Virtual Christmas Card

Here is a Virtual Christmas Card for all of you:

Mass at 8 a.m. this morning was beautiful. They moved the crèche from the back of the church in the old baptismal area to the sanctuary. What a wonderful change that was.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Memories of Christmas

It's Christmas eve, and my thoughts are taking me down memory lane. Back to the Christmases I spent growing up in Ohio.

I grew up on a tenanted farm and my family was very poor. We were in good company. Nearly all of the other rural renters in the area were at or below the poverty line. Such was the norm in a state that has always suffered from economic instability.

It wasn't until I was an adult that I realized just how rich we really were in our lack of material wealth.

I saw glimpses of it at Christmas. In both receiving and giving.

I can remember with wide-eyed wonder waking up on Christmas morning, and while not getting exactly what I asked Santa for, it was a source of ceaseless wonder to me just how intimately that jolly fat old man knew me. I would get books for Christmas. Mostly, they were used books, but that didn't matter to me. What mattered were the authors and the subjects. Stephen King. Edgar Allen Poe. Tolkien. To me, these were the best presents ever. They were gifts that kept on giving to an overactive childhood imagination that I hope I never outgrow.

The best part of all was the giving. Every year I would get an allowance to spend on buying some little trinkets for the children in my family. One year, I accidentally bought too many gifts and had some leftover presents that would be for a boy, but I had no one to give them to. One week before Christmas, someone from town told my uncle about a family whose father lost his job. They had no Christmas tree, no food and no toys for their two young sons. Everyone in our family came together to bring Christmas to this family, who were worse off than we were. And the two boys had presents from Santa to open on Christmas morning.

We did that a lot. I'm not bragging about it. It's just something that we did.

My uncle had a Santa costume given to him and he enjoyed playing Santa for the children around our country neighborhood. Nowadays, he has gone from playing Santa for the kids to dressing up as Elvis and playing music for the elderly in nursing homes. My uncle likes to make people happy. I am grateful to have been brought up in such compassionate surroundings. It has increased my appreciation for what I have and has instilled in me a desire to share with those who are less fortunate than myself. It is put into practice most efficiently when I am able to give of myself all throughout the year.

This is what Christmas is really all about: A King was born into poverty so that he could eventually ransom himself for all of us poor, miserable souls. God gives us this most precious of all Gifts.

So let us celebrate the joy of giving through all of 2010.

My prayer for you this Christmas and New Year is not original. And it is not new. In fact, it's very, very old:

The LORD bless you and keep you! The LORD let his face shine upon you, and be gracious to you! The LORD look upon you kindly and give you peace!  ~ Numbers 6:24-26

This prayer is most specifically dedicated to my friend (and CRHP sister) Debbie, who has taught me much about the Jewish heritage and tradition that Our Savior lived. 

Fourth Week of Advent

Reading from Today's Mass

The Gospel According to Luke 1:39-45 

Mary set out
and traveled to the hill country in haste
to a town of Judah,
where she entered the house of Zechariah
and greeted Elizabeth.
When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting,
the infant leaped in her womb,
and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit,
cried out in a loud voice and said,
“Blessed are you among women,
and blessed is the fruit of your womb.
And how does this happen to me,
that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears,
the infant in my womb leaped for joy.
Blessed are you who believed
that what was spoken to you by the Lord
would be fulfilled.”

I'm sorry I missed posting on this blog last weekend. I wasn't feeling all that great and the only blog I posted to was my science fiction one, basically, because I already had it typed up in TextEdit and all I had to do was upload it.

I missed giving a great post to honor Our Lady since the third week of Advent is generally when we do that as Catholics, so I am going to combine this weeks to honor Our Lady and the great anticipation of the coming of Our Lord and Savior. The reading is selected as perfect for thinking about Our Blessed Mother, for it is in this particular scripture that she received the title "Mother of God."

Here are some thoughts about giving this Christmas: God gave us the awesome gift of His Son. Mary gave her obedience by consenting to the will of the Father. And, of course, Jesus gave us the gift of His life on the cross to redeem us.

It is during this final week of Advent that I start feeling the blahs, especially if, as is true this year, I don't have one single card sent out or given. I don't do much on the present front, as I believe Our Lord is the best gift for us all, and also because I just can't afford it. That makes me feel bad. I do try to give whatever I can to the Salvation Army bell-ringers and bless them and their work as well. I try and give a little extra anywhere I can, but I know it is not good enough in these trying times when so many are in need. I encourage any who are reading this to please give of themselves. If you're like me and you can't give a lot of money, give of your time and volunteer.

I am an Extraordinary Minister of Communion at my church and I deliver Jesus to the elderly and sick. They love to see me coming. I'm going to be doing it on Christmas as well, for two of my communicants who have asked me to. I enjoy spending time with people and praying with them and for them. I would recommend this ministry to any Catholics who wish they could do more. It doesn't take much of your time and it is so very rewarding in the smiles and love you get back from beautiful souls who are just happy to have someone to talk to and pray with. I feel blessed a hundred times over every Sunday.

If you aren't Catholic or even if you're not Christian, just spend some time visiting people in nursing homes. They hardly ever get visitors, so you're visit would mean the world to them.

Emmanuel is coming to us! Joy to the World!

Second Week of Advent

First Reading of the Mass for the Second Sunday of Advent

Baruch 5:1-9 

Jerusalem, take off your robe of mourning and misery;
put on the splendor of glory from God forever:
wrapped in the cloak of justice from God,
bear on your head the mitre
that displays the glory of the eternal name.
For God will show all the earth your splendor:
you will be named by God forever
the peace of justice, the glory of God’s worship.

Up, Jerusalem! stand upon the heights;
look to the east and see your children
gathered from the east and the west
at the word of the Holy One,
rejoicing that they are remembered by God.
Led away on foot by their enemies they left you:
but God will bring them back to you
borne aloft in glory as on royal thrones.
For God has commanded
that every lofty mountain be made low,
and that the age-old depths and gorges
be filled to level ground,
that Israel may advance secure in the glory of God.
The forests and every fragrant kind of tree
have overshadowed Israel at God’s command;
for God is leading Israel in joy
by the light of his glory,
with his mercy and justice for company.

Joy to the world. The savior comes.

This reading from the Old Testament is a beautiful description of how exactly we should feel about our God and our thankfulness for what he has done for us. We should all be singing: "Joyful! Joyful! We adore thee!"

Our God has made us glad indeed.

He has clothed us in splendor and has taken away our mourning garments by sending us His son to walk among us. To die for us. To teach us how to walk in love and righteousness. To carry our sins on His back and consent to be nailed with them to the cross.

That journey began, not on the Via Dolorosa, but in a stable, in the humble little town of Bethlehem Ephrata. Where God came down and touched the earth with Love. Where the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.

Is this not what we mean when we refer to "Joy" at Christmastime?

If not, it ought to be.

I don't think we can stress it enough. Jesus is the reason for the season.

Not Nintendo, Wii or Playstations. Not new computers, jewelry or iPods.

Jesus.

Jesus = Joy.

It's that simple.

May you experience the Joy of Jesus this Christmas season.


My Prayer for the Second Week of Advent:

Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, ever faithful to your promises and ever close to your Church: the earth rejoices in hope of the Savior's coming and looks forward with longing to his return at the end of time. Prepare our hearts and remove the sadness that hinders us from feeling the joy and hope which his presence will bestow, for he is Lord for ever and ever. Amen.