As we begin the four-week season of Advent today we are called to wait joyfully for the Lord. We know Christmas is near. The Thanksgiving holiday is behind us and many of us are probably already in high gear in terms of preparations for Christmas. We know as well that it’s often a time when our nerves can easily fray and we feel stress more acutely. Why not make a “liturgical new year resolution” to wait patiently? While everyone else is speeding up, try slowing down and listening for the voice crying out in the desert, “Prepare the way of the Lord.”
Make it a point to come to Mass every Sunday in Advent. It’s a great way to get our hearts and minds focused on the coming of Christ. Our Advent wreath is blessed today and the first candle is lit to remind us of the very fact – Christ is coming soon. Let us not allow the darkness of the world to overshadow that light. It has been entrusted to us to be kept burning brightly. Just as we light our trees and homes these days, do not fail to show forth the light of Christ in all you say and do in these coming weeks.
One liturgical note for Advent: As has become our custom, we will profess the Apostles’ Creed during these four weeks of this holy season. The Church gives us the option of saying either the Nicene Creed (which we do most of the Sundays of the year) or the Apostles’ Creed. It’s probably the one you learned first as a child so it seems appropriate to focus on it during these four weeks of active waiting for the Lord. Your worship aid has the words printed so you might follow along.
Since Advent starts a bit later this year, the Solemnity of Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary is coming up sooner than we might expect. It’s this Saturday, Dec. 8 and it is a Holy Day of Obligation. We’ll have a Mass at 5 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 7 and at 9 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 8. Often when holy days fall on a Saturday the obligation to attend Mass is dispensed, but that is not the case with the Immaculate Conception. Why is that you may ask? It’s because it is under the patronage of the Immaculate Conception that the United States of America has been dedicated as well as our Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston. While the Blessed Virgin Mary has many titles and days dedicated to her, the Immaculate Conception is supreme. So make sure to come to Mass!
Our annual Advent Penance (Reconciliation) service is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. next Monday, Dec. 10. We’ll have several additional priests here for individual confession. Advent is a great time to be reconciled with God and one another. I especially encourage those who haven’t celebrated the Sacrament of Reconciliation in a long time to join us to experience the fullness of God’s mercy.
Advent is a bit shortened this year with Christmas falling on a Tuesday in the fourth week. That means we’ve only got 22 days of Advent. We will have to do our “waiting” in a hurry, so to speak. Let’s get right to the schedule as there is much happening at this time of year. Our Christmas Mass schedule is as follows: Monday, Dec. 24, Christmas Eve: 4 p.m., (with an additional 4 p.m. overflow Mass in the Parish Hall), 6:30 p.m., 8:30 p.m. and 12 midnight, and Tuesday, Dec. 25, Christmas Day: 9 a.m. and 11 a.m.
You’ve got some time to decide which Christmas Mass to attend, but it’s a good idea to plan ahead. The 4 p.m. Mass is always extremely crowded with more than 2,500 people and the 6:30 p.m. is also very popular. Remember we will again offer an additional Mass at 4 p.m. in the Parish Hall. As is our custom, this is its own Mass with priest, deacon, musicians, and all the ministers, in the Parish Hall. We will not use incense at this Mass (as we will at all the other liturgies), so it might be a good option for those whose allergies are sensitive.
Of course, if you don’t want to go to Christmas Mass in the hall you might find it more comfortable to come to a later Mass on Christmas Eve or even stay up late for the beautiful Midnight Mass. Or consider coming to one of the two Masses offered on Christmas morning, because while they are usually full they are not often overcrowded. You’ve got two choices that morning at either 9 or 11 a.m. and I find them to be especially spiritual. There’s just something nice about waking up on Christmas morning, getting dressed up (this is a day to get “decked out,” so to speak), and coming to do homage at the crèche of the Lord.
With all those Masses we will be stretched thin on ministers to help cover the many needs of the liturgy. In particular I’m asking our Eucharistic Ministers of Holy Communion to please sign up in advance to assist at one (or two) Masses if at all possible. Same goes for our ushers and greeters. We’ll have a lot of visitors with us and we need your presence, please.
We’ll also have opportunities to assist with the
Art and Environment set-up in the church. That’s always a special thing to do and given the short time between the end of Advent and the start of Christmas we’ll need extra help this year. I’ll have more information in the next couple of weeks of how you can help, but consider giving of your time to assist our wonderful team of volunteers who beautify our space so well.
As you are busy doing your shopping, remember that we will once again have
our toy and gift drive for the children of our sister parish, Our Mother of Mercy Catholic Church in Houston’s Fifth Ward. Thanks to the great efforts of Tim Herbert from CtR we’ve developed a tradition of delivering gifts to the children of this small, but faith-filled inner-city parish. Tim is hoping this will be our most generous year yet and I know with your help we can deliver on that promise. We’ll collect the gifts at Mass over the next two weekends and deliver them on Saturday, Dec. 22. Plan now when you are at the store to pick up an extra item or two that might brighten the day of a young boy or girl at OMOM.
A little closer to home we will again be participating in collecting Christmas gift cards for
Cypress Assistance Ministry. This weekend we pass out simple Christmas cards that you are encouraged to take and return the following two weeks with a gift card from a local merchant (think Wal-Mart, Target, HEB, etc. as they seem to be the most popular options) and a short Christmas note and greeting. We’ll collect all the gift cards and distribute them through CAM to the many needy families in the area. Again, we’ll have more details next week but keep it on your radar.