Happy Sunday!

I hope everyone had a most enjoyable Thanksgiving! Today we start the new liturgical year with the First Sunday of Advent! I can't believe it's already here but time never slows down and so are marching on. This great season of Advent grabs our attention and directs our hearts and minds to look towards Bethlehem. The entrance antiphon for the Mass this Sunday is "To you, I lift up my soul, O my God. In you, I have trusted; let me not be put to shame.

Not long ago, I was called to a hospital to anoint a woman in her early 80s. She was dying, and visibly in pain. But what struck me most wasn't her suffering - it was the atmosphere in the room. She had eight children and 30 foster kids, and many of them were gathered around her. You'd expect sorrow, fear, maybe even despair. But the room was filled with something else entirely - a quiet strength, a kind of sweetness. It was as if she was suffering not just with them, but for them. And they, in love, were suffering for her.

Happy Sunday!

This week I am currently on my retreat so this letter is being written early. Thank you for your prayers during my retreat in Louisiana. On Tuesday I will fly back to Arizona and return to Flagstaff on Wednesday evening. It's amazing that Thanksgiving will be upon us so soon and then Advent beginning. Before that though, we will be hosting the diaconate ordination of Nathan Blanchard next Saturday. Please keep him and the whole Blanchard family in your prayers as they prepare for this exciting event. The ordination will be at 11:00am on Saturday. Due to preparations there will be no morning mass or confessions next Saturday the 22nd.

Happy Sunday!

This Sunday the Church celebrates the Feast of the Dedication of the Basilica of the Lateran Basilica. Commonly called St. John Lateran, this church is the Pope's cathedral. It is one of the four major basilicas in Rome and is a beautiful place of pilgrimage. Lining the main aisle are six columns on either side with a different apostle in each column. Some of the apostles hold the instrument of their martyrdom, others have symbolic features from their life, each of them is massive.

Happy All Souls' Day!

Today the Church celebrates the Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed. Indeed, throughout the month of November the Church prays for the deceased in a particular way. This has been a practice of the Church from the beginning. I remember visiting the catacombs in Rome and seeing the different graffiti throughout the underground tunnels. Families used to gather at the tombs of their loved ones to pray and would also bring a picnic.