By Sister Helen Jane Jaeb

Christmas Eve was an exciting day for me as a child. My family lived with our grandparents and inside the house they built there was one room called the “Front Room,” which we used on special occasions or when out of town visitors came to stay overnight.

That room had an accordion style door that didn’t close tightly. The door was always closed the week before Christmas, because that was the room where Santa appeared to decorate the tree and leave the presents. My sister and I would often try to sneak a peek through the crack in the doorway. On Christmas Eve we kept asking our mom, “How long until 6:00 p.m.?” That was the time my dad would close the gas station he owned on Christmas Eve. Finally, the door was opened, and we would rush in to enjoy what we saw, joyfully receiving what we were given.

Waiting was the hardest part of the Christmas season. Isn’t that what Advent is about? Waiting to enter in, to prepare not only for what is to come, but to open our hearts to a new beginning, to listen to how we are called to give birth in the coming year. When the door of our heart opens, let us enjoy and be blessed by the gifts we have received and will receive in the new year.

The Provincial Council and all of us, School Sisters of Notre Dame in the Central Pacific Province, are grateful for the gifts you as donors, associates and partners in mission have been for us and shared with us.

Together, we celebrate the gift of the birth of Christ, a gift we are to share with all, no matter who will enter our hearts, no matter how they may come into our lives, personally or through news reports. May we be the peace and love to all whom we are sent, as Jesus calls to us to do.

A Blessed Advent and Christmas Season to you…