December 14, 2003
Meddling Grace
"Snow
already! "
I really love snow in the winter. I really despise snow in
winter. No, I don’t have a split-personality. It’s just that
one part of me enjoys this change of seasons and recalls the Christmases
of my childhood, while the “pastor” side of me realizes that
snow keeps people away from Church. Last Sunday we had great Advent
masses to which few people came. (The only
exception was the 11:45am Spanish mass at which there were over 800
people!!) We postponed some of our Advent celebrations -- though the
Celebration of Our Lady of Guadalupe went on with out a hitch.
And of course the
collection dived from $18,087 to $9,435, though our bills are now higher
(snow removal!!) So if you missed your contribution last week, please
help us catch up this week and next.
Thanks!
At College?
At St. Brigid’s we like to stay in touch through
e-mail “letters from home.”
Once a person has an e-mail address at school (or if he/she uses a personal
address), please let us know what it is so we can include them when
we write.
Here's a handy college link so you
can send this info online.
e-mail Father Ralph:
Past Columns:
Dec7: Moving Mountains
Nov30: Advent Hope
Nov23: Giving Thanks
Nov 2: A New Look
Oct
26: Blessed Mother Teresa
Oct
19: The Future of Our Youth
Oct
12: In Hot Water
Oct
5: Fruits of the Millennium
Sept
28: Jesus Comes To St. Brigid's
Sept
21: The children will lead us
Sept
14: Triumph of the Cross
Sept
7: Nine-eleven: Two Years Later
August
31: Where the Summer went
August
24: Lessons from the Blackout
August
17: Here and There
August 10: Surrender
August 3: Reaping
Rewards
July 27:
What's your mission?
July 20:
From a Deserted Place
July 13: Nothing
for the Journey
July 6: God
at Home
June 29: Going
in Stages
June 22: Sommer
in the Summer
June 15: Our
Newest Priest Ordained
June 8: The
Feast of Pentecost
June 1: Beyond
First Communion
May 24: Felicidades
Manuel
May 18: Twenty
Years Later
May 11: Bows
for Peace
May 4: Upcoming
Ordinations
April 27: One
Heart One Mind
April 20: Amazingly
Graced Days
April 13: Ashes
to Palms
April
6: God Embedded
March
30: Pastoral Visits
March
23: Turning Tables
March
16: Transfiguring Imagination
March
9: Beasts and Angels
March
2: Lent and Imagination
Feb
23: Sorrow Far and Wide
Feb 16: Saints
Feb 9: Columbia
Lessons
Feb2: Giving
At A Difficult Time
Jan 26:
Penny Power & Catholic Schools
Jan19:
Yet Another Year
Jan 12:
Stealing Jesus
Jan5: The Wise Still Come
From Afar
Columns from 2002
There is no shortage of advice around Christmas
time. Everyone likes to medle, everyone tells us what we should do --
from our kids’ list of expectations to our extended relatives who
are clear about when we are to visit -- along with their expectations
on how we should be raising our kids! Commercials shout out to us what
we should buy. The organizations we belong to tell us how we should celebrate
“the holidays”...what to bring....how much to spend...when to
party...etc. Sometimes it’s like living in a blender of demands!
And what does all this have to do with the
coming of Jesus in our lives? Jesus gets lost in all of the demands and
expectations of these days. So let’s pause for a moment and step
into today’s gospel and let’s join people in asking John the
Baptist: “What should we do?” Do you notice what John says?
"Whoever has two cloaks should share with the person who has none.
And whoever has food should do likewise."
These are the expectations (perhaps we can
call it “meddling grace”?) that make us more Christ-like, that
lead us to discover the mystery of Emmanuel -- God-with-us. For God is
alive in our
sisters and brothers in nee, and alive in our own hearts as we give, as
we feed, as we share. Jesus actually comes this Christmas when we act
like him and love like him. Suddenly all the rest of the stuff we are
about -- parties, card writing, decorating, etc. makes more sense because
we’re REALLY celebrating the coming of Jesus in our midst -- not
merely going through pretty motions. Our joy is not tied to our blood
alcohol level or the frenzy of shopping, but our joy springs from seeing
Christ, knowing Christ, becoming Christ.
The expectation to “become Christ”
is not overwhelming -- it can happen in the simplest of ways and the poorest
of places. Let’s not forget that this story begins in an undecorated
stable where the
precious relationship between husband and wife and child was the way that
God came to be with us.
You are Person
