His Eminence Cardinal Poola Anthony
Archbishop of Hyderabad
Archbishop's Message
It is Christmas day once again! Let us all joyfully join the chorus of Angels and sing ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace to people of good will!’ God gives us every right to do so, provided we are people who want His peace and show good will towards Him and towards one another.
How do we show goodwill towards God the Father? We do so by striving to make His baptismal adoption of us as His children in His Son Jesus Christ and in His Holy Spirit an eschatalogical success. How do we do so? Quite simply, by seriously renewing our baptismal promise in the sacrament of reconciliation to advance in the meekness of our evangelical poverty, chastity and obedience of faith, hope and charity for Him, and in our intelligent and purposeful and definitive rejection of the threefold needs (namely, ‘the lust of the eyes’, ‘the lust of the flesh’ and ‘the pride of life’) constantly created in our own personal consciousness by the Devil and his evil angels; they do so, to secure our definitive belongingness to themselves and our definitive condemnation by God by impelling us through these threefold needs to express ourselves sinfully against our baptismal covenantal obedience to God. And how do we show good will towards one another? Quite simply, by resolutely refraining from doing harm to one another especially through gossip (‘cease to do evil’) and by striving to serve God’s providence for one another’s covenantal well-being in daily life, and eventually our salvation, by diligently fulfilling the duties proper to each one’s state of life, and by using our earthly goods and spiritual gifts to abound in the corporal and spiritual works of mercy as commanded by our Lord and as habitually commended by our Pope Francis in the Petrine office. Such is the supernatural culture which the Eternal only begotten and incarnate Son of God has established and maintains as ‘the Way, the Truth and the Life’ for all people of good-will in our dismal world of sin and death, through the mission of His Holy Spirit as the Spirit of Truth in the hearts of His obedient brethren, until He comes in glory to judge the living and the dead.
belongness to Him during their life on earth, or condemned to join the community (called hell) of all those who have chosen to be indifferent to Him and demonstrated their unrepentant belongness to the Devil and his angels during their life on earth. ‘Enter through the narrow gate’ says our Lord; ‘for the gate is wide and the road is easy that leads to destruction, and there are many who take it. For the gate is narrow and the road is hard that leads to life, and there are few who find it. (Mt.7:13).’ May we be among these blessed ‘few’ when we arrive finally at Death’s door!
As the synodal people of God journeying to the Eternal Father in our dismal world in Christ and in the Holy Spirit, may our Christmas joy and celebration this year be, ‘not in eating and drinking’, but ‘in righteousness, and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit,’ as it was for the Blessed Virgin Mary and for St. Joseph on that first Christmas night and during all the days of their earthly life as the first and foundational partakers of the divine Sonship of the Eternal Father’s only begotten Son who has become our Lord Jesus Christ for us and for our salvation.