Today's celebration of the Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph reveals both the blessings and challenges of family life. One might assume that having a husband and wife who are saints and a Child who is the Son of God would clear the way of all trials and tribulations. Not so! Mary and Joseph both had to wrestle with all the complex situations surrounding the conception, birth, and upbringing of Jesus. Just put yourself in their shoes in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke to see what I mean! However, through these challenges and their trust in God, they grew in wisdom and grace together as a family.

This week we celebrate the Fourth Sunday of Advent (Dec 20-21) as well as Christmas. Remember that Christmas is not just a day, but a whole liturgical season. Maybe you didn't get all your gifts purchased or cards written in time for Christmas Day. No worries! We still have about two and a half weeks to celebrate Christmas with many great feasts in the season, including Feast of the Holy Family (Dec 28), the Solemnity of Mary the Holy Mother of God (Jan 1), Epiphany (Jan 4), and the Baptism of the Lord (Jan 11). Keep up your Christmas decorations for the season and continue to listen to Christmas tunes to really enjoy the grace of this holy season!

We celebrate Gaudete Sunday this weekend! Gaudete is the Latin word for "rejoice". As we move through our Advent season it is right that we find every reason to rejoice in the Incarnation of our Lord this Christmas.

Our season of Advent is a sacred time of repentance. Repentance means both to turn away from falsehood, evil, and injustice and to turn toward the truth, goodness, and justice of our Lord. St. John the Baptist makes this call clear in the Gospel: "Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!"