Fr. Mike's Message - 01/03/21

Dear Parishioners,
 
Happy New Year!  We all have a lot of hopes for this one!  As we embark on this new year, let us pray for each other and pray that we can move on from the pandemic.  One of the things I know I need to do is live a bit more intentionally and not take so much for granted.  2020 sure taught me that lesson, among many others.  As a parish family, I hope and pray that we can grow spiritually and continue to support one another on the journey of faith.  Perhaps we can invite a neighbor who has been estranged from the Church to come back.  And I can’t wait for the day when we can have a great, big parish party to say goodbye to masks and social distancing!  Until then, let’s continue to do our part to keep each other safe and healthy.
 
School gets back into gear this week.  Let’s pray for our teachers, staff, and students as they “hit the books” and get the second semester underway.  Let’s also pray for our high school and college students as they prepare to return to school over the next few weeks.
 
This weekend we celebrate the Feast of the Epiphany as the magi follow the star to find the newborn Savior.  In our liturgies, we celebrate Jesus being made known to the world as the Son of God.  We can take from this that it is part of our mission as the followers of Jesus to continue to make Him known through the kind words we choose to speak and the acts of charity that we show to all.  Also, part of our mission is to nourish the faith that is the foundation of those good works by celebrating Sacraments often, especially Eucharist and Reconciliation, and in the practice of our own daily prayer.
 
A tradition to mark the Feast of the Epiphany is a home blessing to pray that we might find the Lord when our earthly pilgrimage ends. It  also reminds us that we should be looking for God, and finding Him along the way. You can bless your home by using chalk to write above the home’s entrance, 20 + C + M + B + 21. The letters “C, M, B” have two meanings. They are the first letters of the names traditionally associated with the three magi: Caspar, Melchior, and Balthazar. They also abbreviate the Latin words "Christus mansionem benedicat", translated as “May Christ bless the house." The "+" signs represent the cross and the numbers represent the current year.  All you need is a piece of chalk and you can offer a simple prayer together to ask God’s blessings upon your home and those who live there.

Pray that all who enter your home will be treated with dignity and love, and that those who come there might find, as did the magi on their journey, the true and ever-living Christ.
 
As we set off in 2021, we have much for which to be grateful as we look forward in hope to new beginnings.  Blessings to you and yours in the New Year.
 
Fr. Mike Boehm