Dear Parishioners of Mary Immaculate and Saint Rose,

The calendar tells me that we are now in ordinary time, but how my heart hates to give up the season of Christmas this year. We have left the year 2020 and have begun a new year of 2021. We are still living with the dreaded covid virus and our political situation appears dire.

As Christians, when we are confronted with the darkness of this world, we look to the light of Christ, who is our hope!

When I look back at 2020, it is easy just to say good riddance, but it is better to see how we were blessed by God in this year just ending.

I don’t know about you, but I am aware of a great many blessings that I have always taken for granted. The first among them is gathering with my family. I am a great distance from any family members and now that it has been more difficult to fly, I am aware of how much I treasure the time I have been able to spend with them. Thanks be to God, I have been able to see my parents several times, but I have a niece and her family that I have not seen in almost a year. I look forward to a visit soon.

The other thing I seem to take for granted is my parishioners! How strange it is when people remark how many people were at Mass and it is only about fifty! I long for the days when the ushers had to look for a seat for a lone straggler coming in late for Mass. I miss our gatherings. I miss being able to see people smile at me. I am tired of trying to figure out, “Who is that behind that mask?”

All of this shows me how much I take for granted, and how often I miss my blessings because I do not even see them. I am grateful for all of those who rise to the occasion so I can still go to the store to buy groceries, that I still have access in a limited way to services that I need, that I can still go to the dentist or the doctor.

So here we are with a new year of opportunity ahead of us. There is hope in sight as we begin to vaccinate people. We have begun a much-needed renovation on our church. I am grateful to Newman for providing us with a temporary place to worship.

I have no idea what lies before us in the year to come. Let us put our trust in the Lord and ask Him to be with us and guide us as we move forward!

Psalm 46:2-4

God is our refuge and our strength, an ever present help in distress.
Therefore we fear not, though the earth be shaken and the mountains plunge into the depths of the sea;
Though its water rage and foam and the mountains quake at its surging.
The Lord of hosts is with us; our stronghold is the God of Jacob.

Msgr. Cox

Christ the Good Shepherd German School (1917). In the Oxford Oratory of St. Philip Neri, Oxford, England.