Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

    With the celebration of the Baptism of our Lord we culminate the Christmas season, (though some happily extend it to the Presentation of the Lord in the Temple on February 2nd, also known as Candlemas Day), and the decorations and carols so dear are retired until next year.  The joy of Christmas, however, never ends.  For each and every day there is Christ-Mass when our Divine Savior comes to us in the Holy Eucharistic Sacrifice.  Because of this, we know and profess that the Kingdom of God has come and it requires that, as Jesus said, we repent and believe in the Good News.

     That Good News (Gospel) became even more evident when the Baptist proclaimed that He is here and we should decrease that He may increase.  It is always a matter of surrendering our ego that His Spirit may reign in us.  It begins in us with our own Baptism and it is always a good practice to know when and where that saving event occurred and who our godparents are and to pray for them.

     I will be leaving tomorrow for vacation and although Fr. Desam was supposed to fill-in during my absence because a recent illness is preventing him from coming.  He deeply regrets not coming and asks for your prayers for a speedy recovery.

    Providentially, two priests from the Holy Cross fathers are able to be here for the weekend Masses; Fr. Tom Looney, president of King’s College, Wilkes Barre and Fr. Michael Wurst, Theology professor at the same.  We are very fortunate to have them and please extend a warm welcome to them.

      Unfortunately they are not able to be here during the week so our daily Mass schedule will be decreased.  Monday, Wednesday and Friday, except for Feb.6, we shall have ONLY the Noon Mass, and Tuesday and Thursday ONLY the 7:25 Mass.  Thank you for your understanding.  I shall be returning on the 6th of February when we shall return to our regularly scheduled Masses..

With Blessings,

Father Langan

10:30 Mass will be celebrated at St. Mary Magdalen Church today. Mass at St. Joseph’s, Rileyville has been canceled.

The Children’s Christmas scheduled for today at St. John’s has been postponed until next Sunday, January 4th at 3PM.

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

    In just a few days we will hear again the angels sing: “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to those of good will…”  Always, we are hopeful people and especially in this Jubilee year of hope we long for that heavenly peace that can only come when we give praise to the Author of peace, Jesus Christ our Lord.  He and His mother and foster father traversed the world in very unpeaceful times, not unlike our own, yet despair and hopelessness never overcame them.  That is a temptation we must always resist.  Once we give up, the devil has got us and all seems bleak.  But the Light of the world has come to us and that Divine Light desires to penetrate our hearts and minds thus lifting us up to sing with the angels the glory of God.

    Christmas can be, if one allows, transformative lifting us from the darkness and gloom of this earth to realms of heavenly serenity.  As with all things that God bestows on us there is need for our cooperation.  We joyfully take what He gives and, as Mary our mother, magnify it.  Take time therefore in this holy season to recall the many blessings, the gifts, that God has personally offered you and ask yourself “what have I done with what I have received?”.  And then make a humble pilgrimage to the manger and offer thanks to the Infant King.

A blessed Christmas to all,

Fr. Langan+

Class Mass practice and 10:30 Class Mass will be held at ST. MARY’s

10:30 Mass will be held at St. Mary Magdalen this morning, 12/14

Class will be held this morning but use your best judgement if you feel that you should not be driving! See you this morning!

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Family dynamics can be very interesting and complex especially around holidays. I remember as a child and youth how very important it was to visit aunts and uncles and cousins to see their tree and to imbibe on the goodies that each household was noted for and then receive family in our home. This mutual and reciprocal visiting took about two weeks and pretty much ended up in exhaustion. Perhaps selfishly I just wanted to stay home and run my trains that my father had so meticulously set up around the tree. Nonetheless it was good to connect with relatives one might see only once or twice a year. The same may well have been true for our Lord and His cousin John the Baptist.

Certainly they knew each other. After all, John leapt in his mother’s womb (St. Elizabeth) when Mary came to visit and attend to her cousin. And through the years when the Holy Family, after their return from Egypt, would make pilgrimage to Jerusalem the cousins would be in contact with one another. We might wonder about what they talked about, what were their “plans”, hopes and desires? But as they matured the plan of the Father became absolutely clear. John assumed his role as herald and Jesus ,of course, as Savior. But John must have had somewhat of a crisis of faith: “If my cousin is the long-awaited Messiah, what am I doing here in prison?” The perplexing WHY. It is the same conundrum that faces all of us. We ask ourselves: “why, if I am a faithful follower of Jesus, do unfortunate things happen to me?” We want an answer but most often none comes. How, then, do we deal with it? That’s where faith and trust are put to the test. Is it easy? No. Is it necessary? Yes. Once we accept the fate of where we are knowing that all is under God’s loving vision an interior peace pervades our being. Hope then conquers despair and like John and others we let His will be done.

With Blessings,

Father Langan