Celebrating Our Savior's Birth

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
As we celebrate the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ, we are invited to contemplate the profound mystery of the Incarnation: “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). Christmas is not merely a day of joy and festivity; it is the cornerstone of our faith, revealing God’s infinite love and His desire to draw near to humanity. In the humility of Bethlehem’s manger, we see the eternal God embracing poverty so that we might share in His riches of grace. This truth calls us to conversion, to gratitude, and to action.

This year, our reflections are enriched by the historic election of Pope Leo XIV, who assumed the Chair of Peter earlier this year. In his first apostolic exhortation, Dilexi Te, Pope Leo reminds us that love for Christ is inseparable from love for the poor. He writes, “In the poor, God continues to speak to us.” The document challenges us to see poverty not only as material deprivation but as loneliness, exclusion, and spiritual emptiness. His words echo the Gospel mandate: “Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me” (Matthew 25:40).

Christmas is also a time to look to the Holy Family as a model for Christian life. In Mary’s fidelity, we learn the beauty of trust in and surrendering to God’s will. In Joseph’s silent obedience, we see the strength of faith expressed through action. And in the Child Jesus, lying in a manger, we encounter divine humility that transforms the world. The Holy Family teaches us that holiness is lived in the ordinary: in fidelity, in sacrifice, and in love. As families gather this season, let us strive to imitate their virtues, making our homes places of prayer, peace, and generosity.

Christ was born to reconcile us to God, to reveal His love, to be our model of holiness, and to make us partakers of the divine nature. Each of these reasons points us outward: toward communion, toward service, toward the building of a civilization of love. Pope Leo calls us to see the poor not as passive recipients of aid but as living icons of Christ. In their faces, we encounter the suffering Savior who calls us towards humility and generosity.
I invite every family in our Diocese to make this Christmas a season of concrete love. Visit the lonely, feed the hungry, comfort the grieving, and advocate for justice. Let us not confine charity to December but allow the grace of Christmas to shape our lives throughout the year. In doing so, we become what the Church is called to be: a living sign of God’s tenderness, a “poor Church for the poor,” radiant with the light of Christ.

May the peace of the newborn King fill your hearts and homes. With gratitude for your witness and prayers for your families, I wish you a blessed and holy Christmas.

Hope in the Lord!

Most Reverend Michael J. Duca
Bishop of the Diocese of Baton Rouge