Dear Parishioners and Friends of St. Mary’s of the Lake:

As we continue the holy Season of Advent, you may want to recall the four general ‘themes’ for our four Sundays of Advent: Hope, Peace, Joy and Love. Along with the Scriptures Readings for Mass may I ask you to reflect on these 4 themes as ‘soups for our souls.’ In this Pastoral Notes I’d like to reflect with you on Peace and encouraged you to take advantage of the Sacrament of Reconciliation (Confession) as a special way to obtain inner Peace. Jesus the Messiah is indeed the Lord of Love and the Prince of Peace. May we walk in His way & open our hearts to receive His Peace for our life individually. May we also be peacemakers or agents of Peace among ourselves, as we continue to pray for true and lasting Peace in the world.

 Dear Parishioners and Friends of St. Mary’s of the Lake:
As we continue the holy Season of Advent, you may want to recall the four general ‘themes’ for our four Sundays of Advent: Hope, Peace, Joy and Love. Along with the Scriptures Readings for Mass may I ask you to reflect on these 4 themes as ‘soups for our souls.’ In this Pastoral Notes I’d like to reflect with you on Peace and encouraged you to take advantage of the Sacrament of Reconciliation (Confession) as a special way to obtain inner Peace. Jesus the Messiah is indeed the Lord of Love and the Prince of Peace. May we walk in His way & open our hearts to receive His Peace for our life individually. May we also be peacemakers or agents of Peace among ourselves, as we continue to pray for true and lasting Peace in the world.
◆ As we yearn for serenity and pray for inner Peace individually, may I suggest that you reflect and pray the Serenity Prayer a few times during Advent time: ‘God, grant me serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to see the difference.’
◆  More importantly, with traditional wisdom, our Mother Church has encouraged us to take advantage of the Sacrament of Reconciliation during Advent. This is the Sacrament that indeed brings Peace to our hearts. You may recall the passage in John’s Gospel (cf Jn 20: 19ff): After Resurrection, Jesus appeared and breathed upon the Apostles and said: ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.’ In a few preceding verses Jesus said twice, ‘Peace be with you!’ It is as if our Lord wants to connect Peace with Reconciliation & Forgiveness.  Monday December 5, God blessed us with decent weather (after the snowstorm on the weekend) I drove to the Abbey in De Pere to join other priests for the Priest Advent Reconciliation Service. May I invite you to take advantage of our Parish Advent Reconciliation Services to obtain Peace of minds & hearts, and as an efficient way to prepare for a meaningful Christmas. The two Services will be:
 Thursday Dec 19 at 6 PM in Lakewood 
 Tuesday Dec 17 at 4:30 PM in Wabeno

In the Gospel for 2^nd SUN of Advent, after St. John the Baptist speaks of the need of repentance, he emphasizes: ‘Produce good fruit as evidence of your repentance!’ Could it be that the Sacrament of Reconciliation is evidence that in the hustle and bustle these days, we mean to repent & change our life for the better because of Jesus?  
Fr. Philip

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

◆ As we yearn for serenity and pray for inner Peace individually, may I suggest that you reflect and pray the Serenity Prayer a few times during Advent time: ‘God, grant me serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to see the difference.’

◆  More importantly, with traditional wisdom, our Mother Church has encouraged us to take advantage of the Sacrament of Reconciliation during Advent. This is the Sacrament that indeed brings Peace to our hearts. You may recall the passage in John’s Gospel (cf Jn 20: 19ff): After Resurrection, Jesus appeared and breathed upon the Apostles and said: ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.’ In a few preceding verses Jesus said twice, ‘Peace be with you!’ It is as if our Lord wants to connect Peace with Reconciliation & Forgiveness.  Monday December 5, God blessed us with decent weather (after the snowstorm on the weekend) I drove to the Abbey in De Pere to join other priests for the Priest Advent Reconciliation Service. May I invite you to take advantage of our Parish Advent Reconciliation Services to obtain Peace of minds & hearts, and as an efficient way to prepare for a meaningful Christmas. The two Services will be:
 Thursday Dec 19 at 6 PM in Lakewood 
 Tuesday Dec 17 at 4:30 PM in Wabeno

In the Gospel for 2^nd SUN of Advent, after St. John the Baptist speaks of the need of repentance, he emphasizes: ‘Produce good fruit as evidence of your repentance!’ Could it be that the Sacrament of Reconciliation is evidence that in the hustle and bustle these days, we mean to repent & change our life for the better because of Jesus?  

Fr. Philip