A Young Pilgrim: A Christmas Run-down!

I do lament I wasn't able to post some lovely commemorative post regarding Christmas but before I knew it a few days had already passed! There are far more wise and insightful people that wrote lovely lovely things regarding Christmas (One of my favorite "blog reads" is here: The Strangeness of Christ (by author Ryan Duns SJ ) so I thank God I am blessed enough to read and share it!

An excerpt from this great blog post is the following:

".....My belief about Jesus, put into its simplest form, is that he is God's Love made flesh, Love that is vulnerable, the Love whose effervescent presence emboldens women and men to risk being the persons they are called to be. I believe that Jesus Christ is the act of God's creation made present in human history. I believe that Jesus is the fruit of Mary's "Yes" to God's friendship, that Jesus is the result of humanity's "Yes" to God's "Yes" to humanity. I believe Jesus is simultaneously the Word and Deed of God written into human history. I believe that the sin of humanity reacted - and continues to react - violently to the presence of this Love in our midst and that we killed him. I believe, finally, that the Resurrection shows us the depths of God's love for us, shows us that God's way is one of restoration and life rather than vengeance and death. I believe that we are, as Christians, called to follow the path of the Risen Christ."

Christmas this year was certainly different. Different to be so far from things I hold so dear, different (and difficult) to not see my parents and embrace them, different to not be at my home parish for Midnight Mass, (despite how terribly messy it is every year! But that's its charm!)! But somewhere along the "different" I found myself with a most familiar silence, a most familiar silence of God's presence and goodness, that was not different at all and how glad I was! There is so much more I could say but I am blessed, and I was blessed to have attended a messy Christmas Day Mass with a classmate from college that lasted about 20 minutes, blessed to have been with folks, family, who hadn't spent Christmas with me in 10 years, blessed that He is with us, blessed I know this and blessed I can have the joy in sharing this.

Anyhow, here's a quick Christmas "run-down" in photographs, from past and recent blessings!

Much more writing to come soon! Merry Christmas!