Our Lady Queen of Peace Catholic Church - Arlington, VA
  • Home
  • About Us
    • Staff >
      • Parish Administration & Communication
    • News and Bulletins
    • Just a Thought...or two...
    • Learning Alley
    • Contact Us
    • Register
    • Our History
    • Gallery
  • Worship
    • Mass Times and Schedule
    • Live-stream Schedule & Special Mass Programs
    • Liturgical Ministries
    • Sacraments
    • Music Ministry
  • Our Faith
    • Faith Formation 2022-2023 >
      • Family Circles, Foundation & Family Mass 2022-2023
      • Sacramental Preparation 2022-2023
      • CLW 2021-2022
      • Registration
    • Formacion en la Fe 2022-2023 >
      • Circulos Familiares y Fundamentos 2022-2023
      • Preparacion Sacramental 2022-2023
      • Liturgia para ninos y grupo juvenil 2022-2023
      • Inscripciones
    • Confirmation 2022
    • Adult Faith Groups
    • Adult Faith Formation
    • Resources/Recursos
  • Get Involved
    • Matthew 25
    • Food Pantry >
      • ISIDORE’S GARDEN
    • Youth & Young Adult
    • Social Justice and Outreach >
      • Haiti Ministry
      • Integrity of Creation
    • Pastoral Care/Hospitality >
      • Stephen Ministry
  • Donate
  • Circulos Familiares y Fundamentos 2022-2023
  • Registration
  • Registration
  • Home
  • About Us
    • Staff >
      • Parish Administration & Communication
    • News and Bulletins
    • Just a Thought...or two...
    • Learning Alley
    • Contact Us
    • Register
    • Our History
    • Gallery
  • Worship
    • Mass Times and Schedule
    • Live-stream Schedule & Special Mass Programs
    • Liturgical Ministries
    • Sacraments
    • Music Ministry
  • Our Faith
    • Faith Formation 2022-2023 >
      • Family Circles, Foundation & Family Mass 2022-2023
      • Sacramental Preparation 2022-2023
      • CLW 2021-2022
      • Registration
    • Formacion en la Fe 2022-2023 >
      • Circulos Familiares y Fundamentos 2022-2023
      • Preparacion Sacramental 2022-2023
      • Liturgia para ninos y grupo juvenil 2022-2023
      • Inscripciones
    • Confirmation 2022
    • Adult Faith Groups
    • Adult Faith Formation
    • Resources/Recursos
  • Get Involved
    • Matthew 25
    • Food Pantry >
      • ISIDORE’S GARDEN
    • Youth & Young Adult
    • Social Justice and Outreach >
      • Haiti Ministry
      • Integrity of Creation
    • Pastoral Care/Hospitality >
      • Stephen Ministry
  • Donate
  • Circulos Familiares y Fundamentos 2022-2023
  • Registration
  • Registration

December 25, 2017

12/22/2017

 
​Merry Christmas! Certain images inspire wonder. They are powerful beyond the simple contents that make up the scene. In the nativity scene we have such an image: a serene new mother, a concerned father, and a vulnerable newborn child. Beleaguered travelers, forced to take refuge in a stable, and a child laid in a manger. The rude surroundings leave the new family barely protected from the elements, open to any and all who come their way. And yet this scene inspires wonder and awe! It is meant to open our hearts, to help us to see that there is more to life than we have come to expect. It tells us that Divinity courses through human life and that our God is not distant from us, but Emmanuel...God with us!

The manger scene is both an invitation and a promise. An invitation to leave our pursuit of worldly things behind and instead to enter into the Mystery that lays before us…to be as vulnerable as this child and these parents…to be as open as the shepherds and as generous of heart as the magi. To praise God like the angels and pay attention like the townspeople. The resulting promise is that we meet God. We discover not only that Jesus is God, but that we too share in God’s life—not only in the afterlife, but right here and right now.

And so in the days to come let us open our hearts to the wonder of this Christmas moment. Let us all say a prayer of gratitude for the gift of love that God gives to each and every one of us. Let us not waste this moment of wonder on the commercialism of the season, nor lose it in the turmoil of times but let us ponder for a moment the mystery of the Incarnation of our God, allowing it to change our hearts, to fill us with hope and to give direction to our lives, and the manner in which we live out our discipleship. I pray you have a “wonder-filled” Christmas and come to know ever more fully just how deeply and passionately you are loved by God…just as you are!

Merry Christmas,
 Fr. Tim 

Comments are closed.

    Author

    Fr. Tim Hickey, C.S.Sp.

    Archives

    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Our Lady Queen of Peace
2700 South 19th Street
Arlington, Virginia, 22204, USA
703-979-5580 Office
703-979-5590 Fax
office@ourladyqueenofpeace.org
Office hours: Mon-Fri, 8:30 am - 4:30 pm (closed on federal holidays)
  • ​Inclement Weather Policy
Weekend Mass Schedule
Saturday: Vigil Mass at 5:30 pm
Sunday: 8 am, 9:30 am, 11:15 am, 1 pm (Spanish),
​6 pm (young adult)

Picture