Hamilton W. Mabee once said: “Blessed is the season which engages the whole world in a conspiracy of love.”  It’s a wondrous scene in urban parishes each December as numerous inner-city residents line up at churches to receive cart loads of groceries and/or gifts to share with loved ones in their humble dwellings during the holidays.  At Saint Therese Little Flower, the parish hall was transformed into Santa’s workshop as volunteers brought gifts so that less fortunate families could pick up Christmas treasures for children and elders to receive a special remembrance.  At Saint Francis Xavier, rooms were packed and hallways lined with groceries so that clients can create an end-of-year feast for their families.  In addition to parish outreach, numerous Catholic social agencies, like The Bishop Sullivan Center at Saint James, provide holiday cheer to support residents of various neighborhoods throughout our central city.

W. C. Jones once noted, “The magic of Christmas is manifest through the joy of brightening other lives, bearing each other’s burdens, easing each other’s loads, and supplanting empty hearts with simple gifts.”  Back in the ‘90s, during an earlier stint in the Little Flower community, my vocabulary was broadened to include terms like “Pips” for “People in the Pews.”  Our people in the pews are prayer warriors and congregational back-up singers to an engaging church choir; they also back up our parish mission by serving neighbors in Christ’s name.  This week, I heard another acronym, “Fosts,” or “Friends of Saint Therese.”  This is a nod to the many Kansas Citians who serve as super-shoppers for those who can’t afford to provide gifts for children or other family members, good souls that are willing to adopt families by providing a holiday meal, winter clothing, and/or toys for kids on Christmas morning, and angels who contribute to the wellbeing of our city’s most vulnerable citizens.  These Fosts don’t only show up in December but many pop in at “Sharon’s Kitchen” within the parish’s senior center weekly to serve a meal to elderly citizens or to offer expertise on some challenge the community faces in other months.

Charles Dickens once penned, “I will honor Christmas in my heart and try to keep it all the year.”  I pray that these parishes will experience growth in 2025.  It’s wonderful to see Catholics from other parts of the metropolitan area visit, celebrate Mass with us, and interact where needs abound.  Saint Therese, founded in 1925, the year that our patron saint was canonized, is commemorating its centennial year in conjunction with the holy jubilee year.  Though the community has endured population shifts and other diminishing factors through the decades, there is a recent slow growth and stability that brings us hope.  Saint Francis Xavier Parish is exploring the building of a parish hall, since its school was sold earlier this century leaving parishioners no place to socialize.  As we contemplate the feasibility of such a plan, we also consider the impact its location has on Troost Avenue, between the campuses of two important universities, and in the heart of Kansas City; we believe that it can be an anchor for Catholicism’s faith-in-action efforts.  Saint James, also on Troost, is hoping to spend the year ahead advancing the synodal style of church that Pope Francis encourages in which community members guide the way for all who seek to walk closer with Christ. It is an exciting time to be part of inner-city ministries and to encourage the flourishing of a new way of being church.

Norman Vincent Peale once stated, “I truly believe that if we keep telling the Christmas story, singing the Christmas carols, and living the Christmas spirit, we really can bring joy, happiness, and peace into our world.”  I want to thank all who walk with us in faith.  Your kindness, generosity, and companionship help us to offer and receive a holier, healthier, and more wholesome experience of faith.  It is my hope that these urban parishes will link with communities throughout the metro region inspiring us to walk as brothers and sisters into a future filled with hope where the miracle of Christmas lives throughout the year.  As Dr. Seuss once opined, “Maybe Christmas, he thought, doesn’t come from a store; maybe Christmas, perhaps, is a little bit more