I hope everyone had a very blessed and merry Christmas. We will continue to celebrate Christmas through next Sunday, The Epiphany of the Lord.
I also want to wish everyone a Happy and Prosperous New Year. May 2018 be good to you and to our parish as we celebrate our 90th Anniversary.
We are about to begin our 90th year as a parish. We are looking for more history of the parish as well as ideas on how to celebrate this great anniversary. Why not spend a little time looking at the pictures of the priest and deacons who have served here? Maybe you will be enlightened by the Holy Spirit to contribute a great idea or two for this coming year.
There is a new community organizing effort taking shape in Northern Indiana. It is called NE-ICAN. I have attended two clergy meetings. It is an interfaith organization looking at systemic change for the better. The diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend backs this with groups in Fort Wayne, Elkhart and St. Joe counties. It should develop into a lay led organization to make things better for everyone. If you would like more info on this group, please see me, Father Len. This is a leadership development process.
Today on the Feast of the Holy Family our readings appropriately deal with family life.
Our first reading from the Book of Sirach tells us how to treat our parents. “God sets a father in honor over his children; a mother’s authority he confirms over her sons.” It even goes into old age: “Take care of your father/mother when he is old; grieve him not as long as he lives.” “He stores up riches who reveres his mother/father.”
Our second reading from St. Paul to the Colossians tells us about good family relationships. “Put on, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another, if one has a grievance against another; as the Lord has forgiven you, so must you do also.”
Our Gospel today tells us of Jesus being presented in the Temple. Here we have the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph going to the Temple to fulfill the law. They offer up two young pigeons, a sign that they were rather poor. They also meet Simeon and Anna. Simeon recognizes Jesus as the Messiah and blesses God and the family. Anna does, too, and “she gave thanks to God and spoke of the child to all who were awaiting the redemption of Jerusalem.” The passage continues by saying the family returned to Nazareth. “The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him.”
One of the hallmarks of a Christian is joy. True joy comes to us when we are doing the work God created us to do, when we are being holy by bringing God’s love into the world around us. Come, Lord Jesus, help us spread your joy to the world!
The National Black Catholic Congress has published a Pastoral Plan of Action. It can be found on their website.
Let us continue to pray for peace in the world. Let us also pray for vocations to the church. Let us pray for the sick of the parish. Let us pray that all will come to respect life. Let us pray for one another and for the canonization of Father Tolton.