By Colleen Rowan

WHEELING—“God placed this child on earth at Christmas to bring us one essential message: Love God and love your neighbor,” Bishop Michael J. Bransfield said in his homily in his celebration of midnight Mass on Christmas at the Cathedral of St. Joseph in Wheeling.

The Mass was televised live across the state through the sponsorship of Wheeling Hospital and was concelebrated by Msgr. Frederick P. Annie, V.G.; Msgr. Kevin M. Quirk, J.C.D., J.V., rector of the cathedral; and Very Rev. Anthony Cincinnati, V.E.

The glow of candles held by the gathered faithful illuminated the darkened cathedral at the beginning of the Mass, and Bishop Bransfield and priests processed inside as voices were raised in the singing of “Silent Night.” The procession ended as Bishop Bransfield knelt and prayed at the nativity beside the altar.

We can sometimes forget, Bishop Bransfield said in his homily, about God’s great plan to bring Jesus into our human experience—with loving parents, Mary and Joseph, in an historical time of peace that allowed the savior to be born, and eventually he and his disciples brought the Gospel to the world.

“Many generations,” Bishop Bransfield said, “see themselves as pivotal to human progress and the center of history. Science in the 20th century seemed to have no bounds ... bringing great innovations to prolong and enhance life. At the same time, we became experts at destroying it,” citing the Holocaust, the atomic bomb and abortion on demand. With all of the positive changes, he said, “We still live hoping for world peace and it seems, at times, unreachable.”

That peace that the world seeks today was one of two essentials, the bishop noted, that were needed for the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ, to take place. The other, he said, was the parental love provided by Mary and Joseph. We must strive for love and peace in our own time, in our own lives and vocations, the bishop said, and we must bring them to our fellow man.

The modern culture, he said, dictates that one is defined by success or appearance, judged by the amount of wealth carried. However, Bishop Bransfield said, the real truth is within all of us. In closing, he said God is within reach of all and that our prayer life will bring him into our world.

“God is within reach, especially with the great gift of our minds, which naturally reach out to him,” Bishop Bransfield said. “It is strictly the direction of our own will that determines a connection with the divine. ... Our prayer life, like that of Mary and Joseph, will let the divine live in our world.”