I hope you had a great Thanksgiving and I hope you got to spend it with your family and friends. Holidays, besides everything else that goes with them, bring a stiff test of my willpower. I would say that this go-around I did OK, but not great. I limited my dessert intake to one piece of sugarless peach pie, but was unable to control myself when it came to the turkey and the deer sausage. So I’m calling this one a wash and giving myself a C, and try to do better next time.
As I write this the country radio station I’m listening to is playing Christmas music, even though Christmas is 4 weeks away. Everything that we are exposed to at this time of year seems to push us toward an ending. Get your shopping done now to get the best deals, get your Christmas decorations up now to be judged and admired, get your fill of Christmas now because once Christmas day is over, its time to move on to other things. The end of the calendar year is right around the corner. But God knows what is best for us, and what we should really be focused on. So as we begin the season of Advent, God is tapping us on the shoulder and saying wait a minute, let’s back up to the beginning so we can prepare ourselves in a meaningful way for the coming of the newborn Savior.
With the beginning of the Advent season we BEGIN a new church year. We light ONE candle on the Advent wreath, just a first step on a four step journey. We hear the word PREPARE time and time again in our readings and songs. Prepare is not a word that we always want to hear. Our focus is on the reward, the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. However, we also hear the word REJOICE time and time again. God is telling us that our preparations will indeed bring a huge payoff in the end, a Messiah who will sacrifice himself for our sake, so we can experience our own payoff in the end – eternal life with God.
People talk about the spirit that the holiday season brings. People seem a little happier and a little more generous, but once the holiday season ends its back to the normal routine. Certainly our lives bring us many challenges to face, but as the message of Advent tells us, there should be joy in our preparation, as this will be rewarded with the coming of a Savior, as God promised. So I wish you a “Happy New Year”, and I wish you joy in your preparations as well as your celebrations this Advent season.
One of the songs we sing during this season is titled “Proclaim the Joyful Message”. One of the reasons that I began this website and the blog is so we could have a way to proclaim the good news of what is going on in our parish, and the wonderful things our parishioners have done and continue to do. This includes parishioners who have moved on to other places but are still doing amazing things. If you saw the Belleville – News Democrat this past Thursday, besides the seemingly hundreds of Black Friday ads, you may have also seen an article about my nephew, Ed Niermann. Ed attended college for one semester after high school, but he had a long time dream of being a Marine, and so he enlisted for 4 years. During his time he served one tour in Afghanistan and one tour in Iraq, making it through some perilous situations. When his 4 years were up, he returned to college and is now pursuing another dream of his – to be a physical education teacher and a coach. Not only is he back in college, at 26 he is playing football and is the starting center for McKendree College, who is playing in a quarterfinal playoff game today. Here is a link to the article if you did not see it:
www.bnd.com/2010/11/25/1489697/laying-it-on-the-line-from-the.html
I share this with you not just because I am a very proud uncle, but because Ed of course grew up here and was a member of our parish. I know there are many others who grew up as members of our parish and are now out and about doing great things. I would love to hear and share these stories. You can leave a comment here or e-mail me at webmaster@maryhoc.org, or if you see me out and about, throw something at me to get my attention and talk to me.
Well I am happy to say that I was not one of the ones at Wal-Mart at midnight on Friday morning waiting until 5:00AM for that once in a lifetime bargain. I admire the determination of those who did, but as one’s life evolves and as one observes human behavior, the point is reached where one must ask oneself: “What the @!%$* are these people doing?”
Don’t forget the activities being sponsored by the PTO this coming weekend for the Christmas on the River, including the chicken & dumpling dinner on December 3 and the home tour on December 4. Our school will also be participating in the Lighted Christmas Parade on Decenber 3.
Enjoy the rest of the weekend. Peace.