Pastor's Weekly Message
fourth SUnday of Advent, 20-21 DEC 2025
My Beloved Fellow Saints-in-the-Making,
Greetings in Jesus Christ Who is Love!
A Blessed Fourth Sunday of Advent! Because we are on the cusp and threshold of Christmas, just four days away, we might very well overlook that we are still in the Season of Advent. Perhaps we are preoccupied with last minute gifts, getting our Christmas packages to the post office so that they will arrive at their intended destinations before Christmas Day, baking that last batch of Christmas cookies, and finalizing preparations for Christmas dinner with family and friends. Perhaps we are so preoccupied with what is happening four days from now that we forget what is truly most important: today.
While our hearts are anticipating the Return of Jesus, we are nevertheless called by God to live in Jesus today, in this present moment, because the present moment is the only time that we have to love and glorify the Lord, to be in His Presence—even while we await Him—and to rest in His Peace. The past is gone; the future is not yet come to be. Therefore, thinking distractedly about the future (even if it is about Christmas) makes us forget that though Jesus will come back, He is already here: substantially so in the Sacrament of the Most Holy Eucharist. We can be with Him here and now and leave all distractions behind.
This is one of the reasons St. Carlo Acutis encouraged frequent reception of the Eucharist, even daily by participating in Mass every day. Now while that might not be manageable for everyone, we can still receive the Lord spiritually in anticipation for when we will receive Him substantially in the Eucharist. Given the great challenges we all encountered during COVID, we are very familiar with spiritual Communion. If you are not able to come to Mass Monday through Saturday morning, then at some point each day, pray the following prayer composed by St. Alphonsus Liguori:
My Jesus, I believe that You are present in the Most Blessed Sacrament. I love You above all things, and I desire to receive You into my soul. Since I cannot now receive you sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my heart. I embrace You as if you were already there, and I unite myself wholly to You. Never permit me to be separated from You.
Growing more closely to Jesus through an increasing love of Him in the Eucharist will help us become saints, because, as St. Carlo says, “the Eucharist is truly the Heart of Jesus” and “like St. John, we are called to become beloved disciples. All we need to do is become Eucharistic souls, adoring souls.”
As we wait for the celebration of the Nativity of Jesus and His ultimate Return at the end of the world, let us remember that He fulfills His promise to the Apostles before He ascends into Heaven: “Behold! I am with you until the end of the age.” This is utterly true, for Jesus is substantially Present in the Eucharist, where you and I encounter Him literally in the Flesh, for He is indeed Emmanuel: God with us.
As we savor these final days of Advent, let us grow closer to Jesus by drawing closer to Mary, to whom the Angel Gabriel appears revealing that, with her consent, she shall conceive and bear the Son of God: Jesus, and let us continue our parish-wide Consecration to the Immaculata with daily meditations so that we, Saints-in-the-Making, may be with Jesus here and now and forever after, for He saves us from our sins. Let your presence to Jesus Who is Present to us in the Eucharist be your Christmas gift to Him.
God love you! I do.
Fr. Lewis
Fr. Cornelius and I extend our most heartfelt wishes for a holy and joyful Christmas Day and Christmastide! May the newborn King bless you and yours now and always. Thank you for the great gift you are to our parish family and to us. We thank God for you.