Kobza's Komments

Happy New Year! Advent marks the beginning of a new liturgical year for us.  It is a time of quiet, joyful preparation for the celebration of Jesus’ birth. We can lose our roots and get lost in all the hustle, bustle, and commercialization of the Christmas season, and are so busy preparing our homes and ourselves that we forget to prepare our hearts for the coming of the Christ Jesus. For all of the Christmas cheer and joyful celebrations, this time of the year can also be one of the loneliest. What if you do not have any family around? What if you do not have any friends in your life? What if you cannot afford even the tiniest gift? What if you do not have a home? If we are serious about rooting the Christmas season is Christ, we must be willing to be Christ for those who need Him most.

This Advent season we are going to be Christ for those who need him most by supporting a local cause: Streets Alive Mission.  Streets Alive is dedicated to bringing hope to those who have none by building relationships with the disenfranchised, through a variety of volunteer driven programs.  So often with social justice projects, we bring items but do not really think or learn more about the people we help.  This year, with our Rooted in Christ theme, we are going to ground ourselves by learning about the work of Streets Alive Mission by having them come in and educate us about the work they do. The staff is going to be going to the Streets Alive Mission on Friday as part of our retreat day so that we can see first hand the work that is done.  Each week at our Advent Celebrations, we are asking students to bring in different items that the Mission requires to do their work: dark colored socks, waterproof gloves, and toques or hats; and men’s underwear and jeans. More details on the project and items can be found in the newsletter.  For more information on Streets Alive Mission please visit their website.

If you can’t make our celebrations, please try to make it for the last day of school where staff serves hot chocolate and candy canes to students and parents as they enter the school in the morning.  It has become one of my favorite traditions here at the school and is a wonderful way to start the last school day of the year. If I don’t see you at one our celebrations this month, I wish you and your family a Merry Christmas.

Resource:  Jesus Daily by Aaron Tabor, MD