Dear Parish Family,

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas ... beautiful Christmas music and decorations everywhere, long-awaited warm drinks, and sweets. Busy making plans for gatherings with friends and family, and making sure we did not leave anyone out of our gift list. Oh what a busy season ...

In our daily reminders everywhere of the season we have entered, it can be hard not to get lost in all the consumer portions of the season. Which can fill us with the stress of it all, which can lead us to frustration. Fortunately for us, we have the Advent season which helps focus us and reminds us of God’s incredible love for us. It invites us to renew our lives in preparation for the coming of Jesus.

Our readings this Sunday are filled with the Good News. In our first reading, the prophet Isaiah's message to the people of Israel is that the LORD will come and lead them back to the Promised Land since the people have repented of their sins. Our psalm speaks of the attributes that accompany the LORD’s coming: peace, kindness, truth and justice. In our second reading, Saint Peter explains that the Lord Jesus is not delaying His Second Coming, but giving time to as many people as possible to reorient their lives and prepare themselves for His coming. In our Gospel, Mark makes John the Baptist’s role clear; to prepare the way for Jesus and the salvation that he would bring to us. John the Baptist did not get lost in the attention of his followers. He did this not on his own accord but to prepare the people for the coming of our Savior.

This should fill us with hope and comfort! Through our Baptism we are commissioned to prepare the way of the Lord. The gift of the Holy Spirit leads us to continually renew our lives so that we might lead others to Jesus. I invite you this Advent season as you gather with family and friends, talk about ways in which the example of others has called you to be a follower of Jesus. Identify at least one action that you will take this week to try to be a more faithful follower of Jesus. 

Just like John the Baptist, how can you make straight the path for the Lord Jesus to come? Perhaps inviting back to church this Christmas, a friend or family member. Even if it’s just ONE.


Blessings,

Tere Delgado
Faith Formation Minister

This Advent, let us practice this. Let’s celebrate the fact that we have a God that loves us so much, that He was willing to become man. But let’s also use this Advent to learn to anticipate the glorious and peaceful return of our Lord and Savior.

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God Bless,



Brett Becker
Youth and Young Adult Minister 

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Dear friends on the journey,

Today’s solemnity and readings paint various images of God. The solemnity, established by Pope Pius XI in 1925, focuses on Christ the King who reigns in our hearts as well as the entire world and all people for all time. The first reading and responsorial psalm illustrate God as a tender shepherd who protects his flock and seeks the lost. In the second reading, Paul’s letter to the Corinthians speaks of Christ who has existed from the beginning of time, concurred death, secured our salvation, and will reign until the end of time. The gospel describes the Son of Man who, in the final judgment, will be like a shepherd separating the sheep from the goats. The goats will be on his left and the sheep on his right. His judgment is based on very simple, yet challenging, criteria, and what is now our Corporal Works of Mercy.

        For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me,
                        naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.

This is what we are called to do as Christian disciples. This is precisely how God is imaged in our world, communities and families. This is how we are to be Jesus’ heart, feet, and hands today. Throughout the gospels, Jesus is teaching through his words and demonstrating by his actions who needs us the most: (not the stable, the put together, the righteous) the most vulnerable, pained, weak, the outcast. As we enter the season of Advent and prepare ourselves for Jesus’ coming at Christmas, I invite you to use the Corporal Works of Mercy for your preparation:

Food for the hungry As you eat a meal or snack, offer a prayer of thanksgiving for its abundance in your life and the nourishment of your body. Then donate food to St. Vincent de Paul for the food pantry or cook a meal for Many Meals.
Drink for the thirsty As you fill your glass with water, wash dishes, bathe in warm water, offer gratitude for the convenience of running water. Then buy water bottles to give to someone who is homeless or donate to an organization like Catholic Relief Services who help developing nations.

Welcome the stranger As you attend holiday gatherings, praise God for the gifts of friends and family who love you. Call to mind a time when you felt alone or lonely and pray for those who are estranged from loved ones and long for the feeling of belonging and security of relationships. Then consider baking goodies for the lonely neighbor or inviting a newly widowed person to the Christmas concert or Mass.

Clothe the naked As you fold your laundry, ask God to clothe your loved ones in God’s loving, secure embrace. Pray for those who are naked and vulnerable, physically, emotionally and spiritually. Then donate clothes for a woman or man seeking employment or give clothing and diapers to Mary’s Closet.

Care for the ill If you are currently feeling healthy, call to mind a time when illness or injury consumed you and be grateful for healing. Pray for all those battling cancer, other diseases, and those listed in the bulletin. Then make a care package for an ill friend, send a Christmas card with note of encouragement to a child in the hospital, a fire victim in a burn center, or a senior at Atria or AlmaVia.

Visit the imprisoned As you enjoy Christmas festivities, give thanks for freedom and pray for those imprisoned by government, war and violence, addiction, mental illness, the incarcerated especially moms and dads. Then make an effort to educate yourself about these issues and help in a concrete way.

Funeral Liturgy
Tuesday, January 9
10:00 am

Mortuary
Ivy Lawn Ventura