2025 CHRISTMAS LETTER
Adoration of the Magi by Florentine painter Giotto di Bondone (AD 1267–1337)
Beloved Clergy and Faithful in Christ,
Grace, mercy, and peace be unto you from God our Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ, who for us men and for our salvation was made man.
In this holy season, when our Church once more bends low before the mystery of the Word made flesh, I write with a heart full of gratitude, wonder, and sober joy for the past year. Christmas is not merely the remembrance of a sacred birth long ago, but the loud proclamation that God has entered into history, culture, flesh, and suffering, that nothing human is now beyond His redeeming reach and transformation, and that "the glory of God is man fully alive!"
The Incarnation declares that love is not an abstraction. The Son of God did not save us from afar, nor by decree alone, but by taking our nature upon Himself, and entering poverty, exile, danger, misunderstanding, and ultimately the Cross. The fact that He is willing to come and sit with us in the potshards means that He truly cares for us. He was not a mere teacher, spewing pious platitudes and exhortations, but came to be a "doer," undertaking our salvation by taking on the human condition. In the Child laid in the manger, we behold both the tenderness of divine love and the absolute claim of divine truth: that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
This truth is not diminished by our sputtering compassion, and not softened by our insufficient mercy. Rather, it is precisely because the claims of Christ are true and universal that His love is offered to all peoples, in every land, tongue, and culture. We cannot hold, like white-knuckled Pharisees, onto the principles of our Faith to the detriment of the Incarnation. The joy of Christmas is therefore inseparable from the Great Commission. The same Lord who lay in Bethlehem now reigns from heaven and sends His Church into the world to do His mission - not as conquerors by force, but as witnesses, disciples, and servants. Our willingness to suffer with others is our greatest martyrdom, showing that we care, and that we believe in the hope of the resurrection.
As a Missionary Diocese in East and Southeast Asia, we are daily reminded that to proclaim Christ is also to walk with people where they truly are: among those who suffer under poverty and injustice, those who are alienated from family or society, those burdened by shame, grief, confusion, or loss of hope. The Incarnate Lord does not recoil from such places. If He did, He would not be the Truth - but He is not afraid, and neither should we be daunted. He is found here with us in our hurting and struggling. He is found there with others in their difficulties, confusions and alienations. And He calls His Church to be found wherever His Spirit calls; without compromise of the Faith, without surrender of truth, yet always with patience, humility, and sacrificial love.
Orthodoxy is not a weapon to wound the broken, not a fortress to keep others out, and not a hammer to use to pound down our personal enemies. It is the fullness of the Apostolic Faith, handed down for the healing of the nations. To uphold it faithfully is itself an act of love. To live it visibly, through our prayers, repentance, discipleship, and holy charity, is our continuing calling after Christmas Day has passed.
I therefore exhort you all, my dear brothers and sisters: seek Christ anew this season through renewed bravery, evangelism, and acts of mercy. Find Him in the Scriptures and the Sacraments, in the poor and the stranger, in the daily discipline of prayer and obedience, and in the hard but life-giving work of following Him when it costs us something. We will all suffer and die anyway, so let it matter through embracing the other. Let us be a people formed not by fear or resentment, but by the joy that comes from knowing whom we have believed.
May the Light that shone in the darkness of Bethlehem shine throughout our Communion, our Archdiocese, our Missionary Diocese, our families, our parishes, and our missions. And may the peace announced by the angels guard your hearts and minds, now and always. Amen.
May the shared life of the Holy Trinity give you a blessed and holy Christmas!
May the love of the Incarnate Lord guide and keep you!
+Joseph
Bishop Ordinary
Missionary Diocese of East and Southeast Asia
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