Pastor's Corner

Let’s make sure there is room in our “inn.” 

Christmas is right around the corner, and with it the return of the friendly and frequent Advent reminder for all of us: Be prepared! 

I’m still playing the “new guy” card, so I might be repeating some reminders and helpful hints to the "regulars" of our parish, but this is also an opportunity for us all to make some adjustments to how we will celebrate Christmas here at the Church of the Nativity. 

No one wants to be the innkeeper in a Christmas pageant. You know the one, the landlord who turned away Joseph and Mary before they became the Holy Family. Any other role is better than that one. Even wearing the scratchy sheep costume is better—anything but the mean innkeeper of Bethlehem. So for the members of Nativity who are reading this I plead with you – don’t be the mean innkeeper at Christmas Masses. Don’t take up the seats along the aisle and make other people crawl over you – move to the middle. Don’t stare down the family with energetic or crying children – offer to help. Practice kindness. 

We will more than double our numbers at Christmas Masses here, particularly the 4:00 Mass on Christmas Eve. We will open the Church one hour before Mass, so please plan ahead, carpool with your family, and avoid saving pews. Let’s remember that those who are visiting and specifically those who might not be "regulars" will carry with them whether they feel welcomed or not. People return to churches because they are welcomed, not because the church got everything else right. Christmas is the chance to welcome the stranger, to be the good innkeeper and not the mean one.  

Another suggestion might be for you to consider your options to celebrate Christmas Mass at the Church of the Nativity. Christmas Eve Mass at 4:00 will be led by our adult Choir, and the 6:00 Mass will be our Children’s Choir, so families with children can come at 6:00 and still arrive home by 7:30 in time for some warm milk and cookies before sending the littles to snuggle in bed. If you want a more relaxed, reflective Christmas Eve, then attend our 9:00 Christmas Eve Liturgy. Finally, enjoy your Christmas Eve with family and friends and food and more, and come to celebrate the newborn light of Christ during the morning light at Mass Christmas morning at either 8:00 or 10:00 am. 

No matter what you choose – Choose Christ! Choose to be the one who is adoring the Christ-child around the manger and not from afar. He is Emmanuel - God with us - and remember He is with us and in EVERYONE! So we should welcome everyone with kindness and mercy and hope.   

Finally, many thanks to everyone from our parish community who have spent time preparing us all during this Advent, whether it be rehearsing music for our liturgies, or placing the Advent wreath or manger scenes, to cleaning the floors or delivering the hundreds of gifts cards to all of the Charities whom we support. We are Nativity! And we are grateful for you!

A person once asked about the need for the sacrament of confession when we can easily confess our sins directly to God. While there is some truth to this, there is something else that needs to be considered. Whenever we sin, our first response should be an immediate appeal to God for mercy and forgiveness. Repentance should be a regular part of the life of every human being, especially a believer. God knows everything. Even when we repent in the secret of our heart, we are not telling Him anything that He doesn't already know. Rather, we are acknowledging our sin and taking responsibility for our actions and their consequences. The question that remains is whether this private, one to one conversation with God is enough. God does not need our repentance, we do. So, God's gift of the forgiveness of sins is tailored to meet our needs.

One thing we should remember is that human beings live in community and our actions affect others for good or for evil. So, sin - even sin committed in private - is not a purely private matter. All of our actions have a communitarian dimension. That means our reconciliation after sin must somehow involve the community. The Sacrament of Penance provides that necessary link between the commission of sin by the individual and the reconciliation of the sinner with God and the community of believers, especially in cases involving serious or mortal sins, which require the influx of sacramental grace for forgiveness.

Did you ever notice that people usually don't question the communitarian dimensions of Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist, Matrimony, Holy Orders, or even Anointing of the Sick? But they always seem to question the need for an instrument, a human mediator, in the Sacrament of Penance! Why? Because confessing one's sins to another human being is difficult. It is often embarrassing.

But that is part of the power of sacramental reconciliation. It makes one honest and humble before God through a human instrument - little chance for self-deception here!

The question still remains about the necessity of going to confession. In St. Mark's Gospel (2:5-12), the Pharisees criticize Jesus for forgiving a man's sins. To prove that He has this authority, Jesus cures the man. The Pharisees couldn't bear the thought of a man acting as if He were God! They didn't know that Jesus was also God. As God, Jesus is unlimited in power and in St. Matthew's Gospel He shares His power and authority with His Church through St. Peter, who was just a man!

Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock, I will build my church, and the gates of Hell will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven" (Mt. 16:16-19).

Finally in St. John's Gospel (20:21-23), Jesus explicitly gives the disciples the Holy Spirit and the authority to forgive sins:

Jesus gave this power to His disciples, and the Church continues to make it present to the People of God. Our response to this gift should be one of gratitude, then we should be motivated to examine our consciences, confess our sins, be reconciled to God and our brothers and sisters and discover the joy of living in God's mercy.

Consider going to confession during this Advent. There are ample opportunities this next week to do so.

God bless,

Fr. Jerry