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Unique Holidays

Written by Aidee Boesen on . Posted in From our Pastor:.

While this Sunday is the Fourth Sunday of Advent, later this week we will celebrate the Nativity of Our Lord on Christmas. MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU ALL!

This Christmas will be unique for many people and families. Like at Thanksgiving we have been asked to limit our holiday gatherings and parties to those who live under the same roof. In order to avoid transferring the COVID19 infection from one household to another, we must be prudent and make sacrifices. Most of us will not receive the vaccine for several months. We must not let down our guard!

Celebrating the life of God in our midst and within each of us is at the heart of the Christmas celebration. The incarnation, the “enfleshing” of God, is a marvelous event. And, as an event, it has continuing impact on the world in which we live today, 2000 years after the birth of Christ, Our Savior. Each day we are given the opportunity to “bring to the flesh” the truth and beauty of Christ’s life by the truth and beauty of our own lives. How is that going for you!?

I have seen the Christ in many of you as you have prayed in recent months and weeks for each other, for the stranger, for those most in need, for the suffering, for the ill, and for the dying. I have seen you weep for those who have died, tragically, from COVID-19 and other diseases and suicide and car accidents and old age. I have seen you gather in prayer at Mass, at funerals, at novenas and adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. I have seen you bring food for distribution through our food pantry and the Giving Tree. I have seen you place envelopes and cash in the special collections that help people who have experienced tragedy and destruction around the country and our world. I have seen you interact respectfully with the special men and women who come to St. Willebrord for relief from life on the street. You have demonstrated the incarnation of Jesus the Christ by making generosity, compassion, and love the way by which you interact with the world. That is a sign of a Merry Christmas!

Peace, Fr. Andy