Christmas 2024

Merry Christmas! 

Every year we face different circumstances in our lives as we approach this time of year but, nevertheless, some things remain the same. The Church, in her wisdom, gives us this great feast and every year we come together to celebrate the birth of Christ. We come as families, couples and as single folk, but when we gather together in our beautifully decorated churches, we are God’s family: all of us together. I love the idea that once we are baptized we are part of God’s family; it’s comforting to me and I hope to you as well. This time of year is also when we reflect on the past twelve months; what was good or bad, what was edifying or simply a waste of our time. If we had specific goals we analyze them to see how we did. If we were successful that’s great, if not we try to see where we fell short. Some people do not like to do this but I have found that it helps me as I look forward to the new year. This year has brought some ups and downs for sure and has exposed cracks in society that I am hopeful we can fix. Of course, Jesus Christ is the answer! If we all would truly listen to his voice in our lives and in scripture and we took the time to pray we could go a long way in fixing things. If we desire to fix the collective “we”, then we must fix the individual “I” and the only way to do that is to surrender to the one who created us and loves us. 

Here in the Natick Catholic Community there are various ways to do this. We have many prayer opportunities: Bible studies, men’s and women's groups and, of course, the sacraments. Spiritually we are alive but always can use more participants. Maybe this Christmas season we can pray asking God to guide us to the opportunity that is right for us in our parish community. I’d also like to mention the Pro-Life Committee, they are working very hard to help those in need due to unexpected pregnancies and raising awareness for all pro-life causes in our Archdiocese. These are but just a few of the groups and activities and we are always looking for more! If you have an idea I’d love to discuss it with you.

This coming year we also will be celebrating the 75th anniversary of Saint Linus Parish. There is a committee that has formed to help facilitate this celebration and I can tell you that we will be on the calendar of our new Archbishop, Richard Henning, for a special Mass and collation as we have spoken with his priest secretary and he assured us we are on his radar!

Finally, I’d like to take a moment to say some thank yous to the staff of NCC. Each one of them works hard and does their absolute best for you and for the priests. So, Merry Christmas to you all and a Happy New Year!

Fr. Chip

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A Christmas Prayer