The exhortation of St. John the Baptist in the gospel this weekend is at the center of our advent journey: “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” The color “purple” that permeates the season of Advent is a stark reminder of John the Baptist’s call to repentance. There is no greater and most fitting preparation to receive Jesus in the mangers of our own persons than to make sure that our hearts are beaming with grace and free of sin. The Opening Prayer, or the Collect for this Sunday’s liturgy, reinforces this message in a powerful way:
“Almighty and merciful God, may no earthly undertaking hinder those who set out in haste to meet your Son, but may our learning of heavenly wisdom gain us admittance to his company. Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.”
What are those “earthly undertakings” that compete with the “heavenly undertaking” that the Gospel calls us to embrace? With the busyness of the season, it is so easy to get distracted and be swayed by the “glitters” and “boisterous noise” outside and abandon the inner preparation that needs to take place. Heeding the call of repentance of the Advent season, I would like to encourage our faith community to take advantage of our annual Advent Penance Service on Wednesday, December 14, at 7pm in our church. There are 12 priests who will be coming to hear confessions that evening.
By now, you should have received in the mail my letter regarding our annual offertory program. As what I said in the letter, it is not a letter asking for an increase in your offertory pledge, but rather a call to stewardship as an integral element of our Christian discipleship. With your financial commitment, as a product of careful discernment and reflection of God’s generosity in our lives, we would be able to plan our annual budget with realistic goals and expectations. Just like any regular household, our “parish household” would be able to efficiently carry out its mission of advancing God’s kingdom through careful and prudent planning of the fiscal year. Thank you in advance for your generosity and commitment to our parish. If you have any questions about this, please do not hesitate to let me know.