Open road is the impossible dream of the Beltway-bound, commuter-crowded and creeping along under the worst of all possible conditions. But open road is what lies ahead as we turn that page and resume our forward motion now that the delightful pause of Christmas festivity yields to the normal progression of tasks and responsibilities. We put the decorations away and get back to business. Energies are spent and accounts depleted, so not everybody may be ready to run. But still, the new year beckons! Any road worth traveling has markers, so here are a few you will want to note.
The Church has an Epiphany tradition of announcing the Moveable Feasts of the coming year. We did not sing the chanted proclamation at Mass, but you still will want to mark your calendars. Ash Wednesday will be 18 February, and Easter Sunday 5 April, which is solidly in the “normal” date range. The Ascension of the Lord will be on Thursday, 14 May, but we will ignore that until the following Sunday, the 17th. Pentecost Sunday will be 24 May (which will be Memorial Day weekend this year) and Corpus Christi with its procession two weeks later Sunday 7 June. The last Sunday of this year will be Christ the King on 22 November, then after Thanksgiving on 26 November we will start the cycle all over again on 29 November with the First Sunday in Advent.
More local markers will include Wednesday, 26 February, one week into Lent, when Bishop Roy Campbell will come here confer Confirmation on our young people. First Holy Communion will be on Saturday 2 May, the First Saturday of that busy month just as Our Lord indicated to the nuns.
Not all the dates we need to know are liturgical. Trying to find a date to get together with a friend, I first had to find out when falls Super Bowl Sunday this year (February 8, if you like me did not already know) because I know I have somewhere to be that evening. The first of this year’s federal holidays are 19 January and 16 February, which give us three-day weekends and the Monday special Mass schedule. These are also annual events whose dates change from year to year.
Laying out the map for what lies ahead, I would be remiss if I did not mention what is still large and bright in the rear-view mirror. Let me thank everybody who worked so hard to make our celebrations over the past weeks so marvelous. Our music in particular was wide in variety and consistent in excellence. Everybody loves Christmas music for good reason, and the musical talents and efforts of our parish did it more than justice.
“The big push” to decorate the church on Christmas Eve was handled with near professional efficiency and better than professional results. As our manger scenes come down this weekend with the Baptism of the Lord, it is good to remember how many hands it takes to build (and remove) those “stables!” And as ever, our altar servers showed that they can do world-class work blindfolded, or at least in the dark of Midnight Mass. Our sacristans and ushers took care of an awful lot of work between Masses that made each successive congregation feel like they were the first on scene to see the new-born King. And even if the announcements at Mass gave you the impression that the rectory offices were nearly always closed, let me assure you that all the staff worked extra hard to prepare everything we needed and process everything you gave.
So let me thank them for you, but if you have a chance, feel free to say a word yourselves. These are all people we know and see often who make thangs so beautiful for all the people we would be glad to see a little more often. The Nativity of our Lord brings plenty of God’s children “home,” if only for a visit. It is reassuring to know we are in good company on the open road.
Monsignor Smith
