As the kids return to school this week and what the secular world considers “the holiday season” winds down, the Church continues its joyous celebration of the Christmas Season...
¨ The Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord is traditionally celebrated on January 6 (the Twelfth Day of Christmas) however, in many places, including the United States, the observance is moved to the Sunday after New Year’s Day. In some cultures Epiphany is observed with even greater fanfare than Christmas as we celebrate the visit of the Magi to the Christ child manifesting the glory of God to the nations. “The [Christmas] season has been moving steadily toward this moment of great revelation and epiphany. Today we acknowledge and celebrate that the child born in a lowly manger in the darkness of night is revealed as the manifestation of God (the literal meaning of Epiphany). Throughout the liturgies of the season, Christ has been revealed in many ways: as Lord, King; the one in whom God is present and acts. All manifestations of God are “lights” that shine through Christ, illuminating and revealing a deeper understanding of his identity.” [2008 Sourcebook for Sundays and Seasons, pp. 58f]
¨ Next weekend the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord will bring our celebration of the Christmas Season to a close. It is a kind of threshold through which we pass each year from our reflection upon and celebration of the Mystery of the Incarnation—of the Lord’s Nativity and his early manifestations—into Ordinary Time, that part of our calendar “in which no particular aspect of the mystery of Christ is celebrated, but rather the mystery of Christ itself is honored in its fullness….” [Universal Norms, 43] Jesus’ baptism in the River Jordan by John the Baptist is the turning point that marks the end of his early manifestations and the beginning of his public ministry. From here he will begin his work of proclaiming the Good News and gathering disciples to himself. May this celebration of the last feast of Christmastide be a reminder of the call we have received in baptism to follow the Lord all the days of our lives and to continue the work he has commissioned his disciples to do: to proclaim the Good News and to build the Kingdom of God.
As we continue to revel in the brief but glorious Christmas Season, I finally have the opportunity to send out a big “thank you” to everyone who helped make our celebration of Christmastide so joyous and wonderful. I wish to thank everyone who showed me such great generosity for all of the beautiful cards, gifts, and goodies. Your warm wishes, kind words, and generous spirit are very much appreciated. To all who sent greetings or remembered my mom and family in prayer this Christmas Season, thank you for your kindness. Please be assured of my continued prayers for all of you throughout this new year! Thanks to the volunteers who turned out to decorate and prepare our churches for Christmas. I have received many compliments on how nice they look; your labors are very much appreciated. Thanks to the liturgical ministers for exercising your ministries over the Christmas season; we are grateful for sharing your time and talent with our parish family all year long. A big thanks to those in music ministry who added so much to the liturgies of this wonderful season; all of your preparation and practice was appreciated and enjoyed by all who gathered for worship. Finally, thanks to all of you for your presence at the liturgies of Christmas Day and the Season. I pray that the joy-filled spirit of prayer and praise present this Christmastide will continue to resound in our parish throughout this new year!
On Monday the Church celebrates the “Miracle Man of Montreal”, St. Andre Bessette. Alfred Bessette was born in 1845 in a small village in Quebec, just southeast of Montreal. Frail and sickly for his entire life, he was baptized immediately after birth (four of his eleven siblings died in infancy) and was orphaned at the age of 12. While he received little formal education, Alfred was instructed in the faith by the pastor of his local parish and developed a great devotion to St. Joseph and to the Lord’s Passion. After an unsuccessful attempt to find work in the United States, Alfred returned to Quebec and was urged by his pastor to consider a religious vocation. He applied to the Congregation of the Holy Cross but was initially denied because of his poor health. He was finally admitted in 1870 after the intervention of the Archbishop of Montreal and took the name Andre, in honor of his childhood pastor. Because of his lack of education and poor health, he was assigned the rather unglamorous post of doorkeeper at Notre Dame College in Montreal, where he would receive guests and tend to their needs. Many people began to experience physical healings after praying with Brother Andre, and his reputation began to spread. Offering haircuts at five cents a piece, Brother Andre saved up enough money to construct a simple shrine in honor of St. Joseph across the street from Notre Dame College, which opened in 1904. Large numbers of pilgrims were attracted to the shrine so that Brother Andre’s sole ministry for the rest of his life was to receive the long lines of the sick who sought him out. But through it all, he remained humble, baffled that people would lavish such praise upon him, for he knew it was through St. Joseph’s intercession that that the thousands of miraculous cures occurred. Brother Andre Bessette died at the age of 91 on January 6, 1937; over one million people braved the frigid Montreal winter to pay their respects as Brother Andre lay in state outside his beloved oratory. The Miracle Man of Montreal became the first member of the Congregation of the Holy Cross to be named a saint when he was canonized by Pope Benedict XVI in 2010.