Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

With the first Sunday of Advent we begin the itinerary of a new liturgical year, entering into the first of its seasons. During this season we place our hope in our Lord’s coming in Glory. In the next few weeks, the passages of Scripture presented before us at Mass speak of the need to keep ourselves blameless “for the coming of the Lord” (1 Thes 5:23). In fact, it is exactly this that we live out in the liturgy. By celebrating the liturgical seasons we actualize the mystery in this case the Lord's coming as it were "walking in it" towards its full realization at the end of time, but already drawing sanctifying virtue from it, since the last times have already begun with Christ's death and Resurrection.
The word “hope” sums up this particular state of our souls, in which one awaits God’s manifestation but of which one also already has a glimpse and a foretaste of God’s promise. Advent is the spiritual season of hope par excellence, and in it the whole Church is called to become hope, for herself and for the world. The whole People of God continue on their journey, attracted by this mystery: that our God is "the God who comes" and calls us to go to meet him.
We meet God through that universal form of hope and expectation which is prayer, which is eminently expressed in Sacred Scriptures and in the Liturgies: human words in which God himself has placed and continually places the invocation of his coming on the lips and in the hearts of believers.
I encourage you to take part in the parish’s special liturgical activities for Advent. The sacrament of penance (confession) prepares us to receive the Lord in our hearts filled with grace. The Sacraments help us put our souls in order for the coming of the Lord and challenge us to live today, what the Lord has prepared for us for all eternity.

In Christ Jesus our Hope

Rev. Juan Carlos Aguirre
Pastor

Advent Penance Service:

Wednesday Dec 9, 7:00 pm

Confessions:

Saturdays at 3:00 and by request to priests

Feast of the Immaculate Conception

Dec 7, Vigil Mass      7:00 pm (Spanish)

Dec 8, Mass             8:00 am (English)

          Mass             7:00 pm (Bi-Lingual)

Christmas

Dec 24,           Christmas Eve

5:00 pm Mass (English)

Dec 25            Christmas Day                     

12:00 am Midnight Mass  

(Eng/Sp)

10:00 am Mass Nativity (Eng)

Mary Mother of God (Holy Day of Obligation)

Dec 31, 2009 5:00 pm Mass  (Eng)