Dear Family!

I continue to wish you Merry Christmas! Thank you for making the most of all the opportunities that were provided for you in as many Masses and community time created for you! There were so many people that I am grateful to those for making this year’s Christmas: Starting with our priests and deacons. Our Director for Music Lisa Sforza and the whole choir for their time put into preparing and helping us to have a great worshipping experience. We are grateful to the Decoration Committee headed by Diane and Duane Volk and all the volunteers in donating long hours in making our already beautiful church more beautiful. We thank all the liturgical ministers (Eucharistic Ministers, Lectors and Ushers) and all the altar servers for their role in making this year’s Christmas memorable.

Dear Family!

Reflection: Christmas for Christians is a day of gratitude. Gratitude leads us to prayer, where our hearts are filled with wonder and praise. Christmas leads us to the sense of wonder. God presents himself as tiny, fragile, vulnerable, and dependent. Compared to the strong, muscular, powerful, parenting and patronizing people we are in front of God.

Dear Family!

Reflection: We are celebrating ‘Gaudete Sunday’ (Laetare Sunday in Lent) as the Universal Church rejoices in the Lord because ‘the Lord is near’ echoing the Opening Prayer, “we who look forward to the birthday of Christ, experience the joy of salvation and celebrate that feast with love and thanksgiving.”

Dear Family!

Reflection: Pope Francis encouraged the world with his advent message in the following words: “Dear friends, it will be good for us today to ask ourselves how we can prepare a welcoming heart for the Lord. We can do so by approaching His forgiveness, His Word, His Table, finding space for prayer, welcoming those in need. Let us cultivate His expectation without letting ourselves be distracted by so many pointless things, and without complaining all the time, but keeping our hearts alert, that is, eager for Him, awake and ready, impatient to meet Him.” (12-3-2023)

Dear Family!

Reflection: There is no better ‘Good News’ than the advent of Our Lord Jesus Christ! Happy Advent to all of you! The greatest treasure of Advent is Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Vestments and decorations are expressed in purple for the season as the theme point to ‘Staying awake’. The way to stay awake is through penance, preparation and sacrifice. Also, it is important to distance ourselves from flashy decorations and nostalgic carols that can take us away from this ‘preparation’ - to focus our minds and hearts on getting our hearts ready for the ‘Child Jesus’.