Preparation

My dear friends in Christ,

Preparation has never been a problem for me. For example, preparing to watch sports on television, preparing to eat a good meal, preparing to have a doughnut with coffee, preparing to meet some of your requests, preparing to spend one hour in prayer each day professing the liturgy of the hours and praying for you and our Parish are some of those things. Lack of time often infringes on our “prep time”. Advent invites us to consider the vastness of our time here on earth by reminding us that God’s time is not time at all, but something entirely different. It is the rising action of God’s infinite experience. Lack of time also hinders our execution. Our hectic lives prevent us from praying regularly. We go shopping and buy things that we know our loved ones don’t need or want. We are on the go for that last minute gift and we fail to “prepare the way of the Lord” as John the Baptist does. Make it a point to schedule time for prayer during this busy Advent season and prepare for the coming of our Savior.

This weekend we bless the manger and light the tree. The custom of lighting goes back to when Christmas trees were decorated with candles, which symbolized Christ being the light of the world. We should make it a point to enter into the light of Christ!

And finally, the end of year financial statement is ready and hopefully will be enclosed. With the Holy Day, it may not get in until next week. We operated at a deficit last year which means we must pull together to help make Corpus Christi viable and strong into the future!

May God bless you all!

Father John