Dear Parishioners of Mary Immaculate and Saint Rose,
Within the days of Christmas (Dec. 25 - Jan 6.) there are several feasts within the Feast, so to speak. Of course Christmas, or the Nativity of the Lord, is the most important.  This marks the twelve day celebration that God is with us.
Jesus was born of Mary and is the Son of God!  This mystery of the Incarnation is that God loved us enough to take on the weakness of human flesh.  He came to redeem our fallen nature.  So for nearly two weeks we reflect on this mystery of “the Word made flesh.”
The second day of Christmas, Dec. 26, is the Feast of St. Stephen.  He was the first martyr of the Church after the death and Resurrection of Jesus. Stephen was one of the first deacons of the Church.  He was stoned to death as he witnessed to his Faith in Jesus Christ.  He even had a vision of Jesus seated at the right hand of the Father, as he was being martyred.
December 27 is the Feast of John the Evangelist.  John was the youngest of the twelve Apostles and the only one not to be martyred for the Faith. This does not imply that John had an easy life.  At a rather young age, he was charged to care for the Virgin Mary.  There was a failed attempt to boil him in oil in Rome.  He was exiled to the small island of Patmos where he wrote the book of Revelation.  Finally, he died in his nineties and was buried in Ephesus. His feast reminds us of the call of all Christians to spread the Good News that the Kingdom of God is near.
On December 28th we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Innocents.  This is in honor of all those baby boys who were killed by Herod in an attempt to kill the Christ Child.  Joseph had been warned in a dream to flee to Egypt with Jesus and Mary.  This feast remembers the violence that followed the birth of Jesus, those innocents who died because of His birth.
It all reminds us that even amidst the peace and joy of Christmas, sin and violence exist.  This is why Jesus came into the world.
This weekend, the second Sunday of Christmas, we celebrate the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. God chose to be born as a child and to be raised and to learn in the context of a poor and humble family.
May God’s blessing be upon all our families that they may reflect the love of God in our midst.
Msgr. Cox
 
 

Holy Family by Svitozar Nenyuk, Church of St. Volodymyr. Peremyshliany, Ukraine