Dear friends,
God has been so good to us in the past 20 years since the foundation of our parish in 2001. With the help of God, we have been instrumental in bringing many people to the sanctuary to worship HIM and to experience his love. That was all possible because of you and your generosity.
Time has now come to complete the structure of the building and to add more to our campus that it might draw even more people to worship Our Lord Jesus Christ. Hence, we have begun in earnest our campaign titled: GOD’S HEART…OUR DREAM 2.0. I had the privilege of launching the campaign on 4/5 December 2021 at all Masses. You will all be getting mail from the parish explaining everything that is included in the project. Please respond to this as soon as you can. Christmas is around the corner and you will be flooded with many other cards and letters. I request you to pay greater attention to our mail. If you by any chance do not receive mail from us please contact us without fail. I have an unshakable confidence in your generosity and commitment to our parish and I thank God for you every day as I celebrate the Eucharist.
As we enter into the Third Sunday of Advent which is also known as Gaudete Sunday or Rejoice Sunday, this Sunday sets a tone of joyful expectation for the Lord’s birth and Second Coming. The second reading from Paul’s Letter to the Philippians 4:4 says it all: Rejoice in the Lord always. I shall say it again: rejoice! Your kindness should be known to all.” Even as we rejoice in the Lord for all he has done in our lives and most especially in the life of our Parish, your kindness has been extraordinary. May the good Lord shower upon you all his choicest blessings!
Let us not forget to pray our Campaign Prayer: GOD'S HEART, OUR DREAM 2.0
We, the members of St. John the Evangelist parish community, thank you for the numerous ways in which you guide and sustain us. As we reflect on your unmistakable presence in our lives, our hearts are filled with gratitude for providing us a consecrated space in which to praise and honor your name.
Oh, how good it is to praise you, O Lord, in your sanctuary!
Guide us as we seek your heart to expand our dream of completing the building and providing a space to honor your handmaid servant, Mary, the Mother of your Son and our heavenly Mother. With your grace may we be ever- more grateful and faithful stewards of all you provide.
May our dream of drawing many to your sanctuary, bear fruit and enrich our community of faith, hope and love. We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Please take note of the many events in our parish during this blessed Advent season offered as opportunities for preparing, quieting, and disciplining our hearts for the full joy of Christmas:
14 December, Tuesday: Vespers at 7 p.m.
16 December, Wednesday: Our parish is hosting a luncheon for the handicapped poor of our area. Please pray for them.
21 December, Tuesday: The Stations of the Crib at 7 p.m.
Have a Blessed Advent! With love,
Fr. John
Let us also continue our reflection on the Eucharist as found in the Catechism of the Catholic Church:
ARTICLE 3: THE SACRAMENT OF THE EUCHARIST
VII. THE EUCHARIST - "PLEDGE OF THE GLORY TO COME"
1402 In an ancient prayer the Church acclaims the mystery of the Eucharist: "O sacred banquet in which Christ is received as food, the memory of his Passion is renewed, the soul is filled with grace and a pledge of the life to come is given to us." If the Eucharist is the memorial of the Passover of the Lord Jesus, if by our communion at the altar we are filled "with every heavenly blessing and grace" (Roman Missal, EP I (Roman Canon) 96: Supplices te rogamus), then the Eucharist is also an anticipation of the heavenly glory.
1403 At the Last Supper the Lord himself directed his disciples' attention toward the fulfillment of the Passover in the kingdom of God: "I tell you I shall not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom" (Mt 26:29; cf. Lk 22:18; Mk 14:25). Whenever the Church celebrates the Eucharist she remembers this promise and turns her gaze "to him who is to come." In her prayer she calls for his coming: "Marana tha!" "Come, Lord Jesus" (Rev 1:4; 22 20; 1 Cor 16:22)! "May your grace come and this world pass away" (Didache 10,6:SCh 248,180)!
1404 The Church knows that the Lord comes even now in his Eucharist and that he is there in our midst. However, his presence is veiled. Therefore we celebrate the Eucharist "awaiting the blessed hope and the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ" (Roman Missal 126, embolism after the Our Father: expectantes beatam spem et adventum Salvatoris nostri Jesu Christi; cf. Titus 2:13), asking "to share in your glory when every tear will be wiped away. On that day we shall see you, our God, as you are. We shall become like you and praise you forever through Christ our Lord" (EP III 116: prayer for the dead).
1405 There is no surer pledge or dearer sign of this great hope in the new heavens and new earth "in which righteousness dwells" (2 Pet 3:13), than the Eucharist. Every time this mystery is celebrated, "the work of our redemption is carried on" and we "break the one bread that provides the medicine of immortality, the antidote for death, and the food that makes us live forever in Jesus Christ" (LG 3; St. Ignatius of Antioch, Ad Eph. 20,2: SCh 10,76).
Be Blessed! With love, Fr. John