We are beginning Advent; for the Church this is the beginning of a new liturgical year. Advent is the time of preparation to receive the gift of the Incarnation of the our Lord. It is not Christmas yet! I usually advise our groups to celebrate Advent rather than Christmas. For Catholics, Christmas is a season following the birth of our Lord. For secular folks, Christmas starts sometime in the Fall and concludes with Christmas Day.

Let me continue last week’s meditation from the Fathers of the Second Vatican Council:

“While the Church helps the world and herself receives much from the world, she has one object in view: the coming of God’s kingdom and the salvation of the whole human race. Every good that the people of God in the course of its earthly pilgrimage can confer on the human family derives from the fact that the Church is the universal sacrament of salvation, revealing, and at the same time bringing into operation, the mystery of God’s love for all people.

One of the documents from the Second Vatican Council is the pastoral constitution on the Church in the Modern World; I want to share a part of that with you this week and next:

“The way in which the earthly and the heavenly city interpenetrate each other can be recognized only by faith; indeed, it remains a mystery of human history, that is, of a history always troubled by sin until the glory of the sons of God is fully revealed.

In many parishes, November is the month to talk about your stewardship of God’s gifts. Last week I wrote about tithing and this week I want to mention another important subject.

This year, due to the uncertainty of the Covid virus and our increased activities, our budget is not balanced. We have a small deficit. One thing that helps us budget is our Faith Direct program that so many of you participate in. Faith Direct allows us to know how much we can expect each week; it also allows you to give even if you cannot attend Mass.