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Dear Friends,
I remind you that tonight (Sunday, December 18th), at 7:00, we will be celebrating the ceremony of Lessons and Carols in Saint Timothy’s upper church. This beautiful liturgy, which will feature our music ministry, is a wonderful way for us to celebrate the Advent and upcoming Christmas seasons, by listening to the Scriptures and other sacred readings of the seasons and singing carols. We invite everyone to bring the Baby Jesus statue from your Nativity scenes at home so that we can bless the statues as part of the Lessons and Carols ceremony. This blessing of the statues of the Baby Jesus is an old tradition, especially in the city of Rome, where people bring their statues to Saint Peter’s Square on this Third Sunday of Advent in order for the Pope himself to bless them from his window. It is from this tradition that this Sunday is called Bambinelli Sunday (Bambinelli meaning “little baby”) or Baby Jesus Sunday. This evening will be a fine opportunity for us to gather as a parish family, to sing carols, and to get into the spirit of the season. Please attend with your family members and neighbors!
I remind you as well that this coming Wednesday evening, December 21st, at 7:00 in Saint Timothy’s lower church, we will be celebrating our Advent Parish Penance Service. There is, in my opinion, no better way to prepare our hearts for Christmas than by celebrating the Sacrament of Reconciliation (Penance). Going to confession allows us to celebrate the Savior’s birth with mind and heart renewed. We will have a number of kind and gentle priests here to celebrate the sacrament with you. I guarantee you that you will not be judged, or lectured, or certainly yelled at: you will be welcomed with open arms, and simply given an opportunity to experience the power of God’s love and grace. It is a perfect opportunity to start fresh in these final Advent days. Please join us, and bring a friend or two! Please note that this Penance Service will be the final opportunity to celebrate this great sacrament before Christmas. There will be no confessions heard on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day.
It is hard to believe that we will be celebrating Christmas in just a few days. The excitement and joy are certainly in the air!
As Christian people, it is important that we keep things in perspective. Maybe the economic difficulties and the lack of peace that we continue to face, along with the multiple other crosses with which we are confronted, as a Church and as a global community, can serve as a reminder to us of what is important. We often preach the fact that we need to “keep Christ in Christmas,” and that “Jesus is the reason for the season.” Times like these we are living in, however, literally force us to remember this reality. Jesus truly IS and NEEDS TO BE at the center of our Christmas celebration. This reminds us as well that he needs to be at the center of our very lives, each and every day. Making Jesus the center of our lives reminds us that it is only he who will gain us the eternal life which should be our ultimate goal in life. As we contemplate his presence among us, especially at Christmas, we should realize how we are indeed greatly blessed.
In these final hours of Advent, amidst all of the final card writing, gift buying and wrapping, decorating, cooking, baking, and the hundreds of other tasks that we are about, let us not forget to prepare for the great feast of light by preparing room in our hearts for the newborn Jesus. The best gift we can give to Jesus (and to ourselves) on his birthday is receiving him in Holy Communion. Let us remember to prepare ourselves appropriately to receive this greatest of gifts on this most joy-filled feast. As we celebrate God’s goodness to us in so many ways during these final days of Advent, let us also not forget the poor. Sitting at our Christmas table with family and friends, let us pray for those who have less than we, so that the blessings of Jesus, the Word-made-flesh, will touch them in a profound way, also. Wouldn’t it be a great thing to invite someone who would otherwise be alone to have Christmas dinner with your family?
Once again, I make a request. Why not take the opportunity in these final hours of Advent to invite someone in your life to “come home for Christmas,” to join us for Mass on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. Perhaps this person is a son, daughter, spouse or other family member, a co-worker, a neighbor, or a friend. This person may have been hurt in the past by the Church or they may simply have lapsed in the practice of their faith. Let them know that coming to Mass at Saint Timothy or Saint Bartholomew for Christmas will be an uplifting and beautiful experience, and that they will be welcomed with open arms. YOU may be the instrument God uses to get them back to church. Let them know, through your simple but sincere invitation, that God loves them and so does the Church.
Please remember our Christmas schedule: Christmas Eve Masses at Saint Timothy are at 4:00 and 6:00 P.M. and 12:00 MIDNIGHT; Christmas Eve Mass at Saint Bartholomew is at 4:00 P.M. Christmas Day Masses at Saint Timothy are at 6:30 and 9:15 A.M. and 12:00 NOON; Christmas Day Mass at Saint Bartholomew is at 10:00 A.M. Please join me in welcoming with open arms and hearts our visitors and our family members who are coming home for Christmas.
As I contemplate this Christmas the many gifts God has given me, I count among the very best gifts this wonderful parish and you, the wonderful people who ARE Saint Timothy and Saint Bartholomew. I am privileged to be able to call myself your pastor. I love you and pray that God will continue to bless you and all those you love with abundant gifts, especially during this holy season.
Know that you and those you love will be especially remembered in my Masses and prayers on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
Love and prayers,
Father Olivere