Which is your most memorable CHRISTMAS? This is a question often asked when family and friends gather around a traditional meal on Christmas Day. It is a wonderful ice-breaker when there are "new" family guests. It is also a way for many of us to SHARE with others the JOY OF CHRISTMAS in the time of Advent!

I will never forget my first Christmas as a priest. I was a baby priest, six month old, barely learning how to crawl on the floor... I was also very young: only 64!

As a "young", new parochial vicar, I had plenty of time to PRAY and REFLECT. No worries about parish administration. No worries about making decisions for the future of a parish and its parishioners.

For the previous three months, I had been immersed in the spiritual exercises of St Ignatius of Loyola: the 19th Annotation or also called Ignatian Retreat in Daily Life. I was meeting every week for one hour with a "old and holy" Jesuit Priest as my Spiritual Director. This was to guide my prayer life for the next seven days. I learned how to practice the JOY of meditating on Scriptures , especially the New Testament and the LIFE OF CHRIST. I did experience personal encounters with our Lord Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit and Mary. I truly felt that the LORD WAS NEAR! ... and HE WAS TO COME SOON!

I was also child-like: I prayed that my First Christmas as a priest would be a WHITE CHRISTMAS. I then loved and still love SNOW! I loved skiing and snowboarding. I loved walking in deep snow when an entire city would stop and go silent...So, yes...I was praying for snow! ...and God gave me a little gift: it did snow just a few days before Christmas. There was little accumulation, but the snow did not melt: my first Christmas was filled with the JOY OF SNOW!

As some of you may recall, God had planned more snow for that winter. We had two major snow storms in early February 2010 back to back: a total accumulation of 30 inches. It was awesome: I could barely walk through this huge mountain of fresh snow. I am short and my pastor then had a big laugh: he thought that his "new" and "young" parochial vicar was going to just disappear in this mountain of snow! The silence was amazing. Nature was so beautiful and totally transformed: a kind of transfiguration through the Power of God. This was a continuing Christmas gift from God, going beyond the Christmas Season. I was also no longer "popular" with many parishioners who begged me: "Father Alain, can you please stop praying for snow!" Yes, prayers can be powerful!

I invite you to share your most memorable Christmas with your family and friends in the next few days in anticipation of the JOYFUL COMING OF CHRIST! If you wish to share it with us, we will put it on our website or weekly bulletin under the heading: " THE JOY OF SHARING CHRISTMAS MEMORIES! "

The Advent Season has been so far a blessing for many of us at OLHOC. What a JOY to see so many of you participate at the 5 am Mass last Sunday (with mariachis and Juan Diego) and the 7 pm Advent Penance Service last Monday. We could feel that Mary and the Holy Spirit were as present as ever within our church and that after nearly two years of a pandemic, most parishioners were coming back to church with a new sense of normalcy . We will still remain prudent and do everything we can to help everyone feel at peace when coming to worship within the House of God.

In our Advent Theme of Reconciliation-Eucharist- Adoration, we are now moving the focus on the EUCHARIST: the CHRISTMAS NOVENA MASSES from December 15 through December 23 (7 pm every day preceded by 6 pm Posadas), with the beautiful theme: "EVERYDAY WITH THE EUCHARIST IS CHRISTMAS".

We will then move to "ADORATION" of the Newborn King and we will keep singing in our hearts: "JOY TO THE WORLD! THE LORD IS COME...LET EVERY HEART PREPARE HIM ROOM"..."O COME , ALL YE FAITHFUL..COME AND BEHOLD HIM, BORN THE KING OF ANGELS; O COME ,LET US ADORE HIM, O COME, LET US ADORE HIM! O COME, LET US ADORE HIM, CHRIST, THE LORD!"

I invite all of you, your family and friends to JOIN US FOR CHRISTMAS. We will have half-an-hour of caroling prior to each of the four Masses on CHRISTMAS EVE. Come early to enjoy the Christmas songs! You will remember your own Christmas as a child. Come to the 5 pm Children Mass. It is my favorite of all Masses: I just enjoy seeing the Joy of our children as they listen to the homilies our young Parochial vicars filled with the Holy Spirit!

On behalf of our entire staff and clergy, we would like to wish each one of you A MOST BLESSED CHRISTMAS FILLED WITH THE JOY AND LOVE OF THE NEWBORN KING!

One in Christ,

Fr. Alain