My dear brothers and sisters,

Praised be Jesus Christ!

December seems to lower its head before the Holy Season of Advent and the great Solemnity of Christmas. The whole experience of Advent is really a moment of consideration and preparation. We consider the need within us for the Lord and we prepare for His Coming.

While we look forward to His Final Coming, in the season of Advent we prepare for the celebration of His First Coming, CHRISTMAS, a bit more intentionally. 

Have you ever looked upon a photo of a loved one who has died and thought, if even but for a moment, ‘I wish we had one more moment?’ or ‘I can’t wait till we see each other again!’ That experience of yearning and longing is the summary of Advent. We consider our needs and look forward to the moment when a reunion will take place. 

The key to living Advent is LOVE. Love for the Lord is what fills us with excitement for His coming, Love is what enables us to truly prepare for the coming of the Lord. Fear over our sins is a legitimate response on the part of those who don’t seek forgiveness or don’t trust in Divine Mercy. But for those of us who know and love Jesus, and have given our sins over in confession, we are filled with excitement over the reunion that takes place when Jesus comes. 

The Sacred Heart of Jesus is the surest path to having the abiding Love for the Lord which blossoms into excitement for the coming of the Kingdom. Having the Sacred Heart in our homes, in our hearts, is what fosters and sustains the kind of Love for Jesus that carries us through the difficult moments of life.

The ‘seasonal blues’, or the difficult moments that can come for some during the Holy Days, are very real and can be very painful. The Sacred Heart of Jesus is the refuge and consolation that can help us process difficulty and raw emotions into peace and joy because the Lord heals. The world first looked for a great and mighty ruler while awaiting and preparing for the Messiah; Jesus came to us as a child, as a baby, so that even the most hardened of hearts would be broken open to Love. 

Through our constant devotion and honoring of the Sacred Heart our souls are tilled into a fruitful garden. By opening our homes and hearts to the glory of the Sacred Heart we are open to the grace that is needed to consider and prepare for the One who will come again, heal us, and claim us.

I invite you to notice how much more beautiful your Christmas Nativity Scene is when you treasure the gift of the Sacred Heart. From the Crib at Bethlehem, to the Cross on Calvary, and to the Holy Eucharist, the Most Sacred Heart burns with Love for us. 

May our hearts burn with Love for the Lord who is to come!

In Jesus and Mary,
Fr Stash Dailey

“We are called to plant the seeds of trees, under whose shade we will never sit.”
St. Anthony of Padua