Don't worry, Lent is more than a month away. Nevertheless, I want to share with you a practice from the Church's treasury about getting ready for Lent. The disciplines of Lent are about conversion, that is, turning away from sin and following Jesus more closely.

I am writing this message on the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul. St. Paul had a very dramatic conversion experience on the road to Damascus, but it did not end there but rather only began. St. Josemaria says: "Conversion is the matter of a moment. Sanctification is the work of a lifetime.”

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When Jesus returned to his hometown of Nazareth and spoke in the synagogue, the people listened when he read this passage from Isaiah:

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me to
bring glad tidings to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord."

But they were offended when he said:
“Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.”

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I know that it is a little late for New Year’s Resolutions technically speaking, but we are beginning the time of the year called Ordinary Time and so I think that it would be a good idea to reflect on what our lives of faith should look like ordinarily.

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In looking at our church, it reminds me that Christmas is not a feeling or spirit but rather a fact of history. God became man at a particular time and in a particular place. Joseph and Mary were far from home at the time Jesus was born because of a government regulation. They were without a place to stay and took shelter in a cave with animals. Shepherds came to see them immediately, and mysterious magi from the East came later. Herod was disturbed to hear that a king had been born. He ordered the slaughter of babies in order to eliminate this king. Joseph, Mary, and Jesus fled to Egypt. This is the truth of Christmas.

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