Cardinal's Hopes for "a New Light and a New Spirit"

New Zealand Tablet, Volume L, Issue 9, 1 March 1923, Page 21

Cardinal's Hopes for "a New Light and a New Spirit"

A CHRISTMAS MESSAGE. The following fine Christmas Message was issued to the people of the Archdiocese of Boston (mostly of Irish birth or descent) by his Eminence Cardinal O'Connell: "The angelic hosts heralded the advent of the Christ Child by intoning on Bethlehem's sacred heights the most glorious anthem that has ever fallen on the cars of man : ' Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to men of good will.' It was the battle cry of Christianity. It gathered under the aegis of the Most High all men of good will and has not ceased through the intervening centuries to thrill mankind and enlist in the holy cause of religion the marching millions of every era since that happy morn. " : To-day is born to you a Saviour.' His regal slpendour was not in the passing glory of this world, but in the majestic beauty of the Godhead. He came to rule the souls of men, not through fear, but through faith and hope and love, that blessed trinity of virtues whose very fulfilment has restored to mankind a lost dignity, and brought to yearning hearts a new confidence and a new inspiration.

“To re-consecrate the world to the law of love; to renew all things in Christ; to reconcile brother to brother, state to state, nation to nation; to make the whole world glow with the warmth of heavenly love, ‘ The Word was made flesh and dwelt amongst us.’

“His first coming banished hatred and brought the dawn of a better era. May this coming Christmas morn bring a new light and a new spirit into this darksome world, that will reconcile individuals and nations and, leading mankind back to the glories of faith, give it new life and inspire it with new hope in the years that lie before us.” _<*X>