A Word from Your Pastor
Dear Parishioners:
Happy Feast of the Holy Family! Thank you for your faithfulness to the Lord, coming to Church two days in a row to celebrate Christmas and the Holy Family of Nazareth. I realize that it is a challenge to do such a thing, but as you see, it is truly worth the effort. God blesses us when we respond to His requirements. The readings of Holy Family Sunday remind us that God chose to take on the whole reality of human life. The little things and the big things that are part of family experiences are not foreign to God. In His great love for us, He gave us an example of a family that experiences all the joys and the struggles that every family knows. The Love of Jesus, Mary and Joseph in Nazareth is proof that God’s own Love “fits” into our humanity. We can be “stretched” by grace to open to all that Heaven can offer.
Our recent custom has been to offer blessings of families individually at the end of Mass. The family is the Domestic Church, that is, the Church alive in the home. It is the fundamental building block of human society. It is the very place where God chooses to dwell, pitching His tent among us. Receive your blessing and carry it home and out to all you meet.
As we come to the end of the calendar year, all are invited to open their hearts to God with a generosity of Time, Talent and Treasure. Make a resolution to put God first in your life and in the life of your family. Teach your children to be generous by your own sacrificial giving of what God has given you. Give Him your first and your best, and He will certainly return the favor.
The Year of Prayer: Collect of the Feast of the Holy Family
Let us pray
[for peace in our families]
Father,
help us to live as the Holy Family,
united in respect and love.
Bring us to the joy and peace of your eternal home.
Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
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