Dear Parish Families,

   This weekend we enter into the holy season of Advent. In our culture, these weeks are seen primarily as a time to get ready for the celebration of Christ-mas. Christmas decorations have been out for a while now, Christmas music is being played, many of us may have already started our Christmas shop-ping. There is a lot to be done this time of year.

   But Advent is about more than just preparing for one specific day. We all have our preparations to do for the celebration of Christmas, but Advent is also about so much more. Advent is about preparing our hearts, our minds, our lives for the two comings of Christ...the coming of Christ that we celebrate on Christmas and the coming of Christ at the end of time.

   You may remember the author Stephen Covey and his 7 Habits of Highly Successful People. The second of those habits was, “Begin with the end in mind.” In reality, we could call that, not just a habit of a highly successful person, but a highly successful disciple as well. We need to constantly be living with the end in mind, we need to constantly be living for heaven. Each choice, each word, each action of our day should be, in some way, leading us closer to God, closer to where we hope to go.

   Here at our parishes, we have a number of op-portunities in this upcoming Advent season to prepare ourselves for the coming of Christ. We have the Sacrament of Reconciliation, which will be offered at its usual times on Saturday’s at both parishes & Thursday’s (at St. Patrick). We will also have an area wide Penance Service which will be held at St. Mel’s on Dec. 10th @ 7 pm. That night, we will have a number of Priests available for individual Confessions. I would invite you to mark your calendar & plan on attending that evening @ St. Mel’s.

   We also have our Parish Giving Trees which are wonderful opportunities to help those who are in need. Please consider stopping by, taking a tag, and purchase a gift, helping to make someone’s Christmas a little brighter.

   We also have our Parish Giving Trees which are wonderful opportunities to help those who are in need. Please consider stopping by, taking a tag, and purchase a gift, helping to make someone’s Christ-mas a little brighter.

   Finally, at St. Patrick’s we have our annual Choir Concert on Sunday, December 15th @ 3 pm in the church. I’ve heard great things about this concert and look forward to sharing in it with you. Everyone is invited, whether you are a parishioner at St. Patrick’s or not, so please consider the invitation to join us on Sunday, December 15th @ 3 pm in the church. I look forward to seeing you there and enjoying some beautiful music. Have a blessed Advent and remember to begin with the end in mind!

   In Christ's Love,

  Fr. John