Question of Faith
A weekly question of faith answered by Cleveland Catholics. Fr. Damian Ference, Vicar of Evangelization and Deacon Mike Hayes Director of Young Adult Ministry in the Diocese of Cleveland co-host with frequent guests from the Diocesan Office who join in the conversation. Sponsored by Briefcase Marketing--check them out at https://www.Briefcase.marketing
Question of Faith
What Are the Best Christmas Carols?
SPONSOR: Briefcase Marketing
Ever wondered what Christmas Carols truly captures the spirit of Christmas for different people? Join us for a heartwarming discussion with our guest Jackie Brauser, as we explore the magic of both secular and sacred holiday tunes.
Secular Songs
Jackie's List
It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas: Bing Crosby
White Christmas: Bing Crosby
Mele Kalikimaka: Jimmy Buffett
Deacon Mike's List
White Christmas: Bing Crosby
Do they Know It's Christmas Time at All? USA for Africa
Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas: Frank Sinatra
Fr. Damian's List
Christmas is the Time to Say I Love You: Billy Squire
I Don't Care What the People Say, Christmas Time is Here: Jimmy Fallon
Julian Casablancas Version
Blue Christmas: Bruce Springsteen
Our conversation takes a personal turn as Jackie reflects on embracing her natural beauty, a journey influenced by her late father's legacy.
Sacred Songs
Jackie's List
Hark the Herald Angels Sing: A Charlie Brown Christmas
Do You Hear What I Hear?
The Angel Gabriel
O Holy NIght
Deacon Mike's List
SIlent Night
The First Noel
O Come All Ye Faithful
Fr. Damian's List
Peace on Earth/Drummer Boy: Bing Crosby and David Bowie
Silent NIght - Sufjan Stevens
O Holy NIght
Text us your favorites
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Readings for Christmas Mass can be found here.
On today's Question of Faith. What are the best Christmas carols? Hey everybody, this is Question of Faith. I am Deacon Mike Hayes. I'm the Director of Young Adult Ministry here in the Diocese of Christmas. We should just leave that in.
Speaker 2:Yeah, leave it in, start it again, but let that be there. That's funny.
Speaker 1:Hey everybody, this is Question of Faith. I'm Deacon Mike Hayes. I am the Young Adult Ministry Director in the Diocese of Cleveland.
Speaker 2:And I'm Father Damian Ferencz, Vicar for Evangelization in the Diocese of Christmas.
Speaker 3:And I am Jackie Browser, the Parish Services Manager at the Catholic Community Foundation at the Diocese of Cleveland. I am also a proud parishioner at Holy Martyrs Parish in Medina.
Speaker 2:Woo. Welcome to the show, Jackie. We know that you've listened to us before, but this is your first time as a guest.
Speaker 3:I'm very excited to be here. Thank you for the invitation and you can clearly speak English better than I can.
Speaker 1:So there you go.
Speaker 2:No, you just got excited, it was a little slip, but it was good, because we're talking about Christmas songs today.
Speaker 1:It would be interesting if there were a diocese of Christmas right Like Christmas Island or something. That would be fun.
Speaker 2:Yeah Well, there is a town in.
Speaker 1:Indiana called Christmas. Yes, exactly, and I know that because I went Wait, is it Christmas or Santa Claus? Santa Claus, santa Claus, indiana, isn't it?
Speaker 2:It's like Christmas land, though there's a Christmasmas themed park. Because, well, maybe 10 years ago I went on a a formation formators conference for people who are in formation for seminarians and religious, and it was at mine. We had some not cemetery seminary and it was. It was so packed that they had to put us up in santa cla and I was like, is this a joke? I'm going to be in Santa Claus, indiana, and the weird thing about it was for me to go to my hotel. I crossed the timeline, the time zone.
Speaker 1:Oh right, yes, so my phone kept switching and it was confusing. There was a whole West Wing episode about this. Yeah, I mean, you're right there.
Speaker 2:But anyway, we're talking about Christmas songs today and one of the reasons I wanted to have Jackie on because she's a big fan of music and culture and I actually ran into Jackie and one of her friends who knows Father Steve Breck, at the Def Leppard Cheap Trick Journey Show this summer and that kind of solidified I'm like we got to get her on the podcast. So today what we're going to do is we're going to talk about our favorite three Christmas songs, both religious and then secular. So hopefully we have like three different lists and we could go three, two, one, talk like what is the song and why do you like it, and then maybe we'll have some similar ones, maybe we'll have some different ones. But Jackie, do you want to go first with your third favorite secular Christmas song?
Speaker 3:Sure Jackie, do you want to go first with your third favorite secular Christmas song? Sure, my third favorite definitely would be. It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas Classic from 1951. I love it. It just puts me in the Christmas mood.
Speaker 2:Is that Bing Crosby? Yes, who sings it? Bing?
Speaker 3:Crosby sings it, but so many people have recorded it Amongst other people. Yeah.
Speaker 1:I'll stick with Bing and I'll go White Christmas.
Speaker 2:Oh so.
Speaker 1:I'm dreaming of a White Christmas.
Speaker 2:I like that Now, mine are not traditional. Most of them are pretty rock and roll. So there's a guy named Billy Squire.
Speaker 3:I don't know if you remember him. Lonely is the night when you find yourself.
Speaker 2:And he was a great rocker in the early 80s yeah, great guitar player and a wonderful voice. And he has a song called Christmas is the time to say I love you, and you can find it on Spotify. You can also find it on YouTube and he sings it in 1981 with the whole crew of MTV.
Speaker 3:Oh fun, oh wow.
Speaker 2:And a part of me thinks I like it because it reminds me of my childhood and I remember we were not allowed to watch MTV growing up, so my brother and I would sneak it all the time. But that song's a great song and I was with a family for Thanksgiving and the dad he's like Billy Squire. Christmas is the time to say I love you, I'm like you like that song and it was a great connection. So that's my third. That's my third.
Speaker 3:Okay, so that is a good one, I'm glad you knew it. Oh, of course. Okay, was it like the VJs?
Speaker 2:that we're seeing.
Speaker 3:Okay, I'm going to have to look into that. My number two was just like Deacon Mike, it's White Christmas. I absolutely love the movie. Every time I hear it with my mom, she always, always reminds me that Irving Berlin wasn't even a Christian or a Catholic.
Speaker 1:He was a Jewish composer and she always points it out. So I think of my mom when I hear that song. That's great. I'll go back to my childhood, like you and I'll do. Do they Know it's Christmas Time at All?
Speaker 3:Oh yeah, oh, such a good one Do they know it's?
Speaker 1:Christmas time, is that Feed the?
Speaker 2:World.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's the one, yeah, yeah, that one's great USA for Africa, right? What's?
Speaker 2:interesting is that maybe five, ten years ago and they changed some of the lyrics, but the hook was the same and the music was the same, and it's a fun song. I remember being in Rome for Christmas of 2020 because it was during COVID, oh right. And when I was on the elliptical, I would put that song in because I too. It reminded me of my childhood. Yeah, yeah, it's Christmas time, I think Bono's on it.
Speaker 3:Yeah, well, I mean, and that question do they know it's Christmas time at all? Well, of course they know. It kind of goes into Mary, did you know?
Speaker 2:Well, of course she knew, you know. Yeah, there's the whole controversy over that one and the song, like musically is is is fun and it's good. But yeah, there's the theological controversy over. Well, what did she know? Well, from Luke's gospel we know that she knew a lot.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yes, all right, so my number one, oh wait, father didn't go for his third one, my number two my number two.
Speaker 2:Now this one. Again, it's rock and roll, but it's also Saturday Night Live. Do you remember? It was like Jimmy Fallon, horatio Sanz, chris Kattan I forget who the other guy was. What's his name? I'm Brian Fellows. What's that guy who does? I'm Brian Fellows. You know he got in the car wreck and then he was healed. I'll think of his name. Anyway, they do the song. It goes. I don't care what the people say, christmas time is here. And they go do-do-do-do-do-do-do.
Speaker 2:The listeners will know it. And then we did it like five years in a row and it was really goofy. But then one day on Jimmy Fallon's show he started doing that with Horatio Sands, and who comes out? But Julian Casablancas from the Strokes, which is a great band from New York, and then he rocked it out. And so I was listening to that last night in my car and I said, oh, this is going to be my number two, because Julian Casablancas is a really cool New York dude. He's got a Ramones vibe. He's like I don't care what the people say. Christmas time is here, so if you've never heard that song, I love it. I think it's great. Again, these are secular, so don't be judging me. We'll get to the sacred ones soon.
Speaker 1:There you go, all right.
Speaker 2:All right, so my number one, tracy Morgan, that's who it was, tracy Morgan, tracy Morgan, yes, of course.
Speaker 3:All right. So my number one song is Meliklikimaka, once again made famous by Bing Crosby, but my favorite favorite rendition is by Jimmy Buffett.
Speaker 2:My all-time favorite artist Are you going to sing it for us, Lou?
Speaker 3:Oh man Meliklikimaka.
Speaker 2:No, I'm not, I'm not, I'm not and.
Speaker 3:I think we can all imagine National Lampoon. It's such a great moment in the movie that's being Crosby, but I love the Jimmy Buffett version.
Speaker 2:Was it in a cartoon? Was it in Flintstones or Jetsons or something? Growing up? Because I remember hearing it and again it reminds me of my childhood.
Speaker 1:I'm trying to remember too. I don't know. You would think I would know that being a cartoon fan that I am, but it's not ringing a bell, so I was going to do Bruce Springsteen's. Santa Claus is Coming to town, but I figured that was your number one, so I said I'm going to do, have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, which I really, really like, so a little more traditional, and it kind of reminds me of my dad for some reason, and I'm not sure why, but it's a song.
Speaker 1:Whenever I would sing it, I always think of my dad.
Speaker 2:It's yeah this time of year, especially if you've lost your parents it's time to think about them, absolutely. You were right about Springsteen, but you were wrong about the song.
Speaker 1:Oh, interesting. You were right about Springsteen, but you were wrong about the song?
Speaker 2:Oh, interesting. So the two most famous songs he does are Santa Claus Coming to Town and Merry Christmas Baby. The Show to Treat Me Right, but that's not it, it's actually his version of Blue Christmas.
Speaker 1:Oh, very nice. Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's nice and so.
Speaker 2:Blue Christmas is a wonderful Christmas song, but Springsteen covers it. Last night I listened to the Lumineers cover. Oh yeah, that's right, collective Soul covers it. There's a lot of wonderful covers of Blue Christmas and probably the best is Elvis. I share a birthday with him, but Springsteen's got one on YouTube that I've been watching Father Garris when he comes in to work out we work out in the same room in the rectory. He's like dude, are you watching this again? I'm like it's Christmas time. All right, get off my back, get off my back.
Speaker 2:Leave me alone. Do four more push-ups for that. Hold on. I'm going to say something now about Jackie, because we're talking about parents. So this summer we were going out on the Lady Caroline Cruise and this is the whole Cathedral Square Plaza group and there's 207 of us that work here. Not everyone went, but there were probably at least 150 160 right, there was a lot of us cathedral plaza is the place where we work.
Speaker 1:That's the name of the building.
Speaker 2:Yeah, 1404 east ninth street those who don't know. Some call it the chancery, but we're more than just the chancery, correct? And so I was standing with kayla gill and mary fugate, two young ladies who work on our floor, and they saw jackie.
Speaker 3:They're like look at her hair.
Speaker 2:It's so beautiful. That's what I want my hair to look like when I'm a little older. And so, if you can't see Jackie's hair because you're listening but she has this beautiful silver hair and I told Jackie that afternoon or that morning. I said you need to know that the young ladies on my floor want to have hair like you when they grow up. And then she told me this wonderful story about her hair and I'd like you to share it now because it goes along with what you just said about your dad.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so I come from a family there's five daughters, so I have four sisters and they all kind of take after my mom's side Beautiful, brown, curly hair, my one sister's blonde, blonde, but you know, it's all my mom's side of the family, polish, and my dad and I are just the spitting image of each other, or we were. My dad passed away in 2018 and um mine did too.
Speaker 1:That's fine.
Speaker 3:Oh, really yeah oh, I'm so sorry.
Speaker 1:Bad year. For us, it was a bad year.
Speaker 3:But so when I was about 10 years old, my dad told me, threatened me, promised I don't know that I was going to start getting gray hair when I turned 16, just like him, and I didn't really think much of it. And then I turned 16. I found my first gray hair and I was so mad at him, angry, and I came down and I was like punching him on the shoulder and he's just laughing, just this, this laugh that shook the whole house and my mom was mad at him and cause he's he's, he has a girl dad. There's no boys in the family, so all he can do is kind of just like make fun of us and a great.
Speaker 2:I mean he was a girl dad.
Speaker 3:There's no boys in the family, so all he can do is kind of just like make fun of us and a great I mean, he was a great dad. So, anyway, fast forward to me dyeing my hair forever. And, um, he passed away in 2018. And my husband had always been like you know what? You have such beautiful hair. Why are you coloring it? And, um, I looked in the mirror after he he was gone probably six months, and I was like you know what?
Speaker 3:This is a gift from my dad and none of my other sisters have this gift and I think I'm ready to like wear it proudly now that he's gone, which um took a lot as a female being in her 30s to do um, and but now I have this gray hair that I is natural. I don't hide it and every time I look in the mirror I think of my dad, because he had this beautiful silver hair and um and he gave it to me and I see it as a gift now instead of being angry at him through, you know, all of my teenage and 20s and 30s thank you for sharing that great, that is awesome.
Speaker 2:Yeah, thank you for sharing. That's a wonderful story and it's true and it's good. Silver, thank hair, silver hair.
Speaker 1:Jackie has hair and it's pretty.
Speaker 2:Let's move on to our favorite. I do have hair.
Speaker 1:Make me wish I have dandruff.
Speaker 2:Our favorite. You put lotion on your head. Let's do our favorite sacred songs. Now, jackie, you're first.
Speaker 3:Okay. So I would have to say this goes, because I love A Charlie Brown Christmas so much but Hark. The Herald Angels Sing. It has to be one of my favorite, and I know there is a history of the words changing and everything like that, but when you see it in a cartoon and they're all singing it around the tree, and then Linus, you know, he, he, um, he, uh I think it's Luke that he, he says, and it's like absolutely amazing. I love seeing their mouths move really big up and down, so Hark the Herald Angels Sing.
Speaker 1:Great, very nice. Uh, I love Silent Night so I and it's always been a favorite since probably like my teenage years. I remember as a little baby, the first time I heard it it made me cry and my sister was like, oh, he doesn't like Silent Night. And then I didn't like it for a long time. Then I listened to it again when I was a teenager and I was like, why do I not like?
Speaker 2:this and so I just kind of liked it ever since then. I may come back to that song, but my number three is actually a combination of two songs. Again back to MTV. Do you remember when David Bowie and Bing Crosby sang together? It was peace on earth. And then the other guy sang Drummer Boy, and so it was a duet between Bing Crosby and David Bowie, who did not get along at all. But they pulled this song off and it's very beautiful, and my brother and I remember when we were kids watching that whenever it would come on, because you didn't have YouTube back then and you had to just wait for videos to show up. And when it came on, oh, come on, come on in the living room and let's listen to this and then record it on a VHS tape or something. So yeah, peace on Earth, drummer Boy I think that's what it's called Bing Crosby and David Bowie. David Bowie and Elvis and I share a birthday together, by the way, and so does that woman who's Elphaba in the new Wicked.
Speaker 3:Oh really.
Speaker 2:And Kim Jong-un and Maximilian Kolbe, Jan 8th.
Speaker 3:Anyway, speaking of birthdays, did you know Jimmy Buffett was born on Christmas Day? I didn't Just to go back on Mele Kalikimaka.
Speaker 2:There you go. Fandom, yes, see.
Speaker 3:All right, so that version is one of my favorite, father Damien. All right, so number two for me goes back to my dad. Do you hear what I hear? Did you know it was written during the Cuban Missile Crisis? I did some research on it, but when my dad was very, very sick in hospice, my sister and I decided that would be a great duet to sing no idea why, and we sang it on the top of our lungs. My dad was probably like what are these girls doing?
Speaker 3:But yeah it always reminds me of my dad.
Speaker 1:Very nice. Yeah, that's great. I don't know why I like this song, but I like the first Noel. It's kind of a traditional one. I think in my parish in New York they used to sing that as like a post-communion song and I think that they probably just sang it really well, so I probably like it for that reason.
Speaker 2:It's funny how all of our favorite songs are connected to people and memories.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:So my second is silent night, and I like it for many reasons, but I have a fond memory of going up to Buffalo in 2012 to see Sufjan Stevens, who has all these wonderful Christmas albums with Father Chris Zaruka and he played in a it wasn't a theater a venue called Babeland.
Speaker 1:It's run by Ani DeFranco. My friend got married there, yeah.
Speaker 2:It's a great venue. It's an old church and Sufjan's there. He's a secular artist but he's a Christian and he had us all singing these hymns. It was called Christmas M-E-S-S and we had little booklets with the songs in it. I still have it. And he got us to sing Silent Night and the men and the women together and you could tell people hadn't been to church in a while but they were singing as if they were and it was beautiful. And that song like who doesn't know Silent.
Speaker 1:Night Sure. Yeah, that's great.
Speaker 3:All right, we're on number one.
Speaker 2:Number one, your number one sacred song.
Speaker 3:Yes, so I have a slight tie. The Angel Gabriel is a beautiful, beautiful song and my daughter actually sang a solo of it and I never heard the song up until two Christmases ago when she sang the solo. So it's kind of like a new favorite song and she sang it on Christmas Eve at Mass. So that would be kind of my new one, and then always the classic oh Holy Night it is. I mean, it just is such a beautiful song when you kind of hear it acapella. So that is my number one.
Speaker 1:Nice I was going to take O Holy Night at one point, because I still have a recording of my mother singing that song.
Speaker 3:Oh really.
Speaker 1:Yeah like on a cassette somewhere, you know. Good luck finding something to play it on, but I still have that somewhere. But the one that I always say it's not Christmas until this song is played is O Come All Ye Faithful. Oh yeah, so good. It's usually the opening hymn at most places, and so I always say it's not Christmas until I hear that song.
Speaker 2:Yeah, the opening or the closing too, right, yeah, so I am with Jackie here with oh Holy Night is my favorite. I think I like it for many reasons. It's big, it's big, it's epic. Oh, you know there's a great version of Brandy Carlisle singing it. But I want to say too that the second verse, if I could pull this up, this verse long lay the world in sin and error, pining, like that's our existence here. Till he appeared and the soul felt its worth. I love that. That is so theologically rich. Till he appeared and the soul felt its worth. A thrill of hope. The weary world rejoices, for yonder breaks a new and glorious morn. So when that happens, fall on your knees. Oh, hear the angel voices. Oh night divine. Oh night when Christ was born.
Speaker 1:I love that. Yeah, greg Boyle at Homeboy Ministries uses that song a lot with the former gang members.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, saying that you know you have been in sin and error and you're pining for something else. And he said and then you finally feel it, until you feel your soul has worth, you're not going to really feel this. And so he notices, as soon as people feel that their soul has worth, that that's kind of turned around for them. And that's true not just for gang members, but for everyone, for everybody, right yeah?
Speaker 2:Yeah, Actually, some of these traditional Christmas hymns have wonderful theology.
Speaker 3:Yeah Well that's great, that's our list.
Speaker 1:This was fun.
Speaker 2:I wonder what's your list people out there. You can text us right or email us or something that's right text us.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's top of the show notes. There's a little place you can text us and we'll talk about those in a future episode, which is All of our songs in the show notes. Maybe a little YouTube video to most of them. That would be great. We'll see where people get with them.
Speaker 2:That would be great.
Speaker 1:Nice little playlist for you. Yes, nice, all right Church websites. You know I hear something. You know the bishop was here last week and in his pastoral letter he wrote we must ask ourselves are our parishes present online? Are we reaching out to our parishioners and potential parishioners online with a gospel message? Do we have a social media presence that is filled with hope and joy? Are our websites attractive and easy to navigate? Can people easily find us and our mass times? Can they easily identify what is offered for visitors and inquirers? Can they find a community to meet in person? Have we consulted our younger parishioners to Can they find a community to meet in person? Have we consulted our younger parishioners to ask for their help as digital natives in this regard? Briefcase Marketing will help you do all that.
Speaker 2:Our buddy, Dan First, who's the sponsor of this year's program, and we were telling Jackie how we now have this sponsor and she knew Dan from his work at John Canches. Did you say?
Speaker 3:Yeah, I've worked with Dan a couple different times. I've had some pastors that have reached out to me about upgrading their website and Dan is the absolute first person I connect them with. He does great work and he actually spoke at one of my events, so he's a great guy and you guys are lucky to have him as a sponsor.
Speaker 2:Yeah, Dan, First F-U-R-S-T, but he is the first person you should think of when you think of diocesan websites. Oh, I like that I just made that up on the spot. I don't even have a script before me.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so check it. We'll give you a little link to St John Cantus, which is a website that he redesigned, and our friends at TOB Cleveland he did that one as well. A bunch of them, the Apostolic for Family Consecration, a whole bunch of them. What he'll do is he'll help you clarify your message to attract the right audience. He'll streamline your website to convert visitors just mere visitors into customers, donors, volunteers, all that stuff.
Speaker 2:And, as the bishop said last week, like you want these things to be attractive. Beauty goes a long way, and if your website looks dumpy, that represents your ministry, which may not be dumpy, but the first thing they see is the website. So, especially with young people, they want good digital content, they want good websites and everybody wants to know when are your mass times, so that should be one of the first things that pops up.
Speaker 1:That's right. I mean, if your website is outdated and has dated information, it kind of sends a message that you don't care.
Speaker 2:Or that your ministry is outdated. Right, yeah, there you go.
Speaker 1:And so, with a clear message and a compelling website, you'll see more donors giving to your mission, more volunteers ready to serve and more people sharing and advocating for your company. So you deserve that. So visit briefcasemarketing. We'll put that link in the show notes. It's briefcasemarketing. You can schedule a call with our buddy, dan, or you can text him at 308-627-1262. Great All that in the show notes.
Speaker 2:Cool, so church search. I was down at Holy Martyrs this past Sunday and Jackie was actually given a pitch before Mass and yeah so that's your home parish, correct?
Speaker 3:It is my home parish. It is an amazing place for my family. We have just found home there and it's such a beautiful. It is such a beautiful campus. That wasn't your first time there, but I mean literally all four seasons at Holy Martyrs is amazing, because they have the windows you can kind of see out to the pond and the pavilion where we have outdoor masses and you know what. It's right off of 71, I mean. So if you are looking for a place, maybe you're heading up to Cleveland. I mean, it is literally 20 seconds off 71.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we haven't called him yet, but I was talking with Jen Ricard yesterday and we're getting ready to do some studies on the bishop's new pastoral letter and I want to have a site down in Wayne, ashland, medina, and I suggested your parish because it's right off the highway, literally like you get off the highway and it's about 500 feet until the driveway. And I think the parish was built or the church was built around 1980. It reminds me of is it 80?.
Speaker 2:No, it's a little later than that. Is it 85? No, I want to say 91. Oh, really, or maybe the parish was founded in 80 and the church was built in 90. Okay, because it reminds me of Holy Angels in Bainbridge in that it's built out in the country, so the stained glass windows which you would traditionally have in a city aren't necessary, because what you're looking out at are the changing seasons and it works.
Speaker 2:And Kayla Gill said the other day she's like I love it there. I feel like I'm because she's from Guernsey County. She's like I feel like I'm home when I'm there.
Speaker 3:It is a cozy place. It is, and you know it doesn't have, like you said, the stained glass, the one traditional aisle down the middle, but it's home and you know they have amazing small groups and Father Steve is amazing and we have Father Mark Atk come on the weekends to preach and we all love both of them.
Speaker 1:Yeah, my buddy Brandon Woods is the youth minister, there he's a great guy. Yeah.
Speaker 2:He plays a mean guitar. He does. He was playing on Sunday night. Did the announcements after? Yeah, it was good.
Speaker 1:All right, let's take a look at our readings for Christmas. This is from the Mass at midnight and I went with the Gospel here. Luke in Chapter 2, it said In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that the whole world should be enrolled. This was the first enrollment when Quirinius was governor of Syria. So all went to be enrolled, each to its own town, and the reason I like that is because it places Jesus actually in a point of history. So for history buffs it's a good thing to kind of say, hey, this is a real person.
Speaker 2:One of the things the bishop mentions in his pastoral letter is that moment in the Mass where the priest is preparing the chalice or the deacon and he pours a little bit of water into the wine and says by the mingling of this water and wine, may we come to share.
Speaker 1:I can't even do it outside of Mass. Through the mystery of this water and wine, we come to share in the divinity of Christ, who humbled himself to share in our humanity.
Speaker 2:That's it. I do this every day, but I can't do it outside of. Mass. So that is the incarnation. That's what Christmas is about, that the Lord comes and humbles himself to share in our humanity, so everything human he wants to participate in, except sin. Because what does he come to do to save us from this thing we call sin, to make us like him, and I love that. It never gets old. It's a mystery that never gets old. Any reflection on Christmas incarnation or readings.
Speaker 3:Well, not really incarnation, but you know, I love St Joseph and there's only a few times a year when we get to reflect on his actions, and so I always like to kind of take it from St Joseph's perspective here, because we finally hear about him and you know, in this gospel it's just beautiful to hear and you can kind of see him as like this father figure that I mean the amazing father that you know he was. So he doesn't get too much love, as we all know, so it's nice to always bring him back into the story.
Speaker 2:And he doesn't say a word in the Gospels. But we know of his actions, that he protected and served and loved, and our Lord, but also our Lady and the care that he took of her. So yeah, awesome stuff. There should be more songs about St Joseph. There should be. We should write one, okay.
Speaker 1:You and I should answer your assignment for over the break.
Speaker 3:You heard it here, folks, the three of us collaborate on this over the break.
Speaker 1:Get it done now, Come on All right. So Merry Christmas everybody.
Speaker 2:Merry Christmas, merry Christmas. Thanks for listening to our show.
Speaker 3:Thank you for having me on.
Speaker 1:Absolutely, we'll have you back. It'll be great. Yeah, all right, so you enjoy Christmas and we'll see you all again here next time.
