Christmas and the beginning of a new year

Merry Christmas! Last week, we began the Christmas season in the Church and we will celebrate it until January 8th which is the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord.

We also celebrated a number of wonderful feast days this past week in case you missed them. We have the Feast of the first Martyr, St Stephen. He was a Disciple of Christ and was killed because he refused to deny Jesus as our Savior. Then on Wednesday, we celebrated the Feast of St. John the Apostle who wrote one of the Gospels. Then on Thursday, we honored the Holy Innocents. When we look at the readings that we have during that day, we realize just how far some people are willing to go to hold on to control and power in their lives. Herod was so afraid of a new king, that he might take his place and usurp his power at a later date, that he was willing to do something horrific to make sure that did not happen. He had all of the boys under two years old murdered so that the newborn King of the Jews, who we celebrated with the birth of Jesus last week, would be destroyed before he could grow up and come to power. The problem with that is that Jesus was not coming to be a temporal leader and posed no threat to Herod’s control and rule. Jesus came to call us to more than that, he came to show us his true kingdom, that of Heaven.

We can do the same thing sometimes, although not to that extent. We can sometimes think that the person we work with is trying to get us, or that maybe if they do their job too well, it might look bad on us, so we spread a rumor about them. We can do these kinds of things in many different ways. We have choices; do we act like Herod, or do we act like St. Stephen? Herod did things that were good only for him, while St. Stephen did things that were for the good of God and his Kingdom!

So, as we begin this New Year on Monday, how are we going to change those things that we need to change, and continue to do those things that make us better? I would recommend adding some more prayer time each and every day so that we can have that same strength that God gave St. Stephen; the ability to stand up to those who were persecuting him. While we may never have to make that choice, we still need that strength and wisdom of God to get us through all of the other things we will face in this new year. So, Monday, as we begin the 2024 year, let us take the opportunity of the new start to restart with God. To pray for ourselves to have the courage of St. Stephen and the many blessings that God will give us. Also, take the time to pray for our family and friends as well, that they will do the same.

God bless,
Fr. Ken