Now that Thanksgiving has come and gone, Advent invites us to prepare for Christmas and celebrate the coming of Jesus into the world. But Christmas is also a time when families and friends come back together again. Please feel free to invite them to Mass. If they are not Catholic or they haven’t been to Mass for a while, please remind them of the proper respect that should be shown to our Lord in his house. For instance food, drink, and chewing gum should not be brought into the church. Those who are non-Catholic are invited to come up in the communion line with their arms crossed to receive a blessing but not Holy Communion as it is a sign of one’s faith and membership in the Catholic Church. If some are non-practicing Catholics, invite them to come to the sacrament of Penance so that they might worthily receive the Eucharist. Our Lord is most merciful and would love to come into their hearts again.
This week, John the Baptist urges us to reform our lives (Matthew 3:1-12), for sin tends to twist our lives out of shape. Prayer, fasting, and almsgiving can help us return to be once more in the image and likeness of God. When we get out of shape, exercise is at first painful; but with continued work, it becomes less so, and we feel better and better. It’s the same with spiritual exercise. We all feel better at the end.
God Bless,
Fr. Carl
“I LOVE St. Joseph so much because
he had the care of the Blessed Virgin.”
~ Thoughts of the Cure D’Ars
