From the Pastor:
This Sunday marks the beginning of Advent, the time each year when we focus on the coming of Jesus, both His first coming (past) and His second coming (future). It is important that we keep these together. History is only important in its ability to affect today and tomorrow. We are not meant to live in the past, but rather in the present while we anticipate and prepare for the future.
As Christians, every day of the year we celebrate Christ’s first coming while joyfully looking forward to His Second Coming. However, life is busy and filled with many distractions, so we need special times of the year to focus on particular aspects of the faith. Advent is when we focus on the coming of Christ, but surprisingly, in reverse order. The scripture readings for the first two weeks of Advent focus on Jesus’ second coming while the last two weeks focuses on His first coming in Bethlehem.
Jesus’ first coming caught most people by surprise, even many of the religious leaders. God doesn’t want that to happen to us. As we grow in faith and faithfulness each day, we begin to yearn for God’s coming again. It’s not because we dislike the good things of this world, but because we’ve discovered the goodness of God is exponentially greater than the collective good of everything of this world! The more we discover this, the more we look to God first before deciding what to think, say, and do. All this leads us to discover our happiness is nothing less than a sharing in God’s happiness and joy. The things that God offers us!!
This is the message we bring to the youth of our parishes, hoping they will discover this for themselves, and follow the light of Christ instead of the false hopes of the world. We have been including their pictures in the bulletin so you can pray for them during the special times of their faith formation. Currently shown are the eighth graders who are preparing for the sacrament of Confirmation. They are learning how the grace of the sacrament helps them become saints. Soon you will see the pictures of the second graders, who are currently preparing for the sacrament of Confession. We priests will begin providing that to them in the weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas.
The second graders may not fully realize it, but they are receiving one of the best sacraments for preparing for Jesus’ coming, whether the first or the second. It is available to parishioners before every Mass, both weekday and weekend. However, for your convenience, additional opportunities are available to you as listed below. All three of us priests will be present at each for a minimum of two hours and will gladly stay as long as people are present.
Sunday 8 @ Resurrection: 4-6pm or longer if needed
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
God’s blessing to your Advent season!
Fr. Miller