Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church

The church season called "Advent" can be a very confusing time for us as Catholics. The secular society and culture around us began celebrating Christmas almost immediately after Halloween. All the efforts and energies aimed at celebrating Christmas are now fully engaged and in high gear. Holiday preparation in homes, various Christmas parties associated with clubs and businesses and as well as the expectations of children are filling our personal calendars. It has appropriately been called "the crush of Christmas".

In the midst of this holiday crush, the holy season of Advent seems to be out-of-step with everything else taking place around us. Advent marches to the beat of a different drummer than that of secular society and the commercial world. This is seen most vividly in the Sacred Scripture we read the first two Sundays of Advent as Mass. The word "Advent" comes from a term meaning "coming". And so the first part of Advent places emphasis on the SECOND ADVENT or the second coming of Christ into the world. The Scripture readings at Mass speak of being awake and aware of this promised reality and speaks of judgment and all those other images we associate with the end times. This is the theme the first two Sundays of Advent - Preparing ourselves for when Christ comes again. Needless to say this message and focus is not that of the secular world which is already celebrating Christmas in November. This theme seems to be like a cold rain on the Christmas parade - puts a damper on the festivities. It is only in the last part of Advent that the focus of Sunday Mass and the Scripture readings turn to the first Advent or the first coming of Christ, his birth.

The richness and boldness of the Advent season is seen in combining these two themes - the first coming of Christ and the second coming of Christ. The first coming of Christ was the GIFT - The gift of a Savior. We did nothing to earn or deserve how God has come to us in and through Jesus Christ. It is a pure gift and a gift of love that reveals to us 'the way, the truth and the life'. The second coming of Christ into our lives is the PROMISE - The promise of full restoration, joy, fulfillment and healing. At Advent then, we as a Church celebrate both the gift and the promise. This makes Christmas not simply a celebration of something that took place 2000 years ago (Jesus' birth) but is a celebration of someting that is ongoing, our communion with God and the fulfillment of that communion in the future.

The four weeks of the season we call Advent are given to us as an opportunity to prepare our hearts and minds to celebrate Jesus' birth. We may have good intentions of making the holy season of Advent and Christmas a more meaningful time for ourselves and for our families, but then we never take any concrete action to make that happen. One thing is for certain, this can be a spiritually fruitful time for us but this doesn't happen automatically or by magic. It takes a conscious effort.

Every Sunday evening of Advent there will be a gathering in the parish hall to help us to spiritually prepare for the holy seasons of Advent and Christmas. The first gathering will be Sunday, November 28^th at 7:00 p.m. The following topics will be addressed over the course of the four Sunday evenings of Advent:

• Sunday, November 28^th: What is Spirituality? What does it mean when we say we want to be more spiritual? How does our spirituality touch ever facet of our daily living?
• Sunday, December 5^th: What is prayer? If God knows everything, why pray? What is the 'best way' to pray?
• Sunday, December 12^th: What Can Suffering Teach Us? Christ does not come to us as a 'divine therapist' but offers us something greater. Suffering can be an invitation to discover a deeper truth about God and about ourselves.
• Sunday, December 19^th: Do I Really Need Community? Why can't I just go off on my own and find God? Our Catholic, Christian tradition reveals to us that there is no spirituality without community.

Each evening we will be receiving input from Fr. Michael Himes on the topics listed above (via video). Afterwards we will then be discussing them as a group. Fr. Himes holds a doctorate in theology from the University of Chicago. He has taught at the Seminary of the Immaculate Conception in New York, and the University of Notre Dame. He is currently on the faculty at Boston College. These presentations via video were prepared by St. Anthony Messenger Press/Franciscan Communications. Each topic is treated independently which means if you miss one Sunday evening you can come to any of the other gatherings.

The "priesthood of the faithful" is the participation of all those baptized in the priesthood of Jesus Christ. The Catechism of the Catholic Church syas: "The whole community of believers is, as such, priestly. The faithful exercise their baptismal priesthood through their participation, each according to his own vocation, in Christ's mission as priest, prophet, and king. Through the sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation the faithful are 'consecrated to be...a holy priesthood'" (#1546). It is through the sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation we are consecrated to Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit. And then it is through our participation in the Eucharist we are united to Christ in offering ourselves to God.

So what does a priestly people do? We do what Christ did as high priesthood. Christ offered glory, sacrifice and worship to God through his words and actions. We are called to exercise our priesthood in the same way. The Second Vatican Council is more descriptive of what our sacrifices and worship look like: "For all their works, prayers, and apostolic undertakings, family and married life, daily work, relaxation of mind and body, if they are accomplished in the Spirit - indeed even the hardships of life if patiently borne - all these become spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. In the celebration of the Eucharist, these may most fittingly be offered to the Father... (Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, #34).

At the Mass we remember how Christ offered everything to God. We are invited to join our lives to his in offering all we have to God. One of the central purposes of the Mass is to unite ourselves to Christ for the salvation of the world. In this way we participate in the priesthood of Christ. This unity with Christ allows us to promote sanctity (holiness) in the world. The Dogmatic Constitution on the Church teaches that as a priestly people we are to "impregnate culture and human works with moral value" (#36). We do this by preaching the Gospel through words and actions, and by teaching the faith. This means we are exercising our priesthood whenever we practice virtue, show good example, assist someone in need, comfort to the grieving, among the many other works of mercy. We are sent to minister to the world...and the world is whatever vocation and place we find ourselves.