Jesus is Coming!
Cuarto Domingo de Adviento
“And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” Luke 1:43
“Visitation”, from Altarpiece of the Virgin (St Vaast Altarpiece) by Jacques Daret, c. 1435 (Staatliche Museen, Berlin)
First of all, I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your support on celebrating the Feast for Our Lady of Guadalupe. I was so impressed to see so many people in our church during our multiple celebrations in Honor of “La Virgen del Tepeyac”. Everything was so beautiful! Thank you again! Believe it or not, this Sunday we celebrate the Fourth Sunday of Advent. We love and get excited with the season of Christmas, which is one of the most beautiful seasons of the year. Christmas is always a time of excitement and hope. Yes, especially hope. Hope is to expect that something good is coming, something great is going to happen.
Jesus is coming! Is there something greater than this? Christmas is always a time of excitement and hope. Christmas is a celebration of Love that God has for all of us in sending us His Son to give us peace, to give us joy. I really hope and pray that this season of Christmas is truly a time to welcome the special guest we are having this Christmas. Everybody is invited to our Christmas vigil Mass on December 24th at 10:00PM. We will also have morning masses on Christmas Day at 8:00am in Spanish, 10:00am in English (our celebrant will be Bishop Brennan) and our last mass will b be at 12:00 noon in Spanish. On behalf of Fr. Walter, Fr. Jey, our staff and myself we would like to wish you a blessed and happy Christmas. May God Bless you!
Readings for the Week
Sunday: Fourth Sunday of Advent
Monday: Vigil of Christmas
Tuesday: The Nativity of the Lord (Christmas)
Wednesday: St. Stephen; First Day of Kwanzaa
Thursday: St. John
Friday: The Holy Innocents
Saturday: Fifth Day within the Octave of the Nativity of the Lord; St. Thomas Becket
The liturgical year is made up of six seasons:
- Advent – four weeks of preparation before the celebration of Jesus’ birth
- Christmas – recalling the Nativity of Jesus Christ and his manifestation to the peoples of the world
- Lent – a six-week period of penance before Easter Sacred Paschal Triduum – the holiest “Three Days” of the Church’s year, where the Christian people recall the suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus
- Easter – 50 days of joyful celebration of the Lord’s resurrection from the dead and his sending forth of the Holy Spirit
- Ordinary Time – divided into two sections (one span of 4-8 weeks after Christmas Time and another lasting about six months after Easter Time), wherein the faithful consider the fullness of Jesus’ teachings and works among his people
The mystery of Christ, unfolded through the cycle of the year, calls us to live his mystery in our own lives. This call is best illustrated in the lives of Mary and the saints, celebrated by the Church throughout the year. There is no tension between the mystery of Christ and the celebration of the saints, but rather a marvelous harmony. TheBlessed Virgin Mary is joined by an inseparable bond to the saving work of her Son, and the feasts of all the saints proclaim the wonderful works of Christ in his servants and offer the faithful fitting examples for their imitation. In the feasts of Mary and of the saints, the Paschal Mystery of Christ is proclaimed and renewed.