Our Lady of Hope Blog

My Dear Friends,

Happy New Year!!!!! Today we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Family and tomorrow, January 1st, is the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God. There’s a lot of news coming out of the Vatican these last two weeks and much of it is controversial. I am not one to shy away from anything controversial, as you know, but on this beginning of the New Year, I want to focus on something that is not controversial.

My Dear Friends,

Merry Christmas!!!! Christmas is tied into other major feasts of the Catholic Church, beginning with the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary on December 8th. Following this important feast day, the next important feast is the Annunciation of the Angel Gabriel to the Blessed Virgin Mary on March 25th. It is on the Annunciation that God has become man, which our Catholic Church commemorates during the recitation of the Nicene Creed. It is on the Annunciation and on the Nativity of our Lord that we are obliged to kneel when we pray, “and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and became man.”

My Dear Friends,

During this time of the year many people put up manger scenes in their homes. The manger, or also called the crèche, is a beautiful tradition where we place figurines of the important people surrounding the baby Jesus. The manger scene can also be a painting or an icon besides something physical with statues or figurines. Most scenes have at the barest minimum the baby Jesus and his parents, Mary and Joseph.

My Dear Friends,

Christmas is only a couple of weeks away. Because Christmas falls on a Monday this year, Catholics are under the obligation to attend Mass twice, once for the Sunday Mass obligation and once for the Holy Day of Christmas obligation. There are a few ways to fulfill the obligation.

My Dear Friends,

This coming Friday is one of the most important feats of our Church year. We celebrate the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, when Mary is conceived without sin in the womb of St. Anne. The privileges of the Blessed Mother are meant for two things; one is to protect the teachings of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the other is to help us on our way to eternal life.