Welcome to Advent 2020!
I love Advent. I think it’s my favorite church season. I love lighting the purple and pink candles, I love the advent calendars, and I love the preparations for Christmas. Advent is our time of waiting for the Lord, a special time of hoping for God’s presence, healing, and peace. It’s a time of hope! Somebody told me one day, “Father, don’t read the newspapers. Don’t read the internet. Don’t watch TV. It’s too depressing.” That is so true. The news is full of COVID pandemic, wars, terrorism, power-grabbing and posturing, natural disasters with peoples’ lives lost or in upheaval, and church scandals. This Advent really comes in the midst of a heavy-hearted world. Can we really find hope here and now??? My friends, our hope is in Jesus!!! He is our hope. He is always with us, He lives with us, He loves us always and unconditionally. We are called to be the people of hope in the middle of the world’s trauma and needs. We are called to be a people of hope in this Advent. The church calls us to “be signs of hope”. You and I can do that only when giving our life to Jesus fully, and sharing our life with others, especially those who lack hope. There is an old movie, Pay It Forward, where one person’s kindness is passed along to another in need. This is a good activity for Advent people, who hope in the Lord, who trust in God’s presence in troubled times, who are called to be “People of Hope and Courage”, to do. Choose to pay forward God’s gracious love and give hope!!!
A New Devotion
You are all invited on Saturday, Dec 5th, as we begin FirstSaturday celebrations. At 9 am Mass, we will be honoring God through our Blessed Mother and her Immaculate Heart. Read more about this wonderful and powerful devotion below.
A Word of Clarification and Appreciation
A few weeks ago, I decided to redefine the Music Ministry position in our parish from a full-time to contract. The reason I have done this is because of my concern for the financial stability of our parish. After a lot of consideration and discussion with the AoD, I decided to terminate the employment of our organist Dean DeMartin. Dean received the severance agreement last Monday and is no longer our organist. The next thing for us to do right now, is to prepare and post a new job description and find someone who would be interested, and that fit our expectations. For the next two or three months, we have someone who will help us take care of the music in our church. At the same time, I deeply appreciate everything that Dean DeMartin has done for us as a parish during these last 15 years of his ministry here. Thank you Dean.
Happy and healthy Advent to all of you
— Fr. Tom