From Fr. Mark-December 21, 2025

From Fr. Mark

   FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT

This is the last Sunday of our preparation for Christmas, the anniversary of Christ's birth. Like Joseph, we can all feel unworthy of the honor of welcoming him into our hearts and our homes. We are indeed unworthy, not because we have little of this world's goods, but because we have so little humility, so little charity, so little faith and trust in God's goodness. Let us try to imitate Joseph and Mary, the humblest of the humble, the kindliest of the kindly, and the greatest-ever believers in God's goodness and mercy. We can never hope to equal them, but we can follow them humbly, from afar.

            The feast of Christmas should draw the hearts of every child of God towards the furnace of divine love. In the manger, the infinite love of God for us miserable sinners is dramatically and forcefully portrayed before our eyes. In that helpless Baby, represented by a statue, we know that the person, and the power, of the omnipotent Creator and sustainer of the universe lie hidden "He emptied himself, taking the form of a slave" for us. He became a creature, like ourselves, so that he would make us sharers in his divine nature. He came on earth to bring us to heaven. He hid his divine nature so that he could cover us with it.

            "Unsearchable indeed are the judgements of God, and inscrutable his ways." But though we are unworthy of his infinite love, it nevertheless stands out as clear as the noonday sun in the Incarnation. We realize that we can never make ourselves worthy of this infinite love, but let us imitate Joseph and accept the honor which God is giving us, as we trust that he will continue to make us daily less unworthy.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

                         “Behold, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all people. For today in the city of David a savior has been born for you who is Christ and Lord” (Luke 2:10-11).

These words of the angel to the shepherds on the night of the Nativity are, as the angel said, “for all people,” including us. They bring us joy and hope. God entered our history. He became Emmanuel, God-with-us. “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). He took our sins upon Himself as if they were His own. Out of love, God united Himself to us in order to communicate His life to us, to save us from sin and death. He opened for us the road to His heavenly Kingdom. The Son of God assumed our human nature so that we might share in His divine life.

The great gift of Christmas is Jesus. He is God’s gift to us: the gift of Himself. God gave Himself in His only-begotten Son. He took on our humanity to give His divinity to us. This is the most amazing truth of our faith. It was never imagined that God would become man. It was beyond anyone’s dreams that the almighty and eternal God would enter history as a newborn baby. The Incarnation was beyond any human expectation. When we contemplate the mystery of Christmas, we become like the shepherds and magi: All we can do is approach the mystery in adoration, with wonder and awe. We sing: “O come let us adore Him.”

At Christmas, in prayerful adoration before the Christmas creche, let us contemplate with Mary and Joseph the infant in the manger, the Word made flesh, Jesus our Savior. May we thus experience the true joy of Christmas and transmit this joy with kind gestures, forgiveness and generosity to all those who are in need, who are suffering or hurting, or who are struggling.

Finally, I thank you all for your expressions of affection and your warm greetings during this time. It is my third Christmas with you and I am very happy to serve you as your pastor. I strive everyday to guide you and show you the path to God. A thousand thanks to all of you who have become my spiritual family. I also thank you for your financial support towards our parish; without your collaboration the parish cannot move forward and thanks to your sharing heart we can move forward.

I cannot stop thanking and congratulating on this Christmas day all our volunteers: lectors, extraordinary ministers, ushers, choir members, and the active members of all the groups and ministries of the parish. All of you are the heart of the parish, I feel very grateful for all the support you bring to our parish community. Thank you very much for all your effort.

Finally, I thank and congratulate the Staff of our parish for the hard work they have done this past year. They have worked as a team and I know they have given their best and will continue to do so. I am very happy with all of them because they are a great team and they give their best to serve you as you deserve it, whilst they always seek to show the face of Christ. For me as a pastor, they are not just employees, they are a family of faith who help me carry this parish forward.

I wish this Christmas to be a time of hope and spiritual reconciliation for all of you. May the grace and peace of Baby Jesus abundantly bless your homes, your families, your intentions and all your projects. We wish you a Merry and Holy Christmas, full of peace and well-being.         

Next weekend, December 27 & 28, the Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, Fr. Levi James and I will be switching parishes for the weekend. I will be witnessing a marriage at Holy Cross in Wendelin and Fr. Levi will be witnessing a marriage here at Holy Childhood and each of us will be celebrating the weekend masses, Fr. Levi at Holy Childhood and St. Liborious and I at Holy Cross-Wendelin, St. Joseph-Olney, St. Joseph-Stringtown and St. Lawerence-Lawrenceville. Please welcome Fr. Levi for the weekend.