Let it Snow! Let it Snow!

It is 11am and the snow is still falling. Here in Laurel I measured 8 inches on my front steps. Somehow when I started shoveling it seemed like a lot more than that. The sidewalk is not to bad it is shoveling out the car that is labor intensive especially when the snowplow had piled all the snow behind my car. In spite of the work I still love the snow (although a little less with each passing year) and the beauty of a new fallen snow can't be beaten. Growing up in Cumberland and going to school in Canada you were prepared for snow and saw it as just another day. Not so down here in the Baltimore area. I must confess even after living here since 1970 I am still amused by people running to the supermarket to buy bread, milk and of course the ever popular toilet paper. I have canceled our 5pm mass for today. This is only the 4th time in my 35 years as a priest that mass has been canceled due to snow. Believe me I have been having quite a conversation with God about sending this strom on a weekend. You can look out at the snow and see how much of an influence I have!

This is the 4th Sunday of Advent and if you are stuck in the house looking for something to do(instead of reading my blog and surfing the net) I suggest you read the Scriptures for this Sunday. The first reading is Micah 5:1-4a. In this passage God announces that from insignificant Bethlehem shall come the ideal king for Israel. The second reading is from the Letter to the Hebrews 10:5-10. This passage tells us that God no longer delights in the sacrifices of the old law and so Christ became human so that He could offer a sacrifice of perfect obedience to God's will. The Gospel is Luke 1:39-45. Mary visits Elizabeth and is greeted with those beautiful words "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb." During these last days of Advent we focus on Mary and what a strong and faith filled person she was. Mary was always willing to do the will of God and hopefully we will all imitate her.

Well, I just looked out my window and see that my nice clean sidewalks and car are covered with snow yet again so I guess it's time to bundle up get the shovel and get to work. I hope you are safe and warm and that you enjoy this beautiful gift from God. Let it snow!

Party Time

As we move ever closer to Christmas the number of parties increases and that's a good thing. Parties give us a chance to relax and enjoy the company of friends and of course eat lots of great food.

Saturday (December 12) night after the 5pm mass the Knights of Columbus had their annual Christmas party. There was a great turn out of Knights and their families in fact I believe this may have been the biggest turnout ever. Even Santa came to visit the children. It was a pleasant evening and I think everyone enjoyed spending time together.

Today was the party for our Seniors. They might be Seniors but they still love to party. We had a wonderful turn out and everyone brought plenty of food to share. I had an opportunity to talk with many of them and I am always uplifted by their joy for life and their commitment to our parish. After lunch they all got to work wrapping gifts for merchant sailors at the Seafarer Center at the port of Baltimore run by our own Msgr. Fitzgerald. It was a great afternoon.

I don't want you to think that all we do is party because that's not true. If you had been around the gathering space on Sunday afternoon you would have seen a lot of volunteers working harder than Santa's elves to prepare gifts for families at our sister parish of St. Benedict. The generosity of our parishioners it truly inspiring. I think St. Francis himself would be very pleased with the way in which our parish cares for the less fortunate.