A Letter From Our Cathedral Rector: The Central Reality of Our Catholic December

My Fellow Parishioners:

As the month of December unfolds, the goal for us is Christmas, isn’t it? And yet, the Church, in great wisdom, gives us other December celebrations to enhance our preparation for Christmas. We celebrate the season of Advent — joyful, immediate anticipation of the birth of the Christ-Child. Advent is also a reminder to remain hopeful even as the long nights threaten darkness — that’s why we wear violet, the dark days of December. But the light will shine upon us. The days will get longer and the star will shine above the crib. Advent also is the time of preparation, whether that’s purchasing gifts with gratitude and generosity in our hearts, decorating a tree, putting up lights during our dark days, or preparing parts of the delicious meal we’ll celebrate — it can all be appropriate preparation for Christ’s birth if we have a proper disposition in our hearts. Hope fulfilled!

We celebrate St. Nicholas on Dec. 6, remembering the jolly saint with the generous heart. Many families still have the children place a shoe outside their bedroom door so that St. Nicholas can fill them with treats. Hope fulfilled!

We also celebrate our Blessed Mother on the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, Dec. 8 (a holy day of obligation; Masses at 9 a.m., 12:10 p.m., and 5:30 p.m.) and on Dec. 12, the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Our Mother Mary took very seriously her call to do the will of the Father, “Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it done unto me according to thy word.” And her willingness to do God’s will has a profound impact on the salvation of all people. She’s doing her part to allow the Light to conquer darkness. Hope fulfilled! There are also the last days before Christmas, where at Evening Prayer the Church sings the “O Antiphons,” hailing the coming Christ in various terms: O Wisdom, O Lord, O Root of Jesse, O Key of David, O Dayspring, O King of the Nations, O God With Us. Miracle after miracle prepares God’s people for His fulfilled promise of making salvation available to His people. Hope fulfilled!

All of these and many more pieces of the December life of the Church remind us to focus on the central reality of our Catholic December — the fulfillment of hopes that are generations on, the fulfillment of hopes that shine through darkness, the fulfillment of hopes that otherwise may never rise to our consciousness. The ChristChild, born in poverty for the sake of everyone else, He is our hope fulfilled. He is our dreams come true. He is our way, our truth, our life. He is the One whom we await. May God grant us all the joy of a very Merry Christmas!

Peace,

Very Rev. Godfrey Mullen, OSB Cathedral Rector

Very Rev. Godfrey Mullen, OSB Cathedral Rector