Advent Love

[00:00:01] Speaker A: Welcome to Faith Break. Finding God moments in your everyday. Each week on Faith Break, hosts Karen Luke and Ann Gallagher bring spiritual refreshment to your daily Life. Today is December 22nd, the fourth Sunday in Advent. Karen and Anne explore Advent's fourth weekly theme Love. [00:00:27] Speaker B: Hey, everybody. Welcome back to week four, Advent. We're talking about love. I am Karen Luke and this is Ann Gallagher. [00:00:36] Speaker C: And we're taking a faith break today. [00:00:39] Speaker B: All about love. [00:00:39] Speaker C: All about love. For a podcast topic. This is just kind of like, it's so broad. It's almost like three days from Christmas at this point. So we're probably going to be talking. [00:00:50] Speaker B: About it in February. [00:00:51] Speaker C: Okay. [00:00:52] Speaker B: It will be good. [00:00:52] Speaker C: We'll make the most of it. [00:00:54] Speaker B: But let's first share our God moments. [00:00:57] Speaker C: Okay. [00:00:58] Speaker B: And I'm gonna let you go first. [00:01:00] Speaker C: Okay. I had a God moment this weekend and it's something that happened at church. It was an affirmation that happened at Mass. And our friend Karen reinforced. Not you, Karen, the other Karen, Karen Reinfort was at mass and she said to me, I love the monthly prayer challenges you're doing. I read it in the bulletin and what a great idea. And I was like, karen, you are the best. You always know what to say. That makes me feel affirmed and like we're doing things that are actually making a difference to people. So I loved that she took the time to share something positive with me because we were talking last time about how many positive things you need to hear to make up for that one negative thing you hear. [00:01:47] Speaker B: Absolutely. [00:01:48] Speaker C: So, yeah. And in case you're wondering about the prayer challenges, I'm going to give them a little plug now because we decided, you know, we work with our confirmation teams and they have a two year process that has a lot of requirements in it. And amid all those requirements, we didn't want to forget to teach them the skills you need to have a daily prayer practice. Because it's one thing just to be like, pray every day, but a lot of teens, and I think a lot of just people in general are like, well, where do I start? Right? So we started off this year. We're going to do a different prayer challenge for our confirmation teens every month, a different prayer style. And we're going to show them how to do it and we're going to encourage them to do it for five minutes a day. And then I was like, well, why don't we just tell the whole parish about the prayer challenge and they can pray with our teens who are getting confirmed. And honestly, it was one of those things I was like, oh, this is one of those youth minister ideas. One more thing to do, and nobody's gonna notice. But anyway, so it's in the bulletin every month. There'll be a reminder about how we're praying this month. So this December, it has been contemplative prayer, which is really just five minutes in silence a day. You can do more if you want, but teaching our teens how to come to a place of stillness. Yeah. And December is a perfect time to do that because. Is it the least. It's like, the least still and quiet month. It's the most frenetic month. Like, yeah, you know, scheduling wise. But it also is a beautiful month. Like, maybe there'll be snow and maybe we'll have, like, peace in that, you know, in the. In the nature or whatever. But, like, whatever you do it. Just, like, join us. Join our teens and spend five quiet minutes with God every day. That's my challenge. But anyway, that was a long, long way around. My God moment. [00:03:41] Speaker B: I love your God moment. [00:03:42] Speaker C: Thank you, Karen, for the affirmation. [00:03:43] Speaker B: So this is so funny. So I had another God moment. Like, I had one. I was going to say, and then you said something about the quiet and contemplative prayer, and it reminded me of another God moment. So I'm gonna. I'm gonna. Nick's my first one. Do it another week when it actually was today. I mean, so for those. You know, that we record these weeks in advance. And today I was leading a prayer opportunity, and I was supposed to get up and end up talking, and I just got so sucked in to the quiet. [00:04:18] Speaker C: It was great, though. I was there. [00:04:20] Speaker B: Everyone was waiting. I. Like, I thought. [00:04:21] Speaker C: We weren't, though. We were enjoying the quiet. [00:04:23] Speaker B: It was the weirdest thing because, like. Yeah, I didn't know how much time had elapsed. Like, that's. [00:04:29] Speaker C: It wasn't that much time. [00:04:30] Speaker B: Okay. [00:04:31] Speaker C: It was totally fine. [00:04:31] Speaker B: But that was, like, crazy. I. Yeah, I usually don't have that kind of experience, especially when you're. [00:04:38] Speaker C: Sometimes when you're leading prayer, you can't. [00:04:40] Speaker B: Really enter into it, but it was like I was. I, like, snapped out of it. I was like, oh, my gosh. Was that 10 minutes? Was that five minutes? Was it a minute? Like, it felt. [00:04:49] Speaker A: Wasn't. [00:04:50] Speaker C: It's not. [00:04:52] Speaker B: Hey. Got stuck in the quiet. But looking back on it, I needed that quiet moment from, like, that was. That was my God moment of just stilling myself in the craziness and chaos. [00:05:06] Speaker C: Almost like God just came and put his hand on your shoulder. And it just felt. [00:05:09] Speaker B: And. [00:05:09] Speaker C: Just stay here for a minute, Karen. Right. [00:05:11] Speaker B: And it didn't feel. You know how sometimes this quiet feels uncomfortable? This was totally not uncomfortable. Yeah, so. [00:05:20] Speaker C: Well, it was a gift. [00:05:22] Speaker B: Okay. [00:05:22] Speaker C: Okay. Love. Okay. [00:05:26] Speaker B: Well, I'll start. [00:05:27] Speaker C: Because it's like, really, it's. [00:05:29] Speaker B: So where do you start? But you had picked out a scripture passage, and I circled it, and I really love it because usually when we think of love. I said I wasn't going to go there, but I'm going to go there first. Corinthians. Love is like a gong. [00:05:43] Speaker C: You can't not. [00:05:44] Speaker B: You can't. [00:05:44] Speaker C: Love is patient. Love is kind. [00:05:45] Speaker B: Love is kind. [00:05:46] Speaker C: Love is love. It's at every wedding you've ever been. [00:05:48] Speaker B: It's at every wedding and sometimes funerals. I mean, it's just. It's everywhere. And I got sucked into it. I picked it for our wedding, too. But this one, this one caught me first. John, chapter four, verse seven. Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God. Everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God. [00:06:13] Speaker C: Right. [00:06:14] Speaker B: So, Anne. Begotten. [00:06:17] Speaker C: Yes. [00:06:17] Speaker B: Okay. In our creed, that changed. That word changed. And no one knows what begotten means. Should we share what? I mean, I think that's important to know because, like. [00:06:29] Speaker C: Right. So I think it has to do with this idea of, like, we're made in the image and likeness of God. But, like, what does that mean? I think what it means to be made in the image and likeness of God is that we can love. Right. That's the whole point of being human is that we. That's why we have free will. Because you can't love unless you're free. And when we are loving, that's when we are imaging God for others. That's when we're reflecting God. [00:07:00] Speaker B: It says, Jesus was begotten, not made. So Jesus was already present, even though was not on earth. [00:07:11] Speaker C: In the Trinity. [00:07:11] Speaker B: In the Trinity. And like, that's just. I don't know. [00:07:15] Speaker C: And the Trinity is a relationship. So when we say God is love, we mean in relationship. We mean for real. God is really love. It's not just a symbol. It's not an image. It's God is a relationship of love between three people who are also one person. We solved it. Okay, moving on. [00:07:37] Speaker B: Yeah, we solved it. That's rough. But I just. I love that idea. Like, everyone whose love is begotten, like, love is not made love is just there. And it's up to us to share that with others. And, you know, I. My best Friend's mom, Carol, she passed away just after Emma was born. And she was like my second mom. And I remember speaking of weddings, we had a picture. Jeremy and I had a picture. And then like a big banner of people to write. Like, that was our book. Oh, yeah. So they got to write notes to us. And so we have it hanging in our house. It's our wedding picture. And then all around it is everyone who was there, guest book kind of thing. And Carol wrote, Marriage is not 50, 50. It's a hundred percent on both sides. [00:08:33] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:08:34] Speaker B: It's like, wow, that's true. I mean, almost 18 years later, I'm still thinking of that. That it's not. I'm going to give you half. I'm giving you everything. [00:08:45] Speaker C: Yes. [00:08:45] Speaker B: And Jesus gave us everything. [00:08:48] Speaker C: He held nothing back. [00:08:50] Speaker B: And his life, I mean, he literally gave everything to us. [00:08:54] Speaker C: Well, you know, we talk about. One of the other quotes we found for today was from John 15, which is part of the Last Supper discourse. So Jesus, last meal with his friends. He says, no one has greater life than this to lay down one's life for one's friends. But like, Jesus didn't just lay down his life on the cross, he did lay down his life on the cross. But his birth was a laying down of his life. Because from the moment Jesus was born, God was born in a human body. [00:09:26] Speaker B: Or even before that, when Mary in the living. [00:09:28] Speaker C: When he was deceived. Right. He was always going to die. Right. So like God by entering into creation in that. And that's not to belittle the cross at all, but just to say that like the Paschal mystery is Jesus whole existence. It's his birth, his death, his resurrection. Yeah. And at this time of year when we celebrate his birth, to remember not just the love he gave on the cross, but the love that God showed in being incarnate. [00:09:59] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:10:00] Speaker C: Close to us to draw that close to the human experience. Right. I mean, think of that is so loving. He laid down his whole life, not just his death, his whole life. [00:10:11] Speaker B: Wow. [00:10:12] Speaker C: I don't know. [00:10:13] Speaker B: That's a lot. [00:10:14] Speaker C: Yeah. These stories we have, we don't always get the stories at Mass like the Annunciation and the visitation and the. We'll get Nativity. But like I think today's gospel is actually the visitation, which is one of my favorite stories in all of Scripture, because we have these two women, these two pregnant mamas, coming together to share their joy and to share the love that's growing within them that God has done miraculous things. [00:10:44] Speaker B: Right. [00:10:46] Speaker C: It's Just amazing. It's one of my favorite passages. [00:10:49] Speaker B: So when I first started ministry, we did a blessing, expectant parent blessing. And I'm looking at doing it again because we should at St. Catherine's and Transfiguration, because it's such a beautiful, like, little non church ceremony, but. And the visitation is one of those scripture passages that we read. And so it was just like. I think sometimes we forget to do things before the baby is born. Right. Like, we don't. [00:11:22] Speaker C: We don't skip right. To, like, baptismal prep. [00:11:24] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:11:24] Speaker C: Instead of like, we need. Yeah. [00:11:27] Speaker B: You know, like, my niece is pregnant and she keeps asking me. She's like, aunt Karen, you know, like, when do I call the church? I was like, sooner than later. [00:11:35] Speaker C: Yeah, we can do it anytime. [00:11:37] Speaker B: Do it anytime. But it's just like that. We were talking about that scripture passage, and that just reminded me of that, like, we. This joy of this essence that is coming to life. In the first two episodes, we were talking about how we don't like that our life is planned. [00:11:59] Speaker C: Right. The dream. Not the dream. [00:12:01] Speaker B: The dream, but not the plan. But Mary's was really planned. She's the exception to the rule, right? [00:12:07] Speaker C: Well, yeah. And we, like. I mean, when we sat down today, we were like, oh, love. It's such a broad thing. What are we going to do? But it's really, like, practical. Right. And like, it's not like this big romanticized thing. Like, in real life, what it looks like to love someone is pretty boring most of the time. And you. Whether it's like your spouse or your kids or your parents or your friends or whoever it is, like you're doing small things for them out of love. That might be like doing the dishes or folding the laundry again or like, oh, my gosh, you know. [00:12:41] Speaker B: Okay, let's talk about that for a second. [00:12:43] Speaker C: Okay. [00:12:43] Speaker B: Because you brought up. When we were talking about how we were going to prepare, you brought up love language. [00:12:49] Speaker C: Oh, what's your love language? [00:12:51] Speaker B: And the other day. The other day I was like, jeremy, the best way to show me that you love me right now is to get the kids up and ready for school. Because I just. [00:13:03] Speaker C: Did he do it? [00:13:04] Speaker B: He did it and it was like, oh, my gosh. You know, and that he knew. Like, he knew that it was something that was gonna mean so much to me because I'm just. [00:13:16] Speaker C: Sometimes you just can't. [00:13:17] Speaker B: I just. I knew I was gonna break, and. [00:13:20] Speaker C: So it's so funny. [00:13:21] Speaker B: I was like, the best love language you could show me right now. [00:13:24] Speaker C: I Know, it's so true. But, like, it's in those ordinary moments. Right. And it's also in the. We talk all the time about it. It's like, it's in the mess. Right. It's in the. Because what it means to love someone is not always easy. [00:13:36] Speaker B: Right. [00:13:37] Speaker C: And, you know, we see this all through the stories with Mary and Joseph and the Holy Family, with Elizabeth and Zechariah, too, in Advent. And, you know, we have teenagers. And loving a teenager is different than loving when they were babies or when they were little kids that didn't say. [00:14:00] Speaker B: No to you all the time. [00:14:01] Speaker C: Right. I swear, my kids, sometimes they walk in the door after school and they just say, what's for dinner? Oh, they don't say like, hi, mom, how was your day? It's like, what's for dinner? And I'm not saying that to throw them under the bus because they're. They're awesome teens. But, like, you know, when you love a real person. [00:14:18] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:14:20] Speaker C: They change. And they have good days and bad days or good seasons or rough seasons, and we can't control another person. So just the act of loving is risky and it's vulnerable and you might get hurt. And you definitely can't designate how things are going to turn out for our loved ones. Right. So, like, that's. And that was true for Mary and, you know, watching her kid grow and all the choices he made in his life and where they led him. [00:14:57] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:14:58] Speaker C: And, you know, so she showed her love by supporting him through all of that. And even, like, I mean, I think about her pregnancy and, like, the judgment of others that she must have. [00:15:10] Speaker B: Right. [00:15:12] Speaker C: Experienced, like, even from Joseph a little bit in the beginning there, before he gets totally on board, before he gets his dreams, you know, I mean, talk about laying. Laying your life down. [00:15:26] Speaker B: Right. [00:15:27] Speaker C: For a friend. [00:15:28] Speaker B: But, I mean, we don't hear a lot about Joseph. [00:15:31] Speaker C: I know, but I know, like, think. [00:15:36] Speaker B: About the love he had for Jesus. And it wasn't his. I mean. [00:15:41] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:15:41] Speaker B: It wasn't his biological son, but he, like, embraced that and was able to. I don't even want to say accept, because I don't. I don't. I would hate to think that he just accepted that, but embraced it. Embraced. That's a better word. I like that word. [00:16:03] Speaker C: Oh, yeah. And just how Joseph embodies love. [00:16:07] Speaker B: Right. [00:16:08] Speaker C: Care what it means to. [00:16:10] Speaker B: Yeah. It's like, you know, when I'm there, when we're talking to my little kids, the second graders and third graders or anybody going through reconciliation, you know, were like, you could basically do no wrong and God will love you. Right. I mean, you. If. As long as you were asking for that forgiveness, God is going to love you. And it's like the love of a. [00:16:34] Speaker C: Parent can't love you anymore and he can't love you any less. Right, right. [00:16:38] Speaker B: And I, like, I think of my kids and I'm like, gosh, I love you so much, yet I just want to, you know. But there was nothing that they could do that would make me be like, I can't do this anymore with you, you know? Like. [00:16:56] Speaker C: Right. [00:16:57] Speaker B: But how easy it is to dismiss other relationships that we have. [00:17:01] Speaker C: Yeah. Well, it's true that, like, the family is sort of like this, like, microcosm of, like a laboratory of love. What do they say about the domestic church? There's like that. There's a famous quote from a famous pope about what it means to be the domestic church. And just like, it's a school for love or self sacrifice or something. It's in our families that we learn how to love. Because you gotta do it every day. [00:17:27] Speaker B: Right. And it's hard and it's messy and it's. [00:17:31] Speaker C: I think church is like that too, though. It's just like the family taken at one degree. Because you look around the pews on Sunday and you just. There's so much going on. There's so much going on with, like. I'm just even like, just this last weekend, I remember sitting there and I saw. I always look around at communion. We've talked about this before, and, you know, I saw one person who just lost their spouse. And you just could tell in the way she was sitting, the grief she was carrying. Right. And I looked across the church and there's like the dad of one of our kids we confirmed a couple years ago is just like, brushing the tears out of his eyes at the song that they were singing, maybe. And then there's like this little kid who's like, running into the baptismal font and the parents are. You know, the parents go up for a communion and they're like, raining a minute. You're just like, this is so beautiful. Like, what this community encompasses and the different types of love that are happening in that tapestry all the time. I mean, it's so rich. [00:18:38] Speaker B: And the fact that Our parishes at St Catherine's in Transfiguration are like, I don't know about you, but when I walk in, I just feel like this. I'm being enveloped. [00:18:54] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:18:55] Speaker B: And people are wondering about my day or, you know, raising a question of Something that happened a week or two ago. I mean, it's just. It's like a big extended family. [00:19:08] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:19:09] Speaker B: And, you know, thinking about how we show love to people, and I always say to my kids, I was like, look, you smiling at somebody is showing your love. And that might be the first smile that they've had all day. Or you opening. You know, keeping the door open for them. [00:19:27] Speaker C: Right. [00:19:28] Speaker B: They might have experienced something traumatic. You know, we don't know. [00:19:32] Speaker C: We never know what brings someone in. [00:19:34] Speaker B: What brings someone. [00:19:34] Speaker C: What they're going through, though. [00:19:36] Speaker B: Not just our church. [00:19:37] Speaker C: You're right. [00:19:37] Speaker B: You're at the grocery store. [00:19:39] Speaker C: Yes. [00:19:39] Speaker B: Or at the gas station. I mean, anywhere. We don't know what our Right. [00:19:46] Speaker C: So to be able to respond with love no matter what the situation. [00:19:50] Speaker B: Right. [00:19:51] Speaker C: Like, one of the other quotes we found was First Corinthians 16:14. Let all you do be done in love. All you do, all the things you're doing should come from my laundry place. [00:20:05] Speaker B: Folding my laundry and, you know, making dinner at the same time. I should just be. [00:20:10] Speaker C: So I'm just thinking about all the things I did not do in love. [00:20:15] Speaker B: Well, that's what I'm saying. [00:20:15] Speaker C: But all the things I did in resentment or all the things I did in. Yeah. [00:20:21] Speaker B: Like, I keep saying that my mom. I think I've said this before. My mom made parenting and adulting look really easy. [00:20:31] Speaker C: Wow. [00:20:32] Speaker B: And I told her that the other day, and I'm like, look, you ruined it for me. Because it was so. [00:20:38] Speaker C: This stuff is hard. [00:20:39] Speaker B: Like, it felt just. [00:20:40] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:20:41] Speaker B: Felt like everything was in place. Like, I didn't. You know, And I'm like, oh, my poor kids. [00:20:47] Speaker C: Yeah. I'm pretty sure my kids know it's not easy. I don't think I make it look easy. [00:20:51] Speaker B: I don't make it look easy at all. [00:20:53] Speaker C: I do think they feel loved. [00:20:54] Speaker B: Oh, absolutely. But, yeah, just the consistent love and, like, not feeling ashamed either. Or even, you know, like, I had to give up a little of myself and ask Jeremy for that help. [00:21:12] Speaker C: Right. [00:21:12] Speaker B: Because I knew that I just couldn't do it. [00:21:13] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:21:14] Speaker B: You know, she's like, who? [00:21:17] Speaker C: But, like, we all have those days, but it wasn't you. I think Jesus either, but I think, like, being married, that's like, you're just. You're in it together. That's the best thing is, like, you're. We're a team, you know, we don't do it alone. Just a few more scripture things we found. First John, chapter 4, verse 19. We love because God first loved us. That's a lot. [00:21:45] Speaker B: So I'm not crying. [00:21:50] Speaker C: Like, it's not something we do on our own. It's something we. It's responsive. Right. We can do it because we know what it looks like. Because it's already happened to us. [00:22:00] Speaker B: Hopefully. [00:22:01] Speaker C: Hopefully, yes. [00:22:03] Speaker B: You know, I mean, there are. We are fortunate enough that we've had those role models, even though we've had, like, family struggles and issues and everything like that. But, you know, we do have to recognize that there are some people that may not have had that model, have. [00:22:21] Speaker C: Not felt the love or. [00:22:22] Speaker B: Felt the love. [00:22:23] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:22:24] Speaker B: And how hard is that, like, for them, you know, to be able to walk, you know, whatever their experience is, to feel welcomed and loved. [00:22:39] Speaker C: Right. [00:22:40] Speaker B: And. And just to say, like, oh, God loves you, not gonna cut it. You know, that doesn't there. I think there's more. More to it. I mean. [00:22:53] Speaker C: Right. So we're all called to embody the love, but we don't always succeed or accept it. Yep. [00:23:02] Speaker B: You know, or want to even think, like, that someone could love you. [00:23:10] Speaker C: We don't see ourselves as lovable. [00:23:12] Speaker B: Right. Yeah, I know. That's why a lot of adults don't like reconciliation. [00:23:22] Speaker C: They make their kid do it at age 7, but they don't go to. [00:23:25] Speaker B: At the same time. They don't want to acknowledge. I mean, there's things that I'm like, oh, I don't know. [00:23:31] Speaker C: But you feel so much better once you do it, right? [00:23:35] Speaker B: I do, but it's hard to recognize the selfishness or the things about us. [00:23:46] Speaker C: And that's the whole getting back. We always talk about the spiritual exercises, too. The whole first week of that retreat is focused on learning to accept that you are loved by God just as you are. [00:23:57] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:23:58] Speaker C: Yeah. Okay. What else do we want to talk about with love? Just read one John, chapter four. [00:24:05] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:24:05] Speaker C: There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. Fear. Fear is not from God. Right. Like, that is one of the things I've taken away from spiritual direction all these years is that if I'm feeling fear, it is not coming from God. It's coming from that other place. Yeah. And just the idea that, like, love can, like, cast it out. Right. Like, you just. If you're coming from a place of love, you will not be afraid. And that's the thing that gets said over and over again in the Bible, too. Do not be afraid. Right. Even with all these things that happen to all of our, you know, our biblical people, but especially to the whole, you know, bringing it back to Advent and Christmas, like the holy family. Being loving means sharing the joy, sharing the peace, and sharing the sorrow, too. I don't know. [00:24:55] Speaker B: Just a side note, because I'm on the whole, like, how many times things are said in the Bible. [00:24:59] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:25:00] Speaker B: Love outweighs joy. [00:25:04] Speaker C: Okay. [00:25:05] Speaker B: The amount is the time mentioned. [00:25:06] Speaker C: Yes. [00:25:07] Speaker B: 500 times. [00:25:08] Speaker C: How do you know these things? [00:25:09] Speaker B: Because I look it up on Google. [00:25:10] Speaker C: Okay. [00:25:12] Speaker B: No, I sat there and I read the Bible and I counted every single word when love came on. [00:25:18] Speaker C: In which translation were you using? No, just kidding. I believe Google. I believe the Internet when it says that it must be true. [00:25:27] Speaker B: I think it's. [00:25:27] Speaker C: I mean, yeah. [00:25:28] Speaker B: I mean, look at all of these scripture passages that we've already talked about. [00:25:31] Speaker C: Well, that's why we laughed when we came in today, because it was like, love, love. It's great. [00:25:37] Speaker B: It is. And it's hard. It's hard, but it's. It's worth it. And we're. We're talking about spouses, too. But you have love for your friends, right? Like, there's so many different types, Expressions of love, love. You know, you have. You. There are. There's a. There's a love of people that you meet on the street that you have no connection to. [00:25:59] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:26:00] Speaker B: But just being kind to them is showing your love for them. You know, just acts of service to others. [00:26:08] Speaker C: I think it's just so cool, too, that there are so many different ways to, like, express a loving vocation or a loving lifestyle. Like, we get to spend a week every summer with The Sisters of St. Joseph doing a youth service retreat. And, like, that's a whole nother model of, you know, laying your life down in love. You can do it through marriage, you can do it through priesthood. Like our priests. The Sisters are an amazing example of what it looks like to live a. [00:26:37] Speaker B: Life of love, singlehood. [00:26:38] Speaker C: Right. Everybody does it in their own way. [00:26:41] Speaker B: Yeah. And everyone's called to do something different. And that's what I love about this about love. I love about love is that we all experience it and show it differently. [00:26:55] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:26:55] Speaker B: That there's not this one way to do it. [00:27:00] Speaker C: Right. [00:27:01] Speaker B: And that everyone can find a little love and joy and peace. [00:27:07] Speaker C: So as we head into Christmas in three days, let's remember to do love. All those little things with love. When you're wrapping the presents, that's gonna. [00:27:16] Speaker B: Be, like, in the forefront of my brain. [00:27:20] Speaker C: You're cooking all the things. Yeah. [00:27:23] Speaker B: Lord knows that I don't want to do it out of resentment, especially during Christmas. Oh, my gosh. That's just Wrong in so many ways, but yeah. [00:27:31] Speaker C: And don't just offer it up either. You know, your grandmother used to say. At least my grandma used to say, like, my Irish Catholic grandma offer it up. That's not the same thing as, like, doing it with love necessarily. You know, I'm gonna just. [00:27:44] Speaker B: Presence with love. [00:27:46] Speaker C: Father Rob. Yes. [00:27:48] Speaker B: Oh, my gosh. [00:27:49] Speaker C: His love language is gift giving. [00:27:51] Speaker B: I think I agree with that. But just the way he takes the time. [00:27:55] Speaker C: Oh, I know. [00:27:56] Speaker B: To wrap the presents and also, like, the thank you cards after. Like, I'm so bad about thank you cards. [00:28:03] Speaker C: But he's really good like that. [00:28:05] Speaker B: He is really good like that. So shout out. Hey, we do want to shout out. [00:28:09] Speaker C: Oh, yes. [00:28:09] Speaker B: Let's do our gratitude. [00:28:10] Speaker C: Gratitude for the week. [00:28:12] Speaker B: For the week of love. And you already dropped her name. [00:28:15] Speaker C: I did drop her name. So I'm gonna talk her. But. So, Karen Reinford, we're talking to you. We're grateful for you today, not just for the affirmation you gave me personally this week, but you are someone that Karen and I have looked to as a mentor for many years, and you always help us to put things in perspective. [00:28:32] Speaker B: You bleed love. [00:28:33] Speaker C: Thank you. Thank you for all the other ways you support our parishes, too. But for us today, it's personal. We thanking you for being there for us in all those ways. Okay. [00:28:44] Speaker B: All right. [00:28:45] Speaker C: All right, guys. Merry Christmas. I feel like we should have dressed for the occasion somehow. But we didn't. [00:28:51] Speaker B: We didn't. But it's okay. We're down to earth. [00:28:53] Speaker C: Yep. [00:28:53] Speaker B: We're. We're. God loves us the way we are. [00:28:56] Speaker C: Yes. And we're gonna accept that, receive it, and respond to it. Okay? [00:29:01] Speaker B: All right, everybody. [00:29:02] Speaker C: Merry Christmas, everyone. [00:29:05] Speaker A: Thanks for taking a break with us today. Karen, Luke and Ann Gallagher are lay ministers with the parishes of St. Catherine of Siena in Menden, New York, and Church of the Transfiguration in Pittsford, New York. More about our parishes, including weekly livestreamed Sunday Mass, can be [email protected] or transfigurationpitsford.org Engineering Today is by Jeff Beckett. Catch new episodes each week on your favorite podcast or music app.