December
25th, 2005
Christ
will come again
Why
Bethlehem
Little did Caesar Augustus know that when declared a Census of the whole
Roman Empire that he would be setting into motion the fulfillment of
the prophecy that the messiah would be born in Bethlehem. Indeed the
only reason Joseph and Mary are in Bethlehem is because of the Census.
And during the Census, Jesus came.
St. Brigid’s has just begun its first Census since 1984 and we’re
inviting all families to return the Census forms (available at church
and at all our offices) within the next couple of weeks. This will let
us see who currently belongs to our parish family and help us plan for
our future.
Merry
Christmas!
There, I’ve said it. And on behalf of all the priests and staff
of St. Brigid’s I wish much, much more than “happy holidays.”
May the coming of Jesus bless you and your families. God bless you!
Census
Continues
Of the approximate 6,000 families we usually send mail to, we’ve
received completed Census booklets from nearly 2,000. So we’ve
got a ways to go.
Is your booklet in?
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e-mail Father Ralph:
Past Columns:
Dec 18: Angel
Approaching
Dec11: Mary For Us All
Dec 4:Smoothing Rough Roads
Nov 27: Rending the Heavens
Nov 20: Gobble Gobble
Nov 13: Talents Galore
Nov 6: Our Census Has Begun
Oct 30:Get ready, set...
Oct 23: This Time For Real
Oct 9: Parishioners Don't
Read This
Oct 2: What would Jesus Sign?
Sept 25: New Pastor
Sept 18: Welcome Gonzalo
Sept 11: New Beginnings
Sept 4: Spreading the Faith
August 28:World Youth Day
Words
August 21: Dressing Up
August 14: Harsh
Words
August 7: Tiny Whispering
Sound
July 31: Welcoming Rob
July 24:Wedding Bells
July 17: Summer Weeding
July 10: Ministry to Seniors
July 3: The Painters are
Coming!
June 26: The Last 25%
June19: Sommer in the
Summer
June 12: Great News Anoying
News
June 5: What's Essential
May 29: Setting Priorities
May 22: Painting Project
May 15: We are the Church
May 8:Mother of the Church
May 1: On Life and Death
April 24: Habemus Papam
April 17: The Spirit Abounds
April 10: Two men on a journey
April 3: He's baaack!
March 27th: Not the best
news...yet
March 20th: What are You
Doing For Easter?
March 13th: The Stench
March 6: To Tell or Not
To Tell
February 27: Dry Mouth Dry
Soul
February 20: Good to Be
Here
February 13: And he was
hungry?
Ash Wednesday '05
February 6: Ashes Already?
January 23: Catholic Schools
Week
January 16: Continued Charity
January 9: Migration
January 2:All is bright?
Columns from 2004
Columns from 2003
Columns from 2002
For
us who celebrate Christmas, the temptation is to make this feast about
the past -- 2000 years ago Jesus was born as a baby in a manger in Bethlehem.
And while we never tire of that simple story, Christmas is really about
Jesus coming again. After all, how would Jesus feel since he is ready
to enter our hearts today if we said, “Oh that’s nice Jesus
but could you be quiet for a while so we can celebrate that manger thing
you did?” (Not that we would ever talk to the Lord in that way.)
Indeed being born in a place where
animals fed might be one of Jesus’ least favorite parts of his story.
He’d probably want to say, “Remember how I helped the blind
man to see? Remember how I fed the hungry? Remember how I forgave those
who were killing me? Remember how I rose from the dead? Why do you always
want to back to that terrible manger?”
We might be more comfortable in
the manger because it’s more manageable than having Jesus move into
where we live. If Jesus came to our house, we’d feel he’d
want to change some things. He’d want to get up on Sunday mornings
and go to church together with us. He’d want to take some of our
belongings and give them away to others. He’d want to see that the
talents his Father gave us would be used to help more people and he’d
probably turn off the TV and say “C’mon! Lets go change the
world instead of sitting here!”
So, living in the memory of the
manger is “safer” for people. We can sympathize with Mary,
ohh and aah over the baby and then, like the shepherds and magi, leave
some gifts and move on with our lives, never to come back --until maybe
next year.
Christmas is much more exciting
than that! We get to live with Jesus who is our “new born King”
-- in other words this Christmas is a time to discover (together as a
family) what it means to put Jesus in charge of our lives as this New
Year unfolds. I’m ready to turn my life again to Jesus. How ‘bout
you?
