As we look toward the anniversary of the birth of Jesus, we are filled with hope and gratitude. With hope, because we know that in the midst of a broken and sinful world, light shines forth from a stable in Bethlehem, showing us the way back to God and to peace and blessedness. With gratitude, because God gives us the amazing gift of his own Divine Son. We have only to acknowledge our need and to come to Jesus, the Savior.

This year, as we prepare for Christmas, we are filled with gratitude for the restoration of the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament. We are especially thankful for the generosity of the many who have and are contributing to the “Preserving Our... Past Building Our Future” campaign. Among the parish and diocesan projects funded by the capital campaign, $10 million went toward the restoration of the Cathedral. As the Cathedral reopened on Nov. 20, I could not help but be mindful of the sacrifices and generosity of the great number of donors who made it all possible.

This spectactularly beautiful and renewed Cathedral is a testament to the faith of the Catholics of Northern California, and to the expertise of the dedicated and gifted designers, artists, craftsmen, and workers who were involved in this historic project. Yet, the beauty of the Cathedral also reflects God’s awesome beauty and instills in us a yearning to be caught up in the beauty and life of God. When we pray in the Cathedral and ponder the Divine Mysteries referred to in the artwork and design, we experience a foreshadowing of heaven, a foretaste of eternal union with God. Indeed, the Cathedral entails much more than what meets the eye.

During this holy season, we contemplate the mystery of the Incarnation. The Son of God became man in the humbleness and poverty of a stable in Bethlehem to save us from sin and to lead us back to the Father. As in the case of the Cathedral, there is much more than what meets the eye in this. In the “nitty gritty” of the stable and the brokenness of human life, we see Divine Grace personified in the Christ Child. Likewise, in our time, in the midst of our deficiencies and struggles, we are given hope in a greater reality: God’s grace and presence in our lives, striving lovingly and relentlessly to save us, to make us whole, to make us holy. Our hearts cry out, therefore: “Come, Lord, Jesus, come!”

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