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Father Bill is enjoying his vacation, visiting his family in Florida. This week, we hear from our Pastoral Assistant for Liturgy and Pastoral Care, Laurie Moloney. If you have any questions or comments on her article, please feel free to reach out to her at extension 111 or email her at lauriem@sjtbcc.org.

We Are the Light of the World

As an amateur astronomer, I have seen the light of distance stars, galaxies, and nebulas magnified in amazing ways when I look through my telescope. I wouldn’t be able to see these wonders of God’s creation in quite the same way with the naked eye. Just as it’s difficult to see fully God’s great light in our dark world, Jesus calls us to be the telescope
and bring His light into the world.

“Through baptism, we not only receive this light, but we become the light” [1].  This is represented at baptism when the godparent lights a candle from the Easter candle, which represents the light of Christ at the Easter Vigil. So how do we keep this light burning and how do we bring it to the world?

Isaiah tells us in today’s first reading that if we give bread to the hungry and satisfy the afflicted, then our light shall break forth like the dawn (Is 58:8). When we bring God’s mercy to others, Jesus’ light shines through our lives and, in turn, draws others into the Light of Christ. In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells us we are the light of the world, and He calls us to let that light shine forth to all (Mt 5:13-14).

Here at St. John the Baptist we have many ministries that bring the light of Christ to the world. There’s everything from St. Vincent de Paul ministry, Safe Car Parking, Creation Care, and PREPARES to serving as a liturgical minister at Mass. Visit the Ministries pages on our website to see a list of ministries, sjtbcc.org.
And if you haven’t yet taken the Living your Strengths class, talk to Anne Frederick in the office. It will help you discover where God is calling you to let your light shine.

Laurie
[1] Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition, para. 1216

When Do You Make the Sign of the Cross?
A couple of weeks ago, when I was teaching an RCIA Class on the Mass, the question emerged about when we make the Sign of the Cross. The Catholics in the group shared how they were trained to make the Sign of the Cross multiple times. It may surprise you when and when not the rubrics call for the Sign of the Cross. Here is a little quiz. Answer Yes or No to
the following if you should make the sign of the cross during these portions of the Mass. The Answer Key is someplace in the bulletin.
1. Anyone entering the church using holy water makes the sign of the cross on themselves.
2. The priest, putting incense in the thurible, makes the sign of the cross over the incense.
3. Anyone, making a genuflection, makes the sign of the cross on themselves.
4. All, at the beginning of Mass while saying “In the Name of the Father,” makes the sign of the cross on
themselves.
5. All, when the priest says, “May Almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us our sins…” makes the sign
of the cross on themselves.
6. When the priest sprinkles with water, all makes the sign of the cross on themselves.
7. Priest or deacon, before adding water to the wine, makes the sign of the cross over the water.
8. Priest, holding a particle of the host just before dropping it into the chalice, makes the sign of the cross
over the chalice.
9. Any minister of communion holding the host and saying “The Body of Christ.”
10. Anyone, after receiving Communion, makes the sign of the cross on themselves.
11. The priest, when saying the final blessing, makes the sign of the cross over the people.
12. The people, hearing the final blessing, makes the sign of the cross on themselves.
13. Anyone leaving the church using holy water makes the sign of the cross on themselves.

I must admit – when I took this quiz, I did not score 100%. I share this quiz with you just to acknowledge we so easily add things to the liturgy. It becomes a problem when individual gestures begin to weaken the expression of unity or draws attention to an individual. This quiz comes from Fr. Paul Turner’s book, In these or Similar Words.

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?