Dear Parishioners and Friends,

Sometimes you will hear people say that Christmas is especially for children.  Those older may recall the enthusiasm, excitement, and innocence of the Christmases of their youth.  I was blessed with such experiences for all the years of my childhood.  As we grow older children might remind us of the days of innocence gone by and help bring that innocence into the present.   Christmas never grows old.  The Christ Child of 2024 remains the same yesterday, today, and forever.   His sack of goodness is never exhausted even as the years pass.   His amazing grace cannot be diminished in His power to enlighten, strengthen, renew, and give life to us.  We always will need a Savior and there is only one:  Jesus Christ.   His Triumph of Love touches the past, the present, the future even into eternity.

In growing up there eventually comes that moment, a crossroads I would say, when we must make a choice.  Usually, it dawns on us in our early teen years.  At some point the externals of Christmas are just not enough for us. There must be something or someone deeper or not much at all.  That is because there is an emptiness in our souls that needs to be filled either with our good God or with evil.  The choice is to embrace Jesus Christ or to drift away or even turn away from Him.  This is the choice each has before him: to live indifferently, superficially, or preferably, joyfully in the loving Savior.  Even not to decide is to decide.  

Where do I stand when it comes to Jesus Christ?  Where do you stand?   We are fortunate if we have loved ones, who will lead us to Christ, who will kneel with us before the Lord at His altar, who will share His eternal love with us so that we may believe and hope and love all our days.  After all is said and done, we must daily decide to personally accept Jesus or not.  He becomes our best friend or begins to be outside our door, gently knocking for us to open our hearts and souls to Him.  The Gospel proclaims: OPEN THE DOOR.  Kneel before Him and worship Him alone!

My advice this time of year is always the same:  KEEP CHRIST IN CHRISTMAS.   

Advent time is a joyful time of preparation to receive our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ with greater faith, hope, and most of all love.  Our upcoming celebration of the Immaculate Conception of the B.V.M. reminds us that Mary, our Mother and Mother of the Redeemer, reflects in the most perfect way how to accept Jesus in our lives.  She loves Jesus and she loves us so that we may live in the Jesus who loves us.  The faith is passed on by those who love us and love the Lord at the same time.  Give both gifts this Christmas. 

During Advent we hear the voice of the last great prophet, St. John the Baptist, quoting Isaiah: “Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths.”   Conversion comes from the Latin “to turn.”  We must turn away from sin and turn toward the Lord.  St. Augustine records that in the worship of the earlier centuries of Christianity, it was announced at one point “to turn toward the Lord.”   At that point the entire congregation would turn toward the East, a symbol of the Risen Christ.   At this time of year we might think of the fact that we were reborn in Jesus Christ at Baptism and the entire Christian life is the call to live out our baptismal vows.  We must turn to Him again and again, listen to His voice, obey His commands, love in season and out of season all the days of our lives.  

Jesus is our gift from the Father.   With the gift of ourselves the gift of Jesus to others is always the best gift of all.  The best gift we give to our loved ones must come from within in Christ: happy, generous, tender, forgiving, appreciative, kind, affectionate, radiant, strong, magnanimous, happy and holy.  That is what they really want from us.  Let us offer a soul reborn in Jesus Christ full of faith, hope, and love.   This is the most precious gift given and received.  This is what matters most in the course of things.  Make this Christmas the best ever.

Yours in the Immaculate Heart of Mary,

Fr. Mark G. Mazza

N.B. The Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception is always a Holyday of Obligation.  The United States is especially consecrated to Immaculate Mary.  This year, except for the Latin Mass, it is transferred from Sunday, December 8 to Monday, December 9. On Monday, December 9^th Masses will be at 815am (with school), noon (Traditional Latin Mass), and at 7pm.