Sunday, November 27, 2016

A Word from Your Pastor - November 27 First Sunday of Advent

Dear Parishioners:

Advent opens a new Liturgical Year in our celebration of our Faith.  We begin again the first year of the three-year cycle of readings, taking Matthew as the Gospel.  It is a good time to make new resolutions and to respond to the grace of the present time.  The Year of Mercy concluded with the Solemnity of Jesus Christ, King of the Universe.  Now we enter a new time of grace.  What comes after Mercy?

It struck me this past week that the first celebration the day after the close of the Year of Mercy was the feast of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary.  Tradition tells us that Joachim and Anne entrusted their precious daughter to the Temple at the age of three and that she spent 12 years there, learning from the priests (among them, Zechariah, the father of St. John the Baptist).  So, the first look of the Church after the Jubilee is to the one human being who knew perfectly how to accept God’s will:  “Let it be done to me according to Your Word.”

Mercy teaches us that God makes room for us.  Mary responded by making room for God and receiving into her own womb God’s own Son.  Mercy invites us to live as a reflection of God’s Love.  Mary opened her whole life and person to that Love and gave birth to Love Himself.  Mercy gives us the grace to persevere in a hostile world.  Mary was faithful to the end, standing by the Cross of her Son.

After Mercy comes a life lived truly for God.  As we enter into this time of preparation for the celebration of Christmas, may we allow the Spirit to prepare our hearts to receive the graces that God wants to offer.


I invite you to consider signing up now for Alpha.  This program will offer you a dinner, served by members of the parish in our Parish Center, which is experiencing some upgrades in preparation.  It will allow you to hear the Gospel anew and to share fellowship with others on the journey of Faith.  It will remind you that we are just beginning to know the Lord and that we can always learn more about Him from our brothers and sisters.


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