Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Today is the 4th Sunday of Advent. Because so many of us will be traveling over Christmas, I want to take this opportunity, on behalf of our parish family, to wish all of you a Blessed and Merry Christmas!
Over the next few days, we will be wrapping up our Christmas preparations—decorating, buying and wrapping presents, sending cards, baking, and hopefully gathering with friends and family. Of course we need remember the most important preparation of all… spiritual ones.
One thing we could all do is pray for all the visitors coming to our parish. Each Christmas, our churches are filled with visitors who come to pray before the Manger, go to confession, and experience the beauty of the Catholic liturgy.
Some of these men and women are not Catholic; others do not practice the faith regularly. Some are estranged from the Church, angry at her teachings, hurt by her representatives; a larger number simply live their lives as if the Church had no place in their lives, no bearing on their lifestyles, careers, and choices--except at Christmas.
I am also deeply aware that some of these people are in our own families—our parents, our children, our siblings. I think its important for us to have some simple messages this Christmas to encourage our loved ones to make this Christmas a blessed experience—a turning point in the ways of faith.
Messages like:
Let us pray that this Christmas season will be a time for spiritual renewal for the human family.
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