Dear SJF/OLC Pastorate Friends,
This weekend, we celebrate the Second Sunday of Advent. Our Gospel reading from Matthew’s Gospel recalls the proclamation of John the Baptist, who came to prepare the way for the coming of Jesus Christ (Mt 3:1-12). The people of God had been waiting in hopeful expectation for the Messiah, as foretold in the first reading from the Prophet Isaiah. The coming of the Messiah would usher in a new era in human history. We are the benefactors of this promise, we who have been baptized by the Holy Spirit and fire. Even though we know of God’s love for us and our call to love one another as Jesus has shown us, we also are painfully away of places where the Church’s leaders, her bishops and priests, have failed in our call to serve God’s People.
By now, most of us have heard about the upcoming release of the Maryland Attorney General’s report on the Clergy sexual abuse crisis in the Archdiocese of Baltimore. The report will document the horrors of abuse that have occurred within the Archdiocese for the past 80 years. The report states 158 priests have been accused of abusing over 600 people, mostly the younger and most vulnerable members of our community. Information about this is posted at www.olchesapeake.org. This report will once again remind us of the sins of our past, and how damaging these atrocities have been to so many lives. Please join me in praying for all victims who suffered at the hands of people they trusted to protect them. No words can express the profound sorrow I feel for those who have been hurt by the Church. May the Lord grant them healing, and help us to dedicate our lives to ensure it never happens again.
This week on December 8th, we celebrate the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Masses will be offered at OLC on Dec. 7 (vigil) at 7:00pm and Dec. 8 at 8:30am, and at St. Jane Frances on Dec. 8 at 8:30am and Dec. 8 at 7:00pm. Please plan to join us!
Here is the Pastorate’s Christmas Mass Schedule:
- St. Jane Frances: Dec. 24 at 4:00pm (one Mass), 6:00pm, 8:00pm, and 10:00pm (Choir)
- St. Jane Frances: Dec. 25 at 9:00am and 10:30am
- Our Lady of the Chesapeake: Dec. 24 at 3:30pm (one Mass), 5:30pm, 7:30pm (High School Youth Mass), and 10:00pm (Choir)
- Our Lady of the Chesapeake: Dec. 25 at 10:00am
Thank you for keeping St. Jane Frances and Our Lady of the Chesapeake in your daily prayers!
God Bless,
Father Steve
