A sad remembrance

     I hope that your Christmas celebrations have gotten off to a great start, with a reminder that Christmas began yesterday, and continues as a feast for the eight day octave, as a celebration for twelve days (as the carol goes), and as a liturgical season until the Baptism of the Lord.  Don't take the tree down yet, and don't lose the spirit.

     Today the first martyr, Stephen, is celebrated.  It has nothing to do with Christmas, but rather with the first witnessing to the death and resurrection of Jesus.  Others gave their lives for the Christ, but Stephen was the proto-martyr, the first to decide to lay all on the line for Jesus.  It is on this feast that the good king Wenceslaus looked out.

     Today marks another event within the life of the parish that I serve - Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton.  On this date in 1992 a fire destroyed the rectory which was attached to the Church.  The Church building itself was saved.  Devastating as the fire was, the true sadness came in the death by heart failure during the fire of the second pastor of this parish, Father Bill McGuire.  His great love of the parish, of the people, of Christmas (he loved to decorate) only compounded the shock and sadness.  I remember attending the funeral here and witnessing the emotions.  On this day we remember with sadness the passing of Father Bill McGuire.  He died just shy of his 25th anniversary of ordination.  May he rest in peace, and may he always be aware of our love and gratitude.

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     I will share in future posts some of the highlights of Christmas in these parts, but for now I want to share a picture of the church interior with our modest (by Father McGuire standards) decorations.