MERRY CHRISTMAS!
[What follows is my annual Christmas message to the Adorers at St. Agatha's. I hope it will also
resonate in the hearts of my readers]
“And
the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us”. - John 1:14
As
we begin our nineteenth year of Adoration, we give thanks to our Loving Lord
for the Gift of His Presence here among us. How blessed we are to spend time
with Him, sometimes by ourselves and, from time to time, with other silent,
prayerful Adorers. Like the lowly Shepherds and the foreign Wise Men who first
paid Him homage, we too come to adore the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. As
we kneel in front of our Precious Savior, embraced by this priceless Monstrance,
blessed by our late Holy Father, St. John Paul II, we are gazing upon the very
same Jesus who took on human flesh and walked this earth, albeit concealed in
the Sacred Host.
Right
before our very eyes is:
The
Infant Jesus born to a Virgin and totally dependent on Mary and Joseph;
The
child Jesus exiled for a time in Egypt to prevent his premature murder and
death;
The
twelve-year old Jesus separated from His Mother and St. Joseph for five days;
The maturing,
ever obedient Jesus, who grew in wisdom under the direction and guidance of the Holy Spirt, His Blessed Mother
and her husband, his step-father, Joseph;
The
carpenter Jesus;
The
itinerant preacher Jesus;
The healing
Jesus, the Jesus who multiplied the loaves and fishes and the Jesus who rose the son of a widow in Nain as well as his
friend Lazarus from the dead;
The loving,
forgiving and merciful Jesus;
The
Jesus abandoned by His disciples during His Passion;
The tortured and crucified Jesus who gave up His earthly
life that we might have an opportunity
at eternal life; and
The Resurrected Jesus Who awaits our visits and welcomes us
into His open arms and Sacred Heart,
but Who is so frequently ignored and abandoned in His Churches.
No gift we could receive
or give to anyone this Christmas could ever match the gift of His Real and
physical presence among us. How privileged we are to eat His Body and drink His
blood and to spend time with Him.
Thank you for so
generously giving Him an hour (or more) of your time each week. May our love
for Him be evident to those with whom we interact so that they too will be
drawn to this Sacred Place.
“I am with you always, even to the end of the
age”. - Matthew 28:20
Merry Christmas - December 2019
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