Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Let us rejoice together! The Great Feast of Christmas is here once again! Today we celebrate that we have a God and Creator who loves us so much that He humbled Himself to come down and live among us, to die for us, and to rise and bring us a new way of life! How can we not rejoice? This year more than ever, as we celebrate our first Christmas in our new home, we give thanks to God for His Great Blessings and for the grace than enables us to be His holy people. We welcome all of our visitors and family members who join us from far and wide. It is a great honor for us to have you here to celebrate the Feast with us.

With Christmas on Saturday this year, the Feast of the Holy Family is the next day, on Sunday, December 26 th. It is good for us to think and pray about family. These are tough days to be a family. A lot of families are divided or separated. There’s more pressure on families than at any other time. And no family is perfect. It is hard to love each other and just because we have the same gene pool doesn’t necessarily make it any easier. The reality is that today we have many families that we belong to. In fact, one of the greatest blessings that has happened at St. Maria Goretti, is how the Parish has truly become a faith family to all. We must stay committed to this. A true family is not selfish. A true family works together, and plays together, and prays together. A true family listens to each other with a compassionate ear. A true family speaks the truth, even when it is difficult, with great charity and love, as we help one another to be better. A true family cares about everybody, even those outside of the family. The love of a true family is not limited. The more it is shared, the more it is given away, the more people are invited into its loving embrace, the more of it there is for everybody. As we remember Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, and that extraordinary household in Nazareth, we pray and ask them to bless and keep together all of our families and our Parish family. They know how to love in Faith. May they teach us how to do the same thing!

I offer a special word of welcome to our brothers and sisters that we haven’t seen for awhile. Perhaps you were with us last Christmas, or maybe even last Easter. It is truly good to see you again. When you are not with us, we miss you. While you were gone, we built a massive new church with a very large parking lot for you, so that hopefully you will come and join us every Sunday. We need your gifts, your talents, and your ideas. God misses you also. I sincerely hope that you will recognize the great help and peace that God wants to give to you when you come to Mass. I know that I could not live my life without it. There is only one place to get that peace. It’s not in a drug or a bottle. It’s not in an endless line of relationships. And it is certainly not in more money, or things, or a bigger house. It can only come from God. We are not a perfect Church. God is still working with all of us. We are trying very hard to be better all the time. Won’t you come join us on a more regular basis, so that we can be better? I write this now because if I write this next week, I fear you won’t be here. We do truly love and care for you and about you. You are a brother or a sister in Christ. And there really is nothing that is comparable to that bond.

I do want to remind everyone that St. Maria Goretti now has votive candles that can be lit by both the statues of Mary and St. Maria Goretti. The votives are reminders to God of our prayers. The prayers are the most important thing. It is not like God really needs reminders of anything. If you choose to light a candle representing your prayer, we need to remember that we should donate 50 cents in the slot provided on the candle stands. This does not go to the Church, but is used to help pay for the cost of acquiring, shipping, and maintaining the candles. I mention this because I have now on a couple of occasions run into children lighting multiple candles without any idea of what they were for. I think it’s time for a little education. Parents, we need to talk to our kids about this. I really don’t think that younger kids should be lighting the candles by themselves in the first place. Let’s talk to our kids about this. Also, the new church narthex was designed for young children that have “situations” during Mass. There is both audio and video available for parents who accompany these children out until they settle down, and there is a reason why so much glass was included in the doors and entrance. We wanted parents in the narthex to still feel very much a part of Mass, even if they had to go out there with a crying child. We did not want a cry room. My hope is that this is helpful to many and that it will be taken advantage of by those who need it.

Next Saturday is the Feast of Mary, Mother of God. It is NOT a Holy Day of Obligation this year because it falls next to a Sunday. We will have Mass next Saturday for the Feast Day at 10:00 AM in the main sanctuary. There will not be any Saturday morning Confessions next Saturday.

Fr. Dale and I both pray that you have a wonderful and holy holiday season. Have a great week! We’ll see you back here next week in 2005!

In Christ,
Fr. Kevin

Just because we came from dirt doesn’t mean that we have to wallow in it.