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
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