This weekend, memories will be made that will last lifetimes.
Monday is Christmas Day!
For many folks, today (Friday) is the last work day or school day before Christmas! Already, many have anticipated the holiday with parities and gatherings at which gifts have been exchanged and friendships and relationships forged again and anew.
Christmas is an especially poignant day for me and my family. Our mother was born on Christmas Day! And, although the Lord Jesus called her to eternal rest in 2003, the memory of joining the celebration of Christ's Birthday with Mom's still lingers in our hearts. We commend her, our beloved father and brother and all those family members who have gone before us in faith. May God give them blessed repose and eternal peace!
For yet another year, I celebrate Christmas (my 3rd) in Arizona, my residence of retirement from active pastoral ministry.
Celebrating Christmas in the desert is still a novel experience for me, yet the Lord seemed to accommodate my nostalgia for the frosty Christmas holidays I experienced in St. Louis with a brisk temperature of 34 degrees this morning....frost on the cacti, for sure!!
Permit me on this Christmas weekend, then, to put away the commentary and observations about events and occurrences in the Church and to simply offer a Christmas greeting and prayer to all.
Merry Christmas! A Blessed and Grace-filled celebration to all of you.
May the Lord Jesus be with you and all those you love to shower His Grace and His Peace upon you. May we all know His Presence in our lives and the power of His Wisdom and Love.
God bless you, each and every one, this Christmas and always!
Father Joe
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