>>I have some great news. Some news of great joy to share with you today. Despite COVID in the past 15 months or more of this pandemic, we have some great news in our family. Threenew babies have been born.My niece had Leo, Leonardo Vincent, actually, who will be one year old, and my other niece had Olivia in October and another nephew had a baby boy, Lucas James, in September. So within a year, three new births in the family, so much blessing, so much joy.And I share that with you today for this simple reason. We hear in thisgospel story how Mary and Elizabeth come together, and they share the joy. These two women pregnant, blessed by God, share their joy, and we get a little excitement and sense of that joy that they must have felt.But these two women also must have shared their difficulties, their uncertainties, their doubts over how these pregnancies all happened. And so, what Mary and Elizabeth really show us today and sharing their joy and in sharing their concerns or difficulties is the importance of Christian community.They share their joy. They share their difficulties. They share their challenges and all the while. Jesus is in their midst. I want us to remember that today. The importance of Christian community, we come together over the airwaves to celebrate mass.We hear the beautiful and comforting words of scripture. We say the beautiful prayers of the mass. We share our joys. We share our concerns. We share our sorrows. Some of us bring greatblessings to the table. Some of us bring sadness and uncertainty and fear.But in the midst of it all. Mary and Elizabeth remind us how important it is that we are together as community. And most importantly, in all, Jesus is in our midst. That is the blessing and the good news today.That is the blessing and the good news that I hope and pray you will take with you into whatever the circumstances of your life will be as we enter into Christmas and the Christmas season. The Lord is with us andthe community of faithis with us as well to give us strength and peace. And to remind us we are loved by God.