Be on the Lookout!

Dear Friends,

Let me sneak in another “Merry Christmas!” before we move into Ordinary Time on Tuesday January 9th, 2024. What a wonderful Christmas Season it has been, and for those who prefer to extend the season to 40 days - a blessed season to you until February 2nd, the Feast of the Presentation.

I would prefer to press us onward towards new adventures in the new year. What will 2024 bring for you, for your family and for our parish family as we journey together in faith, seeking to build up the Body of Christ in our little corner of the world? See Eph 4:11-16 for those lovely and engaging words which constitute our mission statement here at OLPH. They are “the why” we exist. As a parish we are here to advance the kingdom, spread the good news, live, and proclaim the Gospel. Each of those phrases could capture our purpose, but I find the image of the Church as a body, a wonderfully rich and alluring metaphor for this common and shared work. For a body to work well, the health of the whole is required. Even a stubbed toe or a bruised finger can affect the whole. Each of the parts must be strong. This is no ordinary body, but the Body of Christ in which we all belong by virtue of our Baptism and in which we are all invited to contribute to the upbuilding, the strengthening and support of the whole.

One of my goals for 2024 is to engage more of our flock, to strive to invite people from the bleachers onto the field of play. And this will undoubtedly include inviting those who have not entered the stadium in a while, to press the analogy, to come on in, witness and even participate in this beautiful work on the field. This shall not be my work alone. The invitation to invite others extends to all who read these words.

When God invites us to something new, sometimes we resist what is unfamiliar or even foreign. Often the invitation includes stepping outside our comfort zone to begin an adventure. I cannot help but think of the courage and audacity required on the part of the three wise men (magi) to leave the comfort of their astrological observations, assemble provisions, mount a camel, and chase a star across the desert in search of the newborn king. What must have moved them? It must have been quite remarkable, a story to tell their children and grandchildren.

Stepping out of our comfort zones to answer the invitation of the Lord is part of our theme over the course of the next few weeks. We are calling them Defining Moments, those instances in life when God steps in and makes an invitation. Sometimes they are big moments and sometimes they are small, but when we answer his overture, we grow, we develop, we blossom. God is inviting us to be part of His story, part of the unfolding of His plan for the world. We all have a part to play. And one key aspect is to recognize the invitation when it arrives, like how Simeon and Anna recognized the arrival of the Christ child in the temple that day, when no one else seems to have noticed.

So certain key moments, defining moments, come to shape much of our reality, are more impactful in our lives, instances when we have the chance to step forward and embrace something new, different and unfamiliar. In this new year, I invite you to pray for the courage to see how God may be inviting you to take the next step in His grace.

Peace be with you!

Fr. Joel