In Christ, Joseph

Dear Reader:

The Church makes the months of December and January days of joy and expectation. It fits in with the Church’s spiritual care for her children. For us, therefore, we have the joyful preparation for Christmas—with a celebration that we look forward to with Midnight with its Christmas caroling and hymns.

But we begin even before Christmas with the celebration of Saint Nicholas—hopefully Catholics have not forgotten the patron saint of children and still enjoy seeing the happiness of their children as they find their shoe or sock filled with candy and afterwards teaching them to pray to Saint Nicholas to watch over and protect them in thanksgiving. Then there is the feast of the Immaculate Conception (when we must go to Mass in the United States) which reminds us of Original Sin, the sin we all had before baptism; but Mary never had Original Sin because God preserved her so she could be the Mother of the Redeemer—whom we are waiting for. We pray that we remain also without sin from now on. This feast of Mary is followed by another, Our Lady of Guadalupe on December 12, when we look forward to decorating her altar with roses and singing hymns to her starting with an early morning greeting and then relishing the tamales and pozole and pan dulces after the evening Mass. Saint Lucy follows the next day, a model to all our young ladies and reminding us that “Light” is what we are waiting for and then praying that our eyes can see both the spiritual and physical. On the 16th we begin the novena for Christmas and the Las Posadas as we await the Birth of Christ. And the celebration does not end with the close of the Christmas day, but continues 12 more days with the Saints of Christmas, the Circumcision and the Wisemen. We still celebrate until February 2—the Candlemas—when, here in the United States, there is a tradition of seeing that winter is over by a ground hog checking its shadow. Therefore, for us Catholics, winter is not a dreary season, but one filled with joy and celebrations that Holy Mother Church was inspired to offer us so that we, her children, could go through the darkness back into the light with hope. It is sad that so many peoples outside the faith find this season a time of despair and depression but only because they lack the spirit of the Catholic Faith that would guide them through periods of darkness. We Catholics would do ourselves a disservice if we did not participate in the beauty of the season lived by the Church. The Church was inspired to place our thoughts for the dead in November followed by Advent. The Advent season liturgy and hymns express a yearning, but a yearning filled with expectation—an expectation that is near and to be fulfilled, not far and unreachable.

As always, enjoy the readings and commentaries provided for your benefit. —The Editor