Today’s feast of the Baptism of Jesus ends the Christmas season in the church liturgical calendar. I suspect that the vast majority of you have long ago taken down Christmas decorations. If you have waited until now to take them down, good for you! Some people leave their Christmas decorations up until February 2, which is the feast of the Presentation of Jesus in the temple. Nevertheless, back to today’s feast.

Did you ever wonder why Jesus was baptized? He was sinless, so why did he submit to baptism? Matthew tells us in the gospel today that Jesus requested John to baptize him. First, unlike the baptism we received, John’s baptism was a Jewish ritual to prepare for the end time, which John said was coming quickly. In addition to changing one’s life in a positive way, this kind of baptism was also an entry rite for those who wanted to follow the teaching of John the Baptist. Jesus was portrayed as being attracted to John the Baptist and his message. Matthew makes it clear that the situation is awkward, which both Jesus and John recognize. But as soon as Jesus emerges from the waters of baptism, the real meaning of the event becomes clear. His identity as God’s beloved Son is confirmed by the Holy Spirit and proclaimed by the voice of God, declaring that Jesus is God’s beloved Son. In a real way, Jesus’ baptism can be seen as inaugurating Jesus into a ministry that will begin immediately. This confirmation of Jesus’ divine ministry fulfills the Old Testament prophet’s proclamations. The next step for Jesus will be his confrontation with the devil in the wilderness. There, he will be challenged to prove his identity.

While Christian baptism we have received frees us from original sin, it does much more than that! Quoting from the baptismal ritual book: “Baptism is, above all, the sacrament of that faith by which men and women, enlightened by the Spirit’s grace, respond to the gospel of Christ….Further, baptism is the sacrament by which men and women are incorporated into the Church, built into a house where God lives, in the Spirit, into a holy nation and a royal priesthood.” In other words, our baptism is our entry rite for those who want to follow Jesus and his teachings. And, as Jesus commissioned his apostles to “Go make disciples of all nations…” at our baptism we are commissioned to do the same.

The vast majority of us were baptized as infants and likely do not realize that making disciples of Jesus isn’t just the calling of priests and religious. ALL who are baptized Christian are supposed to be making disciples! The feast of The Baptism of Jesus is a wake up call for all of us to be about doing what we are commissioned to do!

Fr Don

I hope you still have your Christmas decorations up! After all, today we celebrate the Epiphany, known in many cultures as “little Christmas.” Christmas celebrates the birth of the long awaited for messiah of the Jewish people. This good news is revealed by angels to a group of shepherds abiding in the fields keeping watch over their flocks by night. Epiphany celebrates the birth of the savior of all nations. This good news is revealed by a star followed by gentile magi to the place where the child lay. When the wise men came to Herod in Jerusalem inquiring about the child whose star they had followed, the scribes Herod called together were able to explain where the messiah should be born, but they remained quite unperturbed about the news. Although they were familiar with visions like the one in today’s first reading, they seemed impervious to the possibility that Isaiah’s promised caravans and gift-bearing royalty had, at long last, arrived on their doorstep. For whatever reason, they did not accompany the travelers from the East on their journey to Bethlehem. Similarly, many my know the whole of Christianity but make no movement. The power that forever altered heaven and earth leaves many people completely unmoved. But what a difference! With only a rumor to go by, the visitors from the East traveled a far distance in search of One whom they thought would make a difference in the world. Obviously, that “rumor” that good news, has spread throughout the world, and today’s feast attests to the universal scope of Jesus’ mission and God’s all-inclusive plan of Salvation. The various ways in which this feast is celebrated by believers everywhere also witnesses to the international character of the church.

One of those traditions, not too familiar in the United States is marking of the church doors with chalk, which we are doing today. Epiphany, also known as Twelfth Night, Theophany, or Three Kings Day marks the occasion of a time-honored Christian tradition of “chalking the doors.” The formula for the ritual — adapted for 2020 — is simple: take chalk of any color and write the following above the entrance of your home: 20 + C + M + B + 20. The letters have two meanings. First, they represent the initials of the Magi — Caspar, Malchior, and Balthazar — who came to visit Jesus in His first home. They also abbreviate the Latin phrase, Christus mansionem benedicat: “May Christ bless the house.” The “+” signs represent the cross, and the “20” at the beginning and the “20” at the end mark the year. Taken together, this inscription is performed as a request for Christ to bless those homes so marked and that He stay with those who dwell therein throughout the entire year.

Have a blessed Christmas Season!

Fr Don

If I were to ask you if yours was a holy family, what would your response be? I suspect the vast majority of you would roll your eyes and say “my family? No Way!” It seems that every family has a “black sheep” or is dysfunctional in some way. Many families have secrets they prefer to keep in the closet about a living or deceased relative. Family life is not always easy! But, we can all help our families to be better, even if they cannot be perfect. And, let us not confuse perfection with holiness. One does not have to be “perfect” to be holy! Today’s feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph can give us some ideas of how to become of holy family.

The beginning of the Holy Family was not easy! The angels singing and the shepherds adoring sound great. But in a sense Mary and Joseph were “on the road.” They had to leave their current home to register for the census. There was no place in the inn when Mary’s time to deliver came. Many of you mothers can imagine what that was like. Even a motel today is not where you would want to give birth and a barn isn’t even imaginable! In spite of all the hardship Mary and Joseph experienced, they were outstanding parents. Think of Joseph listening to the angel in his dream and taking Mary and Jesus to Egypt to keep Jesus safe from Herod. Before they were merely “on the road,” but now they are refugees in another country. Even when they are able to return to their own country, Joseph still had to settle them in a different part of the country to be safe.

Our first reading tells us how God sets a father and mother over a family and how the children are to treat their parents – with honor. Our reading from Colossians spells that out for us. Because of Jesus we are God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved. That means that we must live in a special way as Jesus, Mary, and Joseph did. It means we must have compassion for one another and be kind, gentle, and patient with one another. Just as the Lord is forgiving of our faults, we must be forgiving of one another. But, most of all, we must be loving with one another. None of this is easy for sure, but it is necessary.

Something else is necessary as well. We must have gratitude in our hearts to God. Our mother and father gave us life or we would not even be here today. That in itself is a wonderful miracle of love and one that calls for gratitude.

Family life isn’t easy – but with a little more respect, kindness, patience and love, our families can become holier. Celebrate your family today and do so with gratitude for each member – even the one(s) who are a challenge to your patience!

Have a blessed Christmas season!

Fr Don

After three Sundays of Advent with no mention of the birth of Jesus in our Scripture readings at Mass, finally we have them today, the fourth and final Sunday of Advent. In our first reading, Isaiah the prophet and king Ahaz of Judah have a dramatic encounter amid the threat of an attack against Jerusalem and the king’s efforts to build up the city’s defenses. Isaiah challenges the king to consider what he is doing to secure his kingdom’s relationship with God. Isaiah invites the king to choose any sign at all that will convince him of God’s love and protection over the city. Isaiah wants the king to trust that the attack he so much fears will never materialize. Surprisingly, the king refuses the invitation to trust. He already has his own plans in place and feels that asking for a sign from God will be an imposition. Isaiah has had enough of such talk! The king is already making the people weary with his fears and limited thinking. Isaiah reproaches the king for this latest example showing his lack of faith, which the prophet imagines must by now be proving tiresome to God as well. Isaiah announces that God is going to give the king a sign that will make it perfectly clear his fear of attack is entirely without foundation. A virgin will conceive and bear a son who will be given the name Emmanuel, meaning, “God is with us.” This name will give testimony to the faith of that young woman, who knew of God’s power to save and give life. Her faith stands in stark contrast to the lack of faith displayed by King Ahaz and his royal household.

In Matthew’s gospel account today, his focus is on another person of faith – Joseph. In the Gospel proclaimed on the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, we heard Mary say “yes” to God’s plan for her life – even though she did not totally understand what God was asking of her. Today we hear Joseph give his “yes” also – to the dream, the angel’s message, and to the responsibility of being a husband and a foster father.

Although we have little time even to consider saying “yes” to one more thing, this is exactly what God is inviting us to do! Consider opportunities to say, “yes” to His invitation between now and Christmas Day. While Christmas celebrates the Word made flesh, Christ has no body now but yours, to carry on His mission. Some suggestions….invite someone without family to join yours for Christmas dinner. Leave a card and small gift for neighbors or at the nursing home. Take a plate of homemade cookies to a new mom or make a generous donation to a charity. What IS God asking you to do to celebrate Christmas?

Have a Blessed Christmas in 3 days!

Fr Don

Whoo hoo! It is the Third Sunday of Advent! I guess the more correct way to say it is Gaudete Sunday – Latin translation to English…..REJOICE! We light the rose-colored candle in the Advent wreath and rose-colored vestments are an option for the priest to wear. Last year a parishioner sent me a text with an amusing cartoon about the rose-colored vestments. The priest is at the altar celebrating Mass wearing rose-colored vestments. The girl altar server says to the boy altar server: “I like Father’s pink robe.” The boy altar server responds: “It’s not pink!” The girl altar server says: “How do you know?” The boy altar server says: “Because Jesus rose from the dead. He didn’t pink from it!”

As the Scripture readings for the Third Sunday of Advent moves us closer to the Christmas celebration of the First Coming of Jesus, we do have reason to REJOICE!! In our first reading, the prophet Isaiah announces that God is approaching to deliver the people and to advance the plan of salvation. The first half of the reading contrasts the lifeless conditions of a desert with a lush garden teeming with life. The latter half of the reading brings this lovely imagery to bear on the human condition. Sin and ignorance have rendered the people spiritually weak and feeble. Their eyes are unable to see by the light of heaven; their ears are deaf to God’s word; they are unable to make progress along the way of life. But now, they sing and dance as they return to God. That was then. We have reason to REJOICE NOW! For in the Gospel, when John the Baptist, in prison, asks whether Jesus is the one to come, Jesus tells John’s disciples to go back and tell John what they see and hear. The blind regain their sight! The lame walk! Lepers are cleansed! The deaf hear! The dead are raised! As Christians, we know and experience these very things in our life today because of the suffering, death, and Resurrection of Jesus. So indeed, we have two reasons to REJOICE today. First, Jesus came which we celebrate at Christmas, and second, Jesus will come again!!

Have a blessed Advent!

Fr Don

Normally the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of Mary is celebrated on December 8th. However because this year it falls on a Sunday, the Sunday Mass always take precedence over any feast day. The Immaculate Conception will be celebrated on Monday, December 9th and is NOT a holy day of obligation this year. Mass is at 8:00AM on Monday and there is not any additional Masses scheduled since it is not a holy day of obligation this year.

What does the Immaculate Conception celebrate? Officially taught by Pope Pius IX in consultation with the world’s bishops and promulgated in the papal bull Ineffabilis Deus on December 8, 1854. The dogma of the Immaculate Conception holds that the Blessed Virgin Mary “was, from the first moment of her conception, by the singular grace and privilege of almighty God and in view of the merits of Jesus Christ the Savior of the human race, preserved free from all stain of original sin.”

The religious meaning of this dogma centers on the victory of God’s grace, freely given in Christ. Sin is universal, and the whole human race is in need of salvation. This is offered because of God’s love and mercy poured out in the life, death, and Resurrection of Jesus, prior to any merits or deserving works on the part of human beings. The dogma of Mary’s original sinlessness celebrates God’s victory over the powers and principalities of this world as this woman comes into existence. In her very being, through the mercy of God, the grip of evil is broken. So to us Catholics, it is fitting that grace be freely given to Mary from the first moment of her existence because of her role in being the faith-filled mother of Jesus. Her yes to God brought Christ into the world, through whom the ancient sin of Adam and Eve is overturned. That God generously graces Mary, enabling her living union with God from her beginning even while not removing her from the sufferings of history, is congruent with divine mercy. It also signifies the good news that for the Church and for every human being, grace is more original than sin!

We light the second candle of the Advent wreath today. The countdown to Christmas is moving on. The media, and especially advertisements, remind us constantly that time is short. So too does John the Baptist in today’s gospel. His reminder is to repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. With that in mind, I invite you to our Advent Communal Penance Service this Tuesday, December 10th at 7:00PM. There will be a brief prayer service followed by individual confession. Clean not only your house for Christmas, but your soul as well!!

Have a blessed Advent.

Fr Don

A new year has begun – liturgically speaking. The First Sunday of Advent ushers in the start of a new cycle of scripture readings. This liturgical year we will hear the story of Jesus’ life primarily from the Gospel of Matthew. In last week’s article, I drew out some of the primary themes of Matthew’s gospel. So let us look now at the four weeks of Advent.

Advent has a two-fold character to it. It is a time of preparation for the Solemnities of Christmas, in which the First Coming of the Son of God to humanity is remembered, and likewise a time when, by remembrance of this, minds and hearts are led to look forward to Christ’s Second Coming at the end of time. My experience is that most of us spend a lot of time and energy preparing for the celebration of the First Coming of Jesus in our Christmas celebrations. But it’s hard to do much preparing for the Second Coming of Jesus during Advent because our culture, marketing, and commercialization focus all our attention on the celebration of Christmas. The selection of our scripture readings for the first, second, and third Sundays of Advent turn our attention to the Second Coming of Jesus. It isn’t until the Fourth Sunday of Advent that our thoughts are turned to Christmas.

On the First Sunday of Advent, the prophet Isaiah turns our thoughts to “in the day’s to come”……a vision of a peaceful world where there will be no more war. That will be a reality when Jesus returns. In the gospel, Jesus gives a warning about the end of time. On the Second Sunday of Advent, Isaiah continues his vision of a world where everything is in harmony –don’t we long for the day! In the gospel, we meet John the Baptist who calls us to repentance. On the Third Sunday of Advent, Isaiah continues his vision of a world where healing will take place – and don’t we need that!! The gospel tells a story of John in prison, Jesus already born and doing miraculous things. It isn’t until the Fourth Sunday of Advent that we get to the Christmas theme.

I know it’s difficult with all the details of getting ready for Christmas….the shopping, decorating, cooking, cleaning etc. but I urge you in your interior life to take the slow movement toward Christmas that our Advent readings do to think and pray about the Second Coming of Christ. Then perhaps, when the Church’s Christmas Season comes (December 25 through January 12) you will have a little more energy to celebrate the First Coming of Jesus as the Church does, and not end your Christmas celebration as the commercial world does on December 26th!

Have a blessed Advent!

Fr Don

The scripture readings and prayers at Sunday Mass celebrate the birth, life, teachings, suffering, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus in a three year cycle. Each cycle begins on the First Sunday of Advent and ends on the feast we celebrate today, Christ the King. Today then, we end cycle C. During cycle C we have heard the story of Jesus as told from the Gospel of Luke. Next Sunday, the First Sunday of Advent we will begin cycle A and will hear the story of Jesus as told from Matthew’s perspective.

Some things to know about Matthew’s Gospel. He writes primarily to Jewish Christians around AD 80-85. He begins with a long genealogy of Jesus to establish Jesus as an heir to the promise of Abraham and as the Messiah King who has to come from the house of David. At the time Matthew wrote, Jews and Christians alike were in turmoil. The Romans had destroyed the great Jewish Temple in Jerusalem. Christians were under suspicion and attacked by Jews, Romans, and even other Christians who had set themselves up as prophets. In this turbulent time, Matthew assures his audience that even though the world in which they must preach the Good News is a hostile one, with many temptations to turn away from Jesus, those who acknowledge Jesus will inherit the Kingdom of God.

Also, in Matthew’s vision, faithfulness to the Gospel ethic to love God and neighbor is the crucial determinant of whether a Christian will be invited into heaven. Finally, Matthew’s Gospel places emphasis on the concept of Church. It is in this Gospel that Peter is named the rock upon which the Church is built. Matthew also draws out the understanding of Christian discipleship and community as the fuller and deeper living out of the Jewish Law. Jesus himself says, “Do not think I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have not come to abolish but to fulfill” (Matthew 5:17)

Year A then is dominated by two themes from Matthew’s account: urgency and uncompromising choice. Matthew begins our cycle A with warnings to stay awake for the coming of God, and ends it with judgment between those who followed a righteous path and those who did not. In between, Matthew exhorts us to watch, to listen, and to follow Jesus. One either follows Christ or does not; one either lives in the reign of God or dies apart from it.

This Thursday we celebrate our national holiday of Thanksgiving. We invite you, your family, friends and guests to start your celebration by coming to the greatest thanksgiving feast ever! We will celebrate the Eucharist on Thanksgiving Day at 9:00AM. Fr. Mark and I hope to see you there!

Have a blessed Thanksgiving Day!

Fr Don

We welcome two new music ensembles who will be leading us in our Sunday worship once a month at our 10:45AM Mass. A newly formed OLM Youth Choir for children grades 3 through 8 made their debut two weeks ago. A newly formed adult ensemble Mercy Players made their debut last weekend. Any children in grades 3 – 8 who would like to join the OLM Y outh Choir are welcome to contact Carrie Nadziejko at cbeelner@msn.com. Rehearsals will be on Wednesdays when RE is in session from 6:00 to 6:30PM. Anyone interested in being a part of the Mercy Players should contact our Director of Music Ministries, Frank Sauter at franks@olmercy.com to set up an audition. Our Adult Choir, which sings weekly at the 9:00AM Mass would like to welcome new members! Rehearsals are on Wednesday from 7:00 – 9:00PM. Contact Frank if you would like to join. We are always open to and encourage our parishioners with musical gifts and talents to praise God by sharing them with our parish community. We are still in need of someone to take leadership for forming and conducting a teen ensemble/choir to play once or twice a month at the 5:30PM Mass on Sunday. If there is anyone out there with that talent and desire, please contact Frank Sauter. Lastly, regarding music…..all our choirs and musical ensembles are not to take place of the congregation singing! Yes, choirs and ensembles at times can sing a meditation or solo piece, but their role is to lead and enhance the congregation in singing. You folks out in the congregation…..if God gave you a rotten voice – give it back! Pick up the red hymnal and sing anyway!! Those who sing pray twice!!

Advent is only three Sunday’s away followed by the Christmas season. Questions often arise about the placement of the Advent wreath and nativity scene. We follow the liturgical directives of the Church for the placement of the advent wreath and the nativity scene. While the Advent wreath may be placed in the sanctuary, the directives for the nativity scene state that: “If the nativity scene is set up in the church, it must not be placed in the sanctuary.” In our church, the sanctuary is the entire elevated platform and steps that are tiled on which are placed the Altar, Ambo, Presider’s and Deacon’s chairs. That is why our nativity scene was set up in the narthex last year and will be again this Christmas. Have a blessed week!

Fr Don