FROM THE DESK OF THE PASTOR

Dear Friends in Christ,

We have great reasons to celebrate in these days of Christmas!

At Duvall, this Sunday we observe the patronal Feast of the Holy Innocents       

This Sunday is December 28, the patronal Feast of the at Holy Innocents in Duvall.  It will take the place of the Feast of the Holy Family. The feast recalls the children who died at the hands of King Herod, because of his fear, jealously of Christ, the infant King of the Jews, king of kings, and prince of peace. The Holy Innocents are also called the proto-martyrs, because they died for Christ, before He suffered, died, and rose for us.  We rejoice that today, by God’s grace, they share in his victory over death, and the new life Christ won for us. So let us ask these Holy Martyrs to continue to intercede for us and let us thank God for their watchful care over Holy Innocents Church.

The Feast of Holy Family is Sunday for St. Jude and St. Anthony

For the universal Church and the rest of our family, Sunday is the Feast of the Holy Family. Additionally, Wednesday is the Octave day of Christmas (the eighth day of Christmas), and on it we celebrate the Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God. This celebration reminds us that Jesus, Mary and Joseph give us an example of what is to be a ‘holy family.’ Pope Francis reflected on the mystery of the Holy Family some years ago:

The message that comes from the Holy Family is first of all a message of faith. In the family life of Mary and Joseph, God is truly at the center, and He is so in the Person of Jesus. This is why the Family of Nazareth is holy. Why? Because it is centered on Jesus.

When parents and children together breathe in this climate of faith, they have an energy that allows them to face even difficult trials, as the experience of the Holy Family shows, for example, in the dramatic event of their flight to Egypt: a difficult ordeal.

The Baby Jesus with his Mother Mary and with St Joseph are a simple but so luminous icon of the family. The light it casts is the light of mercy and salvation for all the world, the light of truth for every man, for the human family and for individual families. This light which comes from the Holy Family encourages us to offer human warmth in those family situations in which, for various reasons, peace is lacking, harmony is lacking, and forgiveness is lacking. May our concrete solidarity not diminish especially with regard to the families who are experiencing more difficult situations due to illness, unemployment, discrimination, the need to emigrate.... Let us pause here for a moment and pray in silence for all these families in difficulty, whether due to problems of illness, unemployment, discrimination, need to emigrate, due to difficulty in understanding each other and also to disunion. Let us pray in silence for all these families. POPE FRANCIS

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 1 IS THE SOLEMNITY OF MARY MOTHER OF GOD.

On Thursday we celebrate the Holy Day of Mary Mother of God. Let us gather to give thanks to God from the blessing of the New Year and ask the Mother of God to help us grow in discipleship. It is also the World Day of Prayer for Peace. How urgently and fervently do we need to pray for peace in these days!

THANK YOU!
Thank you to all who made our Christmas celebrations especially joyful this year. I want to take this opportunity to thank the many, many people who worked so hard to prepare our liturgies. Many thanks to all who decorated, cleaned, prepared, helped and did a marvelous job making the Church look so beautiful for Christmas.  Thank you to all the musicians who sang and played on Christmas. What wonderful praise of God was given! Thank you! Finally, I am grateful to Fr Raphael, the wonderful staff of our parishes, and our lectors, extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion, servers, ushers, and especially all of our great music ministers. I so appreciate your selfless dedication and willingness to serve. I know many changed their plans to help out at particular Masses. Thank you for your generous service. That is what life is all about: giving of ourselves in service to one another in gratitude to the One who gives his life for us, in love and in service.

Finally, Fr. Raphael and I want to thank all of you who were so kind over the holidays. We cannot thank you enough, cards, delicious treats, and generous gifts you sent us. We will certainly remember you in our prayers. We are so grateful for your thoughtfulness.

May God bless all of you for your generosity and love of the Lord!

Fr. Johnson