Tuesday, December 10, 2019

A Word from Your Pastor December 8 - Second Sunday of Advent



Advent is a Marian Season.  We wait expectantly for our celebration of the Birth of Jesus, Son of Mary and the Son of God.  Joyful anticipation and hopeful acceptance of all the struggles that come from doing the Will of God form us to share in the act of offering Jesus to the world.

This week, a few different Marian Feasts remind us of aspects of the actions of God in the life of Mary.  The Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception is celebrated this year on Monday, December 9, since the 8th fell on the Second Sunday of Advent.  God reveals His Providence in preparing the mother of His Son by preserving her from all stain of sin.

Pope Francis has put the Feast of Our Lady of Loreto in the general calendar on December 10.  Loreto has the shrine of the Home of the Holy Family, which was transported there from Nazareth.  This feast calls to mind the capacity of the human family to welcome the Presence of God among us.  Each family is able to welcome the Lord into its home, just as Mary and Joseph made a home for Jesus.

The Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe is December 12.  The Blessed Virgin Mary came to the Americas to assist in the proclamation of the Gospel to the peoples native to this place.  She reminds us all that she is with us as a Mother, one who knows our needs and brings them to her Son.

We are called to be like Mary in our Faith and in the welcome to show to all the members of the Family of God.  May our hearts be ready to receive the Lord as He comes to dwell with us.

Next weekend, we will have the Bethlehem Families with us to share olive wood sculptures from the Holy Land which will be on sale after all Masses as part of our effort to reach out to our fellow Christians in the land of the Lord’s Birth.  The Fourth Sunday of Advent will bring the celebration of the Anointing of the Sick at all Masses, to bring healing and comfort to those who experience the burdens of illness and age.

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