NATIVITY of OUR LORD
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Jolene’s Jottings

12/27/2015

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Anne is always looking for people to do the bulletin article and usually I get the second Sunday, but I made the mistake of telling her that I could do Holy Family Sunday if she needed, so here I am. I have always appreciated Holy Family Sunday because God has blest me with a wonderful family and for years I got to spend Holy Family Sunday with them. My Mom and Dad were both very loving parents, always there for us and always teaching us, especially by example, to be responsible loving persons. I had three brothers and three sisters who learned as I did to love one another and all others in our world. Mom and Dad and Judy are gone now, but the 70 of us still here, plus the in-laws, are still a close knit family and for that I thank God and celebrate this day with great gratitude and joy.

However, over the years, I have come to know may families who do not have the gift of a loving family. Today so many families are broken. Members are alone, not speaking to one another, sometimes not even knowing the rest of their own family. Single parents struggle to raise their children alone while trying to support them as well. Our society encourages us to have more material things so parents fell they have to work, often more than one job, to prove these material things that do onto give peace and joy and especially not love. Kids think they need more material things or be involved in more activities but do not even realize the value of being with family. Many families rarely have a sit down meal together. Each is attach to their electronic devices and speak little to one another.
Mary and Joseph went through many truing times during Jesus’ life. His birth is in a stable in a foreign town. They had to flee, as so many foreign families do today, to a foreign country just to be safe and protect Jesus. The when Jesus is about twelve, he disappears for three days. Imagine their fear and frustration. Though we think we live in a much more civilized society today, we do not have to look hard to see many families around us going through many of the same trials. What are we doing about it?

What are we doing in our own families to bring about more peace and love? I would like to suggest to each of you to ask yourself these questions and spend some time reflecting on what you can do to change things for yourself, your family, or some other family. Here are a few suggestions. For your family, schedule a period each day to turn off all electronic devices, including phones and TVs, just to spend time together with your family either eating, playing a fun game or learning what each did today. If you are not talking to a family member, call them and see if you can peacefully settle the problem that caused the disagreement or anger. Life is too short to waste another day not loving one another. If you cannot make the call, at least spent some time in prayer for the other and seeing if you can free yourself of the anger you feel.
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For those we know or see around us, can you offer to lend a helping hand to a single parent who is stressed with work and raising a family? For the many refugee families, or other needy people in our community, can we clean out our closets and give them things we really do not need? Imagine yourself walking in their shoes. What would you want to happen for you? Then just do what you can.
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Pastor’s Pen

12/25/2015

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A Blessed Christmas to All
There was a song that came out in 1984 by the group “Bandaid” which was part of a huge charity concert for the starving children of Ethiopia. One of the songs that came out of that concert was “Do they know it’s Christmas?” Do you “old folks remember it? The liens went like this:

“It’s Christmas time; there’s no need to be afraid.

At Christmas time, we let in light and we banish the shade.

And in our world of plenty we can spread a smile of joy

Throw your arms around the world at Christmas time.

But say a prayer to pray for the other ones

At Christmas time…”
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The song goes into the struggle of the people in Ethiopia who are living in drought and dying of starvation. The song goes back and forth between both worlds: the world of affluence where all are shopping and preparing for the feast and the world of poverty where living another day is truly a gift. The song asked the crucial question whether the rest of the world in the midst of their suffering even knows it’s Christmas. I don’t want to fill us all with guilt on this feast but I like the question. If we took away the lights, the trees, the gifts, the dinners, would anyone know it’s Christmas time at all? Maybe then we would have time to just relax with our families and be grateful for that which is most important in our lives. Maybe we could truly meditate on the mystery of God’s love for us; the mystery that God loved us so much that he chose to be one of us. In that choice, the Divine entered the world in a new way making all of us sacred in our humanity. It is that wondrous gift that we celebrate and it is the cause of our deepest joy! So if we took away all the trappings from the Christmas celebrations, my greatest hope would be that the world would know it’s Christmas by the love of these followers of Jesus. In the season of Christ’s birth, may we allow that Love to be reborn in our hearts. May we live in a spirit of gratitude for that has been given to us. May the world know it’s Christmas by the hope, and joy and love we bring to all our brothers and sisters. Let’s not waste this Christmas on stuff that’s not important. If you didn’t get the right sweater, or you hate the scarf you received or your turkey was dry or the rolls got burned, don’t let it bother you. Put gravy on the turkey, scrape the burn marks off the rolls, and wear the ugly sweater and just laugh…It’s not that important. Keep remembering why we celebrate. As the song says, “throw you arms around the world, it’s CHRISTMAS”
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Pastor's Pen

12/13/2015

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Today we gather on the Third Sunday of Advent. This is the Sunday that we light the rose candle and cry out “Rejoice, He is near!”

Maybe I’m a little weird but I like to watch people meeting at the airports.  I could stay ll day watching the reunions. I enjoy watching the people, especially around the holidays, as they stand and wait behind the security barrier. Some stand there seeming pretty disinterested as they wait for their passenger.   It might be a colleague or a spouse and this travel happens so often that there is no excitement when they meet.  Some don’t even embrace but just ask how their flight was.  But then there are others who stand there with friends and family and you can feel their excitement was they wait for their loved ones.   They have signs and flowers and gifts of all kinds.  They keep checking the monitors and one reports back to the family.  “She’s expected to arrive in 20 minutes, 10 minutes, 5 minutes…” and then,  “ It says she’s arrived !!” It shouldn’t be long now!”  They laugh and the anticipation is felt among all those waiting.  “Oh, is that her?” “I think I see her!”  Finally, the meeting happens and there are embraces, kisses, laughter and great joy.   I remember this from my own childhood when air travel was a big deal.  Most of my mother’s relatives came from California and there would be years between visits.   So when my grandmother or aunts, uncles, cousins would be coming, we would start out early and make sure we were there in plenty of time.   It was an event.   We’d all be excited as we waited at the gate (you could do that then) and watched the plane taxi up to the building.  I still remember the joy of those reunions.   We have all  had moments of anticipation.  It may not have been at the airport, but we all know the feeling of being excited about something that’s coming up soon.

What would it be like if we could live with this sense of anticipation each day?   What if we were to wake up and be excited about how we would meet God that day?  Will God be at work, or in the eyes of my children, or in the woman in front of me in the grocery line, or in the person on the ramp of the expressway or in the quiet of the evening when the stars come out to dance?  Where will God be?  Well, here’s the secret:  God waits for us throughout our day and some of us, like the people at the airport who pick up travelers frequently, don’t even look anymore.  We’ve seen it all before.  We just mark our days with little excitement and even less joy.

​Advent is a time to have new eyes and a heart filled with anticipation and excitement about our lives.  No two days are alike and we never know how God will sneak up and surprise us.  If we live with that anticipation, like those waiting for loved ones at the airport, we will surely not miss God when he comes to visit.  Let’s all try this year to live with a sense of excitement about our lives and not take any of our moments for granted.  Rejoice, He is near so let’s not miss him!
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Jolene's Jottings

12/6/2015

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Today there are two things about which I would like to share a few thoughts with you. The first is Advent. The first week of Advent is already over. What have you done so far to prepare for Christ’s coming? If you are like me, we are hanging our heads because we have been busy about many things. But did I pause a bit to thank God for the love I received as God’s gift each day or each time during the day that God showered me with another gift of love.
 
I was determined to make this Advent much more a time of prayer and reflection. Today is just Tuesday so it is only two days into Advent but I must confess that there were countless times that I was just “busy” and not reflective nor thankful until much later when I did take time to reflect. Then I realized God had given me a bit of sunshine, plenty of good food to eat, the energy to complete the tasks I need to do, three dogs who love me and just wanted a bit of my attention, parishioner friends who cheerfully gave of their time to do something for the parish, a repair man who fixed the steam leak in the Parish House basement, I could fill this whole page listing the gifts of just the past few days. So if you have not done so yet, take a moment to quietly list the good things you were gifted with just today. Then say a big thank you to God.
 
Besides being the second Sunday of Advent, today is the day set aside for the Retirement Fund for Religious collection. For those of us who are older, we are very aware of the Religious who worked tirelessly in Catholic Schools, hospitals and agencies, usually for little or no pay. As a result, many religious communities do not have adequate savings for retirement and eldercare. Many fewer young people are entering religious communities today so there are far too few able to bring in any income to support the older religious.
 
Very few communities were as blessed as we Racine Dominicans. We had Sister Joseph Ellen (she taught business classes at Nativity High School in the past) who was a genius with finances. Because of her expertise she got the Racine Dominicans into Social Security at a time when after just three years, we were getting more in benefits than it was costing us to be enrolled. She was also wise about investing and put together a plan by which we knew what we needed in savings to be sure that we had adequate to care for each sister until her expected death and what we could therefore spend for ministry needs.
 
Few other communities had this. Many chose not to get into Social Security or did not have the funds to do so. Few invested in any savings. So many religious communities today do not have adequate funds to exist and care for their elderly. Their years of sacrifice for others leave them today with nothing to draw from except your generosity. Many of us were educated by religious men or women. Most of our Catholic hospitals were directed by religious communities and provided great health care when we needed hospitalization. Religious orders of men staffed many parishes, schools and charitable organizations. Now many of these communities need our help to survive.
 
When I give to a charitable fund I like to know how much of the funds actually go for the cause instead of administrative costs. For this collection, 94.4% is distributed to religious communities and the funds collected are distributed according to need. So please do your best to give.
 
This Tuesday , December 8th is the Feast of the Immaculate Conception and is a Holy Day of Obligation. Mass is here at 7:00PM in the Winter Chapel (aka Church basement.)
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What's Happening!

Christmas Schedule:  
December 12/13: Bring Gifts from house to church basement & If you took a tag
bring your gift to church.
December14-17: Wrapping, sorting, organizing
December18: Deliver Christmas to families
December19: Deliver Christmas to families and clean church
December 20: Decorate church after Mass
Sunday School Students to Senior Apartments to sing Christmas carols after Mass.
December 24th: Christmas Eve– 5:00PM
Children’s Christmas Mass and Jesus’ Birthday Party
Christmas Eve: 9:30 PM CHOIR CONCERT 10:00PM MASS
 
Christmas Day:  Mass at 9:45 AM
New Years Eve: 5:00PM at Nativity
11:00PM at St. Charles with a Pot Luck Dinner/Party afterwards
 
If you took a tag from the basket for a Christmas gift for a child in the Christmas Program, all gifts need to be brought back next weekend. Thank you! If your family needs assistance for Christmas, please call the Parish House, Monday through Wednesday this week.
 
The sign up is out for Crunch Time. If you can help out a couple hours that week it would be greatly appreciated. There are many jobs, just look over the lists to find one you can do.  Thank you!
 

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