Christians around the world celebrate the great Christmas Mystery of the Incarnation that God has become flesh and dwelt among us. It was unfathomable to the people at that time and should be for us as well. It reveals the amazing and generous love of God for us, His people. He did not choose to be exalted, but humble. Our journey of faith is one of humility, vulnerability and tender loving care for all people.

God desires to be close to us and walk with us in our daily lives. He joins us in the messiness of life as well as the joys of life. His humanity reveals His deep desire to be in a relationship with us, to be our companion and friend on the journey. The great mystery is that He is also God and our Savior. Truly unimaginable… A love only God could give. Emmanuel – God is with us! Let Jesus guide and walk with you, heal you, lead you to holiness, and give you confidence in His love.

The Solemnity of the Holy Family is celebrated the weekend after Christmas. I always find it a blessing that we honor the Holy Family at a time of the year when we tend to spend a lot of time with family. The people God choses to place us in the midst of, help us to grow in holiness. One of my frequent sayings is, “the hardest people to live with are the people you live with,” what is behind that thought is that those who are closest to us know us well and us them. Our strengths and weaknesses are revealed in daily family life and it is in family life that we are called to be holy. We could all choose to isolate and never be around people, but that is not the way God made us, we are created for relationships, family and community. It is with His grace and strength that we grow in holiness. So let us harness our relationships with His amazing love… that is what leads us to live as holy families and draw strength from the Holy Family. May Mary, Joseph and Jesus be our strength as we live in relationship with one another on our journey of holiness.

January 1st is a Holy Day of Obligation, Mary the Mother of God. We will have a Vigil at 5pm on December 31st. You can come to Mass and then head out to celebrate the New Year of 2025. We also have two Masses on the first day of the New Year at 9:00am and 11:00am. Please take the time and the opportunity to start 2025 giving thanks to God and asking for the intercession of Mary for the year ahead.

The next week is the Feast of the Epiphany, January 5th – we will provide each family with Holy Water and Blessed Chalk to mark the door of your home and bless your house in the New Year. Your homes house the domestic church – the family. It is important to remember that God dwells with you and this blessing reminds you of His love and protection at all times.

Be sure to leave a few Christmas decorations up during the full Christmas season which ends on January 12th. It is a reminder that we celebrate Christmas not as a day but truly a season of mystery in our lives. One that gives us hope – Jesus dwells with His people.

Finally, I am grateful for the multitudes of people who came to celebrate the Nativity of our Lord with us this past week. They are moved by the beauty of the Church and the spirit of welcome in our faith community. I always trust that God plants seeds of grace in them and that He rejoices in full Churches with His children home. Thank you for your patience, hospitality and commitment to our faith community. We pray that every soul can find what we have in our Savior Jesus and the gift of our Church community.

Thank you for your generous support during this season. Fr. Ryan and I, as well as the staff have filled ourselves with lots of cookies and treats. We are humbled by the abundant and generous gifts you have bestowed upon on us to show your appreciation and love. Please know we appreciate and love making the journey of faith with all of you here at Saint Bernard of Clairvaux. We are filled with gratitude.

May the light, peace, joy and hope of the Newborn Jesus fill your family and individual lives as we follow the call to holiness, to live in Him.

Christmas Hope,

Fr. Fred

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