Dear Parishioners,
There was a mother who, each December, vowed to make Christmas a calm and peaceful experience. She cut back on nonessential obligations: extensive card writing, endless baking, too much decorating and overspend-ing. Yet she found herself exhausted, unable to appreciate the true meaning of Christmas.
Her kindergartener had practiced for weeks for his school's “Winter Pageant.” The evening of the pageant, her son's class rose to sing “Christmas Love.” Children in the front row, center stage, held up large letters, one by one, to spell out the title of the song. The performance went smoothly, until, suddenly, the mother noticed a small, quiet girl in the front row holding the letter “M” upside down, totally unaware that the letter she held appeared as “W.”
The audience of first through sixth-graders snickered at this little one‟s mistake. Although many teachers tried to shush the children, the laughter continued until the last letter was raised, and they all saw it together. A hush came over the audience and eyes began to widen. In that instant, they understood the reason they were there, why they celebrated the holiday in the first place, why even in the chaos of a so-called mistake there was purpose for their festival. For when the last letter was held high the message was clear: “CHRISTWASLOVE.” The mother felt relief and filled with the shining belief that He still is.
May your Christmas Day and the Season that follows be one of truly knowing that Christ is love and may your time with family and friends in these days be one of great joy and an experience of that love in your midst.
To each and every one of you a Most Merry and Blessed Christmas,
Sincerely,
Fr. Jan
|
