What Has Drawn You Here Today?

On behalf of the Pastoral Team of Priests, Dea­cons and lay ministers serving St. Martha Parish and St. Mary Parish, I pray that you know how grateful we are that you are here as we celebrate together the gift of God's love in the birth of his Son, Jesus Christ! We hope you all feel wel­come and at home here. Some of us are here as a family, with friends, or as individuals, but the sense of each parish as a family of faith is one of the important ways Jesus shows his love for us - and for you personally. And our parishes have been doing a lot of planning for how we will live this Christian love as an extended family of faith.

Each of us is here for a reason. Whether you are here to cele­brate in joy or to seek peace in difficult times, whether you came out of habit or a sense of obligation (or maybe to keep peace in the family!), something has drawn you here to this Mass here today. In this Catholic family of faith, we believe that "something" is actually Someone - the Spirit of God who knows us personally and wants to be with us through the ups and downs of our lives.

A central theme of Christmas is our belief that God is not distant and aloof, but Jesus is Emmanuel which means "God is with us"! The Spirit of God who intervened in human history to care for His special people, the Israelites, and from them gave the world His own son Jesus, this same God continues to act power­fully in our world today. If we develop the eyes of faith to see His hand at work, we can see how Jesus Christ is longing to meet us in his Holy Word, in the Mass and the Sacraments, and in prayer. In the parish community, we help one another to open our hearts to a closer relationship with Jesus and others who are who are striving to follow in his ways.

As we plan for the future, one of our top priorities is to focus on "the Sunday experience." This means everything from when someone first thinks about going to church until they arrive home again. The heart of this effort will be continuous improvement in hospitality, preaching, music ministry, and outreach so everyone is included in our parish families. One piece we have started is making information about our parishes more accessible through new and traditional forms of media, including our new mobile- friendly website www.pwc.church (short for Plainville- Wrentham Catholic). I am personally grateful for the hard and ongoing work of the web committee in making sure this includes both parish-specific information and updates on activities for our whole collaborative and the wider church.

Whether you are a local resident or visiting for Christmas, I invite and encourage you to maintain the momentum of God's Spirit drawing you to grow closer to Christ - in our parish churches or in your local church back home. Your continued presence and participation is the gift we are wishing for this Christmas. A blessed Christmas and new year to you and your loved ones!