First Sunday of Advent, December 1, 2024

Dear Friends,

It’s Advent! It is a time to prepare. Prepare for what? For celebrating the Birth of our Savior some 2000 years ago. Wow! Advent is not meant to be a time of passive waiting but, rather, one of hopeful preparation for the coming of the Lord. Advent provides an opportunity to prepare to encounter Christ at his Second Coming as well. And, on a more personal level, Advent invites us to really prepare to encounter Him on the day when He calls us home.

With the beginning of Advent comes the beginning of the new liturgical year. The Church invites all its members to prepare their hearts and minds to receive the Lord as he takes flesh among us; it also offers us the blessing of a new Cycle of Readings. This year is Cycle C, in which most of our Sunday Scripture readings will be from the Gospel of Luke.

Advent is the perfect time to breathe new life into our spiritual journey through active participation in the many events on our Advent calendar. Let us call to mind these iconic words associated with Advent: Maranatha: Come, Lord Jesus. Advent has 4 Weeks; each week has a particular theme captured by these thematic words: Watch, Prepare, Rejoice, and Behold. It is time to decorate your homes with Advent wreaths and to gather your family around them for your family prayers. You can sing: “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.” I wish you all a very Happy Advent!

The First Sunday of Advent cautions us to be on guard for the day which is to come when all will be fulfilled. As we await the coming of Christ, let us take care to love one another, observing His covenant and decrees.

Advent Mission: Advent is an occasion, like Lent, to spend time in reflection and meditation. This year, we will have Fr. Phil “Skip” Negley, MS to help us prepare for the coming of our Savior. The mission will be held on the 8th, 9th, and 10th of December at 7 p.m. The mission theme is “Gospel Discipleship: Called, Formed and Sent by Christ.” Please come and benefit from this time of reflection.

Holy Cross Virtual Advent Retreat: The Office of Mission Advancement of the U.S. Province of the Congregation of Holy Cross will host a virtual Advent retreat again this year. I invite you to take advantage of this free resource. The reflections offered by some of our Holy Cross Brothers and Priests are given on each Sunday of Advent at 7 p.m. To be part of this Advent retreat, please register at adventretreat.holycrossusa.org .

Advent Sacrament of Reconciliation: This will be on Tuesday, 5 December at 7 p.m. There will be many priests here to help. Please make use of this amazing opportunity to prepare for Christmas.

We have just completed celebrating Thanksgiving. The Tuesday following Thanksgiving is celebrated as Catholic Giving Tuesday. It is a day of turning our attention to the gifts with which God has blessed us and, in thanksgiving, to share our blessings with the church community. It is a wonderful day to make an extra gift to our parish and to thank God for blessing us with the mission of our parish. I invite you to join us in gratitude and generosity this Giving Tuesday. When you give, you’re not just supporting our parish; you’re investing in programs that strengthen our community, that nourish our spiritual lives, that reach out to those in need, that preserve and protect the House of God so that our people can come to pray and find solace. Please use this link to donate to our parish in support of the Grotto- https:// www.wesharegiving.org/App/Form/02407d41-62f7-4414-9a72-ea8a7b009904

I have good news to share with you. As you know, I have been dreaming of having a RECTORY (fancy name for the house in which the parish’s priests live) ON SITE here on the St. John’s campus. Since the founding of the parish, our priests have lived in a home located in the middle of a residential community about 2.4 miles from the church campus. After many years of planning and discussing, the rectory plan has been approved by the Diocesan Finance Council and the site plan submitted for approval to the Brevard County Office. Therefore, we have invited our beloved Bishop John Noonan to come for the ground-breaking on Sunday, 8 December 2024. He will preside over the 9 a.m. Mass; afterwards, at 10:30 a.m., he will bless the ground on which the rectory will be built. I request all of you to please make an effort to be present at this historic ceremony. We thank God for this privilege of housing our priests on the campus, a move that will make our ministry even more vibrant and effective. The rectory will be built behind the church toward the end of our property.

OCA 2024: Those who have not yet participated in Our Catholic Appeal can still do so. This is the last month to make a one-time contribution.

Be Blessed, With Love,

Fr. John