Barb Spies, OFS, Director of Mission Services and Pastoral Care

St. Francis was talking to his Brothers one time about Christmas occurring on a Friday. The Brothers wanted to know if they would be fasting, abstaining from meat on that day. Friday is typically a day of fasting to remember the sacrifice that Jesus made on the Cross. Francis said that it would absolutely not be happening. Christmas is so special and amazing that its commemoration requires that the celebrations should be glorious. He went to the dramatic extreme of saying that on that day even the walls should be painted with meat!

Christmas is a time of overdoing it all. Decorations, clothes, gifts, food – all of it is over-the-top! We are celebrating! Even for those who don’t celebrate Christmas, the kindness of wishing someone “Happy Holidays” is a lovely gesture. The grateful response of the Christian to these wishes shows who we follow. We also demonstrate the love and joy of the season in our responses amd good wishes for others. 

We follow the light of the shining star of Bethlehem, just like the Magi did. We kneel before the manger in awe of the gift of Jesus. We come to this unexpected place to find the Christ Child in our midst. We find Him in places of lowliness, need, rejection and discomfort. We find him in  places like the Manitowoc Warming Shelter. God is present. We open our hearts and give our own gifts, like the Magi, to those places where God lives. May we transform the loneliness, the difficulties, the suffering of those we find in the unexpected places where God is among us. May we remember the birth of Jesus by emptying ourselves on hate and filling ourselves and those around us with kindness, love, and care.

Blessed Angela: “Never look for self in anything but always seek the glory of God and the good of your neighbor.”