Christmastide 1: Holy Family – Thoughts for the Week

Christmas is behind us, but not really, for God-is-still-with-us!

How did you celebrate Christmas Day? Was there song and laughter and time spent in company with family and friends? Was it quiet, perhaps lonely, because of a loved one now gone?

For many ‘Christmas without them’ is a reality that brings a poignancy to the festival that we never felt before. The loved one’s absence gnaws intensely: “O, if only he/she was here again!”

Today we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Family. What comfort or meaning can it give to those who mourn?

Jesus, Mary and Joseph: No sooner were they a family than they became the target of the hatred of Herod. Persecution drove them as refugees to Egypt to live and survive in a foreign land. We can only imagine the anxiety of Joseph and Mary. The gospel text tells us that on hearing the warning from the angel “Joseph got up and, taking the child and his mother with him, left that night for Egypt.”

Fear, anxiety, and survival – how will they get on in Egypt where they had never been before? Will there be work, food, a roof over their heads? How will they be received by neighbours? What city should they flee to – Alexandria, or Cairo, or a small village? It would not be easy, donkey travel with an infant…searching, stopping, starting again and wondering all the while “What is God doing?”

Life is full of anomalies – things that we never believed would ever come our way, but come they did and we faced them, prayed about them, puzzled over them and got through them. We survived, we kept our faith, and we got on with life once more.

Joseph and Mary and the child Jesus returned to the Holy Land after several years and settled in Nazareth.

The ‘lights’ they received from God during their exile were few and far between, but they held onto their belief that God had a plan. Slowly it was revealed and they walked that path too.

It is often said that if we knew what each day would bring, we might find it hard even to get out of bed!

Today’s feast is uplifting because we see Joseph, the head of the household, exercising his leadership role: acting decisively when God’s plan is made known.

It is uplifting because we see that when life throws up a frightening challenge, God’s presence will be with us. He will give us strength for each day and directions to live by.

As in the case of the Holy Family, the answers will not be apparent all at once. We may have to walk through a valley of long frightening shadows, but God has not left us. He is in the shadows, asking us to trust and keep walking.

The absence of a loved one this Christmas is acutely felt and may be the beginning of a journey among shadows. But, with the assurance of our faith in God, we know that “there is a plan – a loving plan” and it includes our very best interests. As a song some years past put it: “Put your hand in the hand of the One who calms the waters; put your hand in the hand of the One who calms the sea.”

This act of trust leads directly to graces for our present life, a stronger faith, and an openness to the surprises and challenges that God has yet to share with us. Rejoice – the Lord is with us yet!

Parish Events Christmas I: 29 Dec – 04 Jan

Saturday 28^th Dec

6.30pm Mass

Sunday 29^th Dec – Holy Family

9.00am Mass (Pro populo – for all parishioners)

Monday 30th  

9.00am Mass

Tuesday 31^st – New Year’s Eve

9.00am Mass

Wednesday 01^st Jan: Mary Mother of God    

9.00am Mass

11.00am Communion to homes & Karinya

Thursday 02^nd – Sts Basil & Gregory

11.30am Novena.

12.00 Mass

Friday 03^rd – Holy Name of Jesus

10.00am Mass at Karinya – for all the sick

Communion to Homes

Saturday 04^th

8.45am Rosary & 9.00am Mass

6.30pm Vigil Mass

Sunday 05^th – Epiphany of the Lord

9.00am Mass (Pro populo – for all parishioners)

10.45am Mass at Coreen

RESTORATION OF ST MARY’S STATIONS OF THE CROSS                                                Work commences this week on the Stations. The restorers are Mona Goubran and her husband from Sydney, both with years of experience at restoration. The work is expected to take three weeks. Special arrangements for daily Mass: All weekday Masses will be held in the Hall. Apologies for any inconvenience caused. Sunday Masses as normal, but without electric fans in the church…bring your own hand-held, if the weather is hot.

                 Remember in Prayer

Recently deceased: Suzanne Knight, Denise Conway, James Dunn, Betty Chandler, Kath Richardson, Patricia Seymour, Frances Hanrahan,  Bishop Brennan, Alan Whitty, and Dimpy Weston.

THANK YOU

Thank you to all who helped the Parish Raffle to be a success. The winners were:

1^st Prize:……..

2^nd Prize:……

3^rd Prize:……

Roster 04^th – 05^th Jan

Gifts:

6.30pm N Kingston M Carroll

9.00am CWL

Lectors

6.30pm S Drum C Knight

9.00am M Kelly M Milthorpe

Special Ministers:

6.30pm I & F Brooks

9.00am B Christy R Taylor

Altar N Warhurst

Welcomers:

6.30pm K Seymour L Hanrahan

9.00am Craig Sandral

Altar Servers:

6.30pm Dylan Forge & Zac

9.00am Meg Rogers & Jorja Kingston

Collection: K Freeman

 Counters: A & M Campbell