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
