My Dear Parishioners,
Welcome to the last Sunday of Advent 2014. As we enter into the final days before Christmas, I would like to take this time to thank all of you for the wonderful greeting and welcome that you have given me over these last 6 months. I am blessed to be a priest in this wonderful diocese and twice blessed to be assigned to St. Dominic Catholic Church.
I am truly excited as I prepare to celebrate my first Christmas as a priest. I don't suppose anyone can ever fathom what it means for God to be born in a manger, nor explain how God could become a baby. How does one explain the Almighty becoming a tiny infant? We cannot begin to understand what was involved in God becoming man, yet He did. He became fully human, with all the needs and emotions that are common to us all without forsaking His divine nature. Why?
The answer, of course, is LOVE. “For God so loved the world that He gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.” (John 3:16) It is not important to understand the “how” as long as we understand the “why”. It is the LOVE of God that changes our lives. It is the LOVE of God that sustains us. It is the LOVE of God that is the most important part of everything we do. If we understand the “why” of Christmas, then it becomes more than just a day or a season, it becomes a state of mind. Then, like Mr. Scrooge we can say “I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year” and we will come to the same realization as the Grinch that “Maybe Christmas, the Grinch thought, doesn’t come from a store.”
My dear parishioners, may the understanding and joy of that first Christmas be with you and your families now and through the year to come. I pray that the LOVE of God, the PEACE of Christ and the GRACE of the Holy Spirit be with all of you always. May God continue to bless each of you abundantly. I wish each and everyone, a most merry and blessed Christmas.
Your servant in Christ,
Fr. John
Welcome to the last Sunday of Advent 2014. As we enter into the final days before Christmas, I would like to take this time to thank all of you for the wonderful greeting and welcome that you have given me over these last 6 months. I am blessed to be a priest in this wonderful diocese and twice blessed to be assigned to St. Dominic Catholic Church.
I am truly excited as I prepare to celebrate my first Christmas as a priest. I don't suppose anyone can ever fathom what it means for God to be born in a manger, nor explain how God could become a baby. How does one explain the Almighty becoming a tiny infant? We cannot begin to understand what was involved in God becoming man, yet He did. He became fully human, with all the needs and emotions that are common to us all without forsaking His divine nature. Why?
The answer, of course, is LOVE. “For God so loved the world that He gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.” (John 3:16) It is not important to understand the “how” as long as we understand the “why”. It is the LOVE of God that changes our lives. It is the LOVE of God that sustains us. It is the LOVE of God that is the most important part of everything we do. If we understand the “why” of Christmas, then it becomes more than just a day or a season, it becomes a state of mind. Then, like Mr. Scrooge we can say “I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year” and we will come to the same realization as the Grinch that “Maybe Christmas, the Grinch thought, doesn’t come from a store.”
My dear parishioners, may the understanding and joy of that first Christmas be with you and your families now and through the year to come. I pray that the LOVE of God, the PEACE of Christ and the GRACE of the Holy Spirit be with all of you always. May God continue to bless each of you abundantly. I wish each and everyone, a most merry and blessed Christmas.
Your servant in Christ,
Fr. John
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