstances and to enable us to share in his divine nature, the Son of God came into our world as an infant, totally dependent not just on God’s care, but also on the loving care and protection of the Blessed Mother and St. Joseph. We do well to imitate our Lord, to trust in the loving care of our Lord and Savior, and to care for one another.

As we celebrate the Nativity of our Lord, we pray for you – that you may always know God’s peace and loving care, and that, one day, you will share in the fullness of Christ’s glory.

Merry Christmas!

Very Rev. Stephen E. Salocks '80, Rector