This is one of the warm Christmas greetings we received, Peter and I. Did you have Father Jon in for the Christmas Eve Mass.... And did
your nephew carry in the Christ Child and lay him in the Manger?
Your description of last years Beautiful Family Gathering was beyond
any Christmas Get Together I have ever read of. Hope you never
get over the Joy of Christmas-----Jesus, please aways Be with us.
Thanks again for you writings, they give me Inspirations. Love to you
Justin and Peter.
Joseph Galant
Thanks, Uncle Joe. ;-) You have a terrific memory! Yes, Father Jon was with us for Christmas so we had our family Christmas Mass. . . almost as much of a family tradition as the Christmas Tree.
My favorite niece ( and my only niece ;-) Tessa carried the little figure of the Baby Jesus to the creche. The boys got to do some of the other things. . .hehe Two of the boys did readings and the third
assisted Fr Jon with details at the Offertory. . .serving the wine and water, etc.
Even though the kids are getting older and often that ushers in, esp among the young males the pretended reluctance to sing at Mass. I noticed .. . .I notice too many things! ;-). . ..that didn't seem to stop or hinder the singing at all. We've just "always done it".
In his homily Jon talked about things in our lives being "blessings in disguise". He said that often it is mentioned how "there was no room for Joseph and his very pregnant wife in the inn" is often used as people not welcoming Christ into their lives. . . Not so, he said. This was for them a real blessing in disguise: they had some privacy to birth the baby. Had they been in the Inn. . .they'd be lucky to find a corner somewhere apart from all the other guests in the enclosed courtyard under the stars. . .away from nosey eyes and snooping kids!
Jesus was born in a sheepbarn which gave Mary and Joseph privacy for the birth of their son. Generally, too, sheep barns do not have the aromas generally associated with cow barns, etc. ;-)
And if some of the sheep were in the barn it would be a bit warmer
since the woolies give off a fair amount of warmth.
And his question "What are/were the blessings in disguise in our lives?" opened up some sharing of ideas. It was interesting and a bit revealing in some of the blessings shared. . . and fun to hear what some of us thought of as real blessings. . . .often after the fact. "Now wouldn't it have been a shame to have missed these?"
God touches our lives in many ways and places.
Our evening meal is "just family" and simpler than dinner on Christmas Day. No bird or roasts, etc. . .nope. . traditional New England lobster bisque and French meat pies. . .'tortiere'. . .and several varieties. Plus the green salad, of course. . .lol. . always gotta be green !
Everybody, kids included, gets to drink "bubbly" from the tall flute glasses. . . sparkling cider. . . which is every bit as good as champagne and no alcohol. . . .We don't need it to have fun. Don't need designated drivers. . . LOL
We don't do gifts until Christmas morning. . . . Santa comes only after we've all gone to bed. ;-) This year we tried something different: we each drew a name of one of the family members and we MADE A GIFT for that person. This was real fun. . .and interesting to see the creativity of each giver of gifts! We all agreed we didn't need to go out and buy all the stuff we have too much of already, things we wished they hadn't bought for us . . .stuff we probably won't wear. LOL
I was very lucky. . and spoiled. . .lol. ... Grandma Mme Bouvier drew my name and made me a large beautiful afghan. . .made with multi-colored blocks of knitted wool yarn. (I think they are called "Granny Blocks") Great to have on the couch to cover with on a chill night, watching TV. . .and long enough and large enough for "her boys" to use. hahahaaaaa. Be good on the bed too. ;-)
So, Uncle Joe, something of our Christmas this year.
Love,
Justin and Peter
p.s. Peter was with his family of course. We do Christmas night pick-up supper at daSilvas. . .
your nephew carry in the Christ Child and lay him in the Manger?
Your description of last years Beautiful Family Gathering was beyond
any Christmas Get Together I have ever read of. Hope you never
get over the Joy of Christmas-----Jesus, please aways Be with us.
Thanks again for you writings, they give me Inspirations. Love to you
Justin and Peter.
Joseph Galant
Thanks, Uncle Joe. ;-) You have a terrific memory! Yes, Father Jon was with us for Christmas so we had our family Christmas Mass. . . almost as much of a family tradition as the Christmas Tree.
My favorite niece ( and my only niece ;-) Tessa carried the little figure of the Baby Jesus to the creche. The boys got to do some of the other things. . .hehe Two of the boys did readings and the third
assisted Fr Jon with details at the Offertory. . .serving the wine and water, etc.
Even though the kids are getting older and often that ushers in, esp among the young males the pretended reluctance to sing at Mass. I noticed .. . .I notice too many things! ;-). . ..that didn't seem to stop or hinder the singing at all. We've just "always done it".
In his homily Jon talked about things in our lives being "blessings in disguise". He said that often it is mentioned how "there was no room for Joseph and his very pregnant wife in the inn" is often used as people not welcoming Christ into their lives. . . Not so, he said. This was for them a real blessing in disguise: they had some privacy to birth the baby. Had they been in the Inn. . .they'd be lucky to find a corner somewhere apart from all the other guests in the enclosed courtyard under the stars. . .away from nosey eyes and snooping kids!
Jesus was born in a sheepbarn which gave Mary and Joseph privacy for the birth of their son. Generally, too, sheep barns do not have the aromas generally associated with cow barns, etc. ;-)
And if some of the sheep were in the barn it would be a bit warmer
since the woolies give off a fair amount of warmth.
And his question "What are/were the blessings in disguise in our lives?" opened up some sharing of ideas. It was interesting and a bit revealing in some of the blessings shared. . . and fun to hear what some of us thought of as real blessings. . . .often after the fact. "Now wouldn't it have been a shame to have missed these?"
God touches our lives in many ways and places.
Our evening meal is "just family" and simpler than dinner on Christmas Day. No bird or roasts, etc. . .nope. . traditional New England lobster bisque and French meat pies. . .'tortiere'. . .and several varieties. Plus the green salad, of course. . .lol. . always gotta be green !
Everybody, kids included, gets to drink "bubbly" from the tall flute glasses. . . sparkling cider. . . which is every bit as good as champagne and no alcohol. . . .We don't need it to have fun. Don't need designated drivers. . . LOL
We don't do gifts until Christmas morning. . . . Santa comes only after we've all gone to bed. ;-) This year we tried something different: we each drew a name of one of the family members and we MADE A GIFT for that person. This was real fun. . .and interesting to see the creativity of each giver of gifts! We all agreed we didn't need to go out and buy all the stuff we have too much of already, things we wished they hadn't bought for us . . .stuff we probably won't wear. LOL
I was very lucky. . and spoiled. . .lol. ... Grandma Mme Bouvier drew my name and made me a large beautiful afghan. . .made with multi-colored blocks of knitted wool yarn. (I think they are called "Granny Blocks") Great to have on the couch to cover with on a chill night, watching TV. . .and long enough and large enough for "her boys" to use. hahahaaaaa. Be good on the bed too. ;-)
So, Uncle Joe, something of our Christmas this year.
Love,
Justin and Peter
p.s. Peter was with his family of course. We do Christmas night pick-up supper at daSilvas. . .
1 comment:
Those "Granny Blocks" are called patchwork quilts over here in Oz. Charities often get volunteers to knit a square (thousands of them) and then join them together to make blankets and wraps for the poor to use during the winter. I think they have a lovely "homely" feel about them... much nicer than a regular blanket or wrap.
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