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January 3, 2020One of the great traditions of the Christmas season is the music. I’m sure many of you have heard the song “The 12 Days of Christmas.” It is a classic. But not everybody is familiar with the real 12 days of Christmas. In the commercial world Christmas is long gone as we get ready for Valentine’s Day, but in the world of faith we continue to reflect on the Mystery of the Incarnation. The twelve days of the Christmas season stretch from Christmas Day to today’s feast of the Epiphany.
In celebrating the Epiphany of the Lord, we celebrate the revelation that Jesus was born as Savior for all people. Today’s gospel illustrates this revelation through the story of the wise men who traveled afar to visit Jesus following his birth. They embarked on a journey of faith, following the star of Bethlehem until they reached the manger where Jesus laid. They brought gifts that symbolized their revelation of his divinity: gold, which associated Jesus as a king. Frankincense, which was often used in worship, to symbolize the holiness of Jesus. And myrrh, a perfume used for embalming, which symbolized that Christ would one day die for our sins.
As we start a new calendar year, it’s a time of rejuvenation for many of us. A chance for a new beginning. A chance to discover new things and make our own revelations. As the wise men in today’s gospel did, I encourage you to continue to follow your faith throughout this year. The wise men had a revelation that the Son of God was coming, and they were not afraid to follow their hearts. I hope that you too will not be afraid to follow your heart when you hear God’s call.
Several years ago, I made one New Year’s resolution – to meet God for prayer and silence every morning --- that has changed my life. It took great effort at first but now it is something that I can hardly do without. Prayer as helped me be more present to my life, to make better use of my time, to make better decisions, to change some of my bad habits.
Over the last few days, I’ve spent time in pray to discern my resolutions for this New Year. I came up with these numbers:
Caring for my physical well-being: -- lose 5 pounds so as to weigh 240 on 1.1.21
-- 2.5 hours of exercise each week
Caring for my spiritual well-being -- 5 hours of professional/spiritual reading each week
-- 5 hours of prayer before the Blessed Sacrament each week
Caring for our Common Home -- in 2020 5 trips to “the hard to recycle” center at the Y
-- in 2020 10 hours of beach cleaning-- in 2020 15 donations of good “stuff” to the Thrift ShopCongratulations to our Mayor Shirley Sessions and all the council members, especially our own Jay Burke, who took their oaths of office this past Thursday. Our prayers are with them as they serve the best interests of our City.
Fair warning - at the Vigil Mass next Saturday our little Church will be overflowing with Filipinos for a very special Mass celebrated by Bishop Boland. Devotion to the Santo Niño (Holy Child), an image of Jesus as a small boy typically dressed as a king, is a mainstay of Filipino Catholic life. Ground zero for this devotion is the city of Cebu. During the Jesus Caritas Fraternity Meeting that I attended there last January, I was privileged to concelebrate the principal Mass of the devotion. It was glorious. In Cebu, devotion to the Santo Niño reaches a fever pitch early in January, when crowds flock to the basilica that houses it, and the city is taken over for days by processions and religious celebrations. The name of that feast, Sinulog, refers to a ritual dance inspired by and performed before the Santo Niño. In recent years the events have drawn 1.5 to 3 million folks in a city of fewer than 900,000 people, making Cebu’s celebration one of the largest annual events in the Catholic world. If you don’t mind crowds, the 6pm Mass next Saturday will be very special.
FYI - Tybee Island Maritime Academy is in the process of placing a new classroom pod on our lot just north of the gym, which hopefully will free up the gym for our use once again.
