Dear Friend,

Saturday of the Fourth Week of Advent

Reflection by Rev. Msgr. Joseph R. Reilly

Growing up, one of my mom’s favorite Christmas songs was The Little Drummer Boy. I’m not really sure why this was the case. Perhaps it was that this little boy reminded her of her four sons. Maybe it was the simplicity of the lyrics and the story that was easy for us to connect with. Maybe it was the banging on the drum that reminded her of the manner in which my brothers and I tended to communicate – loudly and physically!!  As I was driving the other day, this song and my mom came to mind as perhaps an appropriate place to leave you off on our Advent journey in this the Year of Grace 2023.

So much of our lives we spend trying to fit in and to measure up, with mixed results. The truth is that God accepts us as we are and appreciates the gifts we bring – whether awkward, loud, or off-key. Our littleness is no obstacle for God. Our perceived inadequacies are just that – our own clouded perception of the gifts that God has bestowed in his measure and by his means. This, I believe, is at the heart of our Advent journey and our ongoing life in Christ – God accepts our humanity, and in Jesus takes it upon himself, and his gift in return is a share in his divinity. A child is born for us.

One of the lasting images of my mom, who died when I was young, is of her watching my brothers and me do something new, something we had never tried before. She would tilt her head to one side and a huge smile would fill her face. Pride in our accomplishment. Joy seeing us having such fun together. It was mom at her best. Humanity kissed by God’s pure life! A touch of the eternal here on earth.

Each time the Eucharist is celebrated, heaven and earth come together. God’s real and life-giving Presence is made manifest in our midst. Our joys and sorrows, our ups and downs, our smallness and inadequacies are not separate from but intimately a part of God’s life. What a gift we have been given. Such a treasure entrusted to us!

It has been a privilege for Dr. Traflet and me to walk with you during these Advent days. May the Christmas season be blessed for you and your families. May Jesus Christ in the Most Holy Eucharist always be a source of strength and hope for us.

Prayer: The Collect from Christmas Mass During the Day

O God, who wonderfully created the dignity of human nature, and still more wonderfully restored it, grant, we pray, that we may share in the divinity of Christ, who humbled himself to share in our humanity. Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.

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Rev. Msgr. Joseph Reilly, S.T.L., Ph.D., former Rector/Dean, Immaculate Conception Seminary School of Theology. He holds a Bachelor of Sacred Theology from Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome, a licentiate in Sacred Theology (STL) from Pontificio Istituto Teresianum, Rome, and a Ph.D. in Educational Administration from Fordham University. He has served as a member of the Archdiocesan Priest Personnel Board, the Advisory Committee on Continuing Education and Ongoing Formation of Priests, the Archdiocesan Vocations Board, and the Board of Trustees of Seton Hall University. Pope John Paul II named him a Chaplain to His Holiness in 2005, with the title of Reverend Monsignor. In 2016 during the Holy Year of Mercy, the Pontifical Council for Promoting New Evangelization sought priests who were living signs "of the Father's welcome to all those in search of His forgiveness." He was the only priest from the Archdiocese of Newark formally commissioned as a Missionary of Mercy by Pope Francis.