Saint Mary of the Immaculate Conception Roman Catholic Church

You may have noticed that the baby Jesus is still out in front of the altar, the manger scene is still to the left of the pulpit, and we have switched to ordinary time. You will also notice that the magi are headed back home (walking towards the choir because the scriptures tell us that they went home ‘by another way’). Also, the shepherds are headed away form the creche and headed back to their fields. I asked that it be done this way because I think it provides a striking meditation on the transition back to ordinary time from the excitement of the Christmas season. The parties are over, everybody is on their way home, back to the ordinary routine of daily life, leaving Jesus, Mary and Joseph alone wit the barnyard animals. Isn’t that what happens in our lives? Once the dust settles, we have to be able to absorb the blessings we have received and apply them to our everyday routines.

I must also admit to seeing a parallel here with serious life issues and the upcoming March for Life. Have we ‘moved on’ from the March because of
the Dobbs decision? Is it already settled? What is happening is an increasingly local fight for increased respect for and protection of Life. We are a Pro-Life people, and now we have many more fronts where the battle is being waged and where we must stand in witness to the sacred value of life. This Friday the National March for Life takes place, and our Virginia Defending Life Day and March for Life are on Wednesday, February, 1st. St. Mary’s is providing bus transportation for both as both need our persevering support, witness, and prayers.

Also, when we all return to our ordinary routines we can forget the hardships that are afflicting others. One reflection on the nativity was that after giving birth in the stable, Mary and Jesus may have had to stay there for 40 days! The ritual laws for Jewish purification would have mandated that she be isolated from other people during those 40 days of purification (which also corresponds to the traditional 40 days of the Christmas season ending on February 2nd). Some years, I have tried to keep up Christmas decorations until February 2nd, but it always ends up feeling like we ‘moved on’ and want the decorations down!

pax,

Fr. Mosimann

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI died last weekend. He was a prolific author, scholar, theologian, and humble pastor. I remember that in his later years he wrote a letter to then, Pope JP2, expressing a desire to return to Germany and live a simple academic life. God had other plans and as Pope he lead the Catholic Church for nearly eight years, from 2005 until his resignation in 2013.

I didn’t ever personally meet him, but I have priest friends who did. As Cardinal, he was know to walk home from his Vatican office to his apartment by crossing St. Peter’s Square at the exact same time every afternoon. One group of priest friends decided to plant themselves on the path so that they could meet him. They said he was so gracious and kind, and have a smiling picture with him to prove it! They were early ‘groupies!’

Another priest friend wrote him and asked to meet with him in the monastery after his resignation from papal ministry. Lo and behold, he got a “yes, the Pope Emeritus will meet with you for fifteen minutes on this day….” The Pope Emeritus asked him about his parish, and his ministry, his family, and talked about the beauty of the liturgy. He said it was like visiting his grandfather.

My seminary years were in the shadow of the great Saint John Paul 2! But many younger priests now credit their love for the scholarship and clarity of Pope Benedict for being instrumental in their vocations. May he rest in peace with all the angels and saints. Please keep him in your prayers, to that end, we will have a rosary in the church after our 8:30am Mass this weekend (between Masses) to pray for the repose of his soul.

I will let these words of his be the last:

“My dear young friends, I want to invite you to ‘dare to love.’ Do not desire anything less for your life than a love that is strong and beautiful and that is capable of making the whole of your existence a joyful undertaking of giving yourselves as a gift to God and your brothers and sisters, in imitation of the One who vanquished hatred and death forever through love.” — Pope Benedict XVI, World Youth Day, 2007.

pax,

Father John Mosimann