Encouraging the Culture of Encounter with Jesus Christ, His Church, and All People
 
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
 
Keep Christmas Going!
The season of Advent was all preparation for a major step in God’s saving mission.  Now we celebrate that event and meditate on it for a while.  Going deeper this Christmas season will help get ready for the next steps that lead us to Christ’s Passion, Death, and Resurrection.  So keep the celebration going and keep those decorations up!  Don’t let our culture dictate to us when Christmas is over.  Keep wishing people Merry Christmas! 
 
The Wise Men have Finally Arrived!
Since the first week of Advent our wise men have been in the Narthex (although perhaps you missed them if you only use the south entrance). Every weekend they have moved a little closer continuing to follow the star leading them to Bethlehem. Celebrating their arrival is the Feast of Epiphany.  This event honors how Christ reveals Himself to all the world.  He is not the property of a sole group or tribe or nation.  Christ has come for all mankind!
 
Happy New Year!
The secular calendar has flipped and now we are in 2020!  I remember long ago when I was a teenager and to show how “with it” we were, one would say, “Hey, man! It’s the nineties!”  Well, there are young people in college today that were not even born in the nineties.  As we add more and more years to the calendar we are farther and farther from the time of Christ’s birth in the world.  Yet this does not bring us sadness, for truly this is 2020 AD, Anno Domini, the two thousand and twentieth year of the Lord.  He is not constrained by time.  Even as another year has passed, we rejoice that the Lord’s promise remains for He is with us until the end of the age.  For each year that passes we are also getting closer to the the consummation of all things in God when we He returns in glory.
 
Merry Christmas, Happy Epiphany, and Happy New Year!
 
Sincerely in Christ,
Fr. Pfr