Dear Parishioners,
We all have good days and bad days—days when everything is right and days when all is wrong. When we are having those bad times, we desperately seek comfort and consolation. The setting for the first reading (Isaiah 40:1-5, 9-11) is Babylon, where the Jews had been held captive after the fall of Jerusalem. But their captivity would soon be coming to an end. God would comfort His people at long last and deliver them. They looked forward to their deliverance by the Messiah.
However, they needed to be ready for the Messiah’s coming and prepare the way for his arrival. As we prepare to celebrate Jesus’ coming into the world and into our hearts, we need to level the mountains of our pride and arrogance and fill in the valleys of our spiritual laziness and weak wills to overcome our sins. There’s no better way than the sacrament of penance. Take advantage by coming Saturday afternoons from 3:30–4:30 p.m, or attending one of the services at one of the surrounding parishes like Our Lady of the Chesapeake on Thursday, December 15 at 7:30 p.m. The Sacrament of Penance provides the greatest comfort and consolation available here on earth.
- Fr. Carl
Rev. Stephen Hook is Pastor of the Pastorate of the Visitation which includes the Catholic Churches of Pasadena, Maryland: St. Jane Frances de Chantal (Riviera Beach) and Our Lady of the Chesapeake (Lakeshore). He is assisted by Associate Pastor Rev. John Belinki, Deacon Howard Klohr, and Deacon Rick Clemens. To learn more about our pastorate, please visit www.catholicpasadena.org.
