Greetings in Christ, all! This morning I woke up to snow on the ground and I believe that winter is finally here…thank God! I know a lot of you won’t agree with me on this one, but I love the cold…mmmmm!
I need to start off by clarifying right away something from last week’s bulletin. When I wrote about Fr. Bill taking on responsibilities in our area, I did not mean to indicate that he is not praying Mass with us anymore: he is, thank God! I only meant that he will probably do less of the day-to-day appointment work he’s been doing. Sorry if I confused anyone!
In a homily earlier in my time here, I quoted Pope Benedict and a couple of you asked me to share that quote. I’m going to share two of my favorite quotes from him for your reflection and edification, also because my time is short here and I need to get the bulletin in!
God bless you all, I thank the Lord for both of my Parish Families!
“To have Christian hope means to know about evil and yet to go to meet the future with confidence. The core of faith rests upon accepting being loved by God, and therefore to believe is to say Yes, not only to him, but to creation, to creatures, above all, to men, to try to see the image of God in each person and thereby to become a lover. That’s not easy, but the basic Yes, the conviction that God has created men, that he stands behind them, that they aren’t simply negative, gives love a reference point that enables it to ground hope on the basis of faith.” ― Pope Benedict XVI
“Are we not perhaps all afraid in some way? If we let Christ enter fully into our lives, if we open ourselves totally to him, are we not afraid that He might take something away from us? Are we not perhaps afraid to give up something significant, something unique, something that makes life so beautiful? Do we not then risk ending up diminished and deprived of our freedom? . . . No! If we let Christ into our lives, we lose nothing, nothing, absolutely nothing of what makes life free, beautiful and great. No! Only in this friendship are the doors of life opened wide. Only in this friendship is the great potential of human existence truly revealed. Only in this friendship do we experience beauty and liberation. And so, today, with great strength and great conviction, on the basis of long personal experience of life, I say to you, dear young people: Do not be afraid of Christ! He takes nothing away, and he gives you everything. When we give ourselves to him, we receive a hundredfold in return. Yes, open, open wide the doors to Christ – and you will find true life. Amen.” ― Pope Benedict XVI
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