CHRIST THE REDEEMER CATHOLIC CHURCH 46833 Harry Byrd Highway
Sterling, Virginia 20164

New Year 2007

Dear Friends of Christ the Redeemer,

The New Year brings the opportunity to bless one another, to wish good things and health in the year to come. A happy and blessed 2007 to all the parishioners here at Christ the Redeemer Parish.

During this Season of Christmas-Epiphany we find ourselves blessed with one festival and feast after another. Beginning with Christmas itself, we read of the images of God’s Presence as we hear of the glory and light of God as the angels appear to the shepherds. As we often gather at the Lord’s Table, we have been graced with friends and families in our homes. Our families have been gifted with the Feast of the Holy Family. We have yet to celebrate the Solemnity of Epiphany, the coming of the Three Kings and the invitation to the whole world to know the joy and peace of the new born Savior.

The greetings which we share really are a form of blessing one another. To bless is to discover the Presence of God in another person. Blessing is when we are open in our thanks for the gifts which we discover in another person and within our community. We also receive blessings when someone discovers that same Presence in us. This time of year allows us the discovery of the intense and personal love of God for each and all of us.

All that is to bless you, which is to thank God for each of you in the parish community. I am the one blessed to be able to articulate for all of us the gifts, talents, faith, and life which we share with one another. With these good wishes and with the many greetings we have received and sent during this Season, God is the more alive for all of us. We have discovered yet another time Emmanuel, God-with-us.

We have been richly “blessed with every good and perfect gift” in Christ in the year just past. We await God’s graciousness among us in 2007.

Sincerely,

(Fr.) C. Donald Howard, SA
Pastor