Dear Parishioners:
Our young saints and scholars at OLM School began the Christmas Break this past Friday! The Christmas wreaths and trees are up around the parish. The creche is displayed in Mercy Park. As the old song sings, "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!" But what does that really mean for us?
Advent has passed very quickly this year! We are now upon the very threshold of Christmas as this Wednesday, we celebrate the Nativity of the Lord! I hope the Advent Season has prepared us spiritually to celebrate this feast with great faith and joy.
This coming week, we face the temptation to get lost in the worldly concerns of Christmas with its shopping, gift wrapping, card writing, baking cookies, parties, and cooking the roast! These are all good things but are not the real reason for the season. Christmas is a time for deeper faith, greater hope, and more bountiful charity.
This season is a special time for families and friends to celebrate joyfully. However, it can also be a time of profound loneliness and sadness for some. Many recall Christmases past and remember with sorrow those loved ones now absent.
Yet, at Christmas, we must celebrate the birth of the Prince of Peace with faith and joy. We turn to the Babe of Bethlehem and ask him to give us the grace we need to experience his peace and joy in our hearts so that we truly celebrate Christmas.
In a Christmas Sermon, St. Leo the Great said: "Today our Savior is born, let us rejoice. Sadness should have no place on the birthday of life. The fear of death has been swallowed up; life brings us joy with the promise of eternal happiness. No one is shut out from this joy; all share the same reason for rejoicing. Our Lord, victor over sin and death, finding no man free from sin, came to free us all."
In these few days before Christmas, we also face the temptation of making ourselves too busy. Finding time alone in prayer, reflection, and silence with God can be a challenge. Yet unless we make time, even if it's only a few minutes, how can we experience his peace and joy?
The hustle and bustle of this time of year often leads to exhaustion or exhilaration. If we try to live the holy season of Christmas with only our own strength, we can be sure to be exhausted. We can only be exhilarated if we stay close to God and renew our confidence in his Providence by praying with him daily. Jesus came to be our peace. This Christmas, let's give him the time to do so.
The Son of God was born in a simple stable in Bethlehem. And he is still present and active in all the little Bethlehems of the world today. The Bethlehems in our hearts, homes, and families. The Bethlehems in our hospitals, nursing homes, military bases, and homeless shelters.
The Prince of Peace, born on Christmas, is with us always, gently guiding history, leading his children to true wisdom, lasting joy, and eternal life. Knowing that our God is with us brings us interior peace, even amidst the exterior storms of life. The Sacrament of Confession also offers us a perfect way to prepare ourselves for Christmas, For with a good confession of our sins, we move beyond them and live a life of grace and holiness again. So, pray, reflect, and confess during these days before Christmas.
Join us for Confessions on Monday night, December 23. Four priests are available from 6:00 pm until 8:00 pm (and will stay even later if needed!). St. Thérèse of Lisieux said of the Baby Jesus' birth in Bethlehem: "A God who became so small could only be mercy and love." This Christmas, give yourself the best gift money can never buy, God's forgiveness of your sins. Make your way to Confession on Monday evening and experience the mercy and love of the Babe of Bethlehem.
I wish you a Happy and Holy Christmas. You and your family are remembered during my Christmas Masses. Prayerful best wishes for a blessed Christmas Season and a Holy New Year in 2025.
I echo the words of St. Teresa of Calcutta in my prayers for you this Christmas: "My prayer for you is that when Christ comes to you at Christmas, He may find in you a warm home, warm love like that of a heartful of love, like that of a simple shepherd who was the first one chosen to see Christ." Do good. Be well. God Bless. Merry Christmas