As we enter into this brief period of Ordinary Time between the Christmas Season and the start of Lent on Ash Wednesday, our color is GREEN. The color GREEN invites us to grow in grace, service, and discipleship in Christ. God will provide us with many opportunities to grow. This will include challenges and storms that we will have to face. In fact, the storms and rains we have experienced lately have turned the brown mountains GREEN. May the GREEN that we see all around us inspire us to stay open to God’s graces that allow the seeds of faith to bear great fruit in this New Year.

This Sunday we will celebrate the Epiphany of the Lord, when God REVEALS the Newborn King to the Three Wise Men from the East. In this new year, God desires to REVEAL His presence and love in new and deeper ways. He will also REVEAL new wisdom and lessons as epiphanies that will help shape our lives of discipleship in Christ. May we pray for the grace and eyes of faith to see what God desires to REVEAL to us all throughout this New Year!

Today we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. We are all born into (and a part of) the network of relationships called the family. Within the beautiful structure of families, we are called to build and REPAIR our imperfect relationships: to REPAIR our communication, to REPAIR our divisions, and to REPAIR our bonds with one another. May we pray for the grace through the intercession of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, to truly be Holy Families, renewed and REPAIRED by God’s grace.