Posted on January 3, 2021 View all news
Laudetur Jesus Christus! Gelobt sei Jesus Christus!
Sia lodato Gesù Cristo! Praised be Jesus Christ!
I wish each of you a very happy New Year! I pray that this new year brings more blessings upon us than last year did. Last year was a challenging year, but yet even amid great difficulty lies opportunity. Humanity was humbled to realize that we are not all-powerful, that we are not above our ancestors, that we have not progressed nearly as much as modernity would like to think. Last year could have been much worse, and I am grateful for all the blessings that God did offer to us. While very clearly reminding us that He is in charge.
Last year was a year of many blessings. We celebrated the ordination of Bro. Brent and Bro. Henry to the diaconate. We had the Baptisms of many children, and we welcomed several into the Church. We celebrated Confirmation with several of our young adults. Several of our dating couples married. The parishes and Oratory remained financially stable, and we even got several projects out of the way. The Oratory added Bro. Joseph and several new families joined the parishes. I am sure there are many blessings to be found in your own lives as well. Never forget what should be the perduring lesson of the pandemic, that God is in control. This is not to diminish the suffering of many, but the pandemic could have been much worse. May we look to the blessings, accept what we had to learn, and place our faith and hope in God.
In this coming year, we will celebrate the ordination to the priesthood of Bro. Brent and Bro. Henry. A date will be forthcoming soon, but please be sure to keep them in your prayers over these next weeks and months. We are also eyeing several projects to help improve our parishes further. May we be sure to pray for God’s blessings on us in this new year!
I was in the giving spirit the past few weeks, so I decided that it was time to take a new official picture for the bulletin after roughly seven years. I hope this one looks more like me now!
Lastly, this week, whether today or on January 6, we celebrate the Feast of the Epiphany. The Epiphany is an older liturgically celebrated Feast than Christmas. This was the day in which Christ was revealed to the nations as the Savior. He did not come to save just one people, but all. May we do well to receive this gift that has been offered to us by our growing in grace, virtue, and wisdom. That is the best gift we can offer to the newborn king for all He has offered to us. Have a blessed week ahead!
“Dearly beloved brethren, rejoice in the Lord; again I say, rejoice. But a few days are past since the solemnity of Christ’s Birth, and now the glorious light of His Manifestation is breaking upon us. On that day the Virgin brought Him forth, and on this the world knew Him. The Word made Flesh was pleased to reveal Himself by degrees to those for whom He had come. When Jesus was born He was manifested indeed to the believing, but hidden from His enemies. Already indeed the heavens declared the glory of God, and their sound went out into all lands, when the Herald Angels appeared to tell to the shepherds the glad tidings of a Saviour’s Birth; and now the guiding star leadeth the wise men to worship Him, that from the rising of the sun to the going down thereof, the Birth of the true King may be known abroad; that through those wise men the kingdoms of the east might learn the great truth, and the Roman empire remain no more in darkness.” – St. Leo the Great