Finding blessings in a blizzard

Merry Christmas

As Christmas approaches, three priests from the archdiocese share their favorite memories. Here is a story from Fr. Stephen Jones.


Christmas has always been one of my favorite holidays. Some of the fondest memories of my life are of my family during the Christmas season. We would gather in the living room to enjoy a roaring fire in the fireplace, and we would watch our favorite Christmas movies.

I remember hoping for a white Christmas my whole life growing up. On Christmas Eve of 2009, we received much more than we ever bargained for!

That was the year that the infamous “Christmas Blizzard” struck. In a matter of hours, the storm worsened to such a degree that about 14 inches of snow fell around our house. We woke up on Christmas Eve morning expecting to attend Mass that evening. However, it dawned on us that afternoon that we were going to be snowed in.

It was the first and only time in my life that I was unable to attend Mass for Christmas.

I imagine that most 15-year-old boys might rejoice at such a fortuitous turning of events, but I remember feeling empty and upset. It was like when George Bailey was experiencing the nightmare of Pottersville in my favorite Christmas movie, “It’s a Wonderful Life.”

Due to an unfortunate series of events in the movie, George wished that he had not been born. His guardian angel Clarence granted the wish, and George realized in a powerful way that his presence in the world was important and valuable.

Clarence said to him, “You’ve been given a great gift, George – a chance to see what the world would be like without you.” 

It was a true grace of God on that Christmas Eve that I realized what the full gift of attending Mass. The whole reason for the Christmas season had been taken away, and all of the traditions that our family had were superficial and lacking without it.

But I look back on that blizzard as a great gift. Sometimes, it takes a gift being taken away for you to realize how powerful it actually is.

I gained a deep reverence for the Mass out of that Christmas, and I will always be thankful to God for that!


See related stories:
¡Viva la Iglesia Catolica!
By Fr. William Banowsky

Gifts are great, but memories last forever
By Fr. Cristobal De Loera