Rector’s Reflections

December 7, 2025

Dear People of God, 

I consider myself a very patient person, except when it comes to lines. Traffic jams (Kennedy Expressway!) and grocery store lines drive me crazy! It doesn’t matter whether the line is on foot or by car—I find myself impatient and anxious to move through it. Undoubtedly, I am not alone. Many people find themselves in the same boat!

What about Advent waiting? Most of us rush through Advent, forgetting the real purpose and meaning of the Season. As a former basketball player, I liken the Advent Season to a “full-court press” on the basketball floor. Hurry and press the ballhandler to force a turnover by quickening the tempo of the game. Do we put a “full court-press” with our Advent Season?

I received a letter several years ago. It speaks beautifully about the real meaning of Advent and Christmas, which may be realized only with age in this gift called life. Read…slow down…and pass it on…

My youngest sister asked me this weekend, “Whaddaya want for Christmas?” Blank. No thoughts — no ideas… no burning desires to own or covet a particular item or items. NOTHING, NADA, NIL, ZIP, ZERO. I could not think of one possible desire. “I dunno,” I replied while my mind spun, slowed, sped up, and categorized thousands of needs and wants. I’ve had a couple of days to sort out that question, and I still have nothing to tell her. I guess I am at the point in my life where if I need something, I buy it or already own it. If it was once desirable in my younger years, it has lost its luster, and I no longer desire bigger or better. Suddenly, socks and underwear seem more important and more plausible.

If I could have anything I wanted, I could come up with some ideas, but they’re impractical and too much to ask for. On a personal note, what I would really like is to get out of bed in the morning without my shoulders hurting. I would like to be able to stand longer than thirty minutes without my feet and legs feeling like I am walking on stubs. I would like to go to the barbershop and get my money’s worth. I would like to be able to eat pies, cakes, and cookies without worrying about the glucose content.

I would like a couple of hours with my son, when he was two years old, lying on my chest, both of us snoozing on the couch. I would like to experience the thrill again of a small, three-year-old princess holding her arms up, wanting me to pick her up and carry her. I would like to call the little ranch house on Monarch Oaks and have my mom or dad answer the phone. I would like to play a game of HORSE with my old friend Reggie Grob. I would like to sit around the Thanksgiving table with my grandparents, parents, aunts, uncles, and cousins who have left this world.

Gifts…nah… there really isn’t anything that I want or need. My Christmases have become more personal as I have grown older. Now, I celebrate after the presents are opened, the bellies are full of turkey and dressing, and we have come home from Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve. I sit quietly in my chair, the lights of the tree glisten, and the ticking of the wall clock is the only sound around. I read the real Christmas story in Luke. I count my blessings, and the best gifts all come flooding in…

Memories….hundreds of them. Of summer days, of Christmases past, of laughs, and love, of friends and families. That would be all I could want or need!

                                                                                                                                                                                                                 In a reflective Advent mood, 

Fr. Greg