On the 4th Sunday of Advent, the prophet Micah mentions the town of Bethlehem for the first time. The word ‘Bethlehem’ itself means ‘house of bread’, which is interesting because Jesus would be born in Bethlehem on Christmas Day, and would become the ‘bread of life’ for us in the Eucharist at Mass, following His death and Resurrection!
On Christmas day, our Savior is born in a humble manger, surrounded by poor shepherds. Isn’t it amazing that the Savior of the world, and conqueror of sin and death, would come to us as a small and innocent child, and make his first appearance to the poor! During these first moments of our Lord’s life amongst us, Jesus shows us that we can be vulnerable around Him, because He’s vulnerable to us.
On the weekend after Christmas, we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Family. Just as Jesus, Mary and Joseph are the perfect model for family life, all of our families are called to imitate the Holy Family in how they loved one another, and our call to lead our families to Heaven. It’s through the human family (which is the first school of our faith), where we learn about relationships, faith, and interacting with others in society.
In his encyclical on the New Millenium, Pope John Paul II said that it’s “through the ordinary circumstances of life that (families) attain holiness.” In other words, holiness is never beyond our grasp, even if divisions exists within our families.
On January 1st, we celebrate the Feast of Mary, the Mother of God. Of all the many titles that have been given to Mary over the centuries…Mary the Mother of God is the most beautiful. The Scriptures tell us that Mary “treasured all the words (said about Jesus), and pondered them in her heart.” Since Jesus Himself gave Mary to us as our spiritual mother from the cross itself, Mary treasures us in her heart as well!
On the weekend after the Feast of the Holy Family, we celebrate the Epiphany of the Lord. This is the day when the Magi of the East come to worship the infant Jesus in Bethlehem, and offer him gifts of gold, frankincense and myrhh. Gold symbolizes the kingship and divinity of Jesus, Frankincense represents prayers rising up to God, and myrhh symbolizes the oil of anointing that was commonly used in the burial rites (foreshadowing the future passion and death of Jesus).
The Christmas season ends on the weekend following the Feast of the Epiphany, also known as the Baptism of the Lord. This is the day that Jesus is Baptized by John the Baptist in the Jordan River, marking the beginning of His public ministry.
I, as pastor of both St. Andrew and St. Monica parishes, thank God for each of you for your faith, generosity and hospitality of heart. Over the last few weeks, our Giving Tree campaign to help families who are struggling financially raised $9,000. This money was spent in preparing and delivering gift baskets to 44 families in our parish area, ranging from 3-8 members per family. I want to thank Lauri Cabral, Jennifer McKay, David Walker and Tracy Mertz for making this possible.
I want to thank my staff: associate pastors Fr. Martin Okwudiba and Fr. Connor O’Hara, Deacons André Gauthier, Tom Cuddihy and Ray Lamarche, our non-clergy staff Janice Pilgrim for keeping me on my toes, Milva Calla who prepares all of the programmes for the sacraments of initiation, Robella Folliet our parish bookkeeper and accountant, and Charlie Vo our custodian and maintenance man, who keeps the church clean and sets up our seats for events. I’m grateful to the Catholic Women’s League and our newly minted Knights of Columbus Council, our parish choirs, lectors, Extraordinary Ministers of Communion, our Parish Pastoral and Finance Councils, our sacristans, children’s liturgy helpers, our gym set-up and take down team of parishioners at St. Andrew, our helpers in the sound booth, youth group volunteers, adult faith educators and parish environment people (flowers and changing the decor for the season, and those looking after the beauty of our grounds). It’s edifying for me to see so many of you at the weekday and weekend masses, and making use of our Eucharistic Adoration time, daily Rosary and confessions.
As we say goodbye to 2024, and usher in the Jubilee Year 2025, may the infant Jesus bless each one of us and our future plans, as Mary, the Mother of God holds Him up to us!
Fr. Pierre
“The people who walked in darkness, have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness- on them a light has shone.” Is. 9:2