Dear Parishioners,
We’re all familiar with the Beatitudes that Jesus gives during the Sermon on the Mount: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, etc…” But Scripture is filled with other Beatitudes or “blessed sayings.” They are like little Easter eggs hidden throughout the Old and New Testaments. We have one of these beautiful little Beatitudes in our Gospel this Sunday: “Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.”
These words are spoken by Elizabeth to Mary in the scene of the Visitation, when Mary visits her cousin immediately after conceiving Jesus. They are words inspired by the Holy Spirit.
Elizabeth simply hears Mary’s greeting from a distance, “Hi, Elizabeth!” That’s all it takes. Elizabeth’s eyes are opened and she is able to say something that could not have been said on her own, for Elizabeth would not yet have known that Mary was pregnant, let alone known that Mary was pregnant with the Messiah. She wouldn’t have known about Gabriel’s message. Elizabeth was able to see that Mary had been hoping for God to do something great in her life; that Mary had a desire, and that Mary never doubted that desire would be fulfilled.
The Beatitudes are exhortations. That is, we want to be people who believe that what God promises us will be fulfilled. To follow this Beatitude first means acknowledging that we are hungering and desiring. We want something great to happen in our lives. Mary did too. But Mary’s hunger wasn’t coming from a place of vanity or selfishness or boredom. Hers was a holy ambition. She wanted to be great for God.
Second, it means trusting that our desires for greatness don’t originate from ourselves. They are placed in us by God. We want to be great because God has called us to be great. We needn’t be ashamed of this.
Third, it means believing that God who has placed the desire in us will bring it to fruition. It’s easy when we have desires to be discouraged or despairing. This is because we are impatient and we tend to doubt. If our desires aren’t fulfilled right now, then we think they’ll never be fulfilled and that we’ll be consigned to misery. Mary didn’t give in to this doubt. She was as filled with joy in the waiting as she was in the fulfillment. She had such firm trust in God.
Our waiting is about to come to an end. Christmas is in a few days. By now Santa has obtained all your material gifts. So, stop worrying about that list. Use these next two days instead to spend your energy praying about the spiritual things you really want. Believe that Jesus will give them to you, and live in that blessedness as Mary did.
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A reminder of the Christmas Eve (Tuesday) and Christmas Day (Wednesday) Mass schedule: Christmas Eve we will have a 3pm Mass in the Upper Church (with overflow in the HFC) and a 3pm Mass in the gym. There will also be a 5pm Mass in the Upper Church and the Midnight (12am) Mass. On Christmas Day we will have the regular Sunday Mass schedule: 7:30am, 9am, 10:30am, 12pm, all in the Upper Church. Please note, there will be no 6:25am Mass on Tuesday, December 24th. There will be an 8:30am Mass that, for the last day of Advent.
Oplatki Christmas wafers are available in the rectory office during the week and in the sacristy on the weekend.
I want to take this opportunity to wish you all a very blessed Christmas. We have such a great parish because so many of you are faith-filled, dedicated, and generous. I think of how all the Masses are filled on Sundays throughout the year (even our daily Masses have large crowds). I think of all the ministries at the parish who are run by great people: Bible studies, Men’s and Women’s groups, GriefShare, Respect Life, AOW, Scouts, and so forth. I think of all the people who volunteer and contribute to our food pantry. I think of all the bereavement ministers and wedding coordinators. I think of all the parents and grandparents who act as catechists in our religious education program; all the parents who volunteer in our school. I think of all the people who lector, serve as a Eucharistic Minister, organize the sacristy, decorate and clean the church, usher, sing in the choir, count the Sunday collection. I also think of those who serve on our councils: the Pastoral Council, the Finance Council, and the School Board. I could go on. All of you faithful are inspired by God. You are a gift to our Lord, and he is proud of you. May we continue to serve him and be blessed by him. Merry Christmas.
Yours in Christ,
Fr. James Wallace
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