The First Sunday of Advent: O Come, O Come Emmanuel
by Fr. Kilian McCaffrey | 11/30/2023 | Pastor's Letter“Be watchful. Be alert! You do not know when the time will come.”
This weekend, the time has come for us to begin our yearly pilgrimage to Bethlehem. Last week we finished up the liturgical year of 2023 with the Parable of the Final Judgment in St. Matthew’s Gospel, Chapter 25. Today we pick up at essentially the same place, except we are now in St. Mark’s Gospel, which will be our Gospel Scripture for 2024.
Our reading today is from St. Mark, Chapter 13, to what is called The Olivet Discourse. After Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, He taught in the Temple area, but He also withdrew to the Mount of Olives, His favorite place, for teachings and sayings, and His very famous Lament Over Jerusalem.
The brilliant Catholic professor, Dr. Brant Pitre explains the importance of this:
“This might seem unusual, but for Advent the Church wants us to make two acts of preparation. First, the obvious one would be the preparation for the celebration of Christmas, which is to come immediately after the Advent season. But the second act of preparation is preparation for the second coming of Christ, or preparation for the second advent of Christ.
So because those two themes are at the heart of the season of Advent, the Church begins this liturgical year with a reading from the Gospel of Mark.”
Our Upcoming Advent Events:
On Sat, Dec 2, we will begin our daily Mass at 8:30am, and this will continue each weekday. I now challenge you: attend daily Mass for the Holy Season of Advent.
The World Christmas Market will be held THIS WEEKEND from 3:00 to 7:00pm on Dec 2 & 7:30am to Noon on Dec 2 in the Parish Courtyard, featuring many vendors of high-quality items including:
- Advent and Christmas Gifts
- Delicious food provided by the Famous Tamale Sisters The Poor Clares from Texcoco, Mexico
- Delicious Sweet Crepes from our wonderful Croatian Community
We will host the Diocesan Novena to Our Lady of Guadalupe on Tue, Dec 5 at 7:00pm.
Our Advent Penance Services are on Wed, Dec 6, Two Sessions: 9:00am & 6:30pm.
The Immaculate Conception Masses: Vigil: Thu, Dec 7 at 6:00pm; Daily Masses: Fri, Dec 8 7 & 8:30am; 12 & 6:00pm
Fr. Kilian, Fr. Williams, our Deacons and all of our great Parish Staff and Volunteers.
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