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November 28, 2017Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
“Grant your faithful, we pray almighty God, the resolve to run forth to meet your Christ with righteous deeds at his coming…..” with these words we begin our Advent walk with God and the new liturgical time is set. With the Advent season, there is a sense of urgency, of expectation because Christ is coming and we are to meet him with our prayers and great deeds. The Advent season is a time of waiting and anticipating, not just the celebration of Christmas, and the commemoration of Christ’s coming into the world incarnated in the flesh of an infant, but also the celebration of Christ’s Second Coming at the end of the world. We start Advent with looking forward to Christ’s Second Coming.
STHY will have our annual Advent Penance Service on Wednesday December 6th at 7:00 pm in the Church. We will have multiple priest confessors available for the Sacrament of Reconciliation that night. I encourage you to come and experience this most powerful and healing sacrament. Especially if you haven’t been to confession in a long time, now would be an ideal time to come and be reconciled to God and the Church. It would be a great way to start off the new liturgical year and get yourself in the right frame of mind for the approaching holidays.
We have a special treat for everyone at STHY as for Potluck supper in Guyot Hall Tuesday December 12th 7:00 p.m. Come out on Wednesday and bring a dish to share.
Now that the Holiday season is in full swing and there are several opportunities for our parish community to witness the love of Christ to those in need this season. The Angel Tree is up in our Church narthex and the angel tags are on the tree. The Knights of Columbus are sponsoring a coat drive and there is a constant need for donations for food in which SVDP will distribute. Thank you for your generosity.
The Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception which is a Holy Day of obligation is Thursday December 8th. There will be three scheduled Masses for Immaculate Conception on Thursday (Vigil) December 7th at 7:00 pm and Friday December 8th at 8:00 am and 7:00 pm in the main Church.
The Immaculate Conception teaches the faithful in the Catholic Church that from the moment when she was conceived in the womb, the Blessed Virgin Mary was kept free of original sin, so that she was from the start filled with the sanctifying grace normally conferred in baptism. The doctrine of the Immaculate Conception was dogmatically defined on December 8, 1854, by Pope Pius IX in his papal decree Ineffabilis Deus.
I send out my sincere thanks to all who made a pledge for our Building Faith, Family and Future… our Sanctuary, Our Home…. Capital Campaign. I truly appreciate your generosity and support. There is still time for you to make your pledge and donation. Envelopes are in the Narthex along with our collection box specifically designed for our Capital campaign or you can do so online through the parish website. We ask every family, this holiday season, to consider an equal sacrifice, not an equal size gift. As we enter the Christmas season and the time for giving, we can all do our part, and every pledge, of every size, is most needed and welcomed. Thank you for doing your part to help us reach our goal.
Finally, this weekend I want to introduce a new program to the STHY parish family. FORMED is the revolutionary digital online platform that gives STHY unprecedented access to video-based study programs, feature films, audio presentations, and eBooks from the Church’s foremost presenters. With your free access to FORMED, 24/7 on your television, smart phone, laptop, I-pad, or Kindle, you can:
- Prepare for Mass each week by watching an insightful five-minute video on the Sunday Readings.
- Study the Scriptures at your own pace and time.
- Enjoy movies as a family that are both nourishing and entertaining.
- Enrich your marriage with the award winning video program Beloved.
- Help your children grow in faith and character with engaging children’s materials.
Soo I am asking every family to register for your free access to all the amazing content on FORMED.
God Bless,
Fr. Reginald Samuels