On this First Sunday of Advent, we begin a new liturgical year in the Church. It is a time of eager anticipation for the coming of Jesus Christ which we celebrate on Christmas Day. This is not just about celebrating a holiday with all the trimmings, parties, gifts, and a time of good cheer. This is about celebrating Jesus coming to us and dwelling among us. Jesus is with us all the time, but the world seems to be much more aware of His presence at this time of the year. We need to take advantage of that and try to direct our celebration by helping friends, family, strangers, co-workers as well as those we do not see eye to eye with on various issues in our lives. Truly it is a time of evangelization, spreading the “Good News” of Jesus to others.
I hope that we can all make this the best Advent ever by using our time in the best possible way and not letting ourselves get swallowed up in the all the “craziness” that this time of year can bring into our lives. We can make it a time of prayer and reflection concerning the true meaning of Advent and preparing for the coming of Christ.
As I did in past years, I would highly recommend the web site of Dynamic Catholic to help you and your family make this Advent the best ever. Simply go to the web site BestAdventEver.com and sign up. You will receive helpful reflections and prayer ideas as well as practical things that can help you and your family rediscover Christmas. These daily e mails will help you to slow down in the midst of all the busy things to do so that the Advent Season does not slip by without helping you to prepare to encounter Jesus as He comes into our world again and again.
Advent is a Holy Season for us to anticipate and prepare for the Birth of Jesus. It is very much like the Season of Lent during which we prepare to celebrate Easter. It is a time set aside to help us prepare spiritually for the Coming of Jesus. There are really three comings of Jesus, the first when He is born in Bethlehem and the coming of Christ at the end of time. However, there is the coming of Christ here and now and we experience this coming in our daily lives especially when we go to Mass and receive Holy Communion. We believe that Jesus comes down from heaven upon the Altar under the appearance of bread and wine, but still the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ. It is important that we prepare ourselves for this coming too. We do this by making sure that we have gone to confession, especially if we are aware of serious sin. Preparing to receive Jesus in Holy Communion means that we are aware that He comes to us, and we are striving to become more like Him in the way we live our daily lives. As most people know we do have confessions every Saturday from 11AM to Noon. During the week before Christmas there will be extra times to go to confession. These times will be published in our Christmas mailing which come with your Christmas envelope. There will also be our Advent Communal Penance Service on Wednesday, December 11 at 7 PM in the church. As usual there will be visiting priests for this service. Please make plans to receive the Sacrament of Penance as part of your preparation for the coming of Jesus Christ.
WE GIVE CATHOLIC! On Tuesday, December 3, 2024, from 12:00 a.m. to 11:59 pm Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish we participate in #weGiveCatholic, Northeast Ohio’s Online Day of Catholic Giving. Please support us with your donation on that day by going to www.wegivecatholic.org, search for Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish then click “Donate.” Mark your calendar, then Give Catholic on Giving Tuesday. These funds will be used in the renovation of the lower level of the church. Thank you for your generosity!
INCENSE: There seems to be more discussion about the use of incense at Mass over the past several months. Fr. Pat used the incense at all the weekend Masses he celebrated. The use of incense at Mass and other times of worship is a tradition that goes back to the time of Moses. The incense reminds us of our prayers rising to heaven as well as a way to honor and reverence holy people and objects. Hence, we incense the altar, the Gospel Book, the gifts of bread and wine, the people, the priests, and most of all the Eucharist. The use of incense is a very important part of our worship and tradition. It is unfortunate that it often bothers some of the people causing them to have issues with their breathing. I also like the use of the incense, but I cannot swing the censor due to the problems I have with my feet. In the past I have used incense from time to time, especially on certain holy days.
We will continue to use incense, but we will do so in somewhat of a limited way. Fr. Robinson and Deacon Rich also like to use incense, so Fr. Robinson will use incense at the Masses he celebrates for the most part. We will try to tone it down and use incense that is more tolerable to a person’s senses. To make this information known starting the first Sunday of Advent we will designate which priest will be celebrating which Masses in the bulletin by using the priest’s initials in the Mass schedule which appears in the bulletin.
I hope this will be helpful to everyone. Coming to Mass should be a prayerful experience. Thank you for your understanding and patience.
