Dear Parishioners and Friends,
In past years I have used various Christmas songs as inspiration for my weekly message to you. I remember writing about “Somewhere In My Memory” from the movie “Home Alone,” as well as “I’ll Be Home For Christmas.”This year I’d like to base my thoughts on “We Need a Little Christmas” from the musical “Mame.”
Jerry Herman, who died the day after Christmas in 2019 at the age of 88, composed the songs for the popular musical “Mame” in 1966, which starred Angela Lansbury. In the musical, “We Need a Little Christmas” is performed after Mame has lost her fortune in the Wall Street crash of 1929, and decides that she, her young nephew Patrick, and her two household servants “need a little Christmas now” to cheer them up.
I feel that I am far from alone when I say that this year especially, we need not just a little Christmas, but a whole lot of it! Without getting too political (which is difficult, I admit), I would say that the majority of citizens in our country today are living with a mixture of feelings or emotions, ranging from mild depression or fear to anger or rage. Our psychological health has probably not been tested so much since the Great Depression when Mame Dennis lost her fortune.
Added to this, we must all deal with our own personal situations within our families or communities. Death and illness know not the times or seasons, and many folks must cope with the loss of someone close to them. Others are struggling with life-threatening illness or financial uncertainty, like sky-high health insurance.
Whatever struggles or challenges people are facing, we find ourselves in what’s supposed to be “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year” – to quote another holiday song made famous by Andy Williams.
I don’t profess to having any secret answers to these age-old mys-teries. But let’s remember the Christmas story itself – the original one, that is, found in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke.
Try to put yourself in the place of the various characters who were part of the story of the birth of Jesus: Joseph, Mary, the shepherds, the Magi, and so forth. Think of all the fear and doubt they had to face. But in the midst of all their stress, they experienced the joy of God’s presence made manifest. Angels played an essential role in announcing good news to every one of them, and they were all changed by the experience of the birth of a baby in Bethlehem.
As we make our way through the remainder of Advent (and beyond), try to focus your attention on all that really matters in life. The birth of a child has a way of doing that.
Blessings on your week ahead!
Fr. Tim Shreenan, O.F.M.
Pastor
