Rejoice in the Lord always; I say, rejoice. Indeed, the Lord is near – this entrance antiphon embodies the Third Sunday of Advent. We are called to the joy that flows from the Lord. Having passed the midpoint of Advent the Church encourages us to continue our spiritual preparation for the second coming of Christ and obviously for the feast of His Nativity. Today during the Mass a priest can wear rose vestments instead of purple ones that are normally used in the season of Advent.

In today’s Gospel we find St. John the Baptist in the centre of all the events. He was not only a good and radical preacher, but also his teaching was very practical. When various groups of people came to him asking what they should do, he told each of them what to do in order to live a life pleasing the Lord. He told them a general rule how to truly love their neighbour and gave them specific pieces of advice accordingly to their professions.
Today, we are also called to live a holy life dedicated to the Lord despite of our occupation, social status or position. The call to holiness binds every authentic follower of Jesus.

This Monday, December 17th, we begin the second part of Advent that is directly dedicated to the mystery of the Nativity of the Lord. Therefore, during the 8 last days before Christmas in the liturgical calendar there is no special feast or memorial of saints.

The Filipino Community continues the Novena to Baby Jesus with a Mass and special prayers in our church. On Thursday, December 20th, we are going to have a common Mass with them at 7 pm and an Advent Celebration in the church hall to follow. Everybody is welcome!
The final days of Advent are a good opportunity to prepare not only our church and homes for the upcoming feasts but our hearts as well through the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

Saint John the Baptist, direct our hearts to the right desires, so that we may truly rejoice at the Lord!

God bless,
Fr. Peter

Today we celebrate the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe that was established in 1921 by Pope Pius XI in his encyclical letter Quas Primas. The Pope connected the increasing denial of Christ as king to the rise of secularism throughout Europe. At that time many Christians began doubting Christ’s existence and authority as well as the Church’s power to continue Christ’s authority.

In the present, we face very similar problems with Christ’s and the Church’s authority. Individualism has reached such an extreme that for numerous people the only authority is the individual self. Many people do not acknowledge that rejecting Christ they reject themselves too because by His incarnation Christ has been united with every human being.

In today’s Gospel Jesus reminds us that His kingdom is not from this world. This means that we ought to fix our eyes more upon heaven that here below, so that walking on earth we may see this celestial horizon of everlasting life in the kingdom of God.

This week concludes the liturgical year. Next Sunday we begin the new liturgical year with the 1st Sunday of Advent.

This Friday, November 30th, we observe the Feast of Saint Andrew, Apostle. He was a brother of St. Peter. In the Gospel of St. John, we read that Andrew first recognized Jesus as the Messiah and then brought his brother Simon Peter to Jesus. Tradition says that Andrew preached the Gospel along the Black Sea and the Dnieper river as far as Kiev. Hence, he became a patron saint of Ukraine, Romania and Russia. Andrew is as well said to found the episcopal see of Byzantium (Constantinople, Istanbul), so he is also recognized as the patron saint of the Patriarchate of Constantinople. The iconography pictures St. Andrew crucified on a x-shaped cross, now commonly known as St. Andrew’s Cross.

Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, rule over us!

God bless,

Fr. Peter

Continuing with our “Let’s Talk About Our Faith” Series presented by Father Peter Jurzyk

The next meeting in the series will discuss Holy Matrimony, how it differs from civil union, and what the church teaches about the Sacrament of Marriage.

When: November 16th at 7:00 p.m.

Where: St. Lawrence Church Hall

The month of November is dedicated to our departed brothers and sisters. First we rejoice at the celestial glory of those who have already entered the heavenly kingdom and then we pray for those who are waiting for admittance. Therefore, we can hear that the faithful throughout the Universal Church pray for the souls in Purgatory. According to our Catholic faith we believe in four stages of the end of our earthly lives: Death, Judgment, Heaven and Hell. The Catechism of the Catholic Church (#1005, 1013) reminds us that to rise in Christ we must die with Christ and that death is the end of man’s earthly pilgrimage. (…) When the single course of our earthly life is completed we shall not return to other earthly lives: “It is appointed for men to die once.” There is no “reincarnation” after death.

Catholic theology regards Purgatory is a state of cleansing and preparation for heaven. Only those with unremitted venial sins may enter Purgatory. Unconfessed or unrepented mortal sin is considered damnable. Until we are pilgrims on this earth we may pray for ourselves and for others both the living and the dead. Yet, when the course of our earthly life is completed we can’t help ourselves with prayers and we are in need of prayerful help of others. Our faith in the everlasting life, which we profess each Sunday during a Mass, encourages us to pray for our departed brothers and sisters so that they may be admitted to the kingdom of God. The prayer for the deceased has been in the core of the liturgy of the Church since her beginning. During each Mass in the Eucharistic Prayer the priest on behalf of the whole congregation prays for those who have fallen asleep in the hope of the resurrection. Let us keep our love ones in our prayers!

This Friday, November 9th, we observe the Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica. This feast reminds us of our unity with the Holy Father as the Bishop of Rome and Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church marking the day of the dedication of his cathedral. Many mistakenly think that the St. Peter’s Basilica is the cathedral church of the Bishop of Rome but actually it is the Lateran Basilica that officially is named The Cathedral of the Most Holy Saviour and of Saints John the Baptist and the Evangelist in the Lateran.

Let us keep Pope Francis in our prayers!

God bless,

Fr. Peter