Christmas letter 2010

Advent 2010
Dear family and friends,

Knowledge, understanding and wisdom are three of the seven gifts the Holy Spirit gives at Confirmation. The gifts are given in a single moment of time but unfold throughout time and beyond time.

I have sought knowledge this year in my ongoing Pathwork studies with Carol Day. The Daily Office is an amazing educational tool. Perhaps the most outstanding source of continuing education for me comes from the questions and observations of the children, teens and college students of the Parish.

Understanding is a gift that unfolds in the duality of the world as it is. For me, the Rosary is the pattern of this duality. Joy and sorrow interact within Divine Grace to produce an awareness of the Glory of God. The Glory of God manifests in each singular moment of life within the light and life and love of Jesus Christ.

There has been a fair amount of sorrow with the unexpected death of my father in early August, the death of an old childhood friend, Rick, in late August, and the death of my Confessor and advisor, the Very Reverend Lloyd Chattin, in September. The Curtin family has had more than its share of illness this year. And, I am still recovering from “minor surgery” I had in late August.

Through knowledge and understanding come wisdom. The wisdom I have experienced is the wisdom of the Great Mystery of Divine love. As I age I recognize the imperfection and transitory quality of knowledge. More and more I understand St. Paul’s statement ” now I know in part.” Since I am beginning to appreciate the temporal imperfection of knowledge I am more comfortable stepping back from the illusion of knowing and stepping into the Mystery of Faith.

I have discovered and continue to discover the Mystery of Faith in a person, the living Lord Jesus Christ. He is real. He is personal. He just doesn’t speak of love or show love He is Love. He just doesn’t speak of God or offer a way to God He is God. He is Emmanuel, God with us.

A blessed Advent and a merry Christmas,