In my ideal world, the Lady Chapel would be filled with people on the Major Holy Days following Christmas. It is significant that on December 26, the Feast of St. Stephen, deacon and martyr, the Church commemorates one who died for following Christ. We can’t have the joy of Christmas without acknowledging that sorrow and pain are wrapped up in it, too. On Monday, we will celebrate another feast that commemorates the massacre of the Holy Innocents. Again, the true meaning of Christmas lies in God’s willingness to burrow into the sorrow of the human condition. This is good news to all who suffer, to the lonely, and to those who find this season of the year to be difficult.
The days following Christmas Day are a bit like the days leading up to Easter. To appreciate the feasts of Christmas and Easter, one must participate in the liturgies that surround them. To understand the true meaning of the joy of Christmas and Easter, one must understand the suffering that is intrinsically tied up with those feasts.
It is a gift that our parish is committed to celebrating the feasts that follow Christmas and that are so often neglected. I encourage you to make some time to attend Mass on the remaining days before us: Saturday, December 27, the Feast of St. John the Evangelist, Monday, December 29, the Feast of the Holy Innocents (transferred), and January 1, the Feast of the Holy Name. Morning Prayer will be said at 9 a.m., followed by Mass at 9:30 a.m. on all these days. Low Mass lasts no more than 45 minutes. I hope to see many of you at Mass in the days ahead.
I also want to express my gratitude to all who have worked so hard to support the liturgies of Christmas, especially our staff, acolytes, musicians, those who decorated the church last Sunday, and all liturgical ministers. And I hope that you will make a point of celebrating the Feast of the Epiphany with us on Tuesday, January 6, at 7 p.m. as we close out the Christmas season. We will bless chalk for the chalking of doors at home. And we will bless all donations received to benefit the Clare Project. A potluck supper will follow in the retreat house. January 6 is also the day on which we plan to wrap up our 2026 pledge campaign. Reaching our goal this year is more important than ever, and it will only occur if each of us commits to giving sacrificially. There is still time to browse our giving tree in the Tower entrance or online. Thank you, in advance, for your generosity!
May these days of Christmastide be a blessing to you and your family as we meditate on the mystery of a God who becomes like us, with all its trials and sorrows, so that we might become like God and one day share in the divine life. What a wondrous mystery!
Yours in Christ,
Father Kyle