MERRILLVILLE – “Do you want to find holiness?” Deacon Gary Wolfe asked his audience at the first in a series of three Advent programs hosted by Holy Martyrs Parish/Our Lady of Consolation on Dec. 5. “If you do not believe you can become holy, then you can’t.”
As an example of holiness, Deacon Wolfe told the story of St. Nicholas on the eve of his Dec. 6 feast day, explaining that the heir to a fortune brought joy to the people of his village through his generosity. His tradition of filling the stockings of the poor led to the legend of Santa Claus, added Deacon Wolfe, and resulted in a secular benefactor who lives in the North Pole and travels the world bringing gifts to children on Christmas.
“People say we need to bring Christ back into Christmas, and if we are going to do that, we need to look to the Word of God made flesh – the incarnation – and accept him into our hearts,” he explained.
“Through this Advent series,” said Father Ted Mauch, pastor, in welcoming attendees, “we want to open our hearts to lead the way to Jesus.”
Deacon Wolfe outlined how the faithful can use the season of hope to prepare for holiness by embracing the incarnation – a central doctrine of the Christian faith that affirms Jesus Christ was both fully human and fully divine.
The four steps toward accepting the incarnation, said Deacon Wolfe, are:
1. To reconcile ourselves to God,
2. For God to show us His love for us,
3. To learn to walk a path to holiness, and
4. To partake in His divine nature.
Deacon Wolfe illustrated the first step by telling the story of how a man who pursued “the American dream” of wealth and success only to lose God and end up unsatisfied. “The joy he had was founded on material things, yet it all was really a gift from God,” he said. “God has been calling us to Himself for a long time, but it hasn’t always worked out.”
To show his love for us, “God sent His Son to us,” Deacon Wolfe continued. “We were made in His likeness, to reconcile ourselves to him.”
To walk the path to holiness, added the deacon, Jesus became fully human, “living like us in every way but one; He didn’t sin. He struggled in his humanity, and then did the ultimate act of love; He gave his life to show us the path to holiness, often going off to pray to show His closeness to His Father.”
By establishing a Church, “Jesus took us to the next level” in renaming the apostle Simon as Peter – the rock upon whom I will build my Church – said Deacon Wolfe, “Peter became the first bishop of Rome, and all of the 12 apostles established churches.
Jesus gathered them on the night before He died, took bread and wine and gave it to them, saying ‘Do this in memory of me,’ and thereby established the sacrament of the Eucharist.
In that way, said the deacon, “Christ gave us what we needed to become holy.”
“I am looking forward to growing in faith and the love of God,” said Samantha Thornberry, a Crown Point resident and OLC parishioner and faith formation teacher, of her attendance at the Advent series. “I really love all the events our parish hosts.”
Thornberry said the knowledge her fifth- and sixth-grade students have of Advent is largely confined to Advent calendars filled with chocolates, but she has been stressing the Eucharist in class and taught them about St. Nicholas by gifting each pupil with a stocking filled with treats.
Michael Gallenberger of St. Joseph in Dyer made a stop on his way home from work to attend the presentation. “It seemed like the perfect opportunity to get prepared for Christmas,” he said. “We have an Advent wreath at home, and I do try to say extra prayers; Advent means ‘preparation’ to me.”
The program included a guided meditation on the baby Jesus in his creche, a short one-on-one discussion period on the Advent message, and a time of silent prayer at the altar.
“If you really want to bring joy to the world, start with yourself,” urged Deacon Wolfe. “It begins with knowing that you can become holy through the love of Jesus.”
The final program in the series will be held at 7 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 19, at Our Lady of Consolation church, with Sister Deanna Love, C.M.C. speaking on the topic “Receive the Gift.”
Caption: Parishioner Bridget Conry leads a guided meditation on the creche at the birth of Christ during an Advent reflection hosted at Our Lady of Consolation in Merrillvile on Dec. 5. The guest speaker at the first of a three-part series on preparing for Christmas was Deacon Gary Wolfe (left), who spoke on the topic "Joy to the World: the Mystery of the Incarnation." (Marlene A. Zloza photo)