From the Pastor:
Christmas is just over a week away! It is easy for the weeks to pass quickly as we shop for gifts, prepare for guests, and plan our meals. However, be sure to create some time and space to listen, reflect, and pray. Setting aside 20-30 minutes to do this is powerful and will even slow down time. Consider reflecting on the manger scene, while listening to sacred Christmas music, and even sipping a hot drink. Everyone has time for this when they properly prioritize their daily activity.
Prioritizing starts with the realization that we don’t have time for everything. Next, remember that God shouldn’t just be part of our life, but front and center in our daily life. This is the invitation of Christmas, and certainly a very powerful one! The focus of Advent is about preparing for God’s arrival, not in a manger in Bethlehem, but in our minds and hearts. Will we respect God enough, love Him enough, and be grateful enough to welcome Him into our lives, front and center? Pray that God will help you to do this.
In the eleven years of Pope Francis being the successor to Peter, he has focused on removing unnecessary obstacles and bureaucracy that gets in the way of people getting closer to God. He isn’t afraid to explore the boundaries of what the Church can legitimately do and still be faithful to God. It is interesting that in all of this he has been strongly encouraging Catholics going to Confession. He doesn’t think the sacrament of Confession needs any reforming. It is good as it is and necessary for every person.
Pope Francis said with great compassion and fatherly love that we should “submit” to Jesus in the sacrament of Confession. This is a very interesting statement of his. Going to Confession is more difficult than simply telling God “I’m sorry” because humility, honesty, and courage is needed. The more we go to Confession, the more these become part of us and help prepare us “to stand before Jesus” on the day of judgement. The temptation is to think that it will be easier acknowledging our sins before Jesus because He is infinitely loving and merciful. But what is missing here is how we will feel when seeing the effects of each sin we have committed.
Of all the seven sacraments Jesus gave us, Confession is probably the most avoided. The common reason given for not going to Confession is that “I talk directly to God about forgiveness of my sins.” Thinking about this more, why don’t we take the same approach with the sacraments of baptism, confirmation, and matrimony? We can talk directly to God about these also, but we know they come to us through the Church. With the sacrament of Confession, trust that God knows what He’s doing in giving them to us. God might just be twenty steps ahead of us! In the remaining days before Christmas, you can receive the sacrament before any of the weekday or weekend Masses, or at one of three remaining extra times when all three of us priests are present:
Sunday 15 @ St. Mary: 4-6pm or longer if needed
Sunday 22 @ St. Peter: 4-6pm or longer if needed
Monday 23 @ St. Peter: 6-8pm or longer if needed
Gratefully,
Fr. Miller
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Wed, Dec 11, 8:41 AM (9 days ago) |
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Christmas is just over a week away! It is easy for the weeks to pass quickly as we shop for gifts, prepare for guests, and plan our meals. However, be sure to create some time and space to listen, reflect, and pray. Setting aside 20-30 minutes to do this is powerful and will even slow down time. Consider reflecting on the manger scene, while listening to sacred Christmas music, and even sipping a hot drink. Everyone has time for this when they properly prioritize their daily activity.
Prioritizing starts with the realization that we don’t have time for everything. Next, remember that God shouldn’t just be part of our life, but front and center in our daily life. This is the invitation of Christmas, and certainly a very powerful one! The focus of Advent is about preparing for God’s arrival, not in a manger in Bethlehem, but in our minds and hearts. Will we respect God enough, love Him enough, and be grateful enough to welcome Him into our lives, front and center? Pray that God will help you to do this.
In the eleven years of Pope Francis being the successor to Peter, he has focused on removing unnecessary obstacles and bureaucracy that gets in the way of people getting closer to God. He isn’t afraid to explore the boundaries of what the Church can legitimately do and still be faithful to God. It is interesting that in all of this he has been strongly encouraging Catholics going to Confession. He doesn’t think the sacrament of Confession needs any reforming. It is good as it is and necessary for every person.
Pope Francis said with great compassion and fatherly love that we should “submit” to Jesus in the sacrament of Confession. This is a very interesting statement of his. Going to Confession is more difficult than simply telling God “I’m sorry” because humility, honesty, and courage is needed. The more we go to Confession, the more these become part of us and help prepare us “to stand before Jesus” on the day of judgement. The temptation is to think that it will be easier acknowledging our sins before Jesus because He is infinitely loving and merciful. But what is missing here is how we will feel when seeing the effects of each sin we have committed.
Of all the seven sacraments Jesus gave us, Confession is probably the most avoided. The common reason given for not going to Confession is that “I talk directly to God about forgiveness of my sins.” Thinking about this more, why don’t we take the same approach with the sacraments of baptism, confirmation, and matrimony? We can talk directly to God about these also, but we know they come to us through the Church. With the sacrament of Confession, trust that God knows what He’s doing in giving them to us. God might just be twenty steps ahead of us! In the remaining days before Christmas, you can receive the sacrament before any of the weekday or weekend Masses, or at one of three remaining extra times when all three of us priests are present:
Sunday 15 @ St. Mary: 4-6pm or longer if needed
Sunday 22 @ St. Peter: 4-6pm or longer if needed
Monday 23 @ St. Peter: 6-8pm or longer if needed
Gratefully,
Fr. Miller