My Dear Brothers and Sisters, Happy Advent and Christmas Seasons! I pray that this time of preparing for the coming of our Lord at Christmas and His second coming is blessed and fruitful!

Our world today can seem extremely dark and dreary. We continue to deal with a worldwide pandemic with many experiencing sickness and isolation as as result. Our world is a broken one, we only need to watch the news to see the effects of sin and selfishness on display throughout the world in our leaders, but also in our communities and, if we are honest about it, in ourselves too. If we look at all the problems that exist today, it is easy to adopt a bleak outlook on life and fall into despair. It is tempting to even ask the question, “Where is God in all of this?”

The Good News (Gospel) is, of course, that Jesus Christ is right in the middle of it all, bringing His grace and love right into the heart of our brokenness! That is the very reality of the Nativity, which we celebrate each year, namely that Jesus Christ did not shy away from the brokenness and mess of humanity (and the brokenness and mess of our lives, personally), but rather, out of his perfect love for us, became one of us in the Incarnation to enter into that human wound caused by sin in order to bring healing, grace, and salvation. Jesus Christ is “The light [that] shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” (John 1:5). Even in the midst of the darkness around us, the Light, Jesus Christ, is present and we can see His grace at work in our world too!

This past year I have experienced suffering as a result of sin and brokenness, but have also experienced the joy of God’s grace at work in my life as pastor at St. Laurence O’Toole and being a part of this local church. Our religious education programs have grown tremendously (we have 64 kids registered in CCD!) and it is such a joy to hear the children at Mass and see their engagement in CCD, Confirmation, Youth Group, and also our adults in RCIA. I can also clearly see God’s grace at work in the generosity and joy of others here in our parish community as we continue to grow and bring that message of salvation to our world by worshiping our Lord and engaging in our mission of evangelization through our words and actions here in Laramie.

Our call as disciples is to always remember that Jesus is the one who has already conquered sin and death and to live out of that awesome truth in our world that ignores that reality. The darkness of sin will not prevail; Jesus Christ has triumphed over sin and death through His Incarnation and His passion, death, and resurrection. I pray that all of us are able to see the light that Jesus is bringing us this year amidst the darkness and respond to that infinite love of Him by uniting ourselves more deeply to Jesus and show that love by how we live our lives and by loving our neighbor. Praying you have a blessed Advent and Christmas Season and hope to see you at Mass!

Yours in Christ,
Fr. Andrew Kinstetter