Advent, from the Latin “ad-venire” meaning “to come to,” is a time of preparation and anticipation for the remembrance of our Lord’s birth and His eventual Second Coming. Additionally, the Church calls us to conversion and a repentance of the heart during Advent to prepare our souls to receive our newborn King and the heavenly Kingdom to come. In essence, this season allows us to look back on the hope for the Savior of the World, experience anew the joy of his arrival and also his reign in the present through his Church, and to prepare ourselves for his glorious return at his Second Coming.

Dear Friends, “For as in one body we have many parts, and all the parts do not have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ and individually parts of one another.” (Romans 12:4-5)

Our parish community at Mount Carmel reflects the Catholic Church in miniature. I observe this in the way that our ministries seek to serve each other and the people outside of our community. I see this in the various prayers offered through mass intentions and devotions for both the living and the deceased souls in purgatory. I recognize this in the celebration of the saints who have gone before us and won the crown of salvation as victors in Christ. In all this we reflect what our Church wisely calls Communion of Saints.

A wise, elderly priest once celebrated an early morning Mass. Later that day, someone asked him, “How many attended Mass this morning?” and he answered, “There were thousands there—but I only saw three of them.” In other words, in addition to the three early birds in attendance, the priest included the thousands of souls from purgatory allowed by God to be present at this Mass, along with a multitude of invisible but very real angels and saints, “especially Our Lady, St. Joseph, and St. Michael the Archangel. We don’t see everything that’s going on at Mass, and we would be overwhelmed and amazed if we could. Many deceased persons being cleansed and healed in purgatory are allowed to be present, especially if the Mass is being offered for them and especially if they had a great devotion to the Eucharist during their lives.

Dear Friends,

We have just gone through an election peacefully, for which we must be grateful to God. However, it is not an exaggeration to say that the period preceding the election and the election day itself were full of fears and anxieties at many different levels. Almost two weeks after the election, fear of the unknown about the future of our country may still be lingering among some of us, while others may be very optimistic. In this article, I want to dwell briefly on the power of trust in God over fear in an attempt to make some sense of our situation.

It is important that we, as Catholics, know not only what the Catholic Church does but why we do it, when it comes to our funeral rites. Like all liturgical rites, funerals have a specific function in the life of the Church. Catholic funeral rites actually consist of three liturgies, each serving a distinctive purpose in ministering to the bereaved and commemorating the deceased.

The first is the vigil, which takes place prior to the funeral mass, typically the preceding evening. The service consists of a Liturgy of the Word and intercessory prayer. It is typically celebrated at the funeral home but may also be celebrated at the church. It is a time for mourners to express their grief and to receive consolation. At the vigil, God’s word in Scripture is offered “as light and life in the face of darkness and death.” The vigil liturgy is the most appropriate time for a friend or family member of the deceased to offer a eulogy in their remembrance.

Dear Friends,

Last weekend, I gave you my state of the parish address, reflecting on my past year as your Pastor and laying out my plans for our parish going forward. I pointed out how excited and blessed I am to be your pastor. I reminded myself, too, as I often do, how grateful I must always be to God and to the several people that God brought into my own life over the years. That now includes you! It is this sense of gratitude that always brings a bright smile to my face, if you are wondering!

Many Catholics aren’t fully sure what Purgatory is or why it exists; perhaps you may be in that boat, too. Hopefully, this can help illuminate the role of Purgatory in the life of a Christian and how we can participate in helping souls get to Heaven through the prayers of the mass.

Dear Friends,

Since this weekend, my focus is on addressing the state of our parish at all Masses, so I decided to give a brief reflection on the liturgy of this 31st Sunday of Year B. Whereas the readings of this weekend focus primarily on Love: Love of God and Love of neighbor, my mind was drawn to the title of this article. I think this is for a good reason: who or what we love greatly influences our worship. Who and what do we worship in our society today?