Dear Parishioners,
If there’s one word people use the most to describe the Season of Christmas, it would be “CUTE.” I agree that everything associated with Christmas is cute.
But the first Christmas was NOT cute. Nor was it cuddly. In Luke 2:7, it says, “She wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.”
Today, when Christians hear the word "manger,” they just think it's a cute baby crib. They even decorate it with fluffy pillows and stuffed animals around it. But that's not a manger. The manger is a used food box for smelly animals like sheep and cattle. If you have a pet, I'm sure you have that tin bowl where your pet eats the mush you feed it. After a few months of use, that bowl has stains and becomes yucky.
Real life mangers aren't cute. They're dirty, stinky and ugly. Question: Will you put your baby there? So why would God Almighty, the Creator of the sun, moon and planets in the universe, choose to be born in a food box?
I would borrow from one of the preachers I listened to. He said, God wants to tell you, "I want to meet you where you feel the ugliest; I want to embrace you in your most sinful place; I want to love you in your darkest place…” That is the core message of Christmas.
I’m happy that our St. Joseph Family tries our very best to welcome everyone — all sinners of all stripes and colors, shapes and sizes. Sometimes we struggle, because obviously we've failed many times and fallen into a false sense of self-righteousness.
There’s no reason at all not to welcome everyone. We are all sinners. So, in the words of Pope Francis, “Who am I to judge?” When people walk into our church, I've resolved that it's not my role to change people. That's solely God's. Only He can change hearts. Our role is to love them and share our stories.
Merry Christmas! St. Joseph’s is your home. You are safe here in God’s love, and ours too!
Sincerely in Christ,
Father Lito