News Around the Parish

Volunteer Recognition Dinner – The past 3 years, we ended the year with a New Year’s Eve Mass at 5pm and a dinner to honor and thank the many volunteers in our parish.  What made this year special was that we were able to celebrate it in our new hall.  Many of the volunteers who came that evening commented on how magnificent the hall looked.  Even though it is the same size, but the removal of the wooden panels that covered the walls and painting them white made the hall seem larger and brighter.  Having the windows backlit also added to the beauty of the room.  And in place of florescent lamps, the simple light fixtures on the ceiling and around the side of the wall made the hall look elegant. 

About 100 volunteers and their spouses attended the evening.  They were treated from our new bar with anything from wine to a tasty punch.  The egg rolls that were served as appetizers disappeared as quickly as they appeared.  The dinner and dessert were excellent as was the table company.  We were also able to show off our new projector that can not only project computer slides, but cable TV programs as well.  Mr. Gus Del Puerto, the unofficial parish photographer, showed slides of events that happened in the past year from the Easter vigil, to the children’s Vacation Bible School, teens making sandwiches for St. Vincent de Paul, new Mother’s Club officers being installed, the Knitting Group making scarves for the homeless, parish picnic and much more… 

Thanks to a few generous donors, we gave away over a dozen appreciation gifts from movie theatres, passes to the zoo, gift certificates at local restaurants, to dinner with the priests and sisters of St. Brendan.  Track Coach John Woods and Assistant Coach, Officer Chris Putz also gave us some clothes with St. Brendan logo that were highly sought after by the youth.  The cooks who prepared our meal marveled and delighted in cooking at our new kitchen facility.  They brought with them some dance music so after the desserts, slide show and prizes, some took to the dance floor to dance the night away.  However, as this was a more seasoned group, they turned in their dancing shoes by 9pm and returned home to celebrate the New Year in the comfort of their homes. 

On behalf of our entire parish community, we wish to express our gratitude to all of you who volunteer at our parish.  Every day of the week, there are volunteers who help us from opening up the Church and setting up for mass, to counting the Sunday collection, visiting the homebound, to advising me in financial matters or the direction and mission of our Church.  We’re blessed by you and may God richly bless you in return.

Fr. Dan

New Year Traditions

 What kind of New Year Traditions does your family have?  On Travel and Leisure’s webpage, an article from December of 2008 describes some of the World’s Strangest Traditions.  Apparently, in Sao Paulo, La Paz, and other parts of South America, the proper wardrobe for New Year’s Eve is not a nice dress or a black tie, but underwear.  For those who are looking for love, red underwear is the appropriate color and for those looking for money, yellow is the appropriate color.  In the Philippines, the wearing of polka dots and eating round fruits are supposed to ensure a prosperous new year.  In Spain, wolfing down a handful of grapes as the clock strikes 12 is supposed to have the same effect.

In other countries, New Year’s customs are about driving away the bad spirits of the past year.  That is why the Chinese light firecrackers to scare away evil spirits.  In Scotland, men parade through the village swinging giant blazing fireballs over their heads to ward off evil.  The Danish people have the tradition of jumping off chairs at midnight to banish bad spirits. 

So what kind of traditions do you have in your family?  In our family, after getting together for Thanksgiving and Christmas, the New Year’s celebration is low key.  This is especially true, because in another few weeks, our family will get together again to celebrate Chinese New Year.  So January 1 is usually a quiet celebration.  We do, however, have a custom of beginning the year with a celebration of Mass.  We get together to thank God for the past 12 months and ask God’s blessing for the next 12. 

Spiritual author, Fr. Ronald Rolheiser wrote, “If you come to the end of a year and are still alive, then you haven’t had a bad year.  If you are still within the family of faith, then you’ve had a good year, irrespective of personal sickness, economic misfortune, lost relationships or any other tragedy.  Moreover, if there’s gratitude in your heart and you can ask God for providence and protection for the coming year, you’ve entered that year on the right note.  If you can follow this by expressing sincere love and best wishes for those around you (the words and embraces that say “Happy New Year”) well, that’s all a human being can do to welcome a new year properly.”

So with gratitude in our hearts, for you our brothers and sisters in faith, who have encouraged us, supported us, prayed for us and loved us, we thank God for you, for your companionship along the journey of life.  We are indeed so blessed to have each other, to have the gift of faith and to be part of the family of God.  As we celebrated Christmas last week, we are reminded of God’s incredible love that He chooses to dwell among

His people, in you and me.  So as we begin a New Year, we know that we have nothing to fear, for Emmanuel, God is with us.  And through even the darkest valleys, He will see us through.  On behalf of the sisters, priests and staff here at St. Brendan, we wish you and your loved ones a very Blessed New Year!  Thank you for who you are and all you do.

With love and prayers,

Fr. Dan

Why do you celebrate Christmas?  One man posted on his webpage that he does not celebrate Christmas because he cannot comprehend why a God who is supposed to love us would allow us to experience suffering.  He wrote, either God is impotent to stop suffering or God is evil for allowing suffering to happen. 

But God is not evil for allowing suffering to happen, anymore than parents who gave life to their children are evil for bringing them into a world where they will experience suffering.  Many parents chose to bring a child into the world out of love.  We know that when we are in love, the person whom we love and who loves us in return “give us life.”  And when couples love one another, it is natural for them to share their joy and their love by giving life to a child.  Regrettably, life has its sorrows, but also its joy.  Loving parents will not simply give life to their children and then abandon them to themselves.  Rather, they will feed, nurture, teach and encourage their children through the ups and downs of life.

Similarly, God gave us life because God is love and that is the nature of love, life giving.  When humanity chose to go its own way and was lost, God sent prophets to teach us, and finally He came Himself.   The angel who appeared to the shepherds announced the following:  “I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.  For today in the city of David a savior has been born for you” (Luke 2:10-11).  Jesus said He did not come to condemn the world but to save the world (John 3:17). 

So that is why the Church celebrates Christmas.  Because God was not content to be up in heaven seeing us wallow in our misery, but God came among us to show us the way, and to show us His love.  Even through suffering, God, the Good Shepherd promised that He will always be with us and see us through (Psalm 23:4).  In all honesty, it has been through suffering that I have grown in wisdom and learned what matters most in life.  I have learned also through suffering, who my true friends are.  And God has been a friend.  He may not be like a Genie who will magically make my problems disappear, but God has always stood by me and seen me through the most difficult times.  That is why I celebrate Christmas, God’s gift of Himself to us. 

What about you?  I certainly pray that you find meaning in this Season of Love, and that you are surrounded by people who love you, both from this life, and from the heavenly realm.  Because we believe in the Communion of Saints, we believe that those who have gone before us in faith will not stop caring about us but will continue to love us from on high.  On behalf of my brother priests, religious and staff at St. Brendan, we wish you all a Blessed Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Fr. Dan