By Father Rich Tomkosky
Did you know according to numerous saints and the very spiritually insightful book, My Conversations with the Poor Souls, more souls get out of Purgatory on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day than any other time of the year including Easter? That is an amazing reality since Easter is the highest Feast Day in the Church’s calendar, but the Lord has His own reasons, which may be that the tangible beginning of man’s salvation starts with the actual birth of Jesus Christ, the Son of God incarnate, even though it actually begins the moment Mary says Yes to the Archangel Gabriel and Jesus is conceived by the Holy Spirit in her. Hence this is the ultimate reason why the Church is so strong in standing up for the sanctity of all human life made in God’s image from the moment of conception and daily prays for the conversion of all in our world involved in any way in the grave evil of abortion, and that people involved in it in any way will be healed of that grave sin in the Sacrament of Confession.
Once Jesus is born, the shadow of the Cross is upon Him as even as a little baby, Jesus starts suffering in a redemptive way for our sins as the Priest and Victim for our salvation. Think of the rejection of the inn-keeper, the cold smelly stable, the wicked King Herod trying to murder him and all the baby boys who were martyred because of Herod’s madness, but also of the beauty of the Lord embracing human poverty and transforming it, and the Angels singing on high, and the simple shepherds rejoicing and witnessing, and then the Magi coming to visit Him with their gifts, which is the origin of our gift-giving on Christmas to each other.
Christmas is a time to ponder all things in our heart like our Lady in the Gospel on Christmas day or as Saint Joseph in the Gospel on Christmas Eve after that revelatory dream when he did as the Angel commanded him to take Mary as his wife. We need to ask ourselves: What do we really believe? Do we believe in the full Catholic faith with all our heart, mind, and will, or are we kind of indifferent? Our response or lack thereof is primarily shown in whether we are praying every day and making every sacrifice necessary to participate in Holy Mass every Sunday and Holy Day of obligation unless we are very sick.
In all honesty, do we love our sins more than the Lord, e.g., the over-emphasis on earthly riches, materialism, worldly ambition, the sins of the flesh — sexual but also overindulging in alcohol, drugs, gambling and a thousand and one other addictions pervading the modern world?
I was just reading a memoir of a guy from Pittsburgh who grew up in the 50’s and 60’s and then turned his back on the Catholic faith as he became an adult and thought he was “more sophisticated” than the Catholic Church and the faith which he thought was too “old-fashioned” and “restrictive.” Do we believe that too or do we see the faith as it truly is –the treasure of our life and the means to purify us spiritually to get us ready to see God face to face someday; the Divine Light which keeps us on the narrow path leading to the salvation which Jesus won for us, beginning with His Incarnation by taking on the fullness of our human nature to redeem and transform it, culminating in His Glorious Passion and Resurrection.
So, if we actually believe fully in the faith, how do we evangelize those, who have never accepted the gift of faith, or who had it once but now are away from the Church, or those who come to Mass, somewhat, but don’t fully embrace the faith? Well, I can give you a most powerful instance in my own life and family that relates to this dynamic, and how to go about it effectively.
Back when I was a seminarian in the late 90’s, my grandpa Tony Tomkosky had been away from the faith for many years, both because he was not willing to give up some of his sins yet and also was mad at God for suffering a big heart attack back in the early 1970’s – around the time I was born in 1972 – even though he smoked two and half packs of cigarettes a day. Yes, human nature is often crazy in its contradictions.
I loved my Grandpa Tony greatly as he and I were best friends growing up and spent a ton of time together; he was cool! Gradually as I got more serious about Catholicism, I tried to work on him to get him back to the practice of the faith. He did start praying the Rosary and watching the Mass on EWTN with some frequency when I was in the seminary, and then a big breakthrough occurred was when he actually went to the Rosary Rally Mass at the arena in Johnstown in September of 1997, the first Mass he had attended in many years. But it was a mixed blessing as I found out later that he took Holy Communion at that Mass even though he hadn’t gone to Confession in years.
So, I prayed hard about that, and decided to send him a long hand-written letter stating my love for him and my concern for His immortal soul and why it was wrong that he took Communion at that Mass, as it is really Jesus and not a symbol, and we can’t have mortal sin on our soul when doing so; and since he hadn’t gone to regular Mass and Confession in years, he was not spiritually ready or properly disposed to receive Jesus in Communion, and that I was praying daily that he would go to Confession asap and get back to regular Mass attendance.
He never said anything about the letter when I saw him the next few times that Fall. He was a proud and stubborn guy, but then in December of 1997, a day or two after Christmas, he was admitted to Conemaugh Hospital in Johnstown for dehydration among other things as he was 88 years old. It was then that I talked to him directly about going to Confession as time was running out.
He was gracious to me – unlike the time a few years previous, when he was in the hospital for a few days, and he kicked out the priest chaplain who asked him to make a Confession. He listened to me and just said, it would take “too long” as it had been so many years, and I said, Grandpa, the priest has heard worst I’m sure, and he will help you as it is a special grace God gives His priests to be able to reconcile people to God especially those who have been away for so many years. I then told him I loved him and got ready to leave.
My godmother, my Aunt Patty, had come a short time before to visit with him, and I motioned for her to come out into the hallway as she was off in the corner talking to my dad. I then implored her, please tell Grandpa to go to Confession as you know he may be getting toward the end. She said, I will try my best to convince him, as she and I both knew from many years of interacting with him that Grandpa T would only really listen to she and I about serious things.
She called me later and said he finally went to Confession, that he and the priest talked for a good half hour or so. I felt such a sense of peace come over me. The grace of Christmas had truly reached my grandpa. A day later he had a stroke that took away his ability to speak, and on January 24, 1998, he passed into eternity.
You might think – that’s sad! No, it’s one of the greatest things that’s happened in my life! So, my prayer for all of you is to embrace Jesus and the Catholic faith fully because just like Jesus saved my grandpa Tony in the end, He wants to do the same for every one of us and all of our loved ones. But are we willing to make a living sacrifice of our life to the Lord, and live in a spirit of prayer and reparation each day to help save souls in Jesus under the mantle of our Lady and to take the time to write a real letter, not a buried email, to loved ones away from the faith? Written Letters are increasingly powerful as we can really express our thoughts in a way that no other means of commination does as effectively. Just a thought…
Have a blessed Christmas season.
Father Rich Tomkosky is the Pastor of Saint Thomas the Apostle Parish in Bedford and the Pastor of Seven Dolors of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish in Beans Cove.
