Comeback Christmas - 1st Sunday of Advent

by Rev. Gabriel Baltes, O.S.B.  |  11/27/2022  |  A Message from Our Pastor

Dear Parishioners,

It is most appropriate that, on this day, I wish all of you a Happy New Year because on the First Sunday of Advent, the Church begins a new liturgical year, i.e., that annual cycle of feasts and seasons which celebrates the great mysteries of our Redemption in Christ. The word “Advent” is derived from the Latin adventus which means “coming” or “arrival.” This is the season that begins with a focus on, what is sometimes called, the Second Coming of Jesus at the end of time.

It is this coming that we joyfully anticipate each Sunday in the Nicene Creed when we profess, He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end. Much of the imagery that we hear in the scriptures regarding this future event is ominous and foreboding. This is intended to rouse us from our complacency and remind us that time travels quickly (tempus fugit). Therefore, all the good we can presently do in this world, should not be delayed or neglected. For those who love God and who have lived in fidelity to his will, this second of Christ will be a most welcome moment.

The other focus in the Advent Season is on the first coming of Jesus when he was born in time of the Virgin Mary. This includes all the beautiful images of promise and fulfillment that we read and sing about in days leading up to Christmas especially from December 17 – 23, the days of the “O” Antiphons. The church’s liturgy helps to heighten our sense of expectation and moves our hearts to prayerful wonder and grateful praise that Jesus, the Messiah desired to make his home among us.

While to some it may seem like a lifetime ago, it was only last Advent 2021, that we were once again permitted to sing in church after COVID forced us to relinquish so many of the customs and practices that are part of our Catholic Worship. Then, as you recall, Bishop Hicks reinstated the obligation to attend Mass on Sunday in the spring of 2022. (During the pandemic, this obligation was abrogated for health reasons.) Since the obligation to worship on Sunday has been restored, our parishioners are gradually returning, but not in the numbers and frequency we once knew. There are undoubtedly various reasons why this is so. Perhaps one reason is that some people simply got out of the habit of going to church on Sunday. This is easily done and not uncommon in other areas of our lives as well, for example, going to the gym or engaging in regular exercise.

I would like to suggest that we use this year’s Advent season to invite back those parishioners who, for whatever reason, have gotten out of the habit of Sunday Mass. This is an effort that must come from us all. No one priest can do this alone. To this end, I am launching an Advent project called O Come All Y e Faithful. Borrowing the opening line from one of our most beloved Christmas carols, I am naming this initiative as something I hope every family or single person will be a part of. All it will entail is making sure that one other family or one other person from our parish, who has not been back to Mass (regularly) since COVID, will come to church on Christmas. There is no commitment or pledge they need to make. We simply want to welcome them back and fill our church for Christmas. What better time to have this happen. Just as in Christmas we celebrate God’s coming among us in the person of Jesus, so through this effort we will also celebrate God coming among us through our fellow parishioners. More details of how this may be done will be forthcoming. For now, I ask that everyone be willing to join in this effort so that this year, on December 24/25 when we sing O Come all Y e Faithful, we will be able to do so with added exuberance and integrity.