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“For a child is born to us, a son is given to us; upon his shoulder dominion rests. They name him Wonder-Counselor, God-Hero, Father-Forever, Prince of Peace.” - Isaiah 9:5
December 17, 2024
My Dear Brothers and Sisters:
Happy Advent and Christmas Seasons! I pray this time of preparing for and the celebration of the coming of Jesus Christ in History (the Nativity), Mystery (the Eucharist), and Majesty (His 2nd Coming) is a blessed and fruitful time for you all!
I have always loved these two seasons in the life of the Church. Advent is that intentional time we take to prepare our hearts for the Coming of the Lord and our time here is intentionally counter-cultural. As the world around us begins to celebrate Christmas early (sometimes even before Halloween!), we make a point to wait. We wait and celebrate Advent, not Christmas yet, to joyfully anticipate the coming of Jesus. Advent calls us to follow what John proclaimed, to “Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths,” (Luke 3:4). As the world celebrates the consumerism of buying the latest gifts to give at Christmas, we focus emptying our hearts of all those things that are not of God and repent of our sinfulness. We do this to make room in our hearts for the greatest gift of all, that of God’s gift to us of His only Son, Jesus, which we properly celebrate on Christmas! Now I’m not saying that gift-giving on Christmas is bad by any means; in fact, it is often a great symbol of love and generosity to those whom we cherish the most. We must just be careful to always keep Christ at the center of all of it. Christmas is about God’s gift to us in Jesus and this gift from God is more important than any gifts that we give to each other. While that newest gadget may be the hottest gift of the year according to Google, the real gift we give to each other is our very presence. Our time. Our very sharing in life together. We do this with our family, our friends, our parish family, and our larger community, especially with those who may have no one to share this Christmas with. As we celebrate Christmas this year, I encourage you to remember the true meaning of Christmas and, along with any traditional gift-giving, reach out to those in need, to those people you may not have reached out to in a while, to those you know have no one to talk with. Give the gift of your very presence to your family, friends, parish family and the larger community.
Christmas time is also always a time to reflect on the many blessings and gifts that God has given us. I have been in a particular way very blessed this year. When I graduated from the Catholic University of America with my Canon Law degree this past summer and was informed of my upcoming parish assignment at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Lovell and Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Greybull, I was both excited and nervous. I had never spent much time up here in the Big Horn Basin and was excited to move here, but also nervous because I hadn’t been in parish ministry for two years. I needn’t have been nervous. From the moment I moved in (and had a whole crew from both St. Joseph and Sacred Heart help me move!), I was greeted with open arms and enthusiasm for my arrival. This great welcoming reflects the generous heart of both communities and a true love for the Lord. Particularly for me, this welcome revealed to me an openness of both parish communities to love the new (and yet unknown) pastor who was coming, me! I have been so incredibly blessed by your generosity and friendship, which has only deepened since I arrived in August. In the months since I arrived, I have been blessed by so many different events that have only affirmed God’s providence in placing me as pastor here (from the parish picnic in Lovell to the wonderful Installation Mass at St. Joseph’s to going to the High School football games in Greybull to enjoying the Christmas celebrations in both the cities of Lovell and Greybull). Both communities truly feel like home to me and I am so thankful to be your pastor, and I am doing my best to lead our parishes with charity and generosity.
To celebrate in a small way the upcoming festivities of Christmas, you are all cordially invited to an open house at the rectory (1161 Shoshone Ave, Lovell, WY) on Monday, December 23, 2024, from 5pm-7pm where I will be hosting! This event will not only feature Christmas goodies to share but, more importantly, it is an opportunity for you to share some personal time with me, as your pastor, and deepen our bonds of friendship and family as a parish community. Plus, you can see my collection of autographs and Star Wars memorabilia (trust me, it’s more than you think)!
God bless you this Christmas!
Rev. Andrew KinstetterChristmas Mass ScheduleChristmas Eve (December 24)4:00 pm – Vigil Mass at Sacred Heart6:00 pm – Vigil Mass at St. JosephChristmas Day (December 25)8:30 am – Mass during the Day (Spanish) at Sacred Heart11:00 am – Mass during the Day at St. JosephMary, Mother of God (January 1)5:30 pm – Vigil Mass (December 31) at Sacred Heart8:30 am – Mass (Spanish) at Sacred Heart11:00 am – Mass at St. Joseph
