For those of you who I may not know, my name is Father Michael Denk. I am a son of the parish. My parents, Bob and Dee, are in the pews over there, and it is wonderful to be back here at Holy Family to celebrate this holiday season and sacred mysteries.
Growing up, my mother was the house photographer. She was the one who took pictures of all the kids growing up. It has really been cool for me to look back at these pictures. I actually took them all and put them in a box one day.
I then sent them away to a company that scans them. Now I have them all in my computer. As you look back at those earlier pictures, they are the square ones. Then they got longer and, before you knew it, they are all digital. Now they are already on your phones and cameras.
I asked my mother how many pictures she has in her phone. It was over 1,000 – maybe 2,000. I cannot help but think about a mother treasuring all of these images in her heart of her children growing up.
Maybe your mother did that, or maybe you take pictures of your children or your loved ones. It is always wonderful to look back at the pictures and to just delight in the memories that we have.
We hear in the gospel today that Mary, as she experienced giving birth to her son Jesus and the shepherds came and adored, treasured all of these things and kept them in her heart. She did not have photography back then, but she had another way of capturing things through her vision and memory.
Mary was experiencing this wonderful miracle that prophets and sages had longed to receive for thousands and thousands of years. All of a sudden, she got to experience it, and she treasured it and kept it in her heart.
The early disciples and apostles treasured it, also. They treasured it by first speaking about it (an oral proclamation), and then they treasured it by writing it down in scripture.
Two thousand years later, we can still look at it like we look at pictures and enjoy and treasure Christ being born into our lives. The wonderful thing is that this happens at every Mass. We experience Christ in four ways during Mass.
First, we experience him in the Word that is proclaimed. Second, we experience him in the Eucharist when we receive. Third, through the priest in the person of Christ, and the fourth way is in the gathered assembly.
At every Mass you can take something with you and treasure it. It only has to be one thing. It only has to be one word that you hear during the mass. It only has to be one thing taken away from the Eucharist, treasuring that in your hearts.
It only has to be a moment of something the priest does or prays – or maybe it is just looking around at the people around you and seeing a young family or somebody else that kind of nurtures or fosters in you this image of God.
So, just like my mother treasures these moments and took pictures of them, I invite you to treasure the moments of your life. Especially treasure the moments that you receive at Mass, and like Mary, hold on to them, ponder them and keep them in your hearts.
In doing so, we keep Christ and we keep Christmas alive in us all year round in all of our lives. Capture these moments and treasure them in your hearts.
