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