Well it is hard to believe another Christmas Day has come and gone. Liturgically, we celebrate the twelve days of Christmas which culminates with the Feast of the Epiphany on January 6. Hence as our culture stops singing Christmas carols and hymns, we begin!

I would like to extend special thanks to all who contributed to making this season so special. So many people work for hours and hours behind the scenes making our church beautiful, our music inspirational, and our liturgies reverent. And thanks to all of you for your flower donations. Not only does that fund church decorations, but we send out poinsettias to all our homebound. The religious education children make Christmas cards, and an anonymous person makes plastic canvas ornaments for each home bound person. A special word of thanks to Mary Ellen Bartlett, our parish nurse, who coordinated this effort. With over a hundred homebound parishioners it is a huge task.

Also thanks to our prayer shawl ministers who handmade many, many hats and mittens to help keep people warm this winter.

This weekend we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Family. It is appropriately set at this time of year as so many families gather together. We are also mindful of those who have lost a family member during this year and the emptiness that loss brings at the holiday season. We continue to pray for all of our families.

As we move into the new year, we hope that it is a fresh start for us all. May the days and months ahead bring us many blessings and graces from God.