2025 AD … a year of Hope… a year of Pilgrimage…  a year of Joy!

Our current Holy Father, Pope Francis, is calling on all of us, especially Catholics, to celebrate this Jubilee year of 2025.  When the successor of Saint Peter himself sets aside a certain time as HOLY, that’s not just words.  It really does become a sacred time which changes us in real time as we know it.  Pope Francis has called upon God to pour out extra graces and blessings during these 360+ days and make this a time of conversion and renewal for people of all ages. 

Today you and I gather here to open this year of Jubilee at the parish level.  {Archbishop Shelton will formally open the year for the archdiocese tomorrow morning with a Special Mass with the school children of Saint James Church.}  Historically speaking, the universal Catholic Church declared the First Holy Year in 1300 AD and this has continued in 25 year increments ever since.  These designated times are occasions for the Church, as in God’s people (you and me), to seek renewal, to undergo a ‘re-set’ and this Holy Year invites us to deepen and renew the gift of the virtue of Hope in the way we live. We make ourselves keenly aware of The Blessings asked, The Blessings given and The Blessings received. 

Some of the gifts of this Jubilee Year that are highlighted for us are Forgiveness, Freedom, Family and Fullness.  For forgiveness, any Jubilee year is a great time to practice forgiveness in our own families, in our own circles of friends.  It is a super opportunity to spend some quality time with self, examining our consciences… maybe to see if we are holding a grudge or a resentment or an unresolved anger towards anybody in our lives. When all is said and done, we must make the interior act of forgiving self FIRST and then onto an act to forgive the other person or maybe an event that has occurred in our past.  In a word, we are called to become BETTER, not perfect persons…

Now, back to the gifts: Fullness is the idea of learning how to TRUST God in providing for us.  One great way we can live fullness is Honoring the Sabbath beyond what happens at the Eucharistic Table.  Taking up OR re-taking up the practice of resting, spending the day with family (on purpose… without an agenda), preparing and enjoying a meal together, making space for prayer and maybe, God willing, some non-pious spiritual reading…

One unique feature of any Holy Year is The Holy Door, signaling a passage in moving from one decision to the next… Pope Francis has said that the Opening of any Holy Door is a message of Hope and it is a sign of closeness and compassion for all those who are struggling.  The Door represents Jesus, the Good Shepherd, the keeper of the Gate for the pins in which we all reside.  A Door can keep people in and it can also keep people out.  To open any door is to welcome the next great thing that Jesus wants us to see and to handle.  I kind of liken The Holy Door to that scene in the movie The Wizard of Oz… remember when Dorothy opened the door from black and white to that glorious Technicolor?  What a HUGE difference it made on many levels … nothing quite like ‘living color’… especially showing the viewer that Yellow Brick Road on which she journeyed to get home!      

Have you ever taken a pilgrimage?  What makes any journey or trip a pilgrimage?  The word’s definition: “an individual’s journey through life, sometimes as a general description of personal growth and exploration, and sometimes, as in Christianity, outlining a particular spiritual focus or pathway which, it is believed, we will encounter God.”

Seeking out certain holy places locally can bring a person to a greater awareness of God and God working in one’s life.  Our archdiocese, the second oldest in the history of the United States (1808), is especially blessed with places like this.  As a thought, it could become a rewarding trip to visit places of special grace and blessings in this Holy Year; such as the Louisville Cathedral of the Assumption on Fifth Street and, while there, touring The History Center that displays, in artifacts, the Catholic faith of central Kentucky.  Another great spot could be the Proto Cathedral Basilica of Saint Joseph in Bardstown OR the Proto-Abbey of the United States at the Abbey of Gethsemani OR four motherhouses of religious nuns: Sisters of Charity in Bardstown, the Sisters of Loretto, the Dominican Sisters in Springfield and the Ursuline Sisters on Lexington Road.  There are other places filled with graces waiting to be embraced such as the Dominican of Saint Rose Priory in Springfield OR Saint Thomas Parish and the Bishop Flaget Log House south of Bardstown which helps us stay in touch with our spiritual roots when we were an infant church in a beautiful, yet uncharted wilderness.

There are so many other sacred Catholic spaces to explore, appreciate and understand.  It is a picker’s world… you and I are very lucky!   

Friend, it is so easy to ‘write off’ a visit to any of these places and experiences because they are always with us… we grew up here, we think we know them… but do we… do we really?  Let’s find out… make plans to visit at least one of these places… let me know what you think… seriously.  Let’s seek God in these places… Take it to prayer… Take this Year of Hope, Pilgrimage and Joy to Jesus and see what He would have us do.  He is the best tour guide we will ever have, especially in these days of 2025… no one can afford to wait until 2050 to seek Him!  

What is an Indulgence? Click here to learn more.

3^rd Sunday of Advent (Cycle C)

December 14-15, 2024

Gospel:  Luke 3:10-18

Have Lori play the lyric:

“Beginning to look a lot like Christmas…” before the homily…

“It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas”. That is, of course, the title of a holiday song written by composer Meredith Willson.  The tune has been popular for 53 years.  It is a clever little one that millions of people know.  It is a very good example of the sentimental attitude of our culture toward the Christmas season.  The song is a perfect example of the commercialization of Christmas that has gone on, like the song, for many decades… 

Unless one has been on a deserted island, one would have probably noticed that the “looking a lot like Christmas” seems to feel or occur earlier every year.  In many, many places, it has been “beginning to look a lot like Christmas” since, at least…shall we say, the day after Halloween… 

You and I, for better or for worse, live in a society that has largely forgotten Advent, OR at least its’ meaning.  This is apparently a “sign of our times”.  We do not have time to transition from one event to the next, giving a proper ending to what we’ve finished or preparing for that which is coming next.  Sometimes we dash from one event to the other without a break.  That, unfortunately, is what has happened to Advent and Christmas.  Once Thanksgiving is over, our society flies into Christmas without looking back.

Cha-ching, Cha-ching, Cha-ching.   

The Third Sunday of Advent, known as Gaudete Sunday is a day in the midst of our preparations for Christmas…it’s purpose: to rejoice in all God’s gifts to humankind.  Advent 2024 is one of the shorter Advents we can have. It is 24 days long (or short depending on your preparedness for the forthcoming Christmas season of 20 days …)

The Old Testament prophet Zephaniah invites all people of all generations to rejoice in the Lord.  We have a reason to sing for joy.  God has overcome the enemy to all that is good.  God rejoices with His people and renews our lives. 

Paul reminds the Christians at Philippi that the Lord is near.  Paul encourages the people to celebrate.  Rejoicing by Christian people is a result of our awareness of Christ being near.  Until Christ returns for the final time (your death as well as my own), Christians can avoid anxiety by being people of prayer.  This is how we are to present our needs and thanksgivings.  Prayer is “what we do”… well.

God’s presence will move believers to take concrete actions.  John tells his followers to share their food and clothing with the less fortunate.  John urges tax collectors to give up “business as usual” and carry out their duties fairly.  He tells soldiers to avoid bullying others and taking advantage of their position of power.  John makes it clear that he is not the Messiah.  He also makes it crystal clear the difference between baptism of water & baptism by fire. 

When we see Jesus working in our world there is cause to be pleased and happy.  Despite the very artificial celebration of Christmas that society puts on annually, we can recognize the true reason for celebration.  The Gospel tells us how to express our faith by action. 

When we show generosity to those in need and treat others fairly, we are living the Spirit of Christmas.  It goes beyond a season of awareness into an everyday reality.  The more we worship God, the more we become inspired.  The more we are inspired, the more we can do.

God is “lovin’ it”.    

Please enjoy these reflections during this season of Advent.

The Feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary
Monday; December 9, 2024
Gospel: Luke 1:26-38

Today we celebrate the feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary. In 1854, Pope Pius IX made the infallible statement: “The most Blessed Virgin Mary, in the first instant of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege granted by Almighty God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the savor of the human race, was preserved free from all stain of Original Sin.”

We focus on the two women in today’s readings and see how their choices have impacted our lives.

To illustrate the difference between Eve and Mary, picture an eye dropper filled with water. I am putting one drop of water in my hand. The makeup of this water is the same as any other drop of water – H2O. It is no more water or less water than any other drop. If I would put this drop of water into the ocean, it would be a part of the ocean. However, although it is part of the ocean and the ocean is a part of it, the drop is NOT the ocean. The difference between Eve and Mary is that Eve wanted to BE the ocean. Mary was content to be the drop in the ocean.

Both Eve and Mary were created without original sin. In the beginning, it was original goodness. In Genesis, we read that “God created man in his image; in the divine image he created him; male and female he created them, and God looked at everything he had made and he found it very good.” Mary was created without Original Sin from the moment of HER conception (through her parents; Joachim and Anne), by a special grace in her role in God’s plan for humankind.

Eve wanted to be like God. Mary was content to be God’s servant. Eve (and Adam) thought God was being selfish by forbidding them to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Eve was not content to be a drop of water. She wanted to be the ocean. She saw God as selfish, wanting to keep special knowledge to Himself. She did not realize that God sets limits… to protect her.

Mary knew that she was not more than a servant, a handmaid of God. His Will was her command. When the angel Gabriel announced to her that she was to conceive through the power of the Holy Spirit and bear a son that would be called Son of God, Mary must have been confused and puzzled. While she did not understand fully what was being asked, Mary did not rebel. She simply spoke, “I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.”
Mary was content to be drop of water.

Eve rebelled, Mary submitted. Eve gave in to temptation. In the story, Eve eats the forbidden fruit. She sins and then invited Adam to sin, too. Eve, by trying to be more like God and rejecting her rightful relationship with Him, was separated from God through sin.
She became less and less “in His image”.
Mary never went against God’s Will. Mary, by embracing her humanness and knowing her place before God as servant, became more and more like God.

We are all born with Original Sin. We believe, that at baptism, Original Sin is eradicated. We believe that we start off with a clean slate. At that point, we have the same opportunity, as Mary, to make right choices throughout our lives…

However, like Eve (and Adam) we rebel.

The second reading makes it clear what God wants for us… to be holy and blameless in His sight…

As Mary is the “new Eve”, so Jesus is the “new Adam”. What Eve and Adam lost for us, Jesus regained. He stays in intimate contact with us through His Gift of Eucharist. It is through Christ that we have become daughters and sons of the Father and heirs of the Kingdom. With this in mind, let us approach the altar with humility and gratitude that we are that drop in the ocean.

As of Friday, December 6th, St. Francis Xavier is leading the Archdiocese of Louisville in Donor Participation Percentage! Thank you to everyone who has donated thus far. There is still time to contribute if you’d like to see your name in the basket of loaves and fishes!

The annual Catholic Services Appeal invites area Catholics to join together in supporting the more than 100 ministries, services, and programs offered by the archdiocese. Over the last year CSA donations:

• helped to deliver Safe Environment Training to over 3100 people who work with children or youth.
• provided training and formation opportunities to those who minister to, with, and for adolescents and young adults.
• provided days of reflection, weekend retreats, and other faith sharing events to college students.
• offered 63 catechist certification classes for over 900 attendees.
• assisted parishes across the archdiocese with facility maintenance and planning.
• supported the many publications and media communications that are made available to all Catholics in the archdiocese.

In addition to these services for parishioners, the Catholic Services Appeal supports the Seminarian Education Fund, which allows seminarians to focus on their education and spiritual growth as they prepare for a life of service to God.

Last year St. Francis Xavier Parish raised over $24,000 for CSA with 105 families participating. Our goal for 2024 is $26,500. While the monetary goal is important, our focus this year is on participation. With over 800 families registered with our parish, even the smallest of donations can make an impact. To help visualize participation, each family that donates any amount to Catholic Services Appeal in 2024 will be represented by a fish or loaf image and added to the CSA poster on display in the gathering space in church. Help us to fill the basket with loaves and fishes and support the many great works of CSA.

Use the buttons below to make an on-line donation or to see full listing of works supported by CSA.

All donations made to the Seminarian Education Fund will be matched up to $65,000. Any donations by donors who did not make a gift last year and any Salt & Light donor that increases their donation will each be matched up to $50,000.

View the video from Archbishop Shelton regarding this year’s appeal HERE.