THE MOST WONDERFUL time of the year is here.
With the Advent and Christmas season here, priests and religious sisters are hoping to create special memories with parishioners all across Orange County.
Discussing the month of December instantly brought happiness to Fr. Duy and Sr. Karin Nuernberg. The pair didn’t hesitate to reminisce about their favorite holiday memories with family and friends over the years.
Keep reading to see what made the season bright, loving and hopeful for these two religious leaders:
FR. DUY LE, PASTOR AT SAN FRANCISCO SOLANO CATHOLIC CHURCH
On Christmas Day, I’ll go around the church looking for a baby, and a parent will go, ‘Yeah, I’ll let you take my baby.’ We carry the baby up during the procession and almost present the baby to the church. Every time, you can see the joy in the people seeing this child. There’s a reason why Jesus chose to come down as a baby. Babies automatically make you happy.
Growing up extremely poor, I was thinking back about the memories that my parents tried to create. I would have never known we came from nothing. I would have never known that it was a tough time. We would get a small toy every year and wouldn’t know the difference. It was the best toy ever, every single time because it was all that we would have.
Being with family was so important. My earliest memories were always to have my sisters around my parents and me. It was always fun. We always had a good time with a simple meal and simple gifts, but it was with the family.
I also remember my dad loved taking pictures. We took pictures everywhere — at church and in front of the manger and all these different places. It was the worst thing possible for me back then, but now looking back, I’m so glad that my dad did that.
Today, family remains the most important thing for us, and us being together is such a beautiful part of that. It also looks totally different from the way it was. Now we have not just a simple meal, but we have probably at least 15 different dishes and it has to look a certain way before we get to eat it. We have to take a picture of it before we get to eat, and we’re laughing. My dad says we always have to take a family picture. We always have to stand around the table and really capture the moment of us being together and family. It’s what Christmas is all about.
Jesus could have come down from heaven as an adult. He could have come down by himself. He could have come down any way possible, but He chose to come down into a family that was simple, that was unassuming, didn’t have everything. It wasn’t extravagant. They were poor, but they were together, and that was the most important thing for us back then, too.
SR. KARIN NUERNBERG SHARES A THROWBACK PHOTO OF HER CHRISTMAS CELEBRATION WITH HER MOTHER AND GRANDMOTHER. PHOTO COURTESY OF SR. KARIN NUERNBERG
SR. KARIN NUERNBERG, CSJ, VOCATION DIRECTOR, SISTERS OF ST. JOSEPH OF ORANGE
Some of my favorite Christmas memories stem from my childhood in Munich, Germany. Not only Christmas but also the anticipation of the upcoming feast etched itself into my memory.
As a child, time passed slowly — unlike today when Advent is over in the blink of an eye. On Sunday afternoons, my parents and I would gather around our Advent wreath enjoying Christmas cookies and music together. We were not a religious family and none of us were Catholic at the time. What I knew about God and faith I had assimilated through the dominant Catholic culture in Bavaria or learned in religion class in public school. It was school that brought my parents and me to church on Christmas Eve since I participated in the Nativity play put on by my religion class.
Back at home, the celebration continued — a true feast for the senses. We always had a real tree with burning beeswax candles and a bucket of water beside the tree. Fortunately, we never needed it!
My father was a devotee of classical music, so Johann Sebastian Bach’s “Christmas Oratorio” was playing in the background. Early on, I fell in love with this piece of music and started memorizing notes and lyrics. Back then, I did not comprehend the depth and meaning of the words, the story of God’s great love and Incarnation; rather, the music took me to a different place.
It is only in hindsight that I can see how God used Nativity plays and music to both draw me closer to Him and to convey God’s grandeur to me. I am deeply grateful for God’s great love!