VIRTUE OF HOPE
Dear Parish Family,
Gram often used to sing as she did chores around the house or cradled babies in her arms. She knew all kinds of ol’timey songs. Hearing her sing, and even joining in, brought a lightness and joy to my heart. And even much later in life, as her mind and memory faded, these tunes would still bring a sparkle to her eyes and the melody to her lips! One such tune goes like this: Christmas is Coming, the goose is getting fat! Please do put a penny in the old man’s hat! If you haven’t got a penny, a ha’penny will do. And if you haven’t got a ha’penny then God bless you! (Click the link to hear one version; the Muppets sang the song, too!) That little rhyme is part of my Christmas memories. It brings me hope and reminds me of the generosity of the season. It is the season of giving, because we are receiving the greatest gift of all, Emmanuel (meaning God-with-us.)
The Christmas Season fills us with anticipation. If you are like me, you cherish this season for the giving and receiving of gifts. Part of gift-giving is the anticipation and excitement, the quickening pulse and flutter in the stomach of preparing a gift for someone you love, hoping that they appreciate and enjoy it with a love similar to what you have put into selecting and preparing it. Or in the receiving, looking forward with eagerness and wonder as you unwrap the package.
I remember as a child always looking forward to Christmas morning, to all the presents of course, but also to putting baby Jesus in the manger and arranging the figure of the Nativity scene so our eyes would be drawn to the manger in adoration with Mother Mary and Papa Joseph. As we grow older, the season of Christmas can feel like a long “to-do” list. Advent is meant above all to be a spiritual preparation for the coming feast. Even as your pastor, my attitude towards this season can be more one of getting through rather than seeking to enjoy, marvel, wonder and prepare. I invite you to take a step back and allow that youthful joy and hope, that giddiness, to play a significant role in your season.
Our focus this Advent is hope. We want to center our preparation on this important virtue, which lifts our souls and helps us through the hard good thing in anticipation of true fulfillment. Hope, along with faith and love, are theological virtues, meaning they are first gifts or graces to be received. They begin in the Lord and blossom within us.
We are focused on hope in part because we are approaching the conclusion of our Jubilee Year (2025). The theme for the year is Pilgrims of Hope. Our Holy Father has put in front of us in his Papal Bull, Spes Non Confundit (Hope does not disappoint) that we are called to hope, to be people of hope along our journey through life, to nurture and foster hope in our own hearts and in the lives of others. Advent is a wonderful time to focus on this needed gift of hope. My prayer this season is that our dear parish will be renewed in hope. And if you have not yet had the opportunity to make a pilgrimage to a nearby shrine as part of the jubilee year, I would encourage you to make the time before the end of the year. Saving time for that spiritual journey, if only a couple of hours, would be a great sign of hope blossoming within you!
Living in Hope,
Fr. Joel
