Dear friends,
As we enter into the 4th Sunday of Advent, we accompany Mary, the fundamental and the most important Advent Figure, who in the pondering of her heart recognizes God’s spectacular intervention in her life which will have wide ranging ramifications for humanity. The prophet Micah (5: 1-4), as we hear from the first reading, prophesied long before Christ was born saying, “when she who is to give birth has borne, and the rest of his kindred shall return to the children of Israel.” The restoration of God’s children will come about through the birth of the Savior. In the Gospel we will see how Mary in her uncontainable joy, carries in haste this great message of hope for Israel to her cousin Elizabeth. It is here that all the great Advent Figures converge: John the Baptist (still in the womb), Zechariah, Elizabeth, and Mary with Jesus in her womb. What a sight to behold when everyone, including the ones in the womb, leap for joy at the greatest news of their entire life.
This makes a perfect segue into our Christmas Celebrations when all of the longings of Israel are fulfilled: The prophet Isaiah (9:1-2) describes this in one of his iconic passages: “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; upon those who dwelt in the land of gloom a light has shone.” This is confirmed by St. Paul in his letter to Titus (2:11): “The grace of God has appeared.” Luke in turn proclaims it in his Gospel (2:11): “For today in the city of David a savior has been born for you who is Christ and Lord.”
We, at St. John’s, have been greatly blessed by God’s wonderous presence in the past 20 years of its existence. When we enter into the month of January we will indeed be celebrating the gift of the new sanctuary 4 years ago. Let us keep singing the praises of our Loving God for enabling us to participate in the building of the new church. We will celebrate this huge sign of God’s presence on Sunday, the 16th January at the 11 a.m. Mass.
We will also take this moment to celebrate Misty Huff, our business Manager, who will be receiving the Spirit of Holy Cross Award given by the Congregation of Holy Cross for her meritorious service to our parish. We have many reasons to celebrate and give thanks to God. Let us come together after the 11 a.m. Mass to celebrate her and the anniversary.
I take this occasion to thank you all for responding to God’s Heart Our Dream 2.0 very generously. Your generosity is utterly overwhelming. Everyone must have received the mail from the parish by now. If you have not received the mail from St. John’s please do not hesitate to let us know. I urge those of us who have not responded as yet to please take a moment to complete your pledge so we can move ahead with our task at hand.
Please remember also that you can donate directly to St. John’s from your IRA retirement fund. Our goal is to draw many to God’s sanctuary. Let us do whatever is in our power to work toward completing this project at the earliest.
On behalf of Fr. John Patrick, the Deacons, and the Staff, I wish you all a blessed Christmas as we welcome the audaciously humble God who dwells among us!
With love,
Fr. John