Dear Parishioners,

Though most of you will be reading this on December 24th, this bulletin is for both the 4th Sunday of Advent as well as for Christmas Eve & Christmas Day. So let me begin by welcoming all of you here with us this weekend, regardless of the day. We especially are happy to have visitors to our parish for the great feast of the Nativity of the Lord, but of course we are always happy to have our “regular” parishioners as well. 

If you’re reading this on Saturday or Sunday morning when we are celebrating the 4th Sunday of Advent,  we have a very short time to prepare for Christmas. But the whole Advent season that we enter each year, reminds us of that life-long fact: our time is short. I am experiencing what so many others have told me over the years: the older you get, the faster life seems to go. I say “seems” because of course time is time and it’s not in fact going by faster, but it certainly seems that way. I don’t know why that is exactly. Perhaps it’s because we get busier as time goes on and so we’re not as attentive to time. I also know that, as I’ve said here recently, it will be my first Christmas without my dad and his wife Mildred. It’s still hard to believe that their passing took place earlier this year. This makes me sensitive to the fact that many of you too have lost people you love…either this past year or over the years that have passed…and that is always hard to get used to. As a priest I know used to say, we get used to it but we never really get over it when we lose people close to us. But in all truth, we should also be content and hopeful, believing they are with the Lord in a way we can only imagine on this side of life. 

I recognize that I drifted into a reflection on those who have left us, but I really want this to be a time for us to think about who has come into our life. And that of course is God, in the person of His Son, Jesus Christ. He came into our world, onto our earth, and into our human nature many centuries ago. But the God who is without limitation also comes into our life every day, really in every moment. That is the reason for our joy, if only we take the time to think about what that means. God is always coming after us…not in a way that should make us run in fear, but he chases us, like the “Hound of Heaven” says, in a way that seeks our acknowledgement, our friendship, and our love. This is what Christmas is all about. God is always reaching out to enter our lives in new ways. God is always hoping to be born again among us. We must not use these words just in pious ways of speaking about Christmas. They must be words that express the reality of our every day life. How do we make Christmas something new this year, without just going through the motions? It’s wonderful to send and receive cards, to see lighted trees and beautiful decorations, and to enjoy good meals. But there must be something more to what we do at this time every year. And in order to understand that, we must take time. To think, to pray, to worship, to listen, and to keep hoping that we will get the message a little more clearly this year than we did last year. 

So now that I’ve given something of a Christmas homily, I’ll get practical for a moment. We will have one Mass on Sunday evening, December 24th, at 4pm. This will be our Christmas Eve Mass. And yes, you need to still join us for the 4th Sunday of Advent, either earlier on Christmas Eve for the 8am or 11am Mass, or on Saturday, December 23rd at the 4pm Mass. Then on Christmas Day, we will have our usual holy day Masses at 8am and 11am. The rectory office will be closed and there will be no 8:30am Mass on Tuesday, December 26th, and the same will be true for both January 1st and 2nd. January 1st is not a holy day of obligation this year. 

Fr. James P. Schmitz