Dear Friends,
Advent this year is going to be very short. We will be unable to celebrate the whole of the 4th week of Advent because Christmas Eve falls on the same day as the 4th Sundayof Advent. Therefore, wemaywant togo aboutour spiritual preparations a bitmore intensely.
The Second Sunday of Advent directs our attention to the most prominent figure of the Advent People, namely, John the Baptist. He along with Mary and Joseph show us how we too can be the Advent People as we prepare for the Lord to be born in our hearts. John was sent ahead as a messenger to prepare the way. He was the voice crying in the desert, calling people to repentance. John knew who he was—a humble servant, regardless of his popularity. He had the perfect disposition for preparing to receive the Lord and to point him out to others. Let usstrip away everything that clutters the place in our lives and hearts that is intended for Christ, our Lord.
Now that we have completed our Advent Mission and the special Advent Reconciliation, please keep in mind and heart the salient elements of the Season of Advent represented by the four candles of the Advent Wreath that we light in sequence: hope, peace, joy and love. Taking the time to increase the dosesof these Adventvirtuesin our lives will help us better prepare to receive the Lord at Christmas.
At St. John’s, we focus every Tuesday of the Advent Season on something important in preparing to celebrate our Lord’s first coming and also in preparing for His final coming. Thank you for participating in and celebrating the Sacrament of Reconciliation last Tuesday. This Tuesday (5th December) is the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. We will honor the patroness of the Americas and of the unborn with a special Mass at the Grotto at 6 p.m. followed by the Rosary.
Thanks to all who participated in the Children’s Hunger Project food packing event on Saturday. We put together more than 5,000 food packets. We are so grateful to you for your generosity! St. John’s has partnered with this Project from their inception. Please keep these children in your prayers.
On Thursday, December 14, we will receive our guests from the Developmentally Disabled Community to share with them a joy-filled, Christmas-themed luncheon. Please keep themin your prayers, that theymayalways feel the loving careofour Lord Jesus.
Congratulations to Gilbert and Frances Pharm, the recipients of the Family of the Month award for November 2023. We thank them for their love of the parish and especially for their commitment to the upkeep of the Grotto as members of the Guardians of the Grotto.
Enjoy the Season of Advent! With love,
W e e k 24 — SA C R A M E N T U M C A R I T AT I S ( TH E SA C R A M E N T O F C H A R I T Y : T H E E U C H AR I ST )
CONTINUATION OF THE POST-SYNODAL APOSTOLIC EXHORTATION SACRAMENTUM CARITATIS OF THE HOLY FATHER BENEDICT XVI TO THE BISHOPS, CLERGY, CONSECRATED PERSONS AND THE LAY FAITHFUL ON THE EUCHARIST AS THE SOURCE AND SUMMIT OF THE CHURCH'S LIFE AND MISSION
P A R T T W O : T H E E U C H A R I ST — A M Y ST E R Y T O B E C E L E B R A T E D ( c on t i n u e d )
"Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven; my Father gives you the true bread from heaven" (Jn 6:32)
ADORATION AND EUCHARISTIC DEVOTION
THE INTRINSIC RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CELEBRATION AND ADORATION
THE PRACTICE OF EUCHARISTIC ADORATION
Here I would like to express appreciation and support for all those Institutes of Consecrated Life whose members dedicate a significant amount of time to eucharistic adoration. In this way they give us an example of lives shaped by the Lord's real presence. I would also like to encourage those associations of the faithful and confraternities specifically devoted to eucharistic adoration; they serve as a leaven of contemplation for the whole Church and a summons to individuals and communities to place Christ at the centre of their lives.
FORMS OF EUCHARISTIC DEVOTION
THE LOCATION OF THE TABERNACLE
(191) Enarrationes in Psalmos 98:9, CCL XXXIX, 1385; cf. Benedict XVI, Address to the Roman Curia (22 December 2005): AAS 98 (2006), 44-
(192) Propositio6.
(193) Benedict XVI, Address to the Roman Curia (22 December 2005): AAS 98 (2006),
(194) Propositio 6; Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy(17 December 2001), Nos. 164-165, Vatican City, 2002; Sacred Congregation of Rites, Instruction Eucharisticum Mysterium(25 May 1967): AAS 57 (1967), 539-573.
(195) Relatio post disceptationem, 11: L'Osservatore Romano, 14 October 2005, p. 5.
(196) Propositio28.
(197) Cf. No. 314.