From the Pastor's Desk

From the Pastor's Desk
11/30/25

First Sunday of Advent: Waiting in Faith and Hope
We embark today upon a new liturgical year, and we open it by celebrating the season of Advent. Thanks to Advent, we begin our year in a spirit of deep and bracing hope, for the Advent liturgy is one of hope. What the Church offers us and invites us to embrace at the beginning of each liturgical year is a spirituality of hope. The word hope has a very general meaning, of course, that can be watered down almost to nothing. “I hope I get a raise at work.” “I hope it doesn’t snow today.” But hope has a rich and important theological meaning. Christian hope is centered on God, on God’s kingdom and on God’s promises of justice, life, and salvation. It means trusting in those promises even when all evidence points to the contrary. A spirituality of hope is marked by joy, because of the strange reality that we already possess, as a foretaste anyway, what we await. It is no accident, then, that one of the four Advent Sundays — Gaudete Sunday — is dedicated to joy. But a spirituality of hope is also difficult, because it calls us to conversion, as Advent figures like Isaiah and John the Baptist make clear. Holding on to our sinful habits, and the begrudging attitudes we use to justify them, are failures of hope. Finally, Christian hope is not passive. It’s not about sitting around waiting for God to “do his thing” after our time on earth, or earth’s own time, has run out! The God of Advent is a God who has intervened already in history and continues to do so. Our experience of the final judgment, for which Advent calls us to prepare, will be – as Jesus tells us in a passage that will be our gospel reading on the final Sunday of this new liturgical year – determined by whether and how we engaged in our world, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, caring for the sick. Let us begin. (Living Liturgy, Liturgical Press, 2024)

Faith Questions to Ponder
Isaiah and the psalmist speak of a joyful journey to God’s presence. Where can you look for joy in our shared Advent journey? Saint Paul urges us to “throw off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.” Where is there darkness in your own life right now? Where are you in need of God’s light? Jesus tells us to stay awake! Where have you “fallen asleep” in your relationship with God, or in relationships with others? 

An Advent Prayer from Fr. Henri J.M. Nouwen
Lord Jesus, Master of both the light and the darkness, send your Holy Spirit upon our preparations for Christmas. We who have so much to do seek quiet spaces to hear your voice each day. We who are anxious over many things look forward to your coming among us. We who are blessed in so many ways long for the complete joy of your kingdom. We whose hearts are heavy seek the joy of your presence. We are your people, walking in darkness, yet seeking the light. To you, we say, “Come, Lord Jesus!” Amen.

Advent Penance Service
Our annual Advent Penance Service will be celebrated on Thursday, December 4, at 6:30 PM, at St. Frances Cabrini Church. Please avail yourself to this Sacrament of God’s mercy and peace in preparation for Christmas. 

Advent 2025 Devotional Booklets
Don’t forget to pick up your Advent daily devotional, Jesus, Prince of Peace, provided at no cost to you by the parish. They can be found in the vestibule of each of our churches. This beautiful booklet from All Saints Press offers short, daily reflections from Popes Francis and Leo XIV to lead you into the heart of Advent, centered on Jesus as the Prince of Peace.

Advent Afternoons
All are welcome and invited to join us for three Tuesday Advent Afternoons as we prepare for Christ coming into the world at Christmas. We will gather in church from 1:30 PM to 2:30 PM for prayer, song, and reflection as we quiet our hearts and listen for the voice of God speaking to our hearts in this beautiful season: December 2 (St. Frances Cabrini) – Waiting & Remembering; December 9 (Our Lady of Fatima) – Anticipation & Preparation; December 16 (St. John the Baptist) – Mary’s Response.

Pope Benedict XVI on the Season of Advent
“Advent is an extremely evocative time from the religious point of view, as it is full of hope and spiritual expectation. Every time the Christian community prepares to remember the birth of the Redeemer, it feels like a tremor of joy, which is communicated, in a certain measure, to the whole society. In Advent, the Christian population relives a double movement of the Spirit: on one hand, it raises its gaze to the final goal of its pilgrimage in history, which is the glorious return of the Lord Jesus; on the other, recalling his birth in Bethlehem with emotion, it bends down before the crib. In this period of preparation for Christmas, Christians must awaken in their hearts of being able, with the help of God. To renew the world. Finally, Advent should be a privileged occasion to rediscover family prayer and to lead young people to the Lord.”

Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of Mary
This year the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception is Monday, December 8. Masses for the Holy Day will be celebrated at 7:00 AM (ST), 8:30 AM (OLF), 12:10 PM (SFC) and 6:30 PM (SJB). The Catholic Church does not allow Vigil Masses for the Holy Day this year because it falls on a Monday.

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From the Pastor's Desk
11/23/25

Solemnity of Christ the King
Today, November 23, 2025, is the last Sunday of our liturgical year and it is known as the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe. It is also more commonly referred to as Christ the King. It was Pope Pius XI who instituted this feast in 1925, with his encyclical Quas Primas to respond to growing secularism and atheism. He recognized that attempting to “thrust Jesus Christ and his holy law” out of public life would result in continuing discord among people and nations. This solemnity reminds us that while governments come and go, Christ reigns as King forever. During the early twentieth century, in Mexico, Russia, and some parts of Europe, militantly secularistic regimes threatened not just the Catholic Church and it faithful but civilization itself. Pope Pius XI’s encyclical gave Catholics hope and – while governments around them crumbled – the assurance that Christ the King shall reign forever. Christ’s kingship is rooted in the Church’s teaching on the Incarnation. Jesus is fully God and fully man. He is both the divine Lord and the man who suffered and died on the Cross. The Holy Father called us to acknowledge Christ’s kingship with our whole lives: “He must reign in our minds, which should assent with perfect submission and firm belief to revealed truths and the doctrines of Christ. He must reign in our wills, which should obey the laws and precepts of God. He must reign in our hearts, which should spurn natural desires and love God above all things, and cleave to him alone.” This solemnity encourages us to celebrate and life out our faith in public. When we celebrate the Solemnity of Christ the King, we declare to the world and remind ourselves that Jesus is Lord of the Church and of the entire universe. (U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops)

Thanksgiving Day Mass
This year’s Thanksgiving Day Mass will be celebrated at 9 AM on Thursday, November 27 at St. Titus Church. I, along with my brother priests and deacons, am looking forward to celebrating this special Mass with all of you. 

Preparing for Advent
It’s hard to believe, but the Season of Advent begins next Sunday, November 30. This beautiful season seems to arrive like a whisper, but so often escapes us with the many distractions we have around us this time of year. A Light in the Darkness is our theme for Advent this year as we prepare to enter into this season of prayerful waiting and watching. As we prepare to begin not only a new liturgical season, but also a new liturgical year, I am always reminded of the beautiful words of the late Fr. Edward Hays, a priest of the Diocese of Kansas City, Kansas, and author of over thirty books on spirituality. I’d like to share his wisdom with you as we take this last week to prepare our hearts to enter such a beautiful season: “Advent, like its cousin, Lent, is a season for prayer and the reformation of our hearts. Since it comes at winter time, fire is a fitting sign to help us celebrate Advent. If Christ is to come more fully into our lives this Christmas, if God is to become really incarnate for us, then fire will have to be present in our prayer. Our worship and devotion will have to stoke the kind of fire in our souls that can truly change our hearts. Ours is a great responsibility not to waste this Advent time.”

Advent 2025 Daily Devotional Booklet
Don’t forget to pick up your Advent daily devotional, Jesus, Prince of Peace, provided at no cost to you by the parish. They can be found in the vestibule of each of our churches. This beautiful booklet from All Saints Press offers short, daily reflections from Popes Francis and Leo XIV to lead you into the heart of Advent, centered on Jesus as the Prince of Peace. Each day will provide you with Scripture passages and thought-provoking questions of faith to help deepen your encounter with Christ. If you are looking for another way to spend more time in prayer during the hectic days of the coming Advent season, this devotional booklet is for you. 

Liturgical Updates
As we move toward not only a new liturgical season, but also a new calendar year, we are beginning to refocus our parish music ministry program in order to help foster an even deeper sense of unity. As you may have noticed, our pews have become a bit crowded with an abundance of music literature over the last four years. We understand that this can be confusing and possibly frustrating. I speak on behalf of the entire Clergy and Music Ministry Teams when I say: we feel your pain. In an effort to bring us all closer together, the Music Ministry Team has decided to return our parish family to the familiar hymnal all four church sites have used for years. The We Celebrate Hymnal from GIA Publications has been present in all of our pews for quite some time, and has proved to be the best fit for our congregation. Therefore, next week on the First Sunday of Advent, you will find the brand new We Celebrate Hymnal and its accompanying missalette in every pew. The old and outdated We Celebrate Hymnals, the St. Michael Hymnal and the Source and Summit annual missalette will all have been removed. If you had a nameplate in memory of someone placed in the St. Michael Hymnal, they will be sorted alphabetically and available for you to take home in back of the church in which you had it placed. 

Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick
Please remember that if you desire to be anointed prior to any surgery, hospital stay or for any other reason related to your health and well-being, you may request the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick from one of our priests by calling the Parish Office.