From the Pastor’s Desk

Dear Parishioners,

     The Season of Advent has a two-fold character. It is a time of preparation for Christmas, a time for us to remember and celebrate the birth of the Son of God almost 2,000 years ago. It is also a season when our minds are directed by the scripture readings that Christ’s second coming is in our future. It is a season of joyful and spiritual expectation. For some, it might even be a season of fear as we read and study the scriptures.

     With the scriptures, there is an added push that we look toward the second coming of Christ. From December 17th through the 24th, the prayers at Mass prepare us more directly for the celebration of Christmas. Advent’s general atmosphere could be described, as I said in my homily last weekend, as preparation, expectation, and anticipation.

     On December 17, we begin our Christmas Novena. A novena is a special prayer form. It originally comes from the word novem which means 9, and, in this context, 9 days of prayer. A novena is a religious celebration which falls into 1 of 4 types. There is a novena of mourning, a novena of preparation, a novena of preparation, or a novena of seeking mercy. The novena we begin on Wednesday is of preparation.

     Our Novena was written by the Sisters of the Most Precious Blood located in O’Fallon, Missouri in 1980. Instead of 9 days, it is a novena of 7 days of preparation titled, MARANATHA, Preparation for Christmas. As a Christmas Novena, the sisters wrote it as a nighttime candlelight service, to which I have added the white lights of our Christmas decorations.

The novena is comprised of music, petitions, psalms from the Old Testament, prophecies concerning the Messiah, Canticles, and Scripture Reading, all in the prayer of Eucharistic Exposition and Benediction. The Novena each evening is between 25 and 30 minutes in length and is a beautiful spiritual way to prepare for the Birth of Christ.

     I am inviting all of our Eucharistic Ministers and those who would like to be Eucharistic Ministers to the Novena

on December 18, followed by a special gathering and updating coming from the Liturgical Office of the Diocese in the Dining Room.

     On December 22, I am inviting Lectors, Ushers, and Greeters to the Novena on December 22, followed by a special gathering and updating in the Dining Room.