I want to take the opportunity to wish each one of you, our readers, a very blessed and holy Christmas season. During this Advent, in a particular way, the Canticle of Zechariah found in St. Luke’s Gospel has been speaking loudly to me. The Canticle begins, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel. For He has come to his people and set them free.” Each Christmas we celebrate with family, friends and with the Church the fact that God has come to his people and that he has set us free. What can that mean for us this Christmas?

When the outer bands of Hurricane Harvey began to hit the Coastal Bend on the morning of Friday, Aug. 25, Robert Garza (not his actual name) had a sinking, dreadful feeling as he fled Port Aransas for the Rio Grande Valley. He stopped to take one last look at his house and remembers thinking it might be the last time he would see it standing. Almost 50 years of his family’s memories could possibly be gone when he came back.