Mary, Mother of the Redeemer Catholic School

Message from the Principal

December, 2009

“Don’t look for Jesus far away. He is not there. He is in you, take care of your lamp and you will see Him.”
Mother Teresa

Dear Parents,
And so the season of looking and waiting has begun. It often begins with looking for that perfect present, that big WOW that will make someone’s day, that something unique that only you could have imagined. It continues with the waiting that accompanies the looking…the waiting in lines, the waiting for a parking space closer to the entrance, the waiting for the traffic to move so you can run your next three errands. And when all these things are packaged together, they constitute what we traditionally call the holiday spirit. They aren’t, the truth be told, altogether bad things.

Yet while we are bound to do such things, let us not forget that in the standing and waiting we must also stand ready for the Lord. I am, unfortunately, old enough to remember when the third Sunday of Advent was referred to as Gaudete Sunday, meaning “rejoice”. It is the Sunday when after the waiting we could begin to prepare to rejoice for He was near. It is, with all due respect, the Church’s reminder that the time is drawing near; not so we could panic over presents and promises, but rather rejoice over the present that The Promise was bringing. Gaudete Sunday is upon us.

In your great preparations for your family’s Christmas, remember to give yourself a present as well; give yourself a present of some peaceful moments, time alone, even ever so brief, when you can let the Lord know your are beginning to rejoice. Let Him know that you are “taking care of your lamp”. Do so, and He will not be far away.

May God Bless You in this Advent Season.

Fondly,