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


This Sunday is our Fourth Sunday of Advent. With profound wisdom and rich tradition, the Mother Church has highlighted the role of Mary in this last SUN of Advent. At the same time, last Sunday may prompt us to look back and view the Advent Season as a whole. In its entirety, the four weeks of Advent can be seen as a four-act play with the sole purpose to announce the Birth of Jesus the Messiah. The highlights of the Scripture Readings for each Sunday are:

❶ Advent began with the Proclamation of the ‘Coming’ of the Lord. The Gospel message is that we are to be awake, alert & vigilant, prepared & being ready;

❷ It switched to the second scene with St. John the Baptist’s strong message of Repentance –‘Repent… Produce good fruit as evidence of your repentance!’ We were encouraged to take advantage of the Sacrament of Reconciliation (Confession) as evidence that we mean to repent and change our hearts for the better because of Jesus.

❸The third scene was a reminder that we need to nourish the spirit of true JOY during Advent and Christmas. The true sense of J-O-Y comes from focusing first on Jesus, and then Others, and then Yourselves or Ourselves.

❹ Today, the 4th Sunday, the Readings tell us that the Child Jesus has already been conceived...and we prepare to celebrate His Birth! As a matter of fact:

⬥ In the First Reading from Isaiah, we hear: ‘The Virgin shall be with Child, and bear a Son, and shall name Him Emanuel!’ We believe that Jesus came to us as that Emmanuel –God-With-Us!

⬥ In the Second Reading St. Paul talks about the Good News concerning that Emanuel Jesus, who ‘was descendant of David according to the flesh, but was established as Son of God in power!’

⬥ In the Gospel the Blessed Virgin Mary was highlighted as we hear: ‘Behold! The Virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and they shall name Him Emmanuel!’   

 Again, the highlight of our Fourth Sunday is the role of the Blessed Virgin Mary. We can connect this ‘highlight’ to the ‘theme’ of our Fourth Sunday as well –i.e. Love. Mary loved God and said Yes to God & His Plan. Mary also offered her whole life to Love her Son Jesus. Above all, ‘God so loved the world that he gave^* his only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him might not perish but might have eternal life’. (Jn 3: 16) 

 

HAVE A BLESSED & MERRY CHRISTMAS
Chúc Mừng Giáng Sinh (Vietnamese)

Fr. Philip
P. S. See you in Church!