The first reading this weekend from Isaiah is a pretty good description of Jesus. It begins by describing the servant “with whom I am well pleased” (Isaiah 42:1). These are the words of the voice from the heavens that was heard at Jesus’ baptism. The most significant difference is that the voice calls Jesus “beloved Son,” not just servant. And Isaiah gives us more hints about who Jesus is.

The verses that say that he will not break the bruised reed or quench the smoldering wick (Isaiah 42:3) are descriptive of Jesus’ mercy toward sinners. The reed and the wick were disposed of because they were useless. But God, out of love for us, never sees sinners as useless. God is always ready to forgive them and give them another chance, so God sent Jesus to forgive sinners, not reject them. In the Gospel, John at first refuses to baptize Jesus, because John’s baptism was a sign of repentance for sin. He knew Jesus was not a sinner, so he had no need to repent. But Jesus identified himself with sinners and welcomed them back to God’s love. We can ask God to help us see our sinfulness and bring it to him for healing.

Isaiah also says that the servant is a “covenant of the people.”  A covenant was an agreement between unequal partners, in which the stronger one agreed to protect or defend the weaker one, while the weaker agreed to pay taxes or obey laws required by the stronger. God is offering a new covenant through Jesus, not just for the Jews, but for all peoples. But we still must live that covenant, by loving God and our neighbor. When we teach others about God’s love and mercy, “we open the eyes of the blind”, as Isaiah says. When we forgive each other, we are setting free prisoners of sin. When people see God’s love acted out in our lives, we are a light to the world. As we learn to do these things, we will find that God is also well pleased with us.                    – Tom Schmidt, Diocesan Publications

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TREASURES FROM OUR TRADITION

Through the centuries, artists and craftspeople have depicted Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan River by John. First in mosaics and frescoes, and later in tapestries, stained glass, and paintings, the scene is familiar. Jesus is standing waist‑high in flowing water. Above him, standing on dry land, John the Baptist pours water over Jesus. The first artists to depict this were sketching from memory. This is exactly how most people were baptized in the early days: as adults, standing or kneeling in the water, with water poured over their heads.

This method of baptizing, called immersion, is the favored way today. An adult enters a font, or an infant is lowered a bit into the water supported by a parent’s hand, and water is poured or splashed over them. The treasures of baptistry art attest that submersion, or plunging beneath the water’s surface, is not really in our tradition, and that “infusion,” the mere pouring of a few drops of water, yields too narrow an understanding of what it means to be plunged into Christ’s life. Jesus Christ has gone before us into the water and waits for us there with abundant gifts. No wonder the tradition calls for abundant symbols!

 

—Rev. James Field, Diocesan Publications

 

Christmas is one of the most important days of the Church year, second only to Easter. Celebrating the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ, it is the culmination of the mystery of the incarnation, the feast of God becoming flesh.

The liturgical season of Christmas begins with the Vigil Masses on Christmas Eve and concludes on the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord (January 11th this year). During this season, we celebrate the birth of Christ into our world and into our hearts and reflect on the gift of salvation that is born with him, including the fact that he was born to die for us.

The Christmas trees and the Nativity scene are popular symbols of the season and traditionally stay up until the season ends.  As we look upon our beautiful Nativity, trees, and poinsettias for one more Sunday, we give thanks to all who helped make our Christmas liturgies possible.

First and foremost, our clergy – Monsignor Houle, Fathers Maurice and Ernest, and Deacon Mike, who make sure our liturgies are celebrated to perfection. They have the great ability to be flexible and adapt to last minute challenges and changes so that everything looks seamless.

Next comes our liturgical ministers – those lay people who have accepted the call to help serve the Church in some capacity to make Masses possible.  Smiling usher/greeters welcome our parishioners and visitors at every Mass. Lectors make sure the word of God is proclaimed properly.  Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion assist with the distribution of the Eucharist.  Our altar servers do their best to serve the priests in many ways – they must learn so much for being so young!  Our sacristans have the behind-the-scenes responsibility of making sure everything is set up for each Mass.  In total, our Christmas Masses included almost 100 liturgical ministers.  Lastly, we can’t forget our Music Ministry as their voices and instruments filled the church and the gym with Christmas carols.

If you would like to join any of our liturgical ministries, please call MJ at 904-222-0608, or email mjstpaulre@gmail.com.  May God continue to bless all those who unselfishly serve our Lord and the Church!

 

One of the most important parts of the holiday season is music. Beloved Christmas carols play on the radio for weeks, and they remind us of how special that time of year is. Sacred music not only reinforces our connection to the spirit of the holidays but helps to deepen our understanding of what Advent and Christmas truly means. Preparing sacred music for liturgies, especially during “seasons” like Advent, Christmas, Lent and Easter, takes tremendous planning and rehearsing.

I am so incredibly grateful and proud of the music ministers in our parish. Thank you to our cantors, accompanists, the music ministry at St. Peter’s, our Contemporary ensemble group, and our Parish Choir. The commitment and dedication to providing our parish with a variety of sacred music doesn’t go unnoticed, and as the Director of Music, I am so grateful to each of you.

Thank you to our parishioners who support our different groups and cantors. We strive to provide you with music that helps bring you closer to God and enriches the Mass. There is nothing more rewarding than when we hear your voices, either from the cantor box or the choir loft. Remember, when you sing you pray twice.

We are looking to grow our parish choir family. If you have ever wanted to sing with the choir, please reach out via my email address listed in the back of the bulletin.

Thank you, again, to our music ministers!

Teresa Fennimore, Director of Music