December 20th, 2020

One of my favorite lines of Scripture is: “Behold, I make all things new.”  The Lord speaks these words in the Book of Revelation (21.5) at the time of His Second Coming when all that is old will give way to that which is eternally new.  While this is the hope we have for the future, it’s also something that the Lord does even now – He renews things and makes things new.  When we think of the way that the Lord makes all things new, He does it, most frequently, not with a blaze of light like the noonday sun, instead, when He makes things new, they often start out small, like the little pinpricks of light like the stars that fill the darkness of the night sky. 
 
That was certainly true of the Nativity, wasn’t it?  At that moment in Bethlehem, the Lord begins to make all things new once again – not with a triumphal entry from His heavenly realms surrounded by legions of angels, blazing like the noonday sun but, instead, as an infant child radiating light like a star in the nighttime sky. 
 
This has been a tough year, a difficult year, a challenging year and many people have suffered in numerous ways – there has been much darkness.  It would be easy – so very easy – to let this darkness penetrate our own minds and hearts and weigh us down.  I remember one of the saints (and I wish I could remember who it was!) who said that the evil one loves to see us sad, because when we are sad then we become easy prey to his temptations.  For people of faith, however, who view their times with the eyes of faith, then there is no reason to lose hope – because, just below the surface, there are always small bits of light, seedlings of the new things that God will bring about, and the birth of Our Lord is a sign and a promise and a fulfillment that He will always make things new. 
 
There has been all sorts of talk about a “new normal.”  Usually this is in reference to health protocols, etc., but that’s not the ‘new normal’ we as people of faith should be seeking or putting our energy into – the ‘new normal’ we should be looking towards and working on, is one where God reigns supreme, where He is truly King of our world, our country, our hearts and mind and our lives.  As we celebrate Christmas this year, may the Nativity of Our Lord fill our hearts with hope and remind us to keep looking for those small signs of radiant light which are the foretaste of the fulfillment of the promise that He will make all things new.
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On behalf of myself, Fr. Gibson, Fr. Filut, Deacons Piontek and Niggemann and the entire parish staff here at St. Mary’s, we want to wish you a very Merry Christmas.  Thank you for your patience as we have navigated these turbulent waters and for the generosity you have shown to the parish in helping provide for our needs.  I truly wish you a Christmas full of great graces for you and your families.  May the Christ Child reign in your hearts and may He reign in this parish and may we all have that confident hope that He will make all things new and may we look forward to that day when “the dawn from on high shall break upon us (Luke 1.78).”
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