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 Dear
Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Happy Advent! We start our new liturgical year today
with the First Sunday of Advent. It is now less than four weeks until
Christmas, and the great Feast of the Incarnation of the Christ. Advent is a
most sacred and special time. It is my great prayer this Advent that you and
your family use this time wisely to prepare in every way possible for Christmas
2009! Way before we start decorating, or shopping, or baking, we’ve got to get
down the real issues of what this season is about: Hope, Faith, Joy, and Peace.
These mighty four things are God’s and the Church’s gifts to us, when we prepare
our hearts for Christmas during the season of Advent. There are lots of places
offering you all kinds of good deals on many different things this “holiday”
season. And yet, the Hope, Faith, Joy, and Peace that God and His Church are
offering you can only be found in one place: in the Holy Spirit! Please use
these next four weeks to your greatest advantage.
Once again, I offer my challenge to all of you to be
counter-cultural. It is no secret that our culture and society have already
started celebrating their version of “the Holidays”. They don’t even call it
Christmas any more, which maybe we, as believers, should be glad about, because
it really doesn’t have anything to do with the Great Feast of Christmas of our
Faith. Kohl’s started playing traditional Christmas carols over their stores’
sound system in late October. Many stores and businesses have had their
“Christmas” decorations up for weeks already. The commercials on TV took a
decidedly “Christmas” tone several weeks ago. As believers, we’ve got to be
very careful not to fall into the commercial domination of these next few
weeks. We know that Christmas really ISN’T about where we buy our food, or how
many lights we put up on our house, or how much money we spend on gifts.
Christmas is the Birthday of our Savior, Jesus Christ! Advent helps us get
ready for Christmas. It is NOT Christmas yet. Before we can do Christmas, in
order to do it right, we MUST do Advent. It’s time to pray more. It’s time to
listen to God’s Word and read some Sacred Scripture. It’s time to stop in at
Adoration and spend some extra time with the Blessed Sacrament. It’s time to
volunteer some time and help our HELP Committee and Shepherd’s Gate Food Pantry
help out those in need at this time of year. It’s not time for Christmas
parties. It’s not time for Christmas music. It’s not time for Christmas
decorations. Let’s do Advent and do it well. Let’s get our hearts and souls
ready first, and then worry about everything on the outside. Let’s prepare a
place for Jesus in our hearts, before we put Him in the crib in our Nativity
set. Our culture and society is going to be going crazy in these next four
weeks over the “holidays”. May we as Catholic Christians be a voice of reason
and an example of sanity as we celebrate Advent! If we do Advent right, it will
change hearts and minds, sometimes even of those living in the same house with
us.
The St. Maria Goretti Advent Penance Service is going to
be on Thursday evening, Dec. 17th
this year, at 7:00 PM, in the main sanctuary. Several priests from around the
Deanery will be here to help us to receive God’s forgiveness and mercy in the
Sacrament of Reconciliation. This Advent, because of the very limited
availability of priests on Saturdays, it is going to be more important than ever
for all of us to take advantage of our Penance Service and all of the local
penance services offered in our Deanery. Please mark our Penance Service on
your calendar and plan now on attending. Confession should be a part of all of
our Advents. We are all going to have to take advantage of this Sacrament when
it is offered.
We continue to look forward to the Feast of the
Immaculate Conception and the Fifth Anniversary of the Dedication of our
church. The Parish Council invites the entire Parish to a special Mass and
celebration on Tuesday evening, Dec. 8th,
at 7:00 PM, with a reception in the Parish Hall following the Mass. We have
much to give thanks to God for on this Anniversary! Come and join us! The
Anniversary Mass will be the only Mass for the Holy Day of Obligation offered at
St. Maria Goretti. We want everyone to be there!
I will pray for you during Advent. I sincerely hope that
this Advent is a time of renewal and rejuvenation for each of you. Take
advantage of this opportunity!
In Christ,
Fr. Kevin
God is like a person who clears His throat while hiding and so
gives Himself away. |
