Pastor's Message
The Second Sunday of Advent, 9-10 December 2023
HS
JMJ
My Dear Fellow Saints-in-the-Making,
Greetings in Christ Who is our Peace!
As we celebrate the Second Sunday of Advent, we light the second candle on the Advent wreath, which represents peace. We patiently wait, yet with excitement, we anticipate the Nativity of Our Lord and Savior as well as His return. It is a sacred time of double-waiting, where we long for the Birth and the coming of the Prince of Peace.
This is the excited anticipation we hear in this Sunday’s Gospel, where John the Baptist preaches repentance as he prepares the way of the Lord. And what brings us greater peace than to be forgiven of our sins through our contrition and the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Let us remember the peace-filled freedom Jesus gives to us in the Sacrament as our parish prepares for its Reconciliation Service on Thursday December 21. May our hearts prepare to welcome the Peace of Christ both in the Sacrament and at Christmas.
To heighten our anticipation of the Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, let us contemplate the simple beauty of our fourth Zettler stained glass window that St. Jude the Apostle Parish has acquired: Holy Matrimony.
We see the exchange of rings, the visible symbol of a husband and wife’s vows of fidelity, chastity, and openness to children and truly of their promise to do everything they can to get the other to Heaven. This is seen by the shape of the ring, which is circular, representing eternity. As they share in the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony from the moment they exchange their vows until death do they part, husband and wife mirror the faithful and Self-giving love of Christ the Bridegroom to His Bride the Church and hope together for the peace that comes from endeavoring to be one here on earth so as to be forever one with God in Heaven.
What a grace it will be to marvel at the beauty of this stained glass window of the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony, which also alludes to the marriage of Christ’s Divinity to our humanity at His Conception and which we see visibly at His Nativity on Christmas! Makes us anticipate His coming all the more to be Emmanuel: God With Us. Thank you for your generous donations to our monthly maintenance collection to help bring this window to St. Jude the Apostle. May you always know the Peace of Christ!
A blessed Season of Advent.
God love you! I do.
Fr. Lewis
PS: We received a suggestion for a parish directory. Over the past year and a half, the Pastoral Council discussed the possibility of having a parish directory, which would traditionally list phone numbers and addresses, but opted against it due to concerns about privacy. A suggestion to change the time of daily Mass, even once a week, was submitted. Such a change in other parishes has created confusion amongst Mass attendees, and therefore the preferred method is consistency: 8am daily Monday through Saturday, especially as the current schedule supports active participation in many of our parish ministries and programs.
