Christmas, 2024
Growing up, I loved being with my grandparents. I’d sleep over at their house all the time and they would make me desserts and amazing breakfasts. But, there was one thing I didn’t like doing with them, and that was going to Mass.
They would get there so early because they had to get that parking spot near the door and, then, we would sit in the pew for half an hour until Mass began.
I much preferred getting to Mass late, like after the first reading, because it felt like getting a head-start in a race.
I even remember my favorite part of Mass. It was the “Our Father” because I knew, if we were praying the “Our Father,” Mass was almost over.
But, today, one of the things I'm most grateful for to my parents and grandparents is…getting me to Mass; teaching me about our faith; showing me how important it is to have a relationship with Jesus and the Saints.
But, obviously, I didn’t always feel that way.
…My grandfather used to do the readings at a 6:30 AM weekday Mass. And, then, one of my older brothers started joining him when he was in high school.
And, at that time, I’d be going to Sunday Mass but wondered why anyone would go during the week; it was so boring.
Then, some years later, when I was at a crossroad in my life, during my final year at college, I was very uncertain about what I wanted to do after I graduated, and I started getting desperate for direction in my life. I got so desperate, I started asking God for help.
And, if it wasn’t for my parents and grandparents bringing me to Mass and confession, I would not know where to start. So, I stopped missing Sunday Mass, started attending daily Mass as much as I could, and started confessing my sins regularly.
During that time of desperation, I remember kneeling in front of Jesus in the Eucharist, Jesus who is in the tabernacle right now; I remembered kneeling down and telling Him that I really needed His help; that I would do anything He wanted me to do so long as He made it clear; “as clear as a slap in the face,” I prayed.
…Then it happened: Jesus smacked me, spiritually, and in the kindest way. Because, a moment after I prayed that prayer of desperation, I felt a love surround me like nothing I’ve felt before. All my fear about my future went away completely and I received a clarity about what I was supposed to do with my life. I knew, in that moment, I was supposed to join the seminary to study for priesthood. And I no longer wondered why my grandfather and brother would go to daily Mass; I felt what they felt, and I realized that Mass is where our God calls us—to receive His help—in such a particular and powerful way.
“…The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light,” the Prophet Isaiah said of the coming of the Lord, in our first reading…if you here for that; that’s what we heard. “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.”
If our faith is lukewarm, weak, or nonexistent, we too walk in a spiritual darkness because we don’t even realize how good it is to be close with God. When we walk in spiritual darkness, we lack a direction that God wants to give us; but we have to give Him a chance.
To start, if you haven’t already, I challenge you to read from the Bible every day. Just a single chapter. If you want strong faith, that’s one way to grow it: By feeding your soul with God’s word.
…God loves you to death. There’s no question about that. He loves you so much. He loves you enough to be born not only as an infant but born in your heart over and over again.
Download a Bible app. Read from it for two minutes every night, or morning, or both.
…This Christmas, give God the gift of your permission to touch your heart like He did mine, and you will feel how much he loves you and cares for you, and you will see how He has such a beautiful plan for you in mind.
This day’s Scripture readings: