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Blessings 2024… April 2024… February 2024… January 2024… March 2024…
Blessings 2023… April 2023… August 2023… Christ’s glory… Christmas 2023… December 2023… February 2023… Flame within… God’s gift… January 2023… July 2023… June 2023… Love’s heart… March 2023… May 2023… November 2023… October 2023… September 2023…
Blessings 2022… August 2022… December 2022… July 2022… June 2022… Kiss of God… May 2022… Mourning joy… November 2022… October 2022… October saints… Presence… September 2022… Sight… Sitka’s St. Michael… St. Michael prayers
Filed under: blessings, Christmas, prayer, spiritual gifts | Tagged: building community, God's master plan, overcoming adversity, St. Joseph Church-Port Aransas TX |
Shared thoughts... 
A few things to note in contrasting the two Christmas photos:
1. Both were taken in the morning. Note the rainbow lights on the wall to the right behind the ambo from the light streaming through the stained-glass window. That window faces southeast, and this happens only at 9:00 A.M. Mass in the winter. In the lower photo, it provides a magical illumination of the banner with the Magi. Deli managed to capture a visual manifestation of the Epiphany! How cool is that?
2. The upper photo was taken before Hurricane Harvey damaged the church. It was taken between the Fourth Sunday of Advent and Epiphany Sunday. How do we know this? The St. Joseph Church tradition that Fr. Deane brought with him from Ireland was maintained through Fr. Xaviour’s tenure. We did a “greening” of the church before the First Sunday of Advent, but there were no lights on the trees and no Nativity set put out. The Nativity without the Baby Jesus was set in place (to the left side out of sight of the camera) after Gaudete Sunday, and the trees were lit for Christmas after the Fourth Sunday. The Baby was brought in by the priest during the procession at the Christmas Eve anticipatory Mass. All of the Christmas trappings were taken down after Epiphany as the Church returned to Ordinary Time.
3. The lower photo was taken after the restoration from Hurricane Harvey. The tile wall panel behind the cross was installed during that repair project, and the carpeted elevated sanctuary floor and steps (upper photo) were replaced with the tile and oak you see. The tall Christmas trees did not survive the flooding from the hurricane. The Baby Jesus is in the manger, so we know the photo was taken between Christmas morning and Epiphany.
Thanks for sharing your recollections of the Christmas altars at St. Joseph’s. I live and breathe that sacred space, so every vivid detail heightens my senses with depth, complexity, and a joyful heart that can’t be contained. St. Joseph’s will forever be part of our lives no matter where we are. It will always be our church.