From Father Carl
Thank you for the support and generosity being extended to those most in need through the Thanksgiving Food Drive, the Giving Tree, and the many ways you live
Mt 25:31-46 (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/25). Each time we give of our time, talent, and treasure, we fulfill the 2nd century observation made of Christians, “see how they love one another.” Generosity continues to be a response to God’s unconditional love and blessings in our life.
Advent is the season of hope. A hope kept alive by the prophets of old, lived by God’s people in ordinary day by day perseverance and waiting, and celebrated in ritual which is built upon the memory of God’s faithfulness. Christian hope shares these same characteristics. Pope Benedict XVI in Spe Salvi: Saved in Hope emphasizes this: “God is the foundation of hope: not any god, but the God who has a human face and who has loved us to the end, each one of us and humanity in its entirety. His Kingdom is not an imaginary hereafter, situated in a future that will never arrive; His Kingdom is present wherever He is loved and wherever His loves reaches us. His love alone gives us the possibility of soberly persevering day by day, without ceasing to be spurred on by hope, in a world which by its very nature is imperfect.” (paragraph 31) (http://www.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_ben-xvi_enc_20071130_spe-salvi.html)
This week we celebrate hope in the lives of these holy Saints and Mary the Mother of God under everal titles: St. Ambrose, The Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, St. Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin, Our Lady of Loreto, St. Damasus I, and Our Lady of Guadalupe. (learn more about the saints here: https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/resources/saints and here https://www.vaticannews.va/en/saints.html
Who models hope for you? Whose virtue of hope do you admire? Maybe an Advent challenge is to let those people know why you are grateful for them and how they have inspired you.
We/I are only ever a phone call away to assist you, 215-836-2828. Be assured of our prayers and support.
St. Genevieve Pray for us.
God bless,
Carl
(Reverend) Carl Janicki
A Glance at the Daily Mass Readings
Joan Chittister, OSB in her article “The Holy Gift of Awareness,” offers these insights which can help illuminate the Advent scriptures: “All life is a sacred adventure in the coming of the Reign of God, a journey to fullness of life rather than its denunciation. No doubt about it: the purpose of prophecy is to leaven the world, to bring it closer to the Reign of God one small step at a time.” (https://www.joanchittister.org/word-from-joan/holy-gift-awareness) What one small step is God asking you to take this Advent?