Second Sunday of Advent
~ December is a most joyful month as we prepare for the celebration of Christ’s birth. May your days be joyful and prayerful and peaceful as we prepare!
This Saturday, December 6, our parishioners in Second Grade celebrated their First Reconciliation. To celebrate the Sacrament of Confession is one of the greatest treasures of the Church! To encounter God’s mercy and forgiveness is a gift like no other! May our children, and all of us, turn again and again to the Lord’s love and mercy shown in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Please keep our Second Graders in your prayers as they now prepare for their First Holy Communion next spring.
There are many wonderful saints’ days to celebrate in December, but maybe the most anticipated is St. Nicholas, whose feast is this weekend, Saturday, December 6. When I was a boy, we left a shoe outside our bedroom, and St. Nicholas would come overnight and leave us candy and some small toys. I still leave my shoes out for St. Nicholas! I hope that he visited your home this weekend as he teaches us all about the spirit of generosity. Some other great December saints include St. Ambrose on December 7; St. Juan Diego on December 9; St. John of the Cross on December 14; and during the Christmas Octave, St. Stephen, St. John the Apostle, and the Holy Innocents.
The Blessed Virgin Mary takes center stage in December, as she should! The feast of Our Lady of Loreto on December 10 reminds us that God made his home with us through Mary, and the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe on December 12 reminds us that Our Lady is a compassionate mother to all who call out to her in their need. But the premier feast of Mary this month is the Immaculate Conception this coming Monday, December 8. We remember and proclaim that God kept Mary free from sin from the moment of her conception in her mother’s womb, so that she would be a holy and worthy dwelling place for the Son of God. Mary, the Immaculate Conception, is the patroness of our nation, the United States of America, and is a holy day of obligation. Masses for the holy day will be celebrated at 6:30am, at 8:15am with our school community, and at 6:30pm.
Of course, the greatest feast this month is Christmas, the Nativity of the Lord. This is a special time for families to gather, and a special time for our parish family to gather for we remember the first Mass at St. Margaret of Scotland Parish on Christmas Eve, 1899. Masses for Christmas will be celebrated at 4:30pm and 10:00pm on Christmas Eve, Wednesday, December 24, and at 9:00am on Christmas Day, Thursday, December 25.
During this season of generosity, I encourage you to give to our St. Vincent de Paul Christmas Outreach, and to make a year-end donation to St. Margaret of Scotland Parish. Thanks for all you have given over this last year!
Pope Leo’s intention for the month of December is for Christians in areas of conflict. Let us pray that Christians living in areas of war or conflict, especially in the Middle East, might be seeds of peace, reconciliation, and hope. We pray to the Lord!