Christmas is a time when we come together and celebrate as a family, so it seems appropriate that we celebrate the feast of the Holy Family on the Sunday after Christmas.
We don’t know too much about the family of Mary, Joseph, and Jesus except that they were refugees for a while, they carefully followed the precepts of their religion, and Joseph was a simple carpenter who lived with his family in Nazareth. But it must have been a good family, because we are told Jesus advanced in wisdom and age and favor before God and man. Family is important for shaping the “wisdom” of a child, not the book learning, but how to find true meaning in life. Some examples: how do parents settle differences? Do they argue and scream at each other? Do they throw things? Or do they discuss their differences, either coming to an agreement or agreeing to disagree in a way that is manageable? Are the parents honest? If the family sees someone drop a wallet, do the parents pick it up and give it back to the person or do they take the money out of it? Are the parents truthful or always telling “little white lies”? How important is faith in the life of the parents and the family? Does the family pray and attend Mass regularly? Do children see that parents are happy and at peace because of a strong relationship with the Lord? Or is religion a perfunctory and marginal part of family life? Many more examples could be given, but the point is made: while children ultimately decide for themselves how they will live life and what is important to them, what they see and absorb growing up has a profound influence on them. As we celebrate the feast of the Holy Family, let us pray for all families, especially parents, that they may model true wisdom for their children. Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, bless our families and help our parents impart true wisdom to their children. Church sign: If we don’t teach our children to follow Christ, the world will teach them not to.
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Jerusalem was the center of Jewish faith, life, and existence. It was the place of pilgrimage, the only place where God was present among His people. So, it was turning everything upside down when Micah declared in today’s reading that the Messiah would come from a little, rural town: Bethlehem.
From the beginning to the end, Jesus turned everything on its head. The Jews were expecting a great, political ruler who would make them #1 again. Jesus was born of “nobody” parents in a stable. It was announced to shepherds, not the ruling class. The only people of importance who were in the loop were three Gentile visitors from afar. The end was even more shocking: instead of conquering all other kingdoms and making the Jews the rulers of the world, Jesus was tortured and killed by the religious leaders of his own people. This week we will celebrate that unthinkable way (for the Jews) that the Messiah came into our world. Jesus still comes into our world each day in many, varied ways. A strong message for us is to remember that our way of understanding and seeing things is not God’s way. We constantly have to be open to the almost unthinkable, because God can and will surprise us. Perhaps Jesus will come to us in an unexpected sickness. An encounter with a homeless person. A surprise event that changes everything for us, be it something we perceive as good (a promotion) or bad (an illness). And only time will tell if these events are “good” or “bad.” As we celebrate the birth of our Christ this week, let us thank God for the gift of His Son and our Savior. Let us ask God to open our eyes so that we can see Him coming into our lives in the people and events of each day. We are truly blessed! We also ask Him to help us live in such a way that we are bringing Christ to others, as we pray: Come, Lord Jesus, into my heart and help me to bring your goodness and kindness to all I meet. I wish you and your family a blessed Christmas. Thank you for being part of our Pius family. Church sign: The best gift ever was wrapped in swaddling clothes. I expect the Christmas consumerism push to start the day after Halloween, which has been happening for years. But this year I noticed it even before Halloween! While gift-giving is a wonderful way to share love, it can get out of control and the bustle of preparing to celebrate Christmas can overshadow its true meaning: we are celebrating the birth of our Savior.
It would be strange to go to a birthday party and bring a gift for everyone there, except for the person celebrating their birthday! Do we bring a gift for the child Jesus to our celebration of Christmas? What would be a meaningful gift? What would Jesus want? Obviously, Jesus doesn’t need any “thing.” While He might like “peace on earth” or the end of poverty and suffering, those are obviously above our pay grade: there is no way we can bring about those monumental changes by ourselves. But we can make a small contribution! I invite us in these last 10 days before we celebrate the birth of our Savior to spend some quiet time with Jesus, asking Him what He wants for Christmas and then be quiet and listen. Perhaps He will say being less impatient in traffic or with an annoying family member. Or maybe spend more quality time with family members instead of scrolling on the internet. Or use some spare time to volunteer at a food pantry. Or visit some homebound relatives or neighbors. Or spend less money on myself and support causes that help others instead. Or…or…or. We have the custom of making New Year resolutions. I wonder how many of them we keep? Perhaps if we spend some time before Christmas in quiet with the Lord, asking Him what He wants from us for His birthday, and then resolving to give Him that special present, we will be more likely to follow through with it than we do with New Year resolutions. That will make our celebration of the birthday of our Savior truly meaningful. God bless. Church sign: Jesus will help us through our holidaze. On December 8th, we normally celebrate the feast of the
Immaculate Conception of Mary, the patronal feast of the United States. This year we celebrate the 2nd Sunday of Advent and the feast of Mary is moved to the following day. I would like to look at the meaning of the feast of the Immaculate Conception, because it fits into the Advent theme of preparation, both preparation to celebrate the first coming of Christ and preparation for His second coming by living in such a way as to help bring about the Kingdom of Peace and Love. This feast celebrates that Mary was kept free of original sin from the moment of her conception AS A PREPARATION for being the Mother of God. But I think the greatest thing about Mary was her willingness to say fiat voluntas tua, may your will be done. She didn’t know what would happen. I’m sure it was scary and unnerving. Yet, she trusted God enough to accept His will; as a result, Christ our Savior was born for our salvation. By our baptism, we have been commissioned, as was Mary, to bring Christ into the world. We do it by the way we live and interact with others. The more we can bring love, peace, forgiveness, and gentleness into the world around us, the more we are preparing the way for the Kingdom of Peace and Love to take over our world. As we celebrate the patronal feast of our country, let us pray to Mary that all citizens of our country can leave behind hatred and divisive language, growing in our ability to work together for the common good, especially for the most vulnerable. That is preparing the way of the Lord, our task for Advent. Immaculate Mary, help us prepare the way of your Son in our country and world. May we bring unity and peace by all we say and do. Amen. Church sign: We rise by lifting others. |
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