Christmas is Vision

               Christmas is all about “vision.”  Before I say more about that, first, lots of welcomes and a Merry Christmas are in order!

Welcome...and Hope You’ll be Back.
 On behalf of our awesome Crescent Parish Staff “Merry Christmas” and “Welcome” to parishioners, home comers and visitors!!  We are happy you are here and we are happy to serve you in our newborn, crucified and risen Savior’s name!  Thanks especially those parishioners who regularly offer their time, talent and treasure to Jesus through our parishes.  Your praise of Jesus and powerful prayer for the world during Mass, is one of the most unselfish and profound powerful service we can do for others and the world!
We offer special welcome to visitors who live near us.  In our imperfect efforts to become holier Christians and better parishes, one of the things that will help us in both regards is to have more of Jesus’ presence among us each week through new parishioners.  Visitors, please complete the form on page 4 of the bulletin, go to our outstanding website or call the office with you name and number and we will get back with you!  What about Christmas and Vision!

The Vision Proclaimed at Christmas
 This second year of the Beacons of Light process which will unify our five parishes into one is all about creating the vision of who we will be as one unified parish.  The Christmas story is all about vision and who we are.

The Vision to the Prophets
Initially, as we heard in the Advent readings, the Father brought to fulfillment the vision shared with the prophets of old:  One from David’s line would be a king of love and peace, a shepherd whose reign would be eternally established.

The Vision to Mary and Shepherds   
The vision becomes more clear as God's messenger, the angel Gabriel, shared the vision with Mary:
Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” (Lk 1:31-33)  

The vision continues to be revealed in Mary’s canticle while visiting Elizabeth. It speaks of radical reversals: rulers down—the lowly up, the rich are hungry—the hungry filled, reminding us of the Beatitudes the newborn babe will later proclaim and embody.

Shepherds would have the loving vision projected onto the night sky before them.  An army of angels frightening to behold, and yet gloriously serenading them by the very same song we sing at Sunday Mass.  As we are privileged to do each Sunday, they were told to go and see the vision themselves.

The Vision to Joseph and the Magi    
In Matthew’s Gospel, the vision comes through angels to the dreams of just and truth-seeking people like Joseph and the Magi.  The vision inspired bold, crazy-selfless acts of faith!
Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. For it is through the Holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her. She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus,* because he will save his people from their sins. (Mt 1:20b-21)
Through three more dreams to Joseph, the embodied vision of the Father, Jesus, would be shepherded to Egypt and then back to Israel and finally, Nazareth.  The magi saw the vision in a captivating and curious moving star and were directed by a dream to adore and then take the vision to the nations.

The Vision in Our Day and Time
 In our day and time, the same vision of God proclaimed in the Christmas story is offered to us not by angels or a star but through a family of parishes whose location forms a crescent moon! 
The Christmas story brought together a troubled history.  (I think it safe to say that each of our parishes can speak about some dimensions of a relatively troubled history.)  Sure, Jesus' history in the genealogies from Luke and Matthew are packed with holy people.  However, at the same time, there are sinners and scoundrels among Jesus' ancestors.  There are huge mistakes, like going to Egypt and being enslaved, and losing our temple in Jerusalem to be exiled.
 
An Unimagined Future
Mary and Joseph could never have imagined their future and the future of  “the” beacon of light, a future that would include suffering, the cross and death...and resurrection!
Indeed, for us Beacons of Light means that all of our parishes and some of our own  “temples” in Crescent Parishes will be “lost.” However, Jesus’s suffering, sacrifice and death promise us a resurrection:  a better life, an unimagined new and amazing life as a family of parishes!    
Thanks to parishioners, home comers and visitors and Merry Christmas!! Every time you gaze upon the 800 year-old crib scene at our parishes, at home, or in people's yards, please pray a fervent prayer that the beginning of the Father's vision which we celebrate this season will be wonderfully conveyed to Crescent Parishes as we discern the vision of our family of parishes over the next months.

Sincerely and with Love in Christ,
Fr. Pat