‘Tis the weekend
after Christmas, and all through the house, not a creature is stirring, except
for the Blessed Mother’s pen, scratching out thank-you notes. Being conceived without sin means never
putting them off until things calm down.
Of course all the
shepherds get personal notes, and because she is who she is, she probably has a
kind word and a treat for the ox and ass, and all the creatures of the
stall. There is even a special something
in store for the little drummer boy. This
way, she will not be flustered next weekend, when those unexpected guests
arrive bearing gifts, so there is no danger the tags will get lost in the giftwrap,
or that she might confuse which king brings gold, and which brings myrrh.
While I dedicate the
central effort of my day to giving thanks to God in the Mass, never was the
marvel of the Immaculate Conception more clearly distant from my own
circumstance than when it comes to the basic work of thanking everybody else. Faced with the outpouring of grace and glory
that is Christmas here, I am grateful for the many generosities and gifts that
were offered to God, and to all of us, including me.
First of all, let be
noted the amount of hump-busting on the part of the parish staff in the ramp-up
to Christmas. By the time the singing
starts, they are all with their families, but a lot of their precious December effort
and energy is spent on making this place ready to welcome a newborn King – and all
of us who adore him.
Speaking of singing, I
would like to thank our singers and musicians without whom it wouldn’t sound
like Christmas. John Henderson, our new
music director, showed confidence that it would all come together splendidly,
and so it did. I would like to offer a
special shout-out to the kids of our fledgling youth choir. Speaking of the younger folks, I am never less
than bursting with pride in our servers, and the dedication and reverence they
contribute to our worship – even in the middle of the night!
Our church decorators,
led by Elaine Vining, Kelly Weisgerber, and Margaret McDermott, had a number of
younger helpers, too, many from our Religious Education program. Many hands make light work and all that, but
still: since we do not decorate until it is actually Christmas Eve, they gave a
large chunk of that precious day to effect the marvelous and near-instantaneous
transfiguration of our church for the celebrations.
Ushers, lectors, and
the dedicated souls who clean and polish the church all take time from their own
families to make our corporate worship more complete. I can’t leave out the Holy Name guys and
their helpers who put together the outdoor crèche – and the gentle souls who lovingly
restore our ancient, crumbling Nativity figures. And all your gifts need to be tracked
properly, so let’s hear it for our dedicated and only occasionally rowdy
counting crew!
Reflecting as we do
this weekend on the Holy Family makes me keenly aware of what I have in common with
Saint Joseph. Think about it; living as
he did with God incarnate and His Immaculate Mother, whenever anything went wrong
around the house, it was pretty clear whose fault it was. It’s the same around here, but for me.
Every Christmas,
every Mass, I see your faces, and hear your voices, and bask in your joy. I am deeply grateful for you, your presence,
your fidelity, your generosity, and your support. So if anyone, or anything, got left out, not
only of this column, but of the opportunity for grace that is the divine life
of this parish, that would be my fault. With
my characteristically late and insufficient apologies for the oversight, I promise
that I will immediately and without procrastination take the one and only
action that has a chance of bearing you the good fruit you deserve: I will ask
our Blessed Mother to look after you with a particular grace and gift. I have no doubt she will quickly come to your
aid, because she has already long since finished her own correspondence.
Monsignor
Smith
