Next Sunday will be the last Sunday of the year!  Yes, not month but year.  I feel like I haven’t written enough of 2025, but now I’ll have to write a new year, 2026. I am sure we will look back on 2025 with mixed emotions; some will look back favorably, but some not so favorably. Some will look back and take a deep breath of relief, but some, sorrow.  We wish we could skip 2025, too much pain!  Some of us might wish that we could skip 2026, too much uncertainty! But some might wish that we could stay in 2025 forever, too much fun!

Times goes on, so does life.  We can’t stop it, slow it down, or speed it up.  I used to tell our children when they were around 5, 7, and 9, that if I could, I’d stop time; I wanted them to be 5, 7, and 9 forever. I knew that it’s a wistful thinking; it wasn’t going to happen.  Now I am 66, I am back having the same wistful thinking toward the little men in our family: our grandchildren. I wish I could stop time and make them stay somewhere between the ages of four to ten. 😊

I wonder if that wistful thinking ever crossed the minds of Mary and Joseph, especially after they heard the prophecy made by Simeon that this Child would be, “a sign from God, but many will oppose Him.”  And that, a sword would pierce her soul.  Even though Mary didn’t have a clear understanding of what would happen to her Son but she got the picture.  Her Son would suffer and she, too, would suffer.  I wonder if after hearing the prophecy Mary would often break down in tears whenever she put Jesus to sleep or saw him sleep so peacefully. The sword had come and began piercing her.

With Her Blessed Son, Mary moved along.  She did not even try to stop Her Beloved Son from carrying out His Heavenly Father’s will. She knew it was Heavenly Father’s will that she must obey, not her emotions.  So, she let the sword pierce her soul over and over.

Pastor Paul