News - December 2022 RSS Feed

I am at the age now when New Year’s Eve finds me at home on the recliner, snacking on Hickory Farms cheese and summer sausage with a glass of wine waiting for the “ball to drop” on TV at midnight so that I can go to bed! This year will be no exception. Over the years, I listened to a dozen variations of the familiar “Auld Lang Syne” all night long, just wondering what in the world those lyrics mean? So, I recently put my iPhone to work “googling” the song and discovering that this poem was written by Scottish poet Robert Burns in 1788 and put to the music of a folk song, the actual origin of which remains the subject of debate. “Auld lang syne” is idiomatically and loosely translated “for the sake of days gone by.”

Rejoice! Our Savior is born! I wish you glad tidings as we approach the holiest and exultant day of the Lord’s Nativity! Christmas comes every year, even during moments of great difficulty. We only need to remember those who celebrate Christmas with a loved one at war, during times of illness, in times of unemployment, and when grieving the loss of a loved one. We also think of those who celebrate Christmas without a home or country, those who are alone, those who are victims of natural disasters, and those on the margins of society. Just as Christmas may occur during times of distress, so too does it offer us each year a message of joy, healing, and hope. This hope is rooted not in the human events of the day but in the eternal message of salvation. No difficulties or problems or worries can cancel the light, hope, and salvation that our Savior brings.

We make every day an anticipation for yet another, more profound, more transforming revelation. Although we have heard, and sung, and prayed the Advent message many times before, a pause, some quiet time of prayer, the celebration of the Sacrament of Reconciliation all go a long way to “make all things new” … again … although the Advent and Christmas story are as old as the Church itself.

Our disposition and expectation as individual Catholics, as individual believers, truly influence and model the way in which our fellow parishioners as “communities of believers” look at Advent and incorporate its hope and excitement into their lives as Christmas approaches. 

The images of Isaiah, John the Baptist, and Mary figure so prominently in the Scriptures we read and hear during these few, fast weeks. We need to let the Word sink deeply into our minds, hearts, and souls. The hymns we have always sung and the Mass prayers we pray all fix our attention in faith upon the One who has come, is coming, and is yet to come, Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It is all about Him, everything we are and everything we do as Catholics...