From the Pastor's Desk | December 3, 2023

Thank You

A huge THANK YOU to Cynthia Farnsworth, Mark Farone, Bonnie and David Maluchnik, Ron Lenz, Andrea Patton, Jackie Rosalez, Hallie Card, and everyone who had a hand in pulling off an awesome parish celebration! It was so much fun celebrating with such an amazing community!

A huge THANK YOU to all of you who donated to our annual parish fundraising drive! It was a tremendous success and I cannot convey how thankful I am to all of you. As of writing this due to holiday bulletin printing deadlines, we were able to raise over $146,000 to help keep Catholic education accessible, affordable, and available! That is simply amazing! When we have the final number from Giving Tuesday, I will be sure to report it to you all.

There is so much excitement, hope, and opportunity bubbling up within the community. The Lord has so much in store for us. It is an exciting time to be part of this particular community! From the bottom of my heart, thank you! 

Gospel Reflection

As we begin this first week of Advent, we always begin this first week of the new liturgical season and the new liturgical year where we left off at the end of the previous liturgical season and liturgical year - pondering the four last things (heaven, hell, death, and judgment). This season is the season of great hope, expectation, and new beginning. Our hope is ultimately eternal salvation won for us through the merits of Jesus Christ but not yet realized for us individually because we are still sojourners in this earthly life. So, we keep our eyes fixed on Jesus! He is our hope, our expectation, our new beginning.

In the Gospel today, Jesus tells us to be watchful and alert because we do not know when the Lord of the house is coming. This weekend we kick off a four part series preaching the Eucharist. As I wrote last week, it is my desire that we rekindle, revive, and reawaken within ourselves and within the parish our belief in the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist.

One of the fundamental ways in which we can remain watchful and alert is regular prayer before the Blessed Sacrament - spending time with the one who created us, who continually loves us, who never leaves us. As we await with expectant hope for the coming of our Lord, we have the greatest gift on the face of the earth in the Eucharist - our God who comes intimately close to us.

Though hidden in the appearances of bread and wine, we can be confident and certain that He is present among us because he tells us so. St. Thomas Aquinas wrote that Jesus is present in the Eucharist but puts on the disguise of bread and wine to hide his glory because his glory would all but overwhelm us.
As we begin this Advent season, let us prepare for the coming of our Lord by remaining watchful and alert by keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus in the Eucharist. I encourage you to spend time with our Lord in quiet, reflective, and intimate adoration during this Advent season.

Please know of my prayers for each one of you! 
Fr. Ryan