Though the octave of Christmas ended with Friday's celebration in honor of Mary, the Mother of God, the season of Christmas continues until the Baptism of the Lord, on the 10th. So if you are able, keep those trees up and celebrate the joy and light and innocence of the Nativity... God's redeeming gift to us, in the birth of the Lord. Let's stay in the Christmas season until the 11th.
Speaking of joy and light and innocence, I hope you're all in a good mood because I need to offer this apology: I booked a short holiday with a priest-friend for 4 to 7 January, finding a very cheap, nonrefundable ticket to Toledo (Ohio). That means I will miss our patronal feast day on the 5th. I booked the holiday without thinking of SJN's feast day. Please forgive the mistake. Though I failed to remember the date of the feast, I do know that St. John Neumann was a remarkable disciple-priest-bishop. He was an emigrant that came to these shores to care for emigrants. Most of his preaching and teaching was given in the German language. Eventually, be became the Archbishop of Philadelphia and built the foundation of the parochial school system seen in the USA. While I am away, Padre Armando will cover for me. Again, I'm sorry for being absent on the feast day of our patron.
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Next weekend (8 to 10 January), lots of our teens will be on their regular winter retreat. Padre Armando and I will be with them for part of that retreat. To assist us with Masses over the weekend, I have asked Frs. Theodore Book and Joseph Morris to join us. Fr. Book is Director of the Archdiocese's Office of Divine Worship. Fr. Morris is a chaplain at Kennesaw State University. Many of you might remember him from the one man performance he offered us last year, with his one-man show of Mark's Gospel. Please offer them a cordial SJN welcome.
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Please note the following: soon, we will publish a booklet that will offer you a glimpse of the interior of the new worship space. In this booklet, we are asking you to consider a Memorial gift for the new SJN, a gift over and above those pledges we have made and are redeeming. The booklet will show you our stained glass (four of the nine are already "sponsored"... paid for). The booklet should offer pen and ink drawings of the Ambo, the Altar, the Tabernacle, the Font. The booklet will ask you to consider sponsoring the Stations of the Cross, the candle sticks, new vestments for priests and deacons. I will follow up with more information, but please do stay tuned for this important next step in our plan and project, to build a legacy of faith at SJN.
Msgr. David Talley
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