Dear Parishioners:
- Next Tuesday, December 8 – Feast of the Immaculate Conception of The Blessed Virgin Mary (Patronal Feast day of the United States of America) Masses at 11:00 AM.
- The Second Sunday of Advent Season every year, we encounter the voice of John the Baptist in the desert echoing the words of the prophet Isaiah: "Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths… …” John heard, experienced and lived God's liberating word in the desert and was thus able to preach it to others so effectively because his life and message were one.
John the Baptist is the Advent prophet. His image is often portrayed in the finger pointing to the one who was coming: Jesus Christ. If we are to take on John’s role of preparing the way in today’s world, our lives also will become the pointing fingers of living witnesses who demonstrate that Jesus can be found and that he is near. John gave the people of his time an experience of forgiveness and salvation, knowing full well that he himself was not the Messiah, the one who could save.
Do we allow others to have experiences of God, of forgiveness and of salvation?
John the Baptist came to teach us that there is a way out of the darkness and sadness of the world and of the human condition, and that way is Jesus himself. The Messiah comes to save us from the powers of darkness and death, and to put us back on the path of peace and reconciliation so that we might find our way back to God.
Taking these clues from John the Baptist, the last prophet in the New Testament, each of us and our parish community are preparing the way of the Lord in a “physical and spiritual way”. The many activities are taking place in our lives and in our parish community symbolized this physical process of preparation. I hope that, as you participate in the many activities (from bulletins and announcements) from our parish community early in this Advent Season, will lead all of us to that special preparation for the Lord coming into our lives and our world.
Here are a few examples:
- Tree of Love (Christmas Giving Tree) – Take a name tag at the Main Entrance or Religious Education Wing and consider giving a Christmas gift for a person in need.
- Feast of Our lady of Guadalupe (Mother of North America) – Saturday & Sunday December 12 & 13.
- Simbang Gabi – Novena in preparation for Christmas – Saturday & Sunday December 19 & 20.
- Individual Reconciliation: Every Saturdays from 6:00 PM – 6:30 PM and Sundays in December from 12:00 – 1:00 PM.
Especially the week before Christmas: Tuesday, Dec 15 12:00 - 1:00 PM; Wednesday, Dec. 16 12:00 – 1:00 PM; Friday, Dec. 18 12:00 – 1:00 PM.
- The Calendar Year is coming to the end soon. I’d like to take this opportunity “to thank” for your participation in many different ministries and volunteer opportunities in our parish community. Especially, I’d like to thank for your Stewardship of Time, Talent and Treasure in a unique year of 2020. Please be aware that “all tax deductable contribution” to the parish has to be done in the last week of December up to December 31 to be included for 2020.
Christ’s Peace,
Fr. Phuong Hoang