Dear Parish Family, I know that this is the Fourth Sunday of Advent, but this is my last column before our Christmas celebration. So I’m sharing my Christmas message with all of you. I want to thank all of you for the gift that each of you are to me!! I am so blessed to be a part of our wonderful parish family here at St. Paul’s!! The other part of this message is to inform you that Justin McLemore, in his second year at the United States Military Academy, in West Point, NY, has the opportunity to visit the Holy Land in March of 2023. His letter is inserted into this bulletin explaining this great opportunity and he will be speaking after Communion at all of our Masses. I am wishing all of you a Blessed and Joy-filled Christmas and a Prosperous, Healthy and Happy New Year!!! My Love and prayers always, ~~Fr. Steve

Christmas Octave Gloria in Excelsis Deo!

Solemnity of Christmas Day
The angel said to the shepherds, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For today in the city of David a Savior has been born for you who is Christ and Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was a multitude of the heavenly host with the angel, praising God and saying: “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to those on whom His favor rests.” Luke 2:10–14

Glory to God in the highest! The celebration of the glorious birth
of Christ the Lord has begun…Merry Christmas! Try to put yourself in
the shoes of these shepherds. Little excitement would have regularly
come their way. They were poor, simple shepherds who spent their
days and nights tending the sheep of the fields. That night, a group of
them had gathered together for camaraderie. It’s easy to imagine the
scene of normal talking, laughing and being together. Little did they
realize what was about to happen.

As they were gathered, an angel of God appeared to them an-
nouncing “good news of great joy!” They must have been
stunned. But that’s only the beginning. The angel announced that the
Savior of the World had been born and then, much to their surprise,
they witnessed the whole host of heavenly angels singing praises:
“Gloria in excelsis Deo!” “Glory to God in the highest!”

These humble shepherds were the first to be called by God to go
and greet the newborn King. What’s amazing is that God did not
first call the “important” of the age to come worship. He called these
poor shepherds. One thing this tells us is that, in the eyes of God, all
are equal. God does not pick favorites from among those who are seen
as important in the eyes of the world. No, He sees the great value and
dignity of each and every person and desires all of us, rich or poor,
powerful or weak, to come to Him in adoration and love.

Christmas is a time filled with many exciting things. Often there
are gifts and gatherings, food and good times. But more than anything
else, Christmas must be seen as a time for us to step back and take in
the deep and rich meaning of this sacred event. We must see, first, that
God entered our human condition and, in doing so, is able to identify
with all that we experience in life. God understands human life! He
lived it.

Second, we must understand that the birth of the Savior of the
World and His appearance to shepherds reveals that each and
every one of us is invited to come and meet Him. God humbled
Himself in the most profound way so that we could come to know Him
and His perfect love for us. “Do not be afraid,” as the angel said, to
come and behold the Christ who came as your Savior. Do not be
afraid to come to meet Him, love Him, adore Him and get to know
Him. God is given to us, today, as an infant. Small, weak, fragile and
innocent. Do not be afraid to gaze upon His humble presence and to
give glory to God for His blessed coming.