A Clark Griswold Moment: It was early afternoon on Christmas Eve. I was ahead of the game by maybe a half hour with all of my Christmas preparations! I know that doesn’t sound like much but for my life that’s a miracle. It was weird … everything seemed to be going okay; and we all know that’s not a typical scenario for me before a major liturgy or event. I had three last minute crazy ideas I was still working on (the luminaries or tea lights for placement outside around the church, the handout the greeters would be giving to those coming to mass and programming the music for the outside speakers before each mass).
The simplest of my three last minute crazy ideas was programming the outside music … so I thought. Originally, I wanted one song by Amy Grant to play in a continuous loop before each mass but that wasn’t working the way I wanted. So I hunted for the best playlist I could find on Pandora of contemporary Christian Christmas music. I had the volumes all figured out so I wouldn’t blast out the neighborhood and all the timing and programming seemed right. I couldn’t wait to hear all of this in action. I wanted to create this beautiful and calm “Norman Rockwell” type scenario: people would be making their way from their cars to church with the Christmas music playing softly in the air while seeing the glitter from the Christmas lights just starting to make an impact as nighttime descended upon Saint Clair Shores. The only thing that was missing was a light dusting of snow that would have been the bow on a perfectly wrapped gift. I was set. I felt like Clark Griswold with the lights all set on his house just waiting for that glorious moment of plugging everything in to make the dream become a reality.
With the passing of time and the flurry of activity in Church, I forgot to go outside at 3:10 p.m. (the time the music was programmed to go on) to “watch” my dream become a reality. As people were assembling, I heard rumblings of an alarm going off. Reports were coming in that it wasn’t a car alarm but rather sounded more like a typical phone alarm … but it was playing
everywhere. At first, it didn’t dawn on me what was happening. But the more people were chatting about it as they were coming into church, the more I knew “Houston, we have a problem!” As I was heading outside to verify my hunches, I saw Patty Kesner going outside with Dina Ciaffone to determine what was happening. At this point I was thinking to myself, “Good heavens, another failed Clark Griswold dream.” Sure enough, somehow my Christmas music playlist didn’t take and the system was acting as if I had set an alarm to go off. Yes, I had programmed the biggest alarm clock at the south end of Saint Clair Shores on Christmas Eve and it was going off for about 30 minutes before it caught my attention. Someone hit the snooze button! With a few adjustments on my phone, I got the alarm to shut off and my Christmas music playing the way it was supposed to be playing. So much for the “Norman Rockwell” ambiance I was trying to set. I knew the calm before the storm I felt earlier in the day was too good to be true. When will I learn that’s not the way it works for us Clark Griswolds of the world.
CHRISTMAS THANKS: I wish to extend my appreciation and thanks to all who helped with the Christmas liturgies and environment this year. The Church and the Sr. Carol Center looked absolutely AWESOME! Please join me in thanking the team of people who helped decorate, clean and set up the Church to get it ready for Christmas. The decorating team was led by Pat and Sandy Markielewicz, Monica Fazi and Anne Melise. The cleaning team was led by Mary Pat Brennan. The Memorial Christmas Tree project was led by Maria and Larry Krzesowski, Debbie and Tim Bigham and Jeanne and Tom Van Egmond. The flower and poinsettia arranging was led by Fr. Rich. To all who had a hand in cleaning or decorating, I say THANKS!
I’m especially grateful to Dina Ciaffone, Paul Angst, Steve Angst, Matthew Barthel, Austin Rassey, Greg Ruvolo and James Cornelius for all of their extraordinary hard work in getting the outside Christmas tree lights up on the trees and for putting together the outdoor Nativity set.
I’m grateful to Debi Kirkland, Lorraine Jonas, Kristina Kaiser, Jackie BugarinScheuer, BeBe Frahm and Sr. Rose as well as to our sacristans and the Art and Environment Committee for their hard work and efforts in planning, decorating and setting up the Advent and Christmas liturgies and events.
I’m grateful to John Perna, Ken Madeleine, Eleonore Ellero-Groth, Kristine Hass, the Guitar Group, the Children’s Choir, the Adult Choir, the Teen Choir, the Bell Choir and all of our cantors, musicians and accompanists. The music was phenomenal and truly enhanced our liturgical experience!
I’m grateful to those who contributed to the flower collection. Your generosity allowed us to purchase some beautiful poinsettias and plants for the holiday season.
I’m grateful to Fr. Rich and Dina Ciaffone who spent countless hours creating all the wreaths that hung on the doors and for redoing all the bows.
I’m grateful to Maria Krzesowski, Debbie Bigham and Jeanne VanEgmond for the countless hours they spent sewing and machine embroidering the beautiful memorial ribbons that filled the memorial Christmas tree.
I’m grateful to all those who participated in the Giving Tree or who helped sponsor a family for Christmas. Special thanks go to Chris and Marc Mathies for their phenomenal dedication and leadership with the organizational aspects of the Giving Tree.
My thanks also go to our ushers, lectors, cantors, altar servers, the entire staff, the Leadership Team and most especially to Fr. John, Fr. Rich, Fr. Bob, Fr. Jim and Deacon Tom. We are ever so grateful for their dedication and ministry. Our liturgies were prayerful and it took a lot of people working together to make it all happen. It was another beautiful Christmas at SJA!
New Year’s Day Masses: The Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God on January 1, 2019, is a holy day of obligation. We will have a vigil mass on Monday, December 31 at 4:00 p.m. and then masses at 8:00 a.m. 10:00 a.m. and 12:00 Noon on New Year’s Day.
Enjoy the week. Know of my prayers. Happy New Year!