Dear Parishioners of Saint Polycarp,
As you come to church this weekend, the Christmas Season has already begun. In fact, we are in the Octave of Christmas, and are preparing for the arrival of the New Year of 2025. May I take this opportunity to wish you and your family a healthy, blessed, and joyful New Year.
A few important celebrations highlight the Octave of Christmas. The first big and important celebration that starts the Octave is the Nativity of the Lord on December 25, and leads to the following Feast Days: The martyrdom of Saint Stephen on December 26; Saint John the Evangelist on December 27; the Holy Innocents on December 28, which commemorates the death of those babies/children killed by Herod; the Holy Family, where Joseph and Mary welcomed their newborn Baby Jesus, who is Our Savior; and Mary, the Mother of God, on January 01, which is the first day of the year.
Particularly for this weekend, the Church celebrates the Feast of the Holy Family. As our modern society tends to downplay the value and dignity of family life, this Feast serves as a reminder that, just as Jesus was born into a family, each one of us is born into a family too. The celebration of the Holy Family makes real the meaning of the Incarnation—that is, the Word of God is now dwelled among us through and in a family. In other words, it is through a family that each one of us is born and receives our identity and cares. It is in and through the family that we are loved, receive love, and learn to show love to others.
The family of Joseph and Mary is called the Holy Family because of Jesus. May I encourage you to always place Jesus in your family, so that He can sanctify and make holy your family. However, never forget to pray for the holiness and sanctity of your spiritual home, Saint Polycarp.
Lastly, since Christmas this year marks the beginning of the Jubilee or Holy Year, with the theme “Pilgrims of Hope,” may I also encourage you to begin to orient your heart toward the source of holiness who is Jesus. To prepare for the Jubilee Year, you will notice that the Eucharistic Prayer, which we normally recite at the end of Mass, will be replaced with the Prayer for the Holy Year. In addition, the parish priests, and I, along with our deacons and religious sisters from the Faith Formation Programs, will plan more with the Pastoral Council, the Liturgy Committee, and the various Youth Programs, so that all of us at Saint Polycarp can reap richly from the fruits of this Jubilee Year 2025.
May God through Saint Joseph, the Blessed Virgin Mother of God, and Saint Polycarp bless and keep you holy throughout this New Year 2025.
Father Viet Peter Ho,
Pastor