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Dear Parishioners,
Christmas is almost upon us! This week we celebrate the most joyous of feasts. Many families will gather on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day to celebrate with their family the coming of Christ the Savior. Keep Christ in Christmas! Our Mass schedule is Christmas Eve 4:00pm and 6:00pm at St. Andrew Church, and 4:00pm and Midnight at St. Theresa Church. On Christmas morning, we will have an 8:00am Mass at Saint Andrew Church and a 9:30am Mass at Saint Theresa. I pray that Christmas is happy and holy for you and your family!
The joy of Christmas is a profoundly human thing, as we gather with our families and share our love for each other. Remembering Jesus came as a baby is fun too, and the coming of any baby is such a joy! Before my grandnephew Reid was born we were at Thanksgiving dinner, and my sister told her daughter-in-law to let me put my hand on her belly to feel the baby move. I remember another one of my sisters saying that one thing she couldn’t get used to when she was pregnant was the number of people who felt they could go up to her and put their hands on her belly trying to feel the baby move. It is something I would never do, and have never done, until that Thanksgiving when my nephew’s wife took my hand and put it on her belly where little Reid was moving. It was amazing, and such a moment of profound joy. This is the joy that is captured in the story of the Visitation that we hear in the Gospel today. “When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy.” The moment is captured beautifully in a painting by Corby Eisbacher entitled “Jump for Joy – Mary and Elizabeth”. I’ve attached a copy of the picture to this letter. You can read more about Corby at his website HERE and you can purchase prints of this painting at his Etsy Store HERE. Take a moment to enjoy how beautifully the artist captures that joy we know so well, the joy of a new life, filled with hope and promise. Then consider that the Birth of Jesus that we celebrate at Christmas is that joy, hope and promise that the angels sung for, and that was proclaimed as “tidings of great joy that will be for all peoples, for unto us is born in the City of David a Savior, who is Christ and Lord.” Coming in His Humanity He brought joy to Mary, Joseph, Elizabeth, and all who shared in the excitement of welcoming a little one into the world. Coming in His Divinity he brought life and light, joy and peace, to all who follow Him. He comes to us now with those gifts. Let us accept them, accept Him, and know the wonders of His love. Merry Christmas!
~Fr. ChrisDear Parishioners of Saint Matthew’s Parish,As we approach the celebration of Christmas, I want to take this opportunity to wish each of you and your families a very Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year 2025. May the peace, joy, and hope of Christ’s birth fill your hearts and homes this Christmas and throughout the year ahead.I also want to share that from January 15th to February 26th, I will be traveling home to Cameroon to visit my family and to spend time teaching at the seminary. If you have any old and gently used rosary beads that I may bring home with me this visit, I would be most grateful. The rosary beads can be dropped off to the Parish Office before January 10th. While I will miss being here at Saint Matthew’s during this time, I look forward to returning with renewed energy and experiences to share. I kindly ask for your prayers for safe travels and for fruitful teaching.Thank you for your continued support and for being such a vibrant and welcoming parish community. May God bless you abundantly this Christmas and always.With prayers and gratitude, Father Jean Sassou“But Mary kept all these things, pondering them in her heart.” (Luke 2:19)Christmas morning is a surprisingly “quiet” time in the heart of the Church. Even as the world is busy opening gifts, visiting family and friends, and feasting on rich food and drink, the Gospel from the Mass at Dawn reminds us of a quieter observance, arising out of the depths of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.When the angelic Gloria has subsided in the heavens; after the shepherds have departed from the Holy Family following their frenzied and unscheduled visit, the Mother of God looks upon the newborn son in her arms and reflects on what all this could mean. Her intense, fixed gaze, and fully opened heart form the foundational template of the Church’s contemplative life: Looking upon the face of God-made-Man, the human heart begs the Creator of Heaven and earth for a personal revelation. First, “Who are You and what do You want?” And then, “Who am I and how shall I live the life you’ve given me?” The newborn Jesus does not offer a lengthy explanation. Instead, like a serene, “mirror of souls,” somehow He rests in our hands, our eyes, our hearts, and invites us to hold, to see, to welcome Him. The rest is for . . . later.May we live the example of the Blessed Mother’s Christmas morning, gazing (feasting!) silently, tenderly, and lovingly on the spiritual riches of her Infant Son, ready to receive, when His gaze turns to us and He utters the Word of eternal life.Fr. Hal
