{"id":43106,"date":"2020-12-21T19:28:49","date_gmt":"2020-12-22T01:28:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/?p=43106"},"modified":"2022-11-12T19:05:02","modified_gmt":"2022-11-13T01:05:02","slug":"not-herods-way","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/not-herods-way\/","title":{"rendered":"Not Herod’s Way","gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"text"}]},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n


\nAnd having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, <\/span>
\nthey departed for their country by another way.
\n(Matthew 2:12)<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

AS<\/strong> we near Christmas, naturally, our hearts and minds are turned toward the coming of the Savior. Christmas melodies play in the background, the soft glow of lights adorn homes and trees, the Mass readings express great anticipation, and normally, we await the gathering of family. So, when I woke up this morning, I grimaced at what the Lord was compelling me to write. And yet, things the Lord has shown me decades ago are being fulfilled right now as we speak, becoming clearer to me by the minute.\u00a0<\/p>\n

So, I am not trying to be a depressing wet rag before Christmas; no, the governments are doing that well enough with their unprecedented lockdowns of the healthy. Rather, it is with sincere love for you, your health, and above all, your spiritual well-being that I address a less “romantic” element of the Christmas story that has everything <\/em>to do with the hour in which we are living.<\/p>\n

Yes, when I woke up this morning, I was thinking of the words of St. John Paul II who called us young people in 2002 to become “watchmen of the morning who announce the coming of the sun who is the Risen Christ!”[1]<\/sup><\/a>POPE JOHN PAUL II,\u00a0Message of the Holy Father to the Youth of the World<\/em>, XVII World Youth Day, n. 3; (cf. Is 21:11-12) <\/span><\/span>