Dear Parishioners:
Our OLM School Saints and Scholars are looking forward to their Christmas Break, which began on Friday. A week ago, they regaled the school community with a beautiful Christmas Pageant and Living Nativity. It was a great night of song and prayer as we prepared to welcome our Savior.
Bethlehem Christmas Tree lighting.
The joy of the season also returned to the traditional birthplace of Jesus Christ last week as Bethlehem Bank lit up a Christmas tree for the first time since the war in Gaza began over two years ago. Covered in red and gold baubles, the Christmas tree stands feet away from the Church of the Nativity on Manger Square, the site of our Savior's birth. It has become a symbol of hope for the people of that city scarred by violence, terrorism, and war.
The world from East Greenwich to Bethlehem prepares to celebrate the birth of the Prince of Peace with faith, hope, 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 and in our own lives so that we truly celebrate an authentic Christmas.
Saint Oscar Romero, the Archbishop of El Salvador who extremists murdered for his prophetic preaching in defense of the poor, once said of Christmas: "No one can celebrate a genuine Christmas without being truly poor. Only the poor, the hungry, those who need someone to come on their behalf, will have that someone. That someone is God, Emmanuel, God-with-us."
We are all poor beggars before a generous and loving God. We need the Savior to come into our world, our community, our homes, and our hearts. He can only come if we are humble enough to admit that we need the Prince of Peace. Such a need is born of a poverty of spirit. To be "poor in spirit" means recognizing our spiritual dependence on God and acknowledging a spiritual emptiness, not a lack of wealth.
It involves humility, a lack of self-sufficiency, and detachment of the heart from worldly possessions and reputation to find fulfillment in God and God alone. Such an attitude makes us open to receiving God's grace and blessings as the Kingdom of God is ours! Such an attitude allows us to celebrate Christmas with meaningful joy and not cheap sentiment.
In his book "The School of Christian Perfection", Saint Alphonsus Liguori says: "The poor of this world do not possess poverty of spirit from the mere fact that they suffer the want of the goods of this life. Poverty of spirit consists in the desire to possess nothing but God. 'I meet a poor man," says St. Augustine, "and yet I find he is not poor'; that is to say: Many are poor in reality, few in spirit and desire. The truly virtuous poor desire nothing but God, and for that very reason, they are immensely rich. Of them, St. Paul speaks when he says: 'Having nothing, they possess all things.'"
As we begin the final days of Advent and anticipate the great Feast of Faith that is Christmas, let us take up a spirit of poverty. Make room for Christ to fill in our lives and hearts. Remove the obstacles that block his coming fully into our lives. We become poor in spirit so the abundance of God can fill our souls. Begin this Monday by coming to Confession.
There will be six priests, including Dominican Friars from the Providence College Priory, available from 6:00 pm on Monday until 8:00 pm, or later if needed. So take the opportunity to clean the manger of your soul from the dirt and debris of sin. Become filled with the mercy, love, and grace that a good Sacramental Confession gives. Pope Francis said, "Confession is the sacrament of the tenderness of God, his way of embracing us."
On Christmas, join us as we celebrate the Nativity of the Lord with great solemnity, beautiful music, much joy, and deep faith. The Christmas Mass schedule is in the bulletin. Come and give glory to God on Christmas. Please invite your family, friends, and neighbors who we don't see too often. They are truly welcome, and Christ will be overjoyed if they come!
Fr. Brodeur and I wish you a Happy and Holy Christmas. You and your family are remembered during our Christmas Masses. Prayerful best wishes for a blessed Christmas Season and a Holy New Year in 2026. May the blessings of the Christ Child be yours now and forever. Merry Christmas!