Bishop Michael Jarrell, has issued his yearly Christmas message to the people of Acadiana. The full message follows:

“Christmas Day is special and I love it. I love the prayerful parts, the noisy parts and the quiet parts.

“I love the anticipated Mass with an over-crowded church packed with young and old, the regular church-goers and the once-a-year crowd. Welcome to everybody; it is the birthday of the Lord. I love the splendor of Midnight Mass and the simplicity of the Christmas morning Masses.

“I love the noisy parts, the adults catching up on family news, the teens plotting “to go do something” and the children playing with their new toys. I give them gifts hoping they do not become greedy materialists. I receive gifts hoping that I do not become a greedy materialist.

“I love the quiet parts. I love driving on I-49 and seeing the empty parking lots at stores—a sight seen only once a year. Even mighty commerce has stopped for the Word made flesh. I fanaticize that people are at church or at home reflecting on the words of Saint John: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.” (John 3:16) Every fantasy contains a measure of truth. In the early evening, aside from an occasional firecracker, the stillness persists. I dare to believe in peace.

Robert Louis Stevenson sums up my feelings at the end of the day.

O God, our loving Father,

help us rightly to remember

the birth of Jesus,

that we may share in

the song of the angels,

the gladness of the shepherds,

and the worship of wise men…

May Christmas morning

make us happy to be thy children

and the Christmas evening

bring us to our beds

with grateful thoughts,

forgiving and forgiven,

for Jesus’ sake. Amen

––Christmas Prayer,

Robert Louis Stevenson