It’s a New Year

 Only in the Eucharist

It’s a New Year!

Do you want to look back or forward?

It all depends. 

Where have you been and where are you going?

On New Year’s Day we straddle the past and the future. 

Memories become mixed with dreams. 

Tears with Hope. 

Laughter with Sighs. 

We see the faces of those no longer with us,

And wonder whose face we will see in the year ahead. 

We think about the things we did,

And make resolutions to do better. 

On New Year’s Day The past, the present and the future all seem to blend into one moment. 

In Mass The past, the present and the future all come together in one Heavenly Moment!

For in Heaven the Past, the Present and the Future all come together in one Eternal Now. 

At Mass we Remember.

We remember all that Jesus did for us,

His birth, His Death and His Resurrection. 

At Mass we remember all our loved ones who are no longer here with us. 

At Mass we Give Thanks for what we have Today. 

Our life and our loves. 

And at Mass we look Forward to that Day,

Where there will be no more mourning or suffering. 

Where everyone we love will be gathered around the Table in our Heavenly Father’s house for one Never Ending Thanksgiving Dinner. 

Every Mass is a New Year; a New Beginning

We look Back on our lives. 

We Give thanks for what we have Today. 

And we look Forward to the Supper of the Lamb,

Around Our Heavenly Father’s table with all our family and friends. 

Every Mass, is a New Year; a New Beginning 

When we look back, give thanks today and get ready for what is to come. 

Dec. 29. St. Thomas Becket

Thomas was the Archbishop of Canterbury and martyred on this day in 1170 

in the Cathedral in Canterbury England by henchmen from King Henry. 

Who wanted to silence Thomas. 

While We may not have to defend our Faith by shedding our blood;

We may  have to defend the Faith,

Against a society and government that wants us 

to compromise our Faith and 

what we believe and how we practice it. 

For many would prefer us to put our Faith under a bushel basket and never speak of it. 

And so like Thomas Becket sometimes we too must stand up for our Faith. 

For While we may not be martyred for the Faith like Thomas a Becket

We may most certainly experience rejection and ridicule for it. 

Dec. 28 The Holy Innocents

 

Toyland is a very special place

Filled with magic and wonder and imagination. 

But once you cross its borders you can ne’er return again. 

It is the same with innocence. 

As a child we are innocent. 

And the world is a place of magic and wonder and imagination. 

But one day we wake up and it is all gone.  

Our dreams are replaced with cynicism and all of the other other “isms”

That compete for our attention, our vote and our time. 

Like Herod who killed the Holy Innocents;

The world seeks to kill our Innocence 

And only the Innocence of the Christ child,

Wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger,

Can save us and bring us back to our Innocence. 

And this is why we are drawn to Christmas;

Not only to see a Child lying in a manger;

But hoping to find our Innocence once again.  

Dec. 27. St. John the Evangelist

 

What makes Christianity different from all other religions 

Is the Incarnation. 

God becoming flesh. 

Judaism, Islam and Buddhism do not believe this. 

But as Christians we believe that the Son of God became flesh. 

That He has eyes and ears and hands just like us. 

This is why St. John writes about what he has

Heard with his ears

Seen with his eyes

And touched with with hands. 

Because he heard and saw and touched the Son of God. 

How glorious that must have been. 

If only we could do that. 

Well we can. 

Because of the Incarnation 

God has eyes and ears and hands just like us. 

So if God is like us,

Then we are like God. 

This is why God became flesh. 

So that we can hear and see and touch God,

In each other. 

Feast of St. Stephen Dec 26

 Being First

Everyone loves being first. 

First in line. 

First to be chosen,

And First to choose. 

Except when it comes to Martyrdom. 

Very few people race to the front of the line to be stoned, crucified, or beheaded. 

But Stephen did.

He is the first martyr. 

The first to die for Christ. 

As he was dragged outside of Jerusalem 

And stoned. 

We may not be called to lay down our lives,

But we can be martyrs of a different kind. 

We can be the first to forgive. 

The first to apologize. 

The first not to gossip. 

The first to lay down the phone or turn off the TV in order to pray. 

These kind of firsts are not always easy. 

But then again Martyrdom never is. 

St. Francis and Christmas

St. Francis wanted to make Christmas Real. 

He wanted to smell the hay of the manger. 

Hear the bleating of the sheep. 

Maybe even feel the flutter of angels wings. 

So 800 yrs. Ago he went off to Greccio in Italy. 

A small town hanging on the side of a cliff like a wreath hanging on a door. 

And he bundled some hay and rounded up some animals. 

And people gathered to watch him make the first Nativity scene. 

He recreated the birth of Jesus in Greccio

So that he could experience what it was like when Jesus was born. 

He wanted Christmas to be as real as possible. 

Is our Christmas Real?

Or is it pretend?

I think you know the difference. 

A pretend Christmas is about presents that break and wear out. 

A pretend Christmas ends on Dec. 26. 

The stores start taking down all their decorations

And get ready for Valentine’s Day

And people take back the presents they didn’t really want. 

And the world goes back to the way it was for the next 364 days. 

But a Real Christmas is different. 

A Real Christmas is about Real presents

The gift of Forgiveness to someone who has hurt you. 

The gift of friendship to someone who is alone. 

The gift of self rather than the gift of things. 

Because these are the gifts that Jesus gives to us. 

God gave us the gift of Himself in the manger. 

A simple, humble, lowly gift that has lasted 2,000 yrs. 

At Christmas God gives us the gift of Himself. 

He came down from Heaven and was born in a manger

So that we can behold Him. 

If we want a Real Christmas then we must give the gift of ourselves to others. 

“For it is in giving of ourselves that we receive.”

December 24

 Christmas Eve

Tonight the Word will become flesh and dwell among us. 

Tonight the Virgin Mary will give birth to a Son.

Tonight we are all innkeepers. 

Will there be room in our hearts?

Tonight we are all angels. 

Will we proclaim Peace on Earth and good will to all?

Tonight we are all shepherds,

Will we hasten to see the Lord?

Tonight we are all Wise Men,

Will we come to adore Him?

Tonight the Christ Child reminds us

That we are all children of God!

Will we see each other as brothers and sisters in the Lord?

December 23 O Emmanuel, Come!

O Come, O come Emmanuel 

And ransom captive Israel.

That mourns in lonely exile,

Until the Son of God appears. 

From slavery in Egypt to Exile in Babylon. 

Israel always seemed to be wandering;

Trying to find its way to the Promised Land

Or back to it. 

We are all Prodigal children. 

Who think they I know what they want and where they are going

Only to be disappointed and disillusioned in the end. 

Trying to find our way back home. 

Held captive by our passions and desires. 

Only when the Son of God can ransom us from sin and death

By His cross;

And only when the Son of God appears again in all of His glory,

Will we find our way home,

Dec. 22 O Desire of Nations Come!

 

O come Desire of Nations,

Bind in one the hearts of all mankind. 

Make all our sad divisions cease

And be for us the King of Peace. 

History is littered with one war after another. 

Promising to be the war to end all wars. 

One Revolution after another. 

Promising to bring Peace and equality to all. 

And they never do. 

They always fall short 

And they seem to only plant the seed for another war or revolution. 

There is only One who can unite the hearts of all men. 

Who can make our sad divisions cease. 

And only when we acknowledge Him. 

THEN there Will there be Peace on Earth. 

Dec. 21 O Dayspring Come!

O Come, Thou Dayspring from on high

And cheer us by Thy drawing nigh;

Disperse the gloomy clouds of night,

And death’s dark shadow put to flight. 

Sometimes the Night can seem so long. 

One cannot get to sleep because of worries and anxieties. 

And the Dawn of Day seems to give us a respite

As does any sunny day. 

Sometimes, the Night can seem so long

As Death closes our eyes,

And we do not know when we will awaken. 

But the Dawn of Day;

The Lord who rose at the Dawn of Day,

Will awaken us with the Light of His Face

To a New Day that Never Ends. 

Dec. 20 O Key of David Come!

 

O Come, Thou Key of David, Come!

And open wide our heavenly home. 

Make safe the way that leads on high,

And close the path to misery. 

What is the Key to Happiness?

Many claim to possess it. 

And when people try to open it with the key

It remains closed. 

Because it was not the True Key. 

The True Key to Happiness is in the hands of David’s Son. 

And those sheep who follow the Good Shepherd,

Will be led to Gate

That only Jesus can open

And they will find Green Pastures and Life and Happiness 

For ever and ever!