On behalf of everyone at dmu I'd like to wish you all a very merry and blessed christmas and a happy new year I wanna assure you of my priestly prayers for you, your families, and your loved ones during these very challenging times.
God so loved the world that he sent his only son.
This is the fundamental truth about Christmas, about the first Christmas in Bethlehem and about Christmas twenty twenty, wherever you are.
And God loved this world, not some other ideal world, but this world.
And the mystery is he still loves this world, this imperfect world, full of suffering, full of divisions, injustices, uncertainties, death.
He loves this world and each one of us so much that he sent his only son the best that he could give us in order to save us, to save us from all the the trials of this life, to call us to conversion, to call us to be people of hope, to spread the good news.
And he loves the world because he loves his people, his children, each one of us.
He accompanies us on a journey.
Our crosses don't necessarily go away, but we're never alone in carrying them.
Emmanuel god with us We love him back.
We're called to imitate him and have that same love for our brothers and sisters As you all know among the many problems 2020 has brought is a tremendous increase in mental health problems dramatic increases in depression, substance abuse, addiction, overdose deaths.
But at the same time, Gallup a Gallup survey recently showed that religious faith has been the key to helping people cope appropriately with the consequences of the pandemic.
That's why I'm personally so grateful to be a part of DMU and this community.
Our mission is to form mental health professionals who integrate faith and spirituality with the best of science.
Professionals uniquely prepared to address the mental health challenges of the pandemic and beyond.
By combining the best of the spiritual with the best of the human, just like God did by becoming man at Christmas, We make Christmas real for many suffering people three hundred and sixty five days a year.
Each one of you contribute to that.
And so as we come to the end of the year, I just wanna thank you all for what you do for DMU, of what you do for our mission, whether it's a student, a faculty member, a staff member, board member, whatever your role.
For me, it's an honor and a point of pride to be a part of this, to be associated with you and this great work.
So thank you for all you do.
God bless you and be assured of my prayers, and have a merry and blessed Christmas.