Witness

My dear friends in Christ,

Our Gospel suggests that there are two ways of approaching life and God’s presence in the world. John the Baptist demonstrates one way while the priests and Levites demonstrate another. One way is to be a witness The other is to be an interrogator. John was a witness sent from God. The priests and Levites were interrogators sent by the religious authorities. “Who are you,“ they ask John. “Are you Elijah?” “Are you the prophet?” “Why are you baptizing?” They couldn’t see the light in front of them because they were so wrapped up in the darkness. That’s how it is with interrogators. Witnesses are different. They talk about light. The big difference is that the interrogators demand answers while witnesses offer hope. More now than ever, our world needs witnesses of hope. We don’t need more answers. We need to hear “the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord.’ “ Let the voice of John the Baptist be our hope as we continue on our Advent journey.

Our blessing of the Manger and lighting and blessing of the Christmas Tree was a success. Additional thanks to Don and Nancy for their contributions.

The Bell Choir will bless us with a prelude to the 4:00 PM Mass on Christmas Eve. They have been preparing and rehearsing as they are the only choir we are able to utilize during this pandemic.

Please continue to pray for all who need our prayers in this Advent season.

May God bless you all,

Father John