Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

        Welcome to St. Maria Goretti as we gather together to celebrate the Thirty-third Sunday of Ordinary Time.  If you are visiting us this weekend, our Parish family does welcome you to our midst.  To all of our members: Brothers and sisters, it is good to be together again around the Table of the Lord Jesus!  Let us give thanks and praise to God this day!

         Our readings today are once again encouraging us to be ready and waiting on our Lord’s return.  This can be a very difficult thing to do right, in the world that we live in today.  Our society and culture spends so much time on getting us ready for what’s coming next.  Christmas candy and decorations have already been out in the stores for several weeks now.  We are reminded to buy our 2006 calendars now.  And I just got a renewal notice for one of my favorite magazines, that doesn’t expire until November of 2006.  If I chose, I can renew that magazine at the “best rate” for three years.  That would mean that my subscription to the magazine would expire in November of 2009!  What a trip!  Who knows if we will even be here in 2009?   We are always looking ahead in so many different ways.  And while being prepared for the future is a good thing (Hey, I was a boy scout too!), sometimes we can be so busy preparing for our future here on earth, that what we really need to be preparing for is our future in Heaven.   That’s what our readings in these last days of Ordinary Time are asking us to consider.  We may have money saved in the bank for the future.  We may have already bought our Christmas cards and already have our 2006 calendars.  We may have subscribed to our favorite magazine for the next ten years out.  But what are we doing to be ready for Jesus’ return?   It is going to happen one day.  We can never forget that.  The Gospel is very clear about the fact that one day, Jesus is going to come again.  On that day, everything will stop.  I can assure you that our magazines that we subscribe to will NOT have time to refund our money for non-published issues.  On that day, at that time, it’s going to be time to go home for all of us.  Where are you going to be on that day?  What will you be doing?  What will be the last word that comes out of your mouth when Jesus returns?   I think that’s why it is so hard for me to hear people taking the name of Jesus in vain.  Every time I hear somebody say “Jesus Christ” I look up to the sky expecting to see Him there.  It takes me awhile to realize that some people just use Jesus’ name as a swear word.  It’s going to happen some day though.  And on that day, we’re all going to be looking up saying Jesus Christ, because He’s going to be right there.

        The early Church looked for this to happen very soon after Jesus ascended to Heaven.  They thought He was coming back in a few weeks.  Even St. Paul seems to think this in his early letters in the Bible.  Gradually, over the years, the Church got settled in, and as Jesus didn’t return in the first couple of hundred years, the Church became more and more laid back about looking for Him.  We know that no one will know the day or the hour.  We don’t know how it will happen or where it will happen.  We know that some will go home to God before He comes back for us.  But ultimately, we know what’s coming, either way.  Let us be ready, my brothers and sisters!  Have we quit watching?  Have we given up on being prepared?  How can we risk everything just because it hasn’t happened yet?  It’s time to stay prepared.

        Next weekend is our last Sunday in Ordinary Time, which is when we celebrate the Feast of Christ the King.   Time is flying.   Advent starts in just two weeks!  May we be ready.

        A special celebration is being planned for this Dec. 8th, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, as we celebrate the Tenth Anniversary of the First Mass here at St. Maria Goretti, and the one-year Anniversary of the Dedication of our church building.  I hope that this will serve as your first invitation to this celebration.  Once again, there will only be one Mass that day for Holy Day, and it will be at 7:00 PM with a special Anniversary reception to follow.  This is the same time as the First Mass ten years ago and also the same that we dedicated the church last year.  The Anniversary Mass will not be as long as the Dedication Mass was, if this is a concern for you.  Our neighbors will also be very happy to know that we will NOT have fireworks at 10:00 PM this year and that they will not have to call me using terrible words.  But there will be a party!  Plan now to come and help us celebrate.  It is a big day for our entire Parish family.  We hope that you can join us.

God bless!  Have a great week!

In Christ,

Fr. Kevin

Remember, it wasn’t raining when Noah built the ark.