This weekend at St. Peter is the Rosary Society bake sale. So if you want to start your Advent sweetly, that is one way to do it. Monday the 8th of December is a Holy Day of obligation, our patronal feast day for our country. School Mass is at 8am. The evening Masses are at 5:30 pm at both St. Peter and St. Casimir parishes. At Sacred Heart parish at 10:30 am there will be one of the Sisters of the Divine Image making her final profession in her order to the Bishop. There will be penance services for our students at the Middle School and High School, keep them in your prayers that God’s grace aids them in growing in virtue.
As we go deeper into Advent, we are going deeper in the faith with the use of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. The two paragraphs I would like to highlight are 524 and 2636. From 524 we hear that the Church “makes present this ancient expectancy of the Messiah, for by sharing in the long preparation for the Savior’s first coming, the faithful renew their ardent desire for his second coming.” Advent has the two characteristics of already and not yet; when we think of Jesus fulfilling what the prophets promised over the centuries and our own waiting for His return in glory. We should always have that sense of anticipation as disciples ready to follow when He returns.
The first part of 2636 says “the first Christian communities lived this form of fellowship intensely.” What bound them all together so wonderfully and powerfully? Prayer. They were a people of prayer. It framed their day and gave them strength to live the faith in the face of persecution. But it was not just prayer for themselves. The second part says “the intercession of Christians recognizes no boundaries: ‘for all men, for kings and all who are in high positions,’ for persecutors, for the salvation of those who reject the Gospel.” Perhaps we know of those who have faded from their relationship with Jesus, may we never leave them out of our prayers or lose hope for their salvation. In this Advent season may we be inspired to be a people of intense prayer for all.