Dear Friends
Let me begin by congratulating Gail Sullivan for her Family of the Month award in November 2019. Like so many of you she deserves our appreciation for her almost insane commitment to her faith and her parish community. Great is her love for the parish and especially for the TEENS and Religious Ed program. Thank you, Gail.
I would like you to spend a few minutes in reading why you should attend our Advent Mission. We have the famed Tom Peterson, the founder of Catholics Come Home and an inspirational speaker and author as our presenter. He will speak on Monday, 9th December at 7 p.m. on the theme: “Our world needs Catholic Heroes” and on Tuesday, 10th December on the theme: “What the world needs now is love!” Please come and enrich yourself and rediscover the truth, wonder and mystery of the Catholic faith. Please remember our mantra: EACH ONE, REACH ONE. You can offer the invitation to anyone and most especially to your former Catholics who have fallen away for various reasons. Tom Peterson gives us 5 reasons among many others why they should come home:
- WE HUNGER FOR MEANING AND PURPOSE IN OUR LIVES: We all want answers to why we are here and what we were made for. The Catholic Church has the answer. God made us to know, love, and serve Him in this world, so we can be with Him forever in heaven. The Catholic Church helps us to fulfill this purpose that God has for all of us. And when we live out God’s will for us, we find extreme joy and peace in life.
- WE NEED GOD’S FORGIVENESS AND HEALING FOR OUR FAILINGS AND GOD’S MERCY TO HELP US BECOME BETTER PEOPLE: Perhaps you’ve been carrying around deep spiritual wounds or painful sins that have burdened you for years. The Catholic Church gives us a way to bring our faults, failings, and hurts before God in the Sacrament of Confession, so He can take the yoke off our shoulders and bring us healing and peace, giving us a “new start” every time we need it.
- OUR FAMILIES NEED TO BE BUILT ON A STRONG FOUNDATION OF FAITH AND WE NEED TO LIVE IN COMMUNITY WITH OTHERS: You may have heard the phrase “a family that prays together stays together.” It is true! Many studies—and experience—have shown that families who live out their faith together are stronger and happier. If you want to give your children the greatest treasure in the world, give them the gift of faith. The Church also provides us with a community of faith-filled friends in which we can find support and strength for our life’s journey.
- THE CATHOLIC CHURCH HAS THE SACRAMENTS—AND WE ESPECIALLY LONG FOR THE EUCHARIST: It is in the Catholic Church that you experience the fullness of the seven sacraments, which Christ bestows on His Church to help fill us with grace to draw us closer to God. As Catholics, we have the ultimate privilege of receiving Christ in the most personal way possible—in the Holy Eucharist. Countless Catholics have returned to or entered the Church because of their longing for Jesus in the Eucharist. He longs to feed us with Himself!
- CATHOLICISM IS TRUE!: The only really good reason to believe something is because it is true, and Catholicism is true! The Catholic Church is the one Church established by Christ 2,000 years ago (Matt 16:18). It is the Church to which God calls all of His universal family to belong. The Catholic Church offers us deep union with Christ through the Scripture, Sacraments, prayer, and community.
Hope to see you with your friends and family at the Advent Mission. Have a Blessed Week!
With Love,
Fr. John