From the Pastor's Desk | January 4

Thank Yous
A number of thank yous are due to so many people as we move through the Christmas season: Thank you to Mrs. Patton and our tremendous faculty and staff in the school! They deserved their break these past couple of weeks. If you go to our all-school Masses, I ask the kids a lot of questions. Recently our superintendent of Catholic Schools was here for an all-school Mass and was incredibly impressed by their answers. We are doing things right here at St. Martha School, and I couldn’t be more proud.

Thank you to the parish staff - Kimberly Keefe, Cheryl Olsen, Monica Amoroso, Jackie Rosalez, Tony (and Marie) Andorfer, Gregg Alchin, and Joey DiMenno for all their hard work and dedication particularly through the busyness and craziness of Christmas. This was Cheryl and Monica’s first Christmas with us, and they have been amazing in the office!

Thank you to Tony and Marie Andorfer, Joey DiMenno, our excellent choir, and all our cantors and music ministers who helped and worked extra hard through the Christmas liturgies. They are truly a blessing and help us elevate our worship particularly on these high holy days.

Thank you to all our lectors, extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion, altar servers, and ushers who assisted during our Christmas Masses. These Masses are well attended and
all the extra help is much appreciated! 

Thank you to all those who took time to help decorate and clean the church including Brigit Martell, Don and Jean Morgan, Diane Brady, Chuck Miller, Victoria Moore, Tom and Beth Smith, Peg Valenti, Kyle Sanborn, Ingrid Schwab, Maria Jones, Stacy Schroeder, Barb and Jim Forney, Doug Hunter, and Hedlund Walton. It takes a lot of help to make the church look as beautiful as it does for Christmas!

Thank you to our office volunteers and count teams. This time of year is particularly hectic in the office and without their help and dedication to the parish much would get delayed.

If I have left anyone off this list, please know it was unintentional. Saying thank you is important and I do not intend to leave anyone out.

Gospel Reflection
Today we celebrate the Epiphany of the Lord - the manifestation and realization of Jesus Christ as the savior of all nations. The three magi - Caspar, Melchior, and Balthasar - who came from the east to pay homage to the Christ child, represent all the nations outside of Israel (the Gentiles…you and me!). Christ came not just to save the people of Israel but everyone.

Our readings today juxtapose light and dark. Whenever the biblical authors use the themes of light and dark they use them metaphorically to describe the conditions of salvation and sin, respectively. Only Matthew and Luke write about the birth of Jesus. Matthew’s Gospel gives no indication regarding the time of day Jesus was born. John’s Gospel gives us a very cosmological understanding of Christ’s birth. Luke and John, however, both juxtapose light and dark.

In the birth account of Luke, Jesus is born in the middle of the night when darkness covered the earth. We also read on Christmas night, from the prophet Isaiah, that the people walked in darkness. Why was it important to the biblical authors that Jesus - the Anointed One - be
born in darkness? Because darkness is a metaphor for the condition of the human person - sinfulness. God - the Divine - entered, or rather invaded, the realm of human darkness and sin. As John reminds us in his Gospel, “What came to be through him was life, and this life was the light of the human race; the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:4-5).

In our readings today we continue with this theme of light and dark. The magi see a bright star in the darkness of the night sky that leads them to the light of the nations - Jesus Christ. There they pay him homage and offer him the gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Gold symbolizing Jesus’ kingship. Frankincense symbolizing Jesus’ divinity. Myrrh symbolizing Jesus’ death. It is through Jesus’ kingship, divinity, death and resurrection that he is truly the light of the nations - a light that the darkness of sin cannot overcome.

At the beginning of each Mass we take a few moments to call to mind our own sinfulness, or darkness of heart, to prepare ourselves to more worthily celebrate the Sacred Mysteries of Christ’s Paschal sacrifice. Today, let’s ponder the darkness that exists within our own hearts and invite the light of the Lord to dispel that darkness.

Know of my prayers for you all!
Fr. Ryan