The New year

Raise your hand if you've ever started a New Year's Resolution. *raises hand* So many of us start New Years resolutions. Perhaps we want to live a healthier lifestyle, Lose some weight, mend some friendships, become better at managing our money or time, or maybe make an effort to get rid of a bad habit.

Now, Raise your hand if you've ever actually kept that resolution all year round. *Puts hand down* If your hand is still raised, CONGRATULATIONS! But chances are likely that you are one of the many many people who somehow get off track or forget or something like that. Don't worry, it happens to everyone. After all, That's why we're celebrating the new year, right? A new chance!

Think back on good 'ole 2013. Perhaps it wasn't such a good year for you. It was a pretty mixed year for me, as I would think it would be for most people. It was the best of times, It was the worst of times, and I found out that Charles Dickens is my favorite author.

 I'm off track now. Anyway, Maybe something happened this year that really turned it into a bad year. Perhaps you have suffered a loss of a family member. Maybe you lost your job. Maybe you lost everything. Maybe you got into some trouble that has left you in a real bad spot. I really don't know what you are going through right now, But if it's any of the above, or worse, I hope that in this new year you will discover peace, and that Blessings and Grace will fall down upon you like rain. Try to Place yourself in God's Hands. It's the safest place in the entire universe and beyond. really imagine yourself in God's hands. He loves you so much. He hasn't abandoned you. Never will and Never has. You can't even begin to imagine how immense His love is for you. Imagine the ocean. Multiply the Incredible vastness of it's depths and width by 999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999.  . .. . . . . . . . . .  And you are not even CLOSE to how much God loves you!

Remember, 2013 is passing. The past is the past. I think a wonderful way to kick off the new year is to go to confession sometime soon. Then you can start with a new year, and a clean soul! How's that for another chance!

Are you going to make another resolution this year? Perhaps you could try something spiritual. Maybe pray more. Go to Mass and Confession more. Reach out to those who need hope, support, love, faith etc. Perhaps you could volunteer some time each week or month at a soup kitchen, a mission center or other charity. Maybe you could try to bring a friend or two or hundred closer to God.
If you've been away From the Church for awhile, There is no time like the present to come back. God will welcome you with open arms, Just like the prodigal Son's Father.
Maybe you have a friend who's been away from the Church, and you could encourage them to come back.

Whatever you chose to do this year, Don't give up! Just because you miss a day or more, doesn't mean you can't continue! Keep up the Good Work!

I hope you all have a Blessed new year, filled with Hope, Love, Faith and Friends.

Merry Christmas!!!

Ah, Christmas. 

Christmas Eve always seems like the longest day of the year.

Christmas Day always seems like the shortest!

Christmas is such a wonderful time. Families gather from near and far to celebrate the birth of our Savior. We make the best meal of the entire year, exchange gifts, play games, watch Christmas shows, and maybe even sing some carols. It's so fun. 

But it's very easy to get caught up in the things that this world has to offer. The presents, food, shows etc, they are all great fun, and if used properly, can help make the celebration greater, and bring us closer to God. But thy can easily get out of control, and push the manger scene out and steal the center of attention. 

We have to always remember to keep Jesus as the center of our festivities. We need to be sure to thank God for bringing our families together, for giving us an abundance of wonderful food, and for giving us many different traditions and activities to celebrate he Birth of His only begotten Son! 

I wonder what Mary and Joseph were thinking when they were turned away from that inn, and tole they hey could stay in the stable. I wonder if they knew at that time that it would be an important part of His Coming. I don't know what went theoughthier  heads that  night. Maybe they were a little scared, a Little nervous, perhaps a little confused. But i know they Trusted Him anyways. 

Over and over in the Bible, God expresses His love and compassion for the poor, helpless and otherwise needy. If Jesus had been born in an Inn, how would all those poor shepherds have gotten there? Theres only so much room in an Inn Room. But they were privileged to be among the First to welcome the new born King. He came as one of us. A commoner, not born in a palace, but in a dirty old stable. He didn't appear from Heaven in all his Glory that night, he just quietly cams as a little baby. A humble little baby. He didn't have a soft bed to lie on, or a nice warm house to stay in. No fancy garments, no fancy rooms. He was wrapped in swaddling clothes. He was laid in a manger. (In case you don't know, a manger is like a food trough filled with hay for animals!) 

Wow. God loves us, the normal people who don't have anything extraordinary so much, that He chose to come as one of us. Just a seemingly normal little poor baby. That's not to say He doesn't love extraordinary people, or wealthy people either. God loves all of us very much. But the poor often feel lonely and abandoned by God. He want us to know that he loves each of us for who we are; His Children, not for what we have, what we've done or what we will do. He just loves us. 

I know it might be a little late to remember this throughout your Christmas Day, but I'm sure there will still be a few more festivities or merry greetings here and there. After all, we still have 12 more days of Christmas to go. 

Take a few moments this week to ponder Hid love for you, read John 3:16, one of the most famous verses fine Bible. Why? Because it helps us realize how much God really does love us. Read it over and over. Savor each word. Write it on your Heart and keep it always close in mind. That's what Christmas is all about. That God loves us soooooooo sooooooooooooo much that He sent his only Son down to save us. And we celabrate the Birth of His son. And we celebrate that depth of His Love. 

I hope you all have a Wonderful Christmas Season, and  i hope God blesses you abundantly. 

Just Shepherds.

Late one night, while tending sheep,

We saw a new star in the east.

We saw a light, an Angel that night, bringing us tidings of joy.

We followed that star, late that night,

We followed into the east,

We followed to a lowly stable,

All were kneeling, man and beast. 

We wondered "What this? Why are we here?

Why is everyone kneeling? 

We see a stable, a manger and child,

Is this why the star was gleaming?"

We managed to get at the front of the crowd,

Where a million angels were singing.

We looked upon him and finally realized,

this is why the star is gleaming. 

He was wrapped in a swaddle, and laid in a manger,

What a lowly place for a King.

In a dirty old stable,

In a little old town,

The town of Bethlehem. 

Yes, we saw the great savior, this newborn child,

before whom we knelt in the cold.

 There Before The Lord of Heaven and earth,

There before the Son of God.

When we finally realized why we were there,

our eyes were filled with tears.

What Love God has for his lowly creatures,

That tonight we would be here.

We aren't tenants in a royal court,

We aren't even servants In a palace.

We are certainly not a prince or a King,

No where even close to that. 

No, we are only shepherds here,

Just shepherds, dirty and poor.

Yet God let us see his Glorious Son,

In his human child form. 

Our hearts were changed on that dark night,

Which started so ordinary,

But then We saw that heavenly light,

And it was extraordinary. 

The Manger

A blessed advent to you all! I'm so excited for advent, that iv'e actually changed my alarm sound to play the "Gabriel's Message" song when it's time for me to get up! A good way to start the day! 

Anyway, advent is a time of reflection and preparation. I remember when I was little, I had a subscription to this Kid's magazine called "K4J" which stands for "Kids for Jesus". I love that magazine. They always sent an activity for the month. One month they sent out a Hebrew alphabet decoder. That was pretty cool, but now I'm off topic. Anyway, For advent one year, or maybe several years, they sent out a little manger. You had to pop it out of the card stock/paper that it was made of and food it into the manger shape (which was more or less just a box without a lid in this case) and then it gave direction on how to use it. 

So what did you do with the little paper manger? Well, you made a bed for Jesus by filling it with little prices of paper hay! But you didn't just go around filling it up at any time. You had to earn each piece of hay. Whenever you did something nice, you would put a piece of hay in the manger. The goal was, of course to encourage kids to do good and remember The true meaning of Christmas, while having fun and trying to fill up the manger by Christmas! 

While we may not be able to make a little manger out of paper and fill it with paper hay, what a good idea it is to make some sort of resolution for advent. After all, the first week of advent is when the Catholic Calendar starts, so it's like Catholic new year! We can still celebrate the classic New Years too, so we get two New Years…… but people make "resolutions" for the regular new year, why not the Church new year? 

I admit, I'm not too good at resolutions. I either don't do them (which is a common problem) or i get so wrapped up in them that they become part of my OCD and continue for who know how long or else…… can you say anxiety fest!? 

But for this advent I'm tryin to do something more irregular, so that my OCD has a harder time of taking control of it. I'm trying to do something more like the "Manger game" and do a random nice thing, an extra prayer or reflection, or somehow give of myself each day. If i forget a day, I'll try again the next day. If i do more than one in a day, woohoo! 

If you want to do something like this too, it's really easy. I'll give you a few ideas, and you can do whatever you want with them. You can make them a habit, or they could give you ideas for random good deeds. 

•Read the Bible. Even just a chapter or page, or 15 minutes a day. If there is something you don't understand, which there probably will be at some point, just ask someone who might know it better. It could be a friendship builder in that way. 

• say some extra prayers. If you don't say the Rosary every day, do it! Of you don't say h Divine mercy chaplet every  day, you could do that too! You could even start partying parts of the Divine Office (also called the breviary or liturgy of the Hours) such as Lauds or compline. 

•write a note to someone, highlighting their positive qualities. You don't have to write your name on it if you don't want to.

•do the grocery shopping or bills for your spouse

•take out the trash or do the dishes for your mom or dad

•refrain from negative responses in a conversation turned sour. Take a deep breath, and tell the person that you are getting a bit upset and if needed, take a break. That's a lot better than losing your temper. 

• find an Advent reflection booklet  and read a little each day. We found one for free in the back of our Church, so you might try checking there first. 

•Go to Mass on a day that you don't have to. (In addition to the days that you do have to, such as Holy day of Obligation and Sundays!!) 

•Write a short poem or draw/sketch/paint/anything something pertaining to Jesus' birth, Mary's meek response to God's call, the shepherds and Angels, or the star. 

•sing in Church of you don't already. Even if you sound terrible, Sing! You are not there to sing for the people, if they don't like your voice, that's thier problem. You are there to Worship the one who created you, and he also created your voice. 

•cook a meal for your family

•help out at a food bank or soup kitchen

•find a way that you could help with something at your Church. Do they need sacristans? Servers? Choir people? Gardeners? Maintenance help? Youth ministers? Sunday school teachers? Greeters? Lectors? Financial support? Prayers? 

•take a walk and breath the crisp air of winter. Thank God that you at alive and notice his creations. Even the teeny tiny ones, which are some of my favorites. 

•say at least one nice thing to a person that either you don't get along with, or that doesn't like you. 

•donate something to charity

•give up socks for a day

•send a real card in the mail to someone you haven't talked to in a while. Be sure to write God Bless You or sow thing to that extent on it so where where they can see it. 

•think about God. Think about how Jesus humbled himself to come down to us in the form of a tiny little baby, be born in a stable,  and lay down in a manger, which is a place where they put hay for the animals to eat by the way! The King of Kings chose to be born in a poor, lowly, stable! And lay in a food dish for animals! Ponder that. Dwell on it. Think about it often. 

Any little thing you do can be a piece of hay for the manger if you offer it to God. Whether you enjoy it or not.