THE HOLY FAMILY OF JESUS, MARY AND JOSEPH, DECEMBER 28, 2025
In a few days it will be 2026. I was with my best childhood friend when 1979 turned to 1980. I remember him saying that it was hard to believe that it was already 1980. Now 1980 is history, the olden days of yore. In 1980, no one whom I knew had a cell phone or a personal computer.
Perhaps it was even more momentous when 1999 turned to 2000. At the stroke of midnight, we were expecting the computers that we did not have in 1980 to suddenly stop working, thereby crashing civilization. At least that’s what the science experts told us would happen. The computers kept working, but a year later there was a terrorist attack on the United States where thousands were killed, resulting in wars where many more thousands were killed.
In 2025, we Catholics said farewell to Pope Francis and elected an American who chose the name Leo to signal that he would be a champion of social justice, like his 19th century predecessor, Leo XIII. During 2025, wars raged in Ukraine and the Holy Land. Will 2026 be a time of peace?
Early in 2025, a thief broke our upper church stained glass window, entered the church and took a precious historical crown from the head of our beloved statue of Mary. It was sad to lose the precious heirloom, but our mission of prayer, service and faith was not affected or hindered even one bit.
Here at Saint John’s, in 2025 we raised more than $1 Million to do capital repairs to save our church. Quite a bit of this money came from Holy Redeemer parishioners, half of it from one generous benefactor. Pray for our benefactors. In 2026, I hope that we can begin and finish our repairs, but I am not confident that this project will be completed by 2027.
No one knows what to expect in 2026. But we do know that God is always with us, that 2026 will be a year of the Lord. We pray for peace on earth. The world is weary of politics and war. At Saint John’s, we pray that we remain faithful to our mission of evangelization and service. Saint John’s has been an oasis of prayer and peace in the midst of busy Center City for 196 years. We plan to stay faithful to our mission for the next 196 years.
I have not found that Catholics make New Year’s resolutions. Catholics are more likely to make resolutions at the beginning of Lent. Regardless, let us resolve always to be faithful to Christ.
