December 25th, 2022

Nativity of the Lord

by Fr. Boniface Endorf, O.P.

Dear St. Joseph Parish Family,

Merry Christmas! I pray that you have a blessed Christmas, and that Jesus brings you many blessings this Christmas season! As we celebrate the coming of Our Lord, God taking a human nature to Himself in order to save us, let us give thanks for the manifold gifts He gives us. His grace provides us with faith and hope that overcome the sufferings of this world, and his grace strengthens us to love again in this world grown cold. Let us take heart and live those great gifts of faith, hope, and love. Through them we encounter Christ, and by them He leads us to our true homeland in heaven.

This is a season with many feast days. Coming up are:

–The Solemnity of Mary the Mother of God is next Sunday, January 1st. It’s a holy day of obligation, but is also on a Sunday this year; therefore, we’ll have the normal Sunday Mass schedule that weekend.

–The Epiphany of the Lord is on January 8th, a Sunday. We’ll again have the special blessing of Epiphany water at 5 pm, before the 5:30pm Saturday Vigil Mass. We’ll give out the blessed Epiphany chalk at all the masses so that you can bless your homes with it.

–The Presentation of the Lord is on February 2nd, a Thursday. This feast was traditionally known as Candlemas because there was a special blessing of candles that day. We’ll celebrate a 7pm Mass that night where we’ll start in the parish hall and bless the church candles plus any you would like to bring, and then process into the church for the rest of the Mass. Although the blessing of candles is an ancient tradition, we haven’t held it here in a long time, so it is exciting to restore this tradition.

I’ll restart the Mass Tidbits in mid-January, when we will embark on the Liturgy of the Eucharist.

God Bless,
Fr. Boniface