Abbey

Dear Friends in Christ,

This Friday, Dec. 24 six young men will receive the white Norbertine habit at our Abbey as they enter the novitiate. These seminarians have said yes to God who invited them to “become fishers of men”. When Jesus called the first disciples who were fishermen, He summoned them to drop their nets and follow Him. “I will make you fishers of men,” (Mt. 4:19) He told them. In Matthew’s Gospel, we see Simon and Andrew, two of the first 12 Jesus called, literally drop their fishing supplies and join Jesus in His mission to spread the good news. In much the same way, Jesus calls each one of us today, and He wants us to respond. That may seem like a bit of a stretch given that Simon and Andrew audibly heard and saw the Lord as He called out to them, and then, when they left their nets behind, they walked side by side with Jesus in the flesh. Can Jesus be calling us too? Yes, He can and indeed He does. Jesus calls each one of us by name at our Baptism. He invites us to follow Him, and that invitation requires a response on our part.

“Drop your nets and follow me,” Jesus says to each one of us. Each of our responses to that invitation will look a bit different. After all, most of us do not fish for a living, and even if we do, the fishing industry is not what it was 2,000 years ago. Maybe you’re a musician or a seamstress or a good cook or a businessman. Whatever your talent, Christ calls YOU to follow Him, and, just as He called the first disciples, He calls YOU to use those talents to serve Him and build His kingdom.

Please pray for our six new Norbertine novices as they commit to following Jesus in our canonical way of life. Then also pray and reflect how you will respond to Jesus calling you to live out your baptismal commitment to follow Him.

Sincerely yours in Christ,

Fr. Hildebrand

Stewardship

Dear Friends in Christ,

As part of our goal to become a stewardship parish, we are introducing a new envelope system. We encourage all to use envelopes as a sign of your commitment to St. John the Baptist Church. The new envelopes will come in color and will bring you a spiritual message each week, a reminder that our Catholic faith is not for us alone but is to be shared. We have heard the Word of the Lord; the gifts we have received from God are given so that we can spread the Word.

In today’s gospel, our patron St. John the Baptist is looking for the Messiah and asks Jesus if He is the One. We can see that even someone as holy as John still needed clarification regarding the Messiah. In our world, which is so consumed by material concerns, how can the gospel message get through? Jesus relies on us to continue His mission of saving souls. As you read the messages on the new envelope series I hope you will be inspired to get more involved in our church. We have opportunities open for the ministry of ushers, greeters, choir members, lectors, ministry to the bereaved, catechesis, youth, and many more.

Your financial gifts are important to us as we seek to expand our facilities to provide space for our students and parish groups. If you do not currently use envelopes I invite you to start by filling out a parish registration card (found in the vestibule). They are also very helpful in keeping track of your donation. Your envelope number is used in recording your weekly donations so that you can receive an acknowledgement letter at tax time. Another sure way to keep a record of your donations is through ParishPay, our electronic giving service. With ParishPay you will receive the same acknowledgement at tax time as when you use envelopes. To learn more about ParishPay just go to our website home page at www.sjboc.org.

As stewards, our responsibility is to carry out our daily tasks, using our time, talent, and treasure for God’s service and that of his Church. Even though we don’t know when the Second Coming of Jesus will be, we know that Psalm 146 is right: “The Lord shall reign forever.”

God bless you and your family,

Fr. Hildebrand

St. Nicholas

Dear Friends in Christ,

Yesterday some of our children participated in a celebration of St. Nicholas, whose feast day is December 6. Now for those of you who do not know who he is, St. Nicholas is the real-life saint who preceded our Santa Claus by about 1500 years. As a matter of fact the name Santa Claus is derived from St. Nicholas and has been in use only since the early 1800’s. Here’s a sketch of the evolution from St. Nicholas to Santa Claus.

St. Nicholas was the Bishop of the city of Myra (in modern Turkey) in the early 4th century. He was known for his works of charity. On one occasion he heard of a poor man who had three daughters. The man did not have enough money for their marriage dowries and was planning to give them up to a life of ill-repute. St. Nicholas secretly went to their house and threw bags of gold through a window. As a result, the girls were married off with dignity and avoided their poor father’s desperate plan for them. This reputation for charity prompted others to imitate St. Nicholas and so grew up the tradition of gift giving at this time of year.

St. Nicholas was popular among the German settlers in Pennsylvania and some of their traditions found their way to New York during the 1700’s. The German words for St. Nicholas are Sankt Niklaus. In 1804 the New York Historical Society was founded. St. Nicholas became patron of both the society and the city.

It was primarily the imagination of the writer Washington Irving who is responsible for transforming the image of St. Nicholas into the “jolly old elf” we know as Santa Claus. His Knickerbocker’s History of New York is a work of fiction, which pretends to connect a stout German-looking burgher with St. Nicholas. Some years later in 1823 the poem “A Visit from St. Nicholas” appeared in print with the saint described as dressed all in fur, with A bundle of toys…and the beard on his chin as white as the snow”. Doesn’t that sound a lot like the modern version?

The nineteenth century cartoonist Thomas Nast and the paintings of Norman Rockwell for The Saturday Evening Post continued the fictional portrayals and eventually the German name became “Santa Claus” (easier for us Americans to pronounce). Another factor in the evolution was the American desire to establish a more family friendly atmosphere to the post harvest celebrations that tended to be rather loud and out of control. And so today we have the holiday of gift giving and family gathering around the hearth that has become an American tradition.

Let’s remember St. Nicholas tomorrow and ask him to help us return to our true roots of venerating his blessed memory with works of charity and family harmony.

Fr. Hildebrand