This is the shortest length of the fourth week of Advent we can have. We light the candle of “love” and this is truly what this Season of Christmas is about; not necessarily our love for one another, but a reminder that “God so loved the world that he sent us his son Jesus Christ to dwell among us. Emmanuel, meaning “God is with us!”
As you gather with your families and friends during this Christmas Season, which ends January 8th, I would invite you to look and everyone through the lens of “love” and “angels.” Take some time at each gathering to remember what you “Love” about each person in your family; those present in the room and those in other places. What do love about the gathering together? It you have a moment in private with that person, let them in on what you love about them. How good would that be? What a gift it would be to share with someone what it is that you love about them!
Then, look for the angels gathered in the room. Angels are those who make God present and are those who make the message of God alive in our lives. Who are the people around you who make God live in your life? Take a chance and let them know how “angelic” they are and use the opportunity to explain the role of angels in people’s lives.
We can get so caught up in the logistics of entertaining, that we lose sight of why we gather. I am hoping that the lens of “love” and “angels” will be a reminder of why we gather this Christmas Season, and throughout the year. To all of the members of our Catholic Community here at Sacred Heart, a wonderful Christmas Season and a healthy New Year of two thousand eighteen in the year of our Lord!