As I write this bulletin article, my room is full of cards, flowers and baked goods from families and parishioners of St. Simon Church and School. Also, my inbox is full of countless emails. The outpouring of love since the loss of my brother, Paul, and my spiritual director, Fr. Dave, has left me speechless. Please know that all your personal notes of kindness and tenderness are so important to me and are healing to my soul. Whether it be baked goods, a flower, a letter, an email or just simply a word or hug that you gave me; every one of those made a great difference. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your kindness. It is living proof of the power of love in community. As I preached last month, the community is a “palace of broken tenderness that heals and brings great beauty to one’s life.” This community is truly amazing and I have never experienced anything like it before. Thank you again.
As we enter the last week of Advent, my hope is that we can focus on the true gift of Christmas—the Christ among us now. It is so easy to get distracted with the gifts we need to buy, the cards we need to write, the parties we need to attend or any of the other countless things we feel we need to do. I ask you to pause in this last week before Christmas and to not just let it flow on by. But to look again at what is around you. Notice the beauty of the moment; take note of the love shared; the beauty of creation; the beauty of those around you, most especially your spouse, children, parents, and friends. Notice the Christ within them now and celebrate that when it comes to Christmas. The love of Christ is already here and Christmas reminds us to notice it and celebrate it now!
To further that hope, on behalf of the parish, I am delighted to give every family a book for Christmas. This book is called Rediscovering Jesus by Matthew Kelly. He has written many books over the last years and I believe this is his best one. He addresses many of the questions that we all have: Who am I? Who is God? What am I here for? What matters most in life? What are my unique talents and abilities? What happens when we die? He grapples with these and many more with honesty and insight.
Fundamentally, Kelly reminds us that Jesus is the amazing friend who’s going to help us answer these questions and who helps us live the answers once we find them out. Over the last year, many of you have expressed to me your desire to have this kind of relationship with Jesus and others of you want to deepen your relationship with Jesus. I believe this book will help us to do just that. Please pick one book per family up from the doors of the Church on the way in or out this weekend. My relationship with Jesus is what has got me through these last months. I hope this book will change your life.
Last night, we had the first of two nights of Christmas Village with the Christmas Lights Drive Through. It was fantastic last night and we invite you to join us again tonight between 6-8 p.m. Come decorate your car and wear Christmas attire. I will be there in my ugly sweater again!
Finally, given the turn in weather over the last week and the forecast for wet and cold weather next week, we have decided to move the outdoor Mass on Christmas Eve at 3 p.m. inside. It is anticipated to be 50F and 50% chance of rain. We are sorry to disappoint those hoping for an outdoor Mass this Christmas but we will not be able to accommodate due to the weather. We will livestream the 3pm to accommodate those not able to attend in person.
I hope we will see you in person at Mass on Christmas Eve or Christmas Morning but if not, please try to join us live at one of the livestream Masses.
Merry Christmas!
God Bless,
Fr. Brendan