The holiday season is most definitely here. With Thanksgiving immediately ahead and Christmas not far behind, it’s an opportune time to ask: What is your parish doing to welcome young adults?

Holidays are one of the natural connecting moments between the church and young adults. Think about it . . . Thanksgiving and Christmas are times when:

• many college students return home for a visit
• out-of-town young adult children come home to visit parents
• many young adults visit with their boyfriends’ or girlfriends’ family and friends

The holidays are a time to put forth your parish's best efforts to welcome and invite young adults to your parish. Consider a special emphasis on the virtue of welcome this Advent & Christmas season.

Excerpt from remarks shared at the 38th annual Bishop McNulty Award Dinner Dance (11/19/10):

Once there was a king was traveling with his child and his whole entourage through the wilderness. Suddenly the procession came to a halt because the king’s son was crying for water. So the king ordered his royal engineering corps to dig a well right there, on the spot at which they had stopped. Soon the royal engineers were boring a hole through the desert sand and rock. Toward evening they reached a vein of water, and the prince’s thirst was quenched.

After he had drunk his fill, the prince asked his father, “Why did you trouble your men to dig a hole in the desert? After all, you could have obtained water much more quickly and easily by sending men by horseback to the nearest settlement.”

November is Black Catholic History month. During this month we knowledge and celebrate the accomplishments of our black brothers and sisters in the faith. Throughout history people of color have served the church and lived their faith in many important ways. From the African who helped carry the cross of Jesus to present day role models such as Sr. Thea Bowman and Fr. Augustin Tolton, black people have witnessed to the good news of God's love and challenged us to love one another. People of all races, all ethnic or cultural groups, and all ages can learn from the incredible faith witness of our black brothers and sisters.

Yesterday and today have been awfully frosty here in the northtowns of our diocese. Perhaps the Southern Tier has already had it's share of frosts and snowy hilltops, but now that deep chill is slowly spreading across all eight counties of our diocese...

Unlike "Christmas" which seems to have BURST onto the scene in the past week! I was struck all weekend by the number of stores that have gone into full blown Christmas-mode already. It won't be long till the radio stations are playing Christmas music 24/7.

Personally, I'm not in favor of the "way-too-early full court press" approach to Christmas. (I prefer the slower paced Advent waiting time . . . but more about that in a future blog!) I have, however, discovered one happy thing about the early focus on Christmas...

It encourages us to think about WinterCamp! Boys and girls ages 7 - 16 are invited to sign up for WinterCamp 2010 at Camp Turner!