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Bulletin for the week of November 27th - December 3rd, 2005.
A sincere welcome to those who are new among us. We hope you find a warm and welcoming faith-home with us. Please introduce yourself after Mass and call the Rectory to register. FIRST SUNDAY OF LENT - NOVEMBER 27TH, 2005
WE BEGIN THE ADVENT SEASON: That is the reason why our joint Parish Council PPC) has made a conscience effort “to go a little heavy” on the Advent season. If the coming of Christ (not of Santa) is the focus for us as Christians, then we need to be aware of what Jesus Christ has come for and, in many ways, still needs to come for; A world that cries out for justice, for peace, for light, the Christian terms for redemption. That is the reason why at the entrance of the church you find some images that display what our world looks and what our world needs Christ for. We would not want the observance of Advent to be limited to what we do or see or sing at Church. Let us make an effort to observe Advent at home too. A very helpful tool for that is the use of the Advent wreath at home. How about huddling around it and spending a lot of time while using the daily reflections that you find in the bulletin as an insert (they are taken from Catholic update). You could also use the little Advent prayer card for that. THE NEW “LIVING WITH CHRIST” SUNDAY MISSALS: As a general rule, their use during mass should be very limited. It is not a good practice to follow the presider and the reader in their prayers and readings. Imagine, going to a play where everybody brought a copy of the play and followed the actors. Of course, that presupposes that the presider and the reader speak their text clearly and audibly. Let us work on that instead of bringing out the missals during Mass. Naturally, for those who have difficulty hearing, it is entirely appropriate to use the Missals. But for the rest of us, let us leave the Missals aside and listen attentively, that makes for better participation. And that is what we are aiming for. So why do we have Missals at all? Precisely for the purposes that Bishop Lahey suggests. We encourage that you buy one for ($5.00) and that you use it at home. In that case you can prepare for Sunday Mass, go back over last Sunday’s readings and--what’s more--you find a rich selection of prayers ( starting on page 527) that can be used for prayer time at home. So there is lots of use for it. IT MATTERS WHAT WE SING - THE THREE COMINGS OF CHRIST: The verses that go with that are very important. They help us focus on the three-fold coming of Christ, a basic tenet of the Christian faith. There is the first coming of Christ which took place some 2000 years ago and which we celebrate at Christmas; there is the present coming of Christ which in faith we are privileged to experience every time the word is proclaimed and a sacrament is celebrated (especially in Baptism and in Eucharist); and there is Christ’s coming in glory which is joy-filled hope we look forward to. Past: Lord Jesus, you came to gather the nations in the peace of God’s Kingdom. You might even want to use this around your Advent wreath at home…. PLEASE NOTE - CHRISTMAS EVE MASS IS AT 6:45 P.M. AT O.L.V.: Why this somewhat odd time? Otherwise, we won’t have an organist. The organist we do have has a commitment at St. Gregoire at 8:00 p.m. He is moving that up to 8:15 p.m. Surely, we can accommodate him by advancing our Mass to 6:45 p.m. After all, what would a Christmas Mass be without an organist? THE NOVEMBER 5th MEETING FOR ENGLISH PARISHES: We have a good set of notes that represent everything that went on at that meeting. If you wish to refresh your memory or want to know what we did, please let us know and you’ll have notes. BAPTISM IN JESUS’ NAME: (8) Before we get to the actual baptism and after the prayer over the water there is one more element in the baptism ceremony that needs or attention. It is the profession of faith that stands to reason. The water bath without faith is no more than a water bath., but performed in the context of faith it is being born of God and dying and rising in Christ. There are two sides to that profession of faith: a negative one and a positive one. In the negative one we give expression to what we swear off or respect: the power of darkness. In the early centuries they used to be more explicit about that. Candidates of baptism would turn to the west where the sun goes under and then they would spit in that direction. Then they would turn to the East where the sun rises and they would profess their faith in God, Father, Son and Spirit. That profession of Faith is more than a magical formula. It really says that we give ourselves over to, that we yield to the communion of love and life that God Father Son and Spirit is. There is a place in that circle of life and love. That is where our true home is and baptism gives us a place in that home. Once the profession of faith is made the presiding member makes an important statement:” this is our faith - this is the faith of the Church.” In other words, it is not the private faith of the person baptized that is being professed here. No, the Christian faith is bigger than that. It is a communal faith that we are privileged to share in. Our own faith is fragile. It has its ups and downs, but our own faith is supported, borne and nourished by the faith of the Church. That is, by the way, also the reason why there is no such a thing as a private baptism.--- ADVENT FAITH FORMATION: BIRTHDAY WISHES TO: OUR SYMPATHY AND PRAYERS: CHRISTMAS TEA DECEMBER 3rd: WARDENS NEEDED:
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