Parish Bulletin for Sunday, December 3, 2006

First Sunday of Advent

Another liturgical year has passed and a new one has just begun. Like it or not, time is carrying us forward. We have again come full circle to a new beginning and yet we find that things look quite familiar. When we read the scriptural selections for yet another Advent, we wonder if there is anything new under the sun. We've heard the texts before and we know the hymns by heart. We've met all the protagonists before and we can anticipate what John the Baptist, Paul, Luke, Jeremiah, Isaiah and the other prophets are going to say even before their words are proclaimed in our midst.

As we make our way from the church to the mall and the marketplace, we quickly realize that we have become veterans of this season. We'll make the lists and do the shopping, we'll wrap the gifts and decorate the tree. We'll write the cards and bake the cookies. We'll attend the pageants and parties and when the Christmas story is read, we'll mouth the words that have become so indelibly engraved upon our memories: "…the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us, and we have seen his glory: the glory of an only Son coming from the Father, filled with enduring love" (John 1:14). In that moment and by God's grace the words we have spoken and heard for decades can challenge us to shake off what may have become so expected and routine and awaken us to the ever-startling and fresh newness of God, present and alive among us!

The difference between the passing of yet another year, like so many other years, and the promise of a new day dawning is Jesus Christ. From the moment the Word became flesh and blood, the course of human history changed forever. God's gift of Jesus gives new meaning and new direction to every individual human story. History, because of God's word to us in Jesus, is no longer a repetition of events, but a movement with a beginning, a purpose and a goal, all of which come from and are held by God. Advent signals a return to the beginning but it is always a new beginning. Communities of Faith start all over again each Advent. In the midst of a world where God is seldom felt, we yearn to experience God again, for the first time.

As we read and listen to our ancestors in the faith, we trust that memory and hope will come alive; this trust is not misplaced because the word, as it is proclaimed, is a living entity, speaking a new message, in a new manner, in a new year, to a people who long to be new again. Each Sunday of Advent the word calls the gathered assembly to reach beyond the routine, beyond their comfort zone, into personal breakthrough. Jeremiah reminds us today in the first reading that God's promises are never left unfulfilled. The long awaited One makes his appearance in Jesus. Paul, in his correspondence with the Thessalonians, offers wise counsel to those who are striving to move beyond the routine into personal breakthrough. God is ever present, strengthening us and making us holy as we try to live our lives in the word we have been taught.

Luke's word to us in the Gospel is written in the apocalyptic word of the first century Christian community. Piercing the symbolism of his language, we find the direction we need…be watchful, pray constantly and stand secure. We have heard the words of Luke before. But the grace of Jesus, Word of God Incarnate, the grace of the God who spoke him into being, and the grace of the abiding Spirit will enable us to hear the ever new message of this saving word as it speaks to us… for the first time, over and over again. Thanks be to God!

TUESDAY, Dec. 5

Advent

8:30 a.m. - † Albert Deni

Requested by Nilda Deni and family

WEDNESDAY, Dec. 6

Advent

8:30 a.m. - † Lydia Arsenault

Requested by husband

THURSDAY, Dec. 7

St. Ambrose

8:30 a.m. - † Joseph Lee Nam Kwong

Requested by family

FRIDAY, Dec. 8

Immaculate Conception of Mary

8:30 a.m.

Parish Bulletin for Sunday, December 10, 2006

Second Sunday of Advent

The person and ministry of John the Baptist is a vivid picture of what the spirit of Advent is all about. He appears in the wilderness of Judea and calls the people to conversion and renewal. Many of his followers thought that John was the one they were waiting for, but John himself quickly puts a stop to such ideas. He points beyond himself to announce the coming of someone greater than he is, someone who will baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire. John is the forerunner, the one who prepares the way of the Lord.

From his lips, the words from the prophet Isaiah remind us of the God of the Old Testament. The God of the exodus from Egypt, the God who leads his people out of exile in Babylon, and the God who gifts us with Jesus is a God of salvation and liberation. Our God is a God of promise and fulfilment. Our God is a God of history and of the future. He has a plan for us and for all of humankind and he will see it through to fulfilment.

John called his contemporaries to prepare the way of the Lord in their hearts. The "windings of sin" and the "rough ways" of selfishness, the "mountains and hills" of arrogance and pride, the "valleys" of discouragement and despair were to be made right and true and docile through conversion, prayer, and a baptism of repentance. The Lord, through the person of Jesus, would come and make his home in the hearts of all who believe.

How do we make the path straight for another? How do we find a voice to advocate justice for the oppressed and the poor? Where mountains of bigotry exist, can we level them with tolerance and understanding? Where there is a desolate valley of hopelessness, can we fill it with compassion and mercy? John's call to prepare the way for God called for conversion and, in the end, action. John is calling us to turn our hearts toward God and prove it by acting differently in our lives. John's message proclaims: Do not just speak, act. This is how the Word of God comes into our hearts!

Advent is a time for hope – hope and trust in the promise of fulfilment. What God has done for us in Jesus is a guarantee that God remains with us and that he is leading us to final fulfilment in him. Our liturgies for all of Advent are filled with hope and longing. Christ comes here and now. He acts in our lives and speaks to us in Word and in Eucharist. He comes into our present in our love and service to one another. He is with us in all of our struggles for peace and social justice. He is with us as we open ourselves to hear his Word and truly take it to heart in all that we do and all that we say.

As we celebrate this day, let us take the time to recognize God acting in our lives. Take that moment to hope, to offer hope to another, to love as Jesus has loved us. Let us pray, then, for the opening of our hearts to let the love, peace, joy, and hope of Advent fill us so that we too may fulfill the baptismal call to discipleship-right here and right now!

TUESDAY, Dec. 12

Our Lady of Guadalupe

Noon - † Eduardo D. Esguerra

Requested by Virgilio and Sharon

WEDNESDAY, Dec. 13

St. Lucy

Noon - † Jack Williams

Requested by wife Joan

THURSDAY, Dec. 14

St. John of the Cross

8:30 a.m. - † Barbara and Joe Manza

Requested by Nilda Deni and family

FRIDAY, Dec. 15

Advent

8:30 a.m. - † Nancy Fung

Requested by Dr. Joseph Fung

Parish Bulletin for Sunday, December 17, 2006

Third Sunday of Advent

Joy and Blessings in the Ordinariness of Our Lives

In the course of his preaching near the Jordan, John the Baptist attracted many new followers from many walks of life. Ordinary people were attracted and moved by his message and asked "What ought we to do?" Tax collectors asked "What are we to do?" Soldiers wanted to know how they could translate their willingness to change into action, "What about us?"

If their frank and eager questions are any indication of their zeal, then those who were drawn by John's message would probably have agreed to anything he asked them to do. But John did not issue unrealistic demands and challenges; he simply directed the energies and generosity of his questioners toward the routine and workaday circumstances of their everyday lives. God does not require the extraordinary or the bizarre; rather, blessedness is to be found in the ordinary and even in the banal.

If John were here now, what would he be telling us? We can almost hear echoes from this gospel story if we are really listening. Spouses are called to a renewal of their love and devotion to one another. Parents, revere your children. Children respect your parents. Brothers and sisters, let sibling rivalry yield to mutual caring. Teachers, value your students, and students: realize that your mentors have precious wisdom to impart. Doctors and nurses, treat your patients with attentiveness and understanding. Lawyers, be defenders of justice for all. Lawmakers, listen to the needs of your constituents. Constituents: exercise your right to vote justly. Workers, do a just day's work. Employers, pay fair wages without discrimination; do not foster policies that militate against family life and values.

In a word, John would have his listeners bring zeal and zest into the long-term demands of daily living. This poses no easy challenge. Everyday morality is no easy matter at all. To keep plodding ahead through dull, tedious, everyday existence can often be more difficult than a unique deed whose heroism makes us run the danger of pride and self-satisfaction.

Although this season of Advent is already half spent, there is still time to ask the question: "What ought we to do?" There is also still time to channel our eager willingness to respond to that question into the large and small, significant moments of each and every day.

TUESDAY, Dec. 19

Advent

8:30 a.m. - † Maudry Constant

Requested by Maureen Charles

WEDNESDAY, Dec. 20

Advent

8:30 a.m. - † Florencio Pasco

Requested by Ronnie Manaig

THURSDAY, Dec. 21

Advent

8:30 a.m. - † Carmen Baptiste

Requested by Carla and Okiki

FRIDAY, Dec. 22

Advent

8:30 a.m. - † Clari Ta G. Dayot

Requested by Trisa and J. J. Dayot

Parish Bulletin for Sunday, December 24, 2006

Christmas 2006

We come once more to the feast of Christmas. We have put away the Advent candles and the church is ablaze with light and sound and colour. The liturgy is joyful and the music resounds with the Good News that our Saviour is born. Oh Come Oh Come Emmanuel - Oh Come Oh Come God-with-us – echoes to the music of Joy to the World. And yet we are called to ask ourselves what it is about this feast that is so important to us now, in 2006, as followers of the Christ.

More than 2000 years ago, a young girl and her husband set out on a journey together. Both have answered yes to God's call and both have faced incredible challenges to arrive at Luke's stable in Bethlehem. A Child is born and the world will never be the same. The Incarnation tells us in no uncertain terms that our God is a God who saves. In this gift of Christmas, this gift of God's own Son, we have treasure beyond measure. This Child will grow to manhood and show us the way to God. He will turn the world upside down and free us from the bindings that blind us from God's love. Nothing more, nothing less!

A radiance and joy permeate our liturgical celebrations today. Christmas customs, traditions, carols, liturgical celebrations and visual decorations around us shout out with joy. The hope, peace, joy and love that have marked our advent longing are once again celebrated in the great Christmas feast. Our joy in the Emmanuel is boundless. We mark this season not only in remembering what has gone before but also in celebrating the fulfilment of God's promise to us. We celebrate the new life that the coming of Jesus has made possible for us in the past, the present, and the future. Through his death and resurrection Jesus has become a living Spirit present and active among us – right here and right now. The invitation of this Christmas calls us to share his life in faith and in love.

And what does that mean to us? The God who saves is the God who loves without conditions. The celebration of Christmas is an invitation to all followers of the Christ to open hearts and minds to the Risen Lord of all that he may continue to be born in us. We believe that the coming of Jesus in history is the beginning of new life for all of us. We celebrate a new humanity and a new creation in Christ.

Once again, we celebrate Christmas. Once again, we are offered the opportunity to renew and live that new life in every part of our beings and in every part of our lives. May the one great Light of our lives, the gift of God's life in us, Emmanuel, God-with-us, fill us this Christmas. This is the gift of grace in the incarnate life of Jesus of Nazareth, the light of the world.

TUESDAY, Dec. 26

St. Stephen

No Mass

WEDNESDAY, Dec. 27

St. John

No Mass

THURSDAY, Dec. 28

Holy Innocents

8:30 a.m. — Thanksgiving

Requested by Emma Jaron

FRIDAY, Dec. 29

Fifth day in Christmas Octave

8:30 a.m. - † John Drake

Requested by wife Rita