Christmas reminds us that, as Mary did, we have to bring Christ into the world.  Patterning ourselves after Mary, we have to allow Christ to emerge into the world by saying “yes” to God’s plan for us, cooperating with the gift of His Holy Spirit.  We cannot keep Christ and our commemoration of His birth to ourselves; He must be shared and proclaimed.  This sharing goes much deeper than celebrating Christmas by attending Mass, gathering with loved ones, and trimming the tree.  It means speaking - with our words and actions - what God does for us.

​Mary is the model for us to imitate if we want to know how to respond positively to God in our life.  Mary’s “yes” and life-long cooperation with the Holy Spirit show us what makes for a robust Christian.  If we follow Mary’s example, we are fulfilling our God-given call to aid the Church in her mission to bring about the transformation of humanity into new life in Christ.  Through our words and deeds, we have to present Christ to the world so that all might benefit from this new life He desires everyone to benefit from.  Living a robust Christian life is not about practicing our faith in the closed circle of those who happen to believe what we believe; it means being animated by a missionary impulse.  These following words, written of Mary, remind us of that:

“Though modest silence is pleasing, dutiful speech is now more necessary.  Open your heart to faith, O blessed Virgin, your lips to praise, your womb to the Creator.  See, the desired of all nations is at your door, knocking to enter...Arise in faith, hasten in devotion, open in praise and thanksgiving” (St. Bernard of Clairvaux, Virgin Mother).

Following Mary’s example, speak the truth of Christ to those who doubt and challenge; offer Him praise in prayer and worship; dedicate your very body to carry on His work where life takes you.  This Christmas, let us dedicate ourselves anew to giving “birth” to Christ, allowing Him to emerge in our time through our practice of a robust Christian faith, patterned after Mary’s example.

​David J. Conrad

Silence can be excruciating and uncomfortable for most people. The ‘anechoic chamber’ at Orfield Laboratories in South Minneapolis is 99.0% sound absorbent and holds the Guinness World Record as the world's quietest place. The longest anyone can stand the silence and has stayed in the chamber is about 90 minutes or so (you can hear the blood rushing through your veins…). On the other hand, silence can prepare you for something wonderful. Silence can prepare us to listen. The founder of Orfield Laboratories says, “When it's quiet, ears will adapt. The quieter the room, the more things you hear.” Silence can heighten our anticipation of what we will hear when the silence is broken. In music, silence (rests), are critical for framing any sound.

​Luke tells us the story of a night that most likely was in April, at the time the shepherds would be out in the fields at night watching their sheep. A young couple has made their way to Bethlehem to register for the census. They can't find a place to stay, so they are offered a place where animals would shelter from the elements, probably a small cave in the side of a hill outside of town. Although the city was bustling with the census crowd, the outskirts of the village was quiet.

Luke doesn't give us too many details. He merely says:

While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. The silence of the night was broken by the cry of a newborn child. Then, in the quiet of the night in the fields an angel announces good news and there's a multitude of the heavenly host breaking that silence with singing. Suddenly, after 400 years of God’s silence to the Jews, there are words all around because maybe God's people are now so hungry to hear from him that they will truly listen. And who are the first ones who hear from God about this? Those who were waiting in silence—in the quiet of the night out in the field with their flocks, those whose ears have been prepared to listen.

Christmas can be a silent time for many people. Maybe you haven't heard from your relatives in a while. Or the doctor met with you and this will be your first Christmas season with the cancer. This may be your first Christmas alone because someone left. You may be out of a job or worried about a job and not sure how you'll pay next month's rent. In the silence you've prayed and you've asked, “How long?” and you don't think you've been heard. You're wondering if God is absent or God is mad at you or God just has nothing to say to you.

So here's the Christmas story for you. The silent night is broken by sound. God hasn't forgotten you. He came as a baby and his name is Immanuel—God with us. The baby's name is Jesus—and God saves. Your silence can prepare you to hear from your Father. His words are the same: "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son...

May you listen well this Christmas season.

Keep singing!

Elizabeth Dyc

The Scripture readings this Third Sunday of Advent are readings filled with hope in the midst of hardship; and of joy in the midst of sorrow—a message we all need at various times in our lives. “Be strong, fear not!” says Isaiah, because God will save you—it doesn’t matter if you are blind or deaf or mute because “they (we) will meet with joy and gladness, sorrow and mourning will flee.” The poetic description of a parched land come to life, of people strengthened, is a wonderfully ‘alive’ picture of God’s grace and mercy for an oppressed people. John the Baptist is told today that Jesus is healing the people in the way that Isaiah predicted—back then and even today, too. This is a reason to rejoice! The psalm today tells us that God keeps faith forever with us, and St. James reminds us to live patiently, without complaining. These are all good things to keep in mind, and good advice to follow.

​Having arrived at Gaudete Sunday means we are halfway through Advent to Christmas! Yikes! Time is flying, and we all have lists and are checking them twice… It isn’t easy to keep the reason for the season front and center, but this is what we are called to do. Soon we will officially begin celebrating Christmas while the rest of the world is “done” by December 26th. You will have to do your part to impart the Christmas ideal while the rest of the world is doing New Year’s and looking toward St. Valentine’s Day… But, “Be strong, fear not!” This is today’s Advent message—given by a prophet so that we may also profess our belief in salvation, regardless of season—sacred or secular.

The following article/letter is again a reprint from my past writings—I thought it was worth reading/hearing some reminders about what our focus should be for this season as we approach the celebration of the birth of Jesus. No matter what—it may be food for thought in this busy time…

So remember: rejoice! And keep singing!

Elizabeth Dyc

On Thursday we celebrate the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary.  Mary, from the first moment of her existence, was preserved from any stain of Original Sin.  This entirely gratuitous gift of God to Mary is of relevance to us as well.

First, as Mary was preserved from any stain of sin, she was entirely disposed to doing God’s will in her life.  As the angel Gabriel put it in the Gospel for this Solemnity: Hail, full of grace!  The Lord is with you (Luke 1:28).  Since Mary is full of grace, she could not be sinful.  There was not any room for sin, grace having, so-to-speak, filled up the space.  This places Mary in a unique position.  With no areas of opposition to God in her person, Mary is privileged to intercede for us.  We can ask God, through her, that God will cleanse us of our sins and thus allow us to enter into His presence.

Second, Mary, through free faith and obedience, said yes to God’s plan for our salvation: [Gabriel said] Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High…Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord.  May it be done to me according to your word” (Luke 1:31-32, 38).  Mary’s choice was inevitable, given her character, yet that does not mean it was not free.  Mary’s consent was a perfectly free act, and yet a perfectly predictable one.  Mary was doing what she wanted to do - God’s will.  We can look to Mary as the supreme example of a mere human being cooperating fully with God, and what wonderful works of His can occur if we too cooperate with Him.

Third, Mary is a worthy dwelling for God’s Son, Jesus our Savior.  In the first reading for the Solemnity, God promised that the offspring of a woman will defeat the Devil’s plans for our destruction: I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will strike at your head, while you strike at his heel (Genesis 3:15).  The Church, looking back in Old testament with the light that Christ’s Death and Resurrection of Jesus our Savior brings, finds this to be the first indication of what was brought to completion in the passage from Luke’s Gospel, above.  Mary is known to be the woman whose Son would crush the Devil’s head.  If Mary suffered even for a moment from the inherited stain of sin, she would not have had the enmity with the Devil of which this passage from Genesis speaks.

For us then, the gift God gave to Mary redounds to our benefit as well.  Mary, in being preserved from the first moment of her existence from any stain of sin, is a privileged cooperator with God in bringing about our salvation.  We can - by asking Mary for her help, following her example, and embracing her Son, Jesus as Son of God and Savior - be cleansed of our sins and admitted to God’s presence.  Celebrating Mary’s Immaculate Conception is a way for us to rejoice over God’s mercy and a gateway to entering His presence.

Holy Mary, pray for us!

​David J. Conrad

The First Reading today from the Prophet Isaiah is prophecy regarding Christ’s coming as Savior to His people. It is a poetic description of how life will be in the Kingdom. The Responsorial Psalm today is: “Justice shall flourish in his time, and fullness of peace forever.” If you listen closely to the verses, they are also descriptive of life in the Kingdom.

St. Paul encourages us to live in hope (and harmony). His message today tells us that by endurance and by the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. In this day and age it is difficult to keep our minds and hearts on God, especially at this time of the year when consumerism Christmas is in your face at every turn. We are bombarded with messages of buying into this societal ‘ideal’ and it is not easy to ignore, and it is so easy to be tempted!

John the Baptist reminds us in strong language today to “produce good fruit as evidence of repentance,” in order to prepare the way of the Lord to be born in us. It is so difficult in Advent to focus on a scriptural life and spiritual growth when the secular world has us twisting and turning about Christmas. It is hard to work toward peace, especially inner peace, in the midst of frenetic living. But; this is what we are called to do. So, how do we cope?

I have decided to reprint/rework a list of ‘Christian De-stressors’ that I shared with you a few years ago. It’s a lot to think about—but even doing one of them can make a change for the better for you, can make life and all the rest easier and give you a small taste of the Kingdom to come. Hope it helps! Keep singing!

Christian De-stressors

1. Pray. Having problems? Talk to God on the spot to nip small problems in the bud. Don't wait!
2. Go to bed on time. Get enough rest.
3. Get up on time so you can start the day unrushed. Allow extra time to do things, to get to places.
4. Say No to projects that won't fit into your time schedule or will compromise your mental health.
   
5. Delegate tasks to capable others.
6. Simplify, unclutter your life, less is more. Organize, everything has its place.
7. Pace yourself. Spread out big changes and difficult projects over time; don't do it all at once.
8. Take one day at a time. Do something for the Kid in You everyday. Slow down!
9. Separate worries from concerns. If a concern, ask God what to do and let go of the anxiety. If you can't do anything about a situation, forget it.
10. Eat right. Or even better. Fill up on plant-based food. Small changes in your diet will add up.
11. Get moving, even a little bit. Our bodies were made to move.
12. Every day, find some time to be alone—even a few moments—maybe for breath prayer.
13. Make friends with Godly people.
14. Live within your budget.
15.  Have backups: an extra house or car key available when needed, an extra phone charger handy.
16. K.M.S. (Keep Mouth Shut). This advice can prevent enormous trouble. Talk less; listen more.
17. Take your work seriously, but yourself not at all. Sit on your ego.
18. Read the Bible while waiting in a line—carry one or download to your phone.
19. Develop a forgiving attitude (most people are doing the best they can).
20. Laugh. Then laugh some more!
21.  Be kind to unkind people (they probably need it the most).
22. Remind yourself that you are not the general manager of the universe, God is.
23. Write down thoughts and inspirations.
24. Every night before you sleep, think of one thing you're grateful for that you've never been grateful for before. Sometimes the shortest bridge between despair and hope is a good “Thank you Jesus.”

Elizabeth Dyc

Just a Note: Save the Date: Our Advent Pageant: “Cradle, Cross and Crown will take place on Sunday, December 11 at 4:00pm in Church. This is a fund and food raiser for Christmas giving after emptying our Food Pantry for the Thanksgiving holidays. Please come and join us as we celebrate the season and feed those less fortunate.