Pastor's Notes - 12/15/2019

As for so many people, Advent is a time when people will celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation.   It is always good to review some details.  It is still a serious obligation to attend Sunday Mass every Sunday, and of course, the vigil Mass on Saturday night does count.  It is the spiritual food which the Lord gives us each week.   As analogy, it would be like skipping all your meals.  Jesus gives us grace and nourishment of our faith so that we can proclaim the Gospel with our lives, which is our duty, by our Baptism and Confirmation.  Because the Resurrection happened on a Sunday this is why we as, Christians, keep holy Sunday and not Saturday like the Jewish people.  It is the only time that we as a community gather to pray together and be the Church in unison with the whole Catholic Church.

Another point would be the seventh commandment which speaks about stealing.   There are two parts to receive forgiveness when one steals or destroys property which would falls under this commandment.  First, one needs to confess this sin in Reconciliation (Confession) and receive forgiveness, and secondly, since you cannot gain anything by sin, one needs to make recompense for the injury done.  So, if you steal candy from the store, one needs either to return the candy, go back and pay for the candy or make a donation to a charity in the amount which was stolen.  If you deface a bulletin board, wall or damage someone’s car, then you also need to make recompense by either replacing or fixing what was damaged or you need to pay the cost to fix the damage of the property.  We had two instances that this year that happened in Washington that was shared with me.  Someone’s car was backed into and damaged and no one came forward to claim responsibility for it, and in another case, someone’s car was keyed.  Both of these would be considered serious sin because of the cost to fix.  What determines the seriousness of this sin is the cost which is involved (piece of candy in comparison to a damaged car). 

We have confessions every Tuesday after the 7 am. Mass, every Wednesday after the 6:30 pm Mass, every Saturday after 8 am Mass and every Saturday afternoon from 3:30 pm to 4:15 pm. We are having a combined reconciliation service with OLL on Monday, Dec. 23 at 7 pm, at OLL.  Please use these opportunities to prepare for Christmas.