Bob Jensen

Even Priests Go On Vacation!
I am heading down to Florida for two weeks to see my mom and give my older sister and her husband an opportunity to travel and visit friends in another part of the country.
When my parents needed a little extra care, my older sister opened her home to them. The rest of us siblings committed to offering whatever support we could – even if it means spending two weeks in sunny Florida during the dark, cold month of January.
While I am there, I am planning on cooking with my mom and learning some of the family recipes, including her wonderful liver and onions. For some reason, I am the only one of the kids who seems to like it. There are also some great desserts I hope to master.
I will be gone from January 20 through February 2. Fr. Jim Coyne, our retired pastor, will be presiding at the Sunday liturgies.

Did you notice anything different about the calendar this year?
When Christmas falls on a Sunday, things get rearranged. The feast of the Holy Family is usually on the Sunday between Christmas and New Year’s. No Sunday in between these solemnities this year, so the Feast of the Holy Family got moved to Friday, December 30. The Feast of the Lord’s Baptism also gets moved. This year it is on Monday, January 9, which brings the Christmas season to its conclusion.
The Feast of the Lord’s Baptism is the day we also celebrate our parish anniversary. We rearrange that as well and celebrate on the Solemnity of the Epiphany. With the visit of the Magi, Christ is revealed to the world. We, too, are called to reveal Christ to the world. One way we do that is by being people of Joy.
This year, we would like to offer every parish household a little book about joy and ways to foster it. There are many things that would rob us of joy. We need to be intentional in nurturing it. In this book, Chris Stefanick gives nine rules to rediscover and live joy. After reading this book, let me know if you can come up with a tenth rule that helps you be joyful.

Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God
One of the central mysteries of our Christian faith is that God has a mother. God, who is without beginning and without end, became a human individual. From Mary, Jesus assumed the human image and likeness, sharing in our human nature. It may sound more reasonable to just say Jesus had a mom. But we go beyond that statement. In Jesus, the union of the human and divine is so complete that what is said of Jesus human nature can also be said of his divine nature. For his humanity, Jesus had to have a mother. God had a mother.
And not only are the human and divine united completely in Jesus, Jesus unites each one of us with himself, so that what is said of Jesus should be also be able to be said of us. Mary is Jesus’ mother. Mary is also our mother. Jesus rose from the dead. We too, in baptism, have risen with Jesus to eternal life. Eternal life is not something that we just hope for at the end of our mortal life. It is a gift that has already been given us! We carry in ourselves the life of Jesus.
As we begin a new year, it might be good to renew your resolution to live the life Jesus offers you. How can you bring something of God’s love to your family, your neighborhood, school or workplace, and to your parish?