December 27th , 2009
Christmas Blessings
More of our parishioners can relate to the first Christmas than ever before. You see, at the first Christmas the Holy Family found themselves without a place to stay, in a city without a job, and shortly thereafter, they fled to Egypt where they lived as an immigrant family for several years. Our own parish has seen quite a number of parishioners who lost their jobs over the past year and who are experiencing new poverties.
The good news of the first Christmas was that God came in the midst of the the poorest situation. Though there were slammed doors, and (finally) an animal stable (eeeew!) in which to give birth to a child. Nonetheless God came. And the world was never the same. The good news for THIS Christmas is that God comes again to us in the midst of our poverties. We are not alone. Despite our struggles God will save us.
If you’re not living in an animal stable this Christmas, give thanks to God for the blessings you have. And let us share our blessings. Let’s look around for the other holy and struggling families and open the doors of our lives to offer care and welcome to them. Sometimes those folks are as close as the people living in our households. Sometimes those folks live up the block or around the corner. But to celebrate this new Christmas, it would be good to overcome the lack of hospitality of the first Christmas. Perhaps after 2000 years of Christmases, we’ll get it “right.”
During this past year we gathered with hundreds of parishioners in our “One Thousand Voices” campaign, and as we wrapped up the process a month ago, we clearly discerned a desire in so many people to grow spiritually. We’ll be gathering with a group of new leaders to work on ways to offer spiritual growth opportunities to our parishioners in the year 2010. So as you experience the blessings of the Feast of Christ’s birth, take a moment to ask the Holy Spirit to bless our efforts, and then ask that your own heart will be opened to the coming spiritual gifts of the year ahead.
Whether we’re experience a financial poverty or not, we can certainly take heart because of the rich spiritual blessings we are expecting in the year to come. May God bless you and those you love in the new year ahead.
