December
23, 2007
Joseph
Awoke
Home
for the Holidays
I want to add a special word of “welcome back” to all who
are home at St. Brigid’s this Christmas, especially our college
students who have been off at school. I’ve been
e-mailing you over the last few months and if you haven’t been
getting my “letters from home”, please send me your
e-mail address and
I’ll keep in touch in the months ahead.
And to all who are in town visiting family and friends, it’s good
to have you home. When you’re away, you can always get a taste
of St. Brigid’s online (especially when we stream
the videos of masses live on the weekends).
But it’s so much better when you’re here live!
You’re home for now and we’re very glad to see you again.
e-mail Father Ralph:
Past Columns:
December 16: Already but
not Yet
December 9: Extreme Peace
Makeover
December 2: In Joyful Hope
November 25: And it was
just Monday
November 18: Religious Education
Week
November 11: We Did Good
November 4: Stopping in
Jericho
October 28: Heroes, Saints
& Souls
October 21:How Fast is God?
October 14: Who says thank
you?
October 7: Sacrament of
Charity
September 30: This Old Gazebo
September 23: Missing Sheep
September 16: Speaking English
September 9: He's baaaack!
August 26: The Narrow Gate
August
19: Comings & Goings
August 12: Mass Schedule
Change
August 5: Better Late Than
Never
July 29: Sunday in the Chapel
July 15: Celebrating Kelly
July
8: I'm so not dead yet
July 1: Worse than Raccoons
June 24:Sommertime
June 17: Celebrating
Fr Cine
June 10: When Nature Turns
June 4:Celebrating Father
Jim
May 27: Praying in Tongues
May 20: Making (up) the
difference
May 13: Loving our Mothers
May 6: About Father George
April 29: Hearing Voices
April 22:Three Stones
April 15: What a week!
April 8: Alleluia! Alleluia!
April 1: Holy Week
March 25: Climate Change
March 18: Take A Step
March 11: Cold Enough for
You?
March 4:Stocking the Shelves
Feb 25: Basket Case
Feb18: Ashes and Desert
Dust
Feb11: Get Ready, Get Set,
REST!
Feb.4: Lent Lurking
Jan.28:Catholic Schools
Week
Jan.21:Crying in Church
Jan.14: Love ahead
Jan.7: So How
Was Your Christmas?
Columns
from 2005
Columns
from 2004
Columns from
2003
Columns from 2002
I
do hope your Christmas is “perfect” this year, but it probably
won’t be, The first Christmas was far from perfect (other than the
perfect presence of the Son of God in our world!) But really -- an animal
stable? A several-day donkey ride for a pregnant woman? The king’s
troops seeking to kill newborns after the magi’s visit? An escape
to a foreign land? Hardly a perfect Christmas!
And as we heard on the last Sunday
of Advent -- jus a day before Christmas -- the first Christmas had a less
than perfect start. Joseph didn’t believe Mary’s story of
an angel coming to her. He decided not to marry her. He must have felt
betrayed and angry. And who of us wouldn’t have felt the same if
we had been in the same situation?
Yet one night, when Joseph was sleeping, an angel appeared to him a dream
and said “Don’t be afraid, Joseph.” And the angel laid
out the plan God was making. Then the scriptures tell us, “When
Joseph awoke,he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took
his wife into his home.”
So a lesson for our Christmas 2007
is that while our experiences may be less than perfect, and while we might
experience betrayal and anger, and while we might have made up our minds
about whom to include or exclude this Christmas, God is working overtime
to come to us and tell us how we fit into the Plan. Oh that we would be
open to the dream God provides for us! And against all odds and against
all the feelings that might hurt and confuse us, we are told, “Do
not be afraid. Do what you know you’re supposed to do.”
This Christmas, my prayer for you
and your family is that you will be healed from any fear and be shown
God’s great plan for you. And when you awake from your Christmas
sleep, may you find your place at home here in our parish and come each
week to receive our Lord into the home of your life.
A blessed Christmas to all!
