Dear Parishioners,

“The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light!” We hear this text this weekend in the first reading from Isaiah as well as in the Gospel where Matthew quotes it. It should sound very familiar since it’s the first reading for Christmas Eve. Just as last Sunday’s gospel of the baptism of Jesus according to John was a bridge between Christmas and Ordinary Time, so today’s readings invite us to keep the Christmas spirit of peace, hope and love alive in our hearts, even when we are tempted to disillusionment and anxiety about the future.

In my homily last Sunday, I said that we are called to build bridges and not walls. We are meant to be connected to God and our neighbor. It is not an easy task these days but the call is always there. In the Gospel today we hear about the call of the first disciples who responded without hesitation to follow Jesus. It’s pretty remarkable that they didn’t give this a “second thought” but immediately “left their nets” to follow him. I imagine that Jesus was so “irresistible” that they just couldn’t say no to his call. Let’s hope and pray that we can be as generous in our response to Jesus’ invitation to follow him!

One of the ways to discern how best to “follow” Jesus is through the process of spiritual direction/ conversation. We are very blessed at Xavier to have many wonderful directors who are available for these kinds of conversations. This past week Xavier began a program for training Spiritual Directors from the community. We are grateful to parishioners and others who are making the commitment to give and receive the formation necessary to prepare for this very special gift to the Church. As you will see from the announcement in today’s bulletin, the program is looking for some volunteers who are interested in entering into the spiritual direction relationship.

 

Last weekend we sang “We Shall Overcome” as a reminder of the work that still lies before us to bring about harmony among all peoples. Let’s hope and pray that in the days to come we will recognize Christ as the “true light” that helps us to “overcome” and not “be overcome” by the darkness of the world that can so easily envelop us.

In the light of Christ,

Fr. Bob