Merry Christmas! Feast Of The Holy Family

Brothers and Sisters,

As we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Family of Joseph, Mary and Jesus, let us reflect on the sanctity and the challenges of building a holy family. As the father, God gave Joseph the responsibility to care and protect for his family. Being the protector and father is not only a great responsibility but a great challenge as well.

Admittedly, it would be ideal to skirt around the dangers, challenges, fears, and pain along the road of life, but that does not always work toward the purpose and will of God. Joseph leaves before Herod’s threat is realized. He turns away from the new ruler’s threat both times avoiding bad things. But he did have to deal with uprooting the family. He had to start over in Egypt, then leave that behind for yet another start in Nazareth. None of that is easy, as anyone who has moved will attest. But it is in the tests of life that we grow closer and closer to God. We take our responsibility, work out the obedience in caring for our family, and converse with God about the good and the bad. Time after time, we build our trust as we obey more and more. Joseph demonstrates what our lives can be like when we surrender our fear to God, when we surrender the threats and what ifs, when we trust that He will be with us and never leave us or forsake us. Joseph realizes what the Lord is asking of him through the dreams, and he obediently and trustingly follows the angel’s direction. This is faith in action. The trust that Joseph demonstrates from the start of the scripture passage is the trust that leads his family. The story is an affirmation of God leading us and guiding us in our purpose to glorify him. He guides our hearts in all we do. We share with Him, and He leads us. This is how we cultivate a strong and deep relationship with our Lord.

May the love and peace of Christ’s birth reign in our hearts always.

Merry Christmas.
Deacon Howard

Advent Week 4: Join Us For Christmas Mass!

Dear Friends of our Pastorate of the Visitation,

Happy Fourth Sunday of Advent! We are coming to the end of our time of reflection and preparation. Our Readings this weekend prepare us to celebrate the birth of the Emmanuel, God with us, as we hear in Matthew’s Gospel. In Matthew’s Gospel, it is Joseph who receives the message from the angel of the Lord encouraging him to take Mary as his wife, because she will give birth to Jesus. He was planning to divorce her quietly, but after receiving this message, he takes her into his home. By this act, Joseph demonstrates to us his complete trust in the Lord, just as Mary did when the angel Gabriel appeared to her to announce that she would become the Mother of Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Because of these righteous acts of Mary and Joseph, this week, we will be celebrating the Solemnity of the Nativity (birth) of the Lord, also more commonly known as Christmas! We look forward to welcoming you and your family to our Christmas Masses this week. Our schedule of Mass is as follows: Christmas Eve (Dec. 24th) at OLC – 3:30pm in the Church AND in the Gathering Place, 5:30pm, and 7:30pm (which is our Youth Mass). At St. Jane Frances, Masses on Christmas Eve are at 4:00pm in the Church (with Bishop Parker), and 4:00pm in the Lower Church, (which is a children’s themed Mass), 6:00pm, and then our Pastorate Mass at 10:00pm (at St. Jane Frances.) On Christmas Day, Masses will be at 9:30am at St Jane’s and 10:30am at OLC. We hope you will be able to join us as we celebrate Jesus’ birth.

Looking ahead, our Mass schedule for the Solemnity of Mary holy day is as follows: On 12/31, we will have a 4:00pm Mass at OLC and a 5:00pm Mass at St Jane. On 1/1, our Pastorate Mass for the Solemnity will be at 10:00am at OLC.

I would like to thank everyone who has been so generous in supporting our Advent Giving Tree, our food pantry collections, our Santa to a Senior program at OLC, and all of the many ways you have helped us to reach out to those in need in our local community. This is another sign of the presence of God’s kingdom in our midst. Thank you! Thank you also for your generous Christmas gifts and donations. Your contributions to our parishes are very much appreciated. We have also received permission from Archbishop Lori to fundraise for the organ rebuild project at St. Jane Frances. All donations will remain at the parish to cover the $106,000 cost of the project. If you would like to make a donation, please go to stjane.org and click on the Give link and select the “Organ Re-Build Project” as the Fund. Thank you for your support.

Thank you for keeping the Pastorate of the Visitation—St. Jane Frances de Chantal and Our Lady of the Chesapeake—in your daily prayers!

God Bless,
Father Steve

Advent Week 3: Joy And Patience

Rejoice Friends In Christ!

Gaudete or ‘Rejoice’ is the message of this Third Sunday of Advent. This comes from the opening antiphon of today’s Mass: “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice. Indeed, the Lord is near” (Phil 4:4-5). We also hear about patience this weekend. Let’s look at joy and patience.

St. Thomas Aquinas writes that joy is a fruit of love (charity). He teaches that we get joy when we are in the presence of the one we love and when the one we love has what they need to flourish.

The presence of the one we love. This Sunday, we rejoice because God is with us! In this season of preparation, we are seeking to make space in our hearts and in our lives so that we can receive even more of Him. We do this through prayer and recollection, through reconciliation and penance. The Lord is always drawing nearer to our souls by the promptings and invitations of His grace. How am I responding? Lord, increase my faith and my desires to draw near to you in every opportunity for prayer, in every moment, in every circumstance.

This deeper gift of God into our lives is not only for us: joy comes when the one we love has what they need to thrive. So, in this season and beyond, we strive to love and serve our neighbor with the love of the heart of Christ. Our choices of love become ‘advents’ of Christ into the lives of others.

To have joy, we must love well; and to love well, we need patience, because it is not always easy or comfortable to choose to love. In today’s Gospel, we find John the Baptist in prison. He never saw a miracle of Jesus. But he still believed when his disciples came and told him all the marvelous things Christ was up to. He never gave up his faith or love.

If we feel a little like John the Baptist, struggling to find the presence of God; if we feel like God is concealing Himself in this season of our lives, let us renew our faith moment by moment. The words of the first reading are for us in difficult times, “to those who are frightened”: “Strengthen the hands that are feeble, make firm the knees that are weak… Be strong, fear not! Here is your God, he comes with vindication; with divine recompense he comes to save you.”

Tonight at 6:30pm at Our Lady of the Chesapeake, the choir will lead us in a beautiful Lessons and Carols service. This is a beautiful way to enter into the loving promises of God to us through Scripture and song. We hope to see many of you there!

Who is the Lord putting on your heart to invite to Christmas Mass this year? It isn’t an invitation to the dentist! It can’t hurt to invite them. And, be assured: there are really beautiful things happening in peoples’ hearts. A simple invitation could be all that they need. May they have a deep, profound experience of the love of God through the sacraments and in the presence of our spiritual family.

Thank you for keeping the Pastorate of the Visitation—St. Jane Frances de Chantal and Our Lady of the Chesapeake—in your daily prayers!

In Christ Jesus our Joy,
Father John

Advent Week 2: The Gift Of Peace

Dear Friends in Christ,

The second week of Advent traditionally focuses on the gift of Peace. The fiery preaching of John the Baptist that we hear this Sunday reminds us that peace comes as a result of Jesus Christ entering more deeply into our hearts and into lives with “fire and the Holy Spirit” to purify, to make new, and to make fruitful. Be not afraid! This is some of Christ’s best work.

We pray… Jesus, nothing is more desirable, nothing is more pure, nothing is more trustworthy than your love for me. I trust in your loving attention to every detail of my life. You make all things new. Grant me peace through your abiding presence at every moment and help me to be Your vessel to bring peace, understanding, and forgiveness to others.

Please remember that Monday December 8 is the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception and is a holy day of obligation. There is 8:30am and 5:30pm Mass at St. Jane Frances and 8:30am and 12noon Mass at Our Lady of the Chesapeake. St. John Paul II wrote, “This important Marian feast occurs during Advent, a season of watchful and prayerful preparation for Christmas. She who knew better than anyone how to wait attentively for the Lord guides us and shows us how to make more vital and active our journey to the Holy Night of Bethlehem. With her, we spend these weeks in prayer, and—guided by her bright star—hasten to make the spiritual journey that will lead us to celebrate the mystery of the Incarnation with greater intensity.” Mary is the patroness of the United States under the title of the Immaculate Conception.

We will pray the Stations of the Crib once more on Friday December 12 at 7pm at St. Jane. All are welcome!

Please join us next Sunday evening Dec. 14 at 6:30pm at Our Lady of the Chesapeake for a night of Lessons and Carols! This is a service with beautiful music and Scripture readings to take us more deeply into our spirit of expectation and longing during this Advent. We are grateful to Kevin Garner and our choir and musicians for this special opportunity!

Another Marian feast on Friday of this week is the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe who is the patroness of the Americas. Hear her tender words spoken to St. Juan Diego during the apparitions. She speaks also to you and me: 

“Let not your heart be disturbed. Do not fear that sickness, nor any other sickness or anguish. Am I not here, who is your Mother? Are you not under my protection? Am I not your health? Are you not happily within my fold? What else do you wish? Do not grieve nor be disturbed by anything!”

Let us continue to pray for each other.

Come Lord Jesus!
Father John

Celebrating Advent

Dear Friends of our Pastorate of the Visitation,

This weekend, we begin our new liturgical year with the celebration of the First Sunday of Advent. The season of Advent is meant to be a time for us to prepare ourselves for the celebration of the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Themes that are associated with Advent include hope (week 1), peace (week 2), joy (week 3), and love (week 4). I invite you to spend some time in prayer this Advent season reflecting on the places in your life where you experience these themes and seeing how they are connected to the ultimate source of hope, peace, joy, and love—our Lord Jesus Christ.

The readings for the First Sunday of Advent continue to expand upon themes we hear at the end of the liturgical year last week when we celebrated Christ the King. The tone is one of being prepared for the coming of the Lord. Jesus’ second coming is one of the things we are praying for every time we pray the creed. We pray that Jesus will come again in glory… to judge the living and the dead. This is not meant to frighten us but instead, as the scriptures reference today, to awaken us from our slumber so that we are ready to welcome the Lord. If we feel any fear (which I would suggest we ought not feel), then it probably means we know we need to convert our hearts and minds, a little nudge to return to the Lord. It’s never too late to (re)turn to our compassionate and merciful Lord. Jesus is always ready to welcome us home as we are in the Church as well!

Our pastorate is offering us some great opportunities to make a return. This Sunday, we will have Eucharist Adoration following the 11:30am Mass until 5:30pm at St. Jane’s, including a Guided Children’s Adoration at 1pm and Stations of the Crib at 3pm. This Friday we will be offering 24 hour Eucharistic Adoration at St Jane’s. Exposition will be in the Church until 6pm, then in the Chapel until 8am on Saturday. Our Advent Confessions with Adoration is scheduled for Wednesday, Dec. 10th at 6:30pm at St. Jane. Lessons & Carols will be celebrated on Sunday, Dec. 14th at 6:30pm at OLC.

The Advent Giving Tree is set up and ready for you to support our parish and local charities including Mary’s Center, NCEON, and others. Please choose a tag (or three) from the tree to donate the item listed. All gifts should be unwrapped and have the tree tag attached.

Finally, mark your calendars for the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, a holy day of Obligation/“Opportunity,” on Monday, Dec. 8th. Masses will be offered at 8:30am (both Churches), 12:00pm (OLC), and 5:30pm (SJF). The Immaculate Conception is the patronal feast of the United States. Please join us as we honor our Blessed Mother, and the mother of our Savior. 

O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us!

Thank you for keeping our Pastorate of the Visitation—St. Jane Frances and Our Lady of the Chesapeake—in your daily prayers!

God Bless,
Father Steve

Christ Is King!

Dear Brothers and Sisters, Christ is King!

The last Sunday of our Catholic liturgical year is devoted to the Kingship of Jesus Christ. What type of king is our King Jesus? What is His Kingdom, the Kingdom that we belong to, like? What are citizens of that Kingdom like?

We hear today that the Good Thief made out pretty well on that Good Friday. He confesses His sinfulness and makes the greatest theft of his life: He steals the Heart of Jesus. (NB: I’m not certain, but I may have heard that from Fulton Sheen.) Or so it seems! It is really the Heart of so good a King that captures and reclaims what is rightfully His: the heart of that good, repentant thief.

Thus, the Crucified Jesus reveals that He is a merciful King who has come to give us sinners new, abundant, everlasting life. The love of His Heart, freely given, can transform our hearts, if we let it!

Consequently, this merciful love becomes the essence and center of the Kingdom of Jesus and, so too, the essence of His family the Church! The two are inseparable.

The Love of the King and the Kingdom built upon it is what every heart wants: a Love that is stronger than sin and death; a Love which, as St. Paul teaches, is patient and kind, not jealous or boastful, arrogant or rude, irritable or resentful; it is a Kingdom of Love that rejoices in truth and bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things and endures all things. The triumph of this love is what each of us as members of the Church get to give and make known to the world. What a joyful task!

Do my attitudes, affections, desires, motivations, and plans reflect those of a citizen of this Kingdom of Love? How can I belong more sincerely and entirely to Jesus our King? How does Jesus want to capture and reclaim me for Himself? How can I build up this Kingdom in my home, my pastorate, my neighborhood, my work place?

We have an invitation for you.

The Eucharist is Jesus. His Kingdom is in the Eucharist and flows from the Eucharist. So please join us next Sunday November 30 for Eucharistic adoration as we begin the new liturgical year on the first Sunday of Advent. The consecrated Host will be exposed for adoration and prayer from 12:30pm to 6:00pm at St. Jane.

Eucharistic Adoration is an extension of the Mass. It is a prolonged time of Holy Communion as we adore and pray before Jesus in the Eucharist. Come and go as you please. See the afternoon schedule in the bulletin. An older parishioner recently said she had never been to adoration. After going, she said, “I never knew I could feel the presence of Jesus in this way.” In every Communion, in every tabernacle, Jesus awaits you. Please join us next Sunday!

Our Pastorate is so thankful to the Lord for those participating in the Order of Christian Initiation for Adults. Many participated in the Rite of Welcome today at St. Jane where we solemnly welcomed them into our community and recognized and affirmed their desire to enter more deeply into formation to formally enter the Catholic Church. Please pray for them!

God bless you!
Fr John

Advent Is Coming!

Dear Friends of our Pastorate of the Visitation,

This weekend, we celebrate the 33th Sunday in Ordinary Time. As we come to the end of the liturgical year, our readings take on a more apocalyptic tone as they focus on the end time. On the surface, they may give us some pause as we hear about times of trial and tribulation, but this is not meant to be a time for us worry and fret over our future. Instead, it is a reminder to us of what is to be accomplished by Christ when He comes again in glory. Christ the King (whose feast day we will celebrate next weekend) will ultimately triumph over sin and death. He will conquer the world and fully establish His kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. This is all meant to be Good News! If we are worried, then now is the time for repentance and conversion. The Lord is always ready to forgive us and welcome us back to his flock.

The end of the liturgical year also ushers in the beginning of the Advent season. The St. Jane Frances Giving Tree will be set up this weekend and ready for you to support our parish and local charities including Mary’s Center, NCEON, and others. Please choose a tag from the tree to donate. All gifts should be unwrapped and have the tree tag attached.

Next week, we will be celebrating Thanksgiving. Our Pastorate’s Thanksgiving Day Mass is on Thursday, November 27th at 8:30am at St. Jane Frances. We will be collecting donations of food for the food pantry, so please bring your donations to the Church. We will also be blessing your Thanksgiving foods after Mass.

In next weekend’s bulletin, we will be publishing our Pastorate’s Advent and Christmas schedule. This will include the Mass schedules for the Immaculate Conception and Christmas Masses as well as our Advent Penance Service. We will also be offering a new service called Stations of the Crib. This is like the Stations of the Cross but is based on fourteen events in the infancy narratives from the Sacred
Scriptures. Stay tuned for more information.

Please keep everyone in your prayers who has been impacted by the shutdown of the Federal Government. We have parishioners who have been impacted on many levels, not only those who work for the government, but others who receive assistance for food and other services. Please pray that our elected oĸcials will find a way through this political impasse and restore civility to our political process.

Thank you for keeping our Pastorate of the Visitation—St. Jane Frances and Our Lady of the Chesapeake—in your daily prayers!

God Bless, 
Father Steve