We continue our celebration of the Christmas Season with today’s Feast of the Holy Family. This feast day was added to the Church calendar by Pope Leo XIII in 1893. The pope wanted to highlight the importance of the Christian family and to point to the Holy Family as a model of all families to follow. Mary and Joseph could not surround the newborn Jesus with material things: he was born in poverty with “no crib for a bed.” What they had, they lavished on Jesus: love tenderness, and care. Love transformed that stable making it a source of light and hope, just as love can transform every home and make it a place where children can grow as Jesus did, in wisdom love and grace. Let us see in the Holy Family then a shining example of family life. Jesus, Mary, and Joseph pray for us.

Next Sunday the Christmas Season finds its climax in the Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord. The commemoration of the visit of the Magi to the infant Jesus has fascinated Christians since the beginning. Throughout the world, customs abound to celebrate this beautiful feast day! I would like to invite you to continue the Christmas spirit by sharing in the parish Epiphany Party on next Sunday afternoon in the St. Francis Hall. When you come to the party, please be sure you bring some food to share with others. There will be gifts for the children and Christmas caroling and the Breaking of the Pinata too! Bring the children of all ages and celebrate as a parish family!

As we begin this New Year, I urge all of us to give thanks to God in a beautiful Mass on New Year’s Day in honor of Mary, the Mother of God! We will have a festive bi‐lingual Mass at 10:00 a.m. in Serra Center. For us Catholics, this is a Holy Day which means we go to Mass as we would on Sunday. On behalf of the friars and staff, I wish all of you a most blessed and Happy New Year!