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Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
My friends, welcome to our celebration of the Third
Sunday of Advent season! Yes, today we light the “rose” candle,
and the priest wears “rose” vestments at Mass, and we change the
tone of our preparation of Advent to one of more joyful
expectation. It just looks like pink. It’s really rose. Like
that helps a lot! On this Sunday, real men do wear pink, even
if they don’t like it. All for the greater glory of the Kingdom
of God!
Our theme for the Third Sunday of Advent is joy.
Today, reminds us, especially this year with Christmas just
eight days away, that Christians are supposed to be the most
joyful people in the whole world. We know what this life is
about. We know where we are going when this life is over. We
know just how much our God loves us. All of this should give us
a joy that makes us stand out in the world that we live in
today. Many times we forget that the vast majority of the
saints of our Church were very joy-filled people. Too often,
when we think of holy people, we think of serious, suffering,
boring people that nobody would ever want to be around. Nothing
could be farther from the truth! So many saints were so loved
by so many because they had a wonderful sense of humor. St.
Francis of Assisi is a great example. St. Francis was so full
of joy that his joy was contagious. Just being around the
little man from Assisi made people more joyful. St. Philip
Neri loved practical jokes, and funny stories, and having a good
time. People loved being around St. Philip because he was so
joyful. It is what drew people to his Oratorio. And even
Blessed Teresa of Calcutta in our own time, had a very funny
sense of humor. Mother Teresa could make even “the poorest of
the poor” laugh and forget their very serious problems. I get
asked a lot, about my own memories of working with Mother Teresa
in Europe and what she was like. And the first thing that
always comes to mind, is that this holy woman who will soon be a
saint, always made me laugh and filled the entire room with
joy. We need to be “spreaders” of joy also. Not that we always
have to be telling a joke. But a smile goes a long way with
others. And deep, deep joy, the kind that only Jesus can give,
will change more hearts than we will ever know. We should pray
for joy. We should strive to be more joyful people. And that’s
some how easier to say when I’ll be standing in front of you
this weekend wearing pink!
This weekend we are trying a preview of what’s
coming after Christmas. You may have read recently that Pope
Benedict has revoked an Indult, a special permission from the
Vatican, for our Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion in
the United States to “purify” the sacred vessels at the end of
Mass. This means that as soon as possible, only priests,
deacons, or those seminarians who received the Order of Acolyte
can purify the sacred vessels at the end of Mass. This presents
some difficulties for larger U.S. parishes with many Masses and
many vessels to purify. After Mass, we keep our priests busy
with Baptisms, Anointings, blessings, marriage validations, and
especially greeting people. In the U.S. this is typically the
only time that most Catholics see a priest all week. So what we
are going to try and do today for the first time, is that after
Communion, the celebrating priest will purify, that is remove
any part or particles of the Body of Christ or any drops of His
Blood from the patens and chalices at the credence table in the
Sanctuary. The patens and chalices will later be washed with
hot water and soap in the working Sacristy by the Extraordinary
Ministers of Holy Communion, as has always been done. This
purification by the priest and/or Deacon Steve will take place
during the quiet/meditation time when we all kneel down together
AFTER Communion. The priests will pray with the congregation
WHILE they purify the vessels at the credence table, and then
when the presiding priest returns to the Presider’s chair, we’ll
sit down and have our announcements for the week. We’re trying
this, this weekend. Everybody is scrambling all over the
country on the best way to do this. If adjustments need to be
made, we’ll make them before we start this for good, on Dec. 30th
& 31st. We will do things the “old” way next
weekend, with the craziness of the short Fourth Sunday of
Advent, Christmas Eve, and Christmas Day all in a few hours. We
must get in compliance with the revoking of the Indult as soon
as possible. Bishop Higi said after Christmas.
Again, we remind you how important it is next weekend
to attend Mass BOTH for the Fourth Sunday of Advent AND for the
Feast of Christmas. Our Sunday evening 5:00 PM Mass is our
first Mass for Christmas and does not “count” for the Fourth
Sunday of Advent. Please make arraignments now to meet our
obligations. Those attending Mass twice next Sunday, in the
morning for the Fourth Sunday of Advent AND in the
afternoon/evening for Christmas Eve SHOULD receive Holy
Communion twice in one day.
This Tuesday evening is our Advent Penance Service.
Several priests from around the Deanery will be here to help us
receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation. In a Parish of our
size, we really need to take advantage of these penance services
to make things right with God before Christmas. I sure hope
that you and your family will be able to join us on Tuesday
night, beginning at 7:00 PM in the main sanctuary.
May you have a joy-filled week! This is such a great
time of the year! Enjoy it all with the special people in your
life!
In Christ,
Fr. Kevin
“Joy is the net of love by which you can catch
souls.” - Blessed Teresa of Calcutta |
