Dear Parishioners,
I hope you all had an enjoyable Christmas reconnecting with family and friends. I also hope you received some nice gifts as well.
However, we are still in the Christmas season for another week, and it is still a good time to offer gifts as we celebrate the Epiphany of Our Lord when the three kings came to worship Jesus and bring him gifts (Mt 2:1-12). They were not cheap gifts but generous and expensive—gold, frankincense, and myrrh. As we begin a new year, we might ask ourselves what gifts we can bring to the Lord today and throughout the year. What do we truly value, and how can we generously share it with God?
The most valuable possession is our time. Once we use it, we lose it. So how about resolving to spend more time with God in prayer and reading the bible? And certainly Jesus, who came to serve, appreciates our gift of serving others through the parish or volunteering in the wider community. Finally, he has a great affection for the poor and the needy, so he is gratified when we share some of our treasure with them.
Our God gave us the best gift ever in Jesus, and no matter what we give, we can never repay God. Yet the more we give to God, the more he gives to us in this world and in the world to come. Nobody out gives God!
Father Carl
Rev. Stephen Hook is Pastor of the Pastorate of the Visitation which includes the Catholic Churches of Pasadena, Maryland: St. Jane Frances de Chantal (Riviera Beach) and Our Lady of the Chesapeake (Lakeshore). He is assisted by Associate Pastor Rev. John Belinki, Deacon Howard Klohr, and Deacon Rick Clemens. To learn more about our pastorate, please visit www.catholicpasadena.org.
