|
 Dear
Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Merry
Christmas!!! We continue our octave of Christmas today with our celebration of
the Feast of the Holy Family. Today we give thanks for the example Jesus, Mary,
and Joseph and the great love and Faith that they shared together in that home
in Nazareth. This Feast Day also reminds us of the blessing that we have in our
own families and even in our Parish family. It is not easy to all get along.
It is not easy to get out of ourselves and care more for others. It is not easy
to work together for the benefit of all, rather than to just think of
ourselves. These are tough days for families. Thanks to our busy schedules,
the TV, the computer, the cell phone, the I-pod, and our own selfishness, we are
forgetting how to be family. We are losing the ability to communicate and have
a nice conversation. This Feast Day reminds us that we have to work at being
better communicators, and listeners, and spouses, and sons and daughters, and
brothers and sisters. Could you imagine what Mary and Joseph would have done if
Jesus was texting a message to His BBF during dinner? Clearly we need to draw
some lines, folks! This is not only true at home, but also here at church. In
the past three weeks, several people have mentioned that they noticed some young
people listening to I-pods or playing hand-held video games during Mass, all
while sitting next to their parents. I’m not even sure who to be more
concerned about in these cases, the young person or the parent who is allowing
this to happen during Mass? And don’t even tell me “Well, at least they were
here” because truthfully they weren’t here. Going to Mass on Sunday is a whole
lot more than just putting your tired body in the pew for an hour on Sunday.
You see what I’m talking about? What’s going on at home, in the family, in the
“domestic” Church, has a profound effect on what’s going on here in our Parish
community. We can only be as a good of a Parish family as we are individual
families. This means that family has got to mean more to all of us. We need to
treasure our families. We need to take care of our families. Our time together
is sacred, both in our homes and here at church. What are you doing to make
your family holy?
This
week, we continue to celebrate the Octave of Christmas, the eight days of
celebrating the Incarnation of the Lord Jesus, culminating in the Feast of Mary,
Mother of God on January 1st.
Yes, that makes this coming Thursday, a Holy Day of Obligation. Masses at St.
Maria Goretti for the Holy Day will be at 5:30 PM on Wednesday evening and at
10:00 AM on Thursday morning. Please plan now to attend one of these.
Also,
please note the Adoration chapel WILL be open and Eucharistic Adoration will
continue at its regular hours both on Wednesday and Thursday this week. We are
trying to keep the chapel open and Eucharistic Adoration going as much as we
possibly can, to get us ready and moving closer to Perpetual Adoration. If you
have a scheduled hour on Wednesdays or Thursdays, please make sure that you keep
that hour especially this week. If you are going to be traveling or in any
other way unable to keep your scheduled hour with Jesus, please make sure that
you find a replacement, as always, for this week.
Today,
following our 10:00 AM Mass, we will be having a pre-reception reception for
Josh Bennett, our senior seminarian, who this Wednesday, at a special Mass at
St. Paul Catholic Church in Marion, Indiana, will receive the Ministry of
Acolyte. This next step on Josh’s journey to the priesthood makes Josh an
official assistant at the Altar of the Lord. It also means that he will now be
able to purify the Sacred vessels after Communion, as Fr. Dale and I and Deacon
Steve do, when you see us slip behind the brick wall after Communion. We
congratulate Josh on this next step and invite you to come over to the Parish
Hall after 10:00 AM Mass to join us in pre-congratulating him. If you’d like to
caravan up to St. Paul’s on Wednesday, a group of us will be leaving from in
front of the school’s main entrance at 3:00 PM. Bishop Higi will be the
celebrant for the 5:00 PM Mass in Marion and it will be a Vigil Mass for the
Holy Day.
These are
awesome days! Both the Parish and School Offices are going to be closed from
noon on Wednesday, Dec. 31st
until Monday, January 5th.
Have a Happy and Blessed New Year! Stay safe!
In Christ,
Fr. Kevin
When you plan to
“get even” with someone, you are only letting that person continue to hurt you.
|
