How beautiful upon the mountains
are the feet of him who brings glad tidings,
announcing peace, bearing good news,
announcing salvation, and saying to Zion,
“Your God is King!” (Is 52:7)

Sometimes it is difficult for us to rejoice. Sometimes we simply aren’t in the mood for holiday cheer; sometimes it is even difficult for us to enter into the celebrations of faith.

The times we live in certainly bring this challenge to our very doorsteps, from the Church and from the world. For some it is worse than for others. Think about this, in the very land of Our Lord’s birth, in Bethlehem, there will be no public Christmas celebrations in the aftermath of the heinous October 7 attack on innocent human life!

No Christmas this year in Bethlehem, yet the birth of Christ is still celebrated around the world–even in these difficult times.

Why is this?

Because the birth of Christ that we celebrate at Christmas is not a mere recollection of an event in ancient history. The birth of Christ that we celebrate is a current event. It is a reminder to us that the Child born 2000 years ago continues to be reborn in the hearts and souls of each and everyone of us who will once again believe in Him and receive Him.

Those who believe and receive, do so in good times and in bad, in safety and in danger, in sorrow and in joy. That is why the feet of those who proclaim this Gospel, this Good News, these Glad Tidings, are beautiful!

These feet are beautiful because they travel wherever these Glad Tidings need to be preached. These feet are beautiful because they carry the burden of those who have committed themselves to following Him whose Gospel they preach.
These feet are beautiful because they will one day rest in the peace prepared for those who have faithfully given their lives in service of this Good News.

These beautiful feet are a gift given to the Child whose birth we celebrate. This Child, never to be outdone in generosity, strengthens and quickens these feet and, in the words of Isaiah the Prophet, makes sentinels of those they bear.

Hark! Your sentinels raise a cry,
together they shout for joy,
for they see directly, before their eyes,
the LORD restoring Zion.
Break out together in song,
O ruins of Jerusalem! (Is 52:8-9a)

In these difficult times, we at Sycamore Trust give thanks to the Child whose birth we celebrate and whose Gospel we proclaim. We thank Him for the Mission He has entrusted to us, and we thank Him for the feet He has given us to spread the Good News. We thank Him for each and every one of you who have joined in our work in so many wonderful and generous ways and who share in the blessings He has given us. We thank Him for the gift of our Alma Mater, for our love for her, and for allowing us to be sentinels, joyfully raising a cry, loyal to Notre Dame and faithful to her Son whose birth we celebrate!

The beauty of these Glad Tidings, heralded by beautiful feet, is that even in these difficult times we confidently rejoice, because with this birth:

…the LORD comforts his people,
he redeems Jerusalem.
The LORD has bared his holy arm
in the sight of all the nations;
all the ends of the earth will behold
the salvation of our God. (Is 52:9b-10)

A very Blessed and Merry Christmas from Sycamore Trust!