News - December 2023 RSS Feed

I hope that everyone had a very Merry Christmas. I thought that it was wonderful to see so many people attend the Masses on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. After all the Christmas Masses were concluded, I was pleased to have Christmas dinner with my Stehle cousins who live in DC. Today we are celebrating the Feast of the Holy Family--which is celebrated on the Sunday between Christmas and the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God. I was surprised to find out that the devotion to the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph developed rather recently—in the seventeenth century. Built on the Gospel accounts, Jesus, Mary, and Joseph are looked upon as an excellent domestic unit representing the ideal family life. To promote family life and build up devotion to the Holy Family, a feast of the Holy Family was established for the Universal Church in 1921.

In my column today I want to print what is probably the most reprinted editorial in any newspaper in the English language. This has become a Christmas custom for me. I am happy to do it again this year. Enjoy!