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Catholic Church / Pacoima, CA

In the Darkness We Wait for the Light

First Sunday of Advent

Advent and Christmas is walking towards Bethlehem and find Jesus. That is how it was then and how it is now if it lives in the heart. That is living. Switching it on, again and again, our light. Open the doors of our hearts and discover the fullness of the Lord. Advent is the time of preparation, searching, waiting for the coming of the Lord. Only the things we love, we hope, we wish… we wait with joy and look forward.

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Things we do not love, more than you expect them, we have them … That is why Advent is a time of search and hope. We need the coming of God Savior, we wish Jesus to save us and fill us with his Spirit.

I would like to help you live your Advent and Christmas as a deep and actual experience in the midst of your daily life. Make this present your thirst for God and the saving presence of Jesus, your search for your encounter with him.

Living God’s Word

Unlike those who were baptized by John, we were baptized “with the Holy Spirit” (Mark 1:8). If that is so, then “what sort of persons ought” we to be? Like Isaiah, John, and Peter, we ought to be both heralding and “hastening the coming of the day of God” (2 Peter 3:12).

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Readings for the Week

Monday: Is 2:1-5; Ps 122:1-9; Mt 8:5-11
Tuesday: Is 11:1-10; Ps 72:1-2, 7-8, 12-13, 17; Lk 10:21-24
Wednesday: Is 25:6-10a; Ps 23:1-6; Mt 15:29-37
Thursday: Is 26:1-6; Ps 118:1, 8-9, 19-21, 25-27a; Mt 7:21, 24-27
Friday: Is 29:17-24; Ps 27:1, 4, 13-14; Mt 9:27-31
Saturday: Is 30:19-21, 23-26; Ps 147:1-6; Mt 9:35 — 10:1, 5a, 6-8
Sunday: Is 40:1-5, 9-11; Ps 85:9-14; 2 Pt 3:8-14; Mk 1:1-8

“We are called to radiate the love of Jesus Christ to the entire world! However, this divine love only comes through a personal relationship with our Lord and Savior. In this website, www.radiate.la, we will learn how to love God with our mind through spiritual reading, with our heart through deep prayer, and with our hands through humble service. May God Bless us one and all.”
Fr. Ed Benioff, Director of the Office of New Evangelization, Archdiocese of Los Angeles

Saints & Special Observances

Sunday: First Sunday of Advent
Monday: World AIDS Awareness Day
Wednesday: St. Francis Xavier
Thursday: St. John Damascene
Friday: First Friday
Saturday: St. Nicholas; First Saturday

“Give up your small ambitions; come with me to save the world.”
St. Francis Xavier

Treasures from Our Tradition

Each of the seven sacraments, like other aspects of the Church’s pastoral plan, is an attempt to be faithful to the image of Christ we discover in the Gospels. Anointing of the sick is rooted in Jesus’ saving deeds of healing and even rescue from death. What is your favorite encounter of Jesus with a sick person? Often, it seems that Jesus would go at once to the person in a crowd who was in the most pain, in the deepest need. A man born blind, Peter’s mother‑in‑law, a woman afflicted by years of uncontrollable hemorrhages, a little Roman girl beloved by her soldier father, a crippled man lowered from the rafters, and even a man who lost his ear to a swinging sword in the garden of agony. This list reads like an admissions chart in an emergency room, and perhaps that is the point. The whole human experience from childhood to old age, from sudden catastrophic illness to chronic debilitating conditions, is represented by those for whom Jesus has such great compassion. This we can name a treasure of tradition with a capital “T.” We are a people of compassion for our sick, who reach out in tenderness to listen, to keep vigil, to strengthen, to touch with reverence, and to anoint with precious oil.

Ecology Corner

Tips for an Eco-Friendlier Holiday Season

Make your own gifts; knit, sew, make preserves, or make art from reused items. Look for gifts that are: durable, not overpackaged, energy efficient, wind-up, or use rechargeable batteries; reused (for example, antiques or used bikes); recyclable; and not made of tropical woods like teak, rosewood, or mahogany.

Look for gifts that are unpackaged or minimally packaged, without unnecessary plastic wrap or cardboard backing. Buy durable gifts with long-term warranties that are repairable.

The True Meaning of Eco-Friendly Holidays

Most holiday ideas stress people out. We complain of being too busy, spending too much money, and not enjoying the time we instinctively know we should be enjoying. We feel a sense of obligation to “do” or “buy”. We often listen to what we feel are Have To’s, instead of what our instincts tell us.

The underlying message of all eco-friendly holidays: Simplify. Greening your holidays shouldn’t only impact the environment; it should also positively impact our experiences. By simplifying what we do and how we do it, we are better able to slow down, relax and enjoy our loved ones and our celebrations.

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