Dear Parishioners,

Merry Christmas! I want to wish you and your families a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. This week’s bulletin will be for two weeks. Note the office will be closed from Christmas Eve until January 6th . If you need something during that time, you can try to connect by phone or email, and we will do our best to assist.

I will be gone visiting my family Dec. 29th and 30th so no Mass on Tuesday the 30th. We will have the usual First Friday Masses (8 AM SJ, 9 AM OLF) January 2nd, and the usual first Saturday Mass at 8 AM January 3rd.

I will be gone January 5th -10th on a trip to Missouri to visit a mission house of Madonna House which is a Catholic movement in the Church. Therefore, we won’t have daily Masses during that week.

A heads up that the Faith Formation schedule in January is organized a bit differently than typical. We have Group Night on January 7th (I will be gone so my group is meeting on Jan 28th instead). Formation Night is Jan. 14th, and Encounter Night is January 21st . Check out your calendar that was in the Newsletter (which was mailed to you), this will tell you the schedule.

Now that we are in the Christmas Season, let’s take some time to enjoy the season. Listen to Christmas Music, enjoy the décor and eat all that wonderful Christmas food. The season of Christmas ends on Jan 11th with the Baptism of the Lord. Some people will keep their decorations up until February 2nd (the Presentation). This was an old custom, that can be observed if you like.

There are many beautiful and wonderful things about the Christmas Season, but I know it can also be a difficult time for some people. If you have lost a loved one, or if your family dynamics have been difficult this can be a challenging time for people. So, if that is your experience of this season, I would encourage you to seek consolation from the Lord rather then seeking it from all the external things of this season. If you can spend time reflecting on the fact that God wants to be close to you. The Lord has made himself known to us in a very personal way.

The natural consolations that are often part of this season are nice (celebrations, gifts, good food and time with friends). There are other elements of this season that are spiritual consolations. The fact that God wants to share these with us can be of comfort when the natural joys and consolations are missing or run dry. It is not uncommon for people to feel sad during this season because they are missing something, or they see that everyone else seems to be enjoying themselves while they feel down. If you feel this way, bring this sorrow or this sadness to the Lord in prayer. Pray with the Psalms, remember that for the Holy Family, they had many hardships during this time as well. You are not alone. God sees you, and despite your difficult circumstances, God wants to comfort you and console you.

Fr. George will be covering the Mass on Saturday Jan. 10th at OLF. I plan to be back in time for the Sunday morning Masses on Jan 11th. I pray you all can enjoy this special season and know a

deeper union with the Lord.

In Christ,

Fr. Eli