Happy new year! This Sunday marks the start of a new liturgical year, beginning with the season of Advent. Advent starts four Sundays before Christmas and concludes with the vigil Mass of Christmas. Advent is thus a time of waiting:

"Advent has a twofold character, for it is a time of preparation for the Solemnities of Christmas, in which the First Coming of the Son of God to humanity is remembered, and likewise a time when, by remembrance of this, minds and hearts are led to look forward to Christ's Second Coming at the end of time. For these two reasons, Advent is a period of devout and expectant delight" (Norms, no. 39).

During the first weeks of Advent, the prayers and readings focus more specifically on preparing for Christ's Second Coming while acknowledging his presence among us even now. As Advent progresses, the focus turns toward preparation for the celebration of the Nativity of the Lord. First, we look at the ministry of John the Baptist, proclaiming the coming of the Messiah. In the last days before Christmas (December 17-24), the readings offer immediate preparation for the Incarnation of Christ. These days are marked by praying the "O Antiphons,” which herald the coming of Christ using ancient titles for the Messiah.

​Though the secular world during this time focuses on decorating, shopping, and the anticipatory celebration of Christmas, for the Church, “Advent is a time of waiting, conversion, and of hope:

• Waiting-memory of the first, humble coming of the Lord in our mortal flesh; waiting-supplication for his final, glorious coming as Lord of History and universal Judge;

 

• Conversion, to which the Liturgy at this time often refers quoting the prophets, especially John the Baptist, Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand' (Matthew 3:2);

 

• Joyful hope that the salvation already accomplished by Christ (see Rom 8:24-25) and the reality of grace in the world, will mature and reach their fullness, thereby granting us what is promised by faith, and 'we shall become like him for we shall see him as he really is’(John 3:2)“ (Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy, no. 96).

O God, who wonderfully created the dignity of human nature and still more wonderfully restored it, grant, we pray, that we may share in the divinity of Christ, who humbled himself to share in our humanity. Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.

David J. Conrad

Today is the First Sunday of the new liturgical year (A), and the season of Advent. Our Responsorial Psalm today is: “Come, Let Us Go Rejoicing to the House of the Lord.” This is so appropriate in light of the spirit of what this season is about: we are to work at preparing a welcome of the Lord into our hearts in a new way, a renewed way. Isaiah tells us to “climb the Lord’s mountain” to be instructed in God’s ways and to walk in God’s path. That will take work!

​St. Paul tells us to “awake from sleep.” We start the work of our faith by asking hard questions—about the simple and obvious; the complicated and subtle. Here are simple to more challenging questions: are we worshipping and praying by rote? Are we so busy with the secular customs of Christmas that God falls low on the list of “things to do?” Is there so much Christmas carol “white-noise” that we can’t hear God’s voice?

​Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew today refers to Noah, and like Noah prepared his ark according to God’s plan for salvation, so we must ready our souls to make them worthy for his return. He tells us to be vigilant always: “stay awake!” We do not know when he will return; we must be prepared for when he comes again. The ark was Noah’s vehicle of salvation; Christ is our “vehicle” of salvation. We must shed light on our old destructive ways, our self-centered and compromised lives of disobedience and obliviousness to God. No more choice for war, for apathy, for sin, for darkness, for terror, greed and fear. We must turn to the light of Christ to lead us home.

The Church, in wisdom, organizes our seasons and festival worship as it does to help us shake ourselves from our religious stupors and use this season to refresh our faith. We are given the opportunity to awaken our spirits, to participate fully, actively and consciously again in praise and worship of the God of Jacob.

In the Gospel of Matthew Jesus tells us to be prepared for His return. We can begin as our Psalm response today enjoins us:  to come in joy to the house of the Lord. Last weekend we celebrated the Solemnity of Christ the King and we asked Christ to remember us when he comes into His kingdom. How will we be remembered? This weekend we bless and light the Advent Wreath⎯an image of light that represents the coming of the light of Christ into the world and into our hearts. Advent is a gift of time for us to rededicate ourselves to holiness. As we light our Advent wreath, we praise God for all the advents of His son: yesterday, today and forever. So come; let us go rejoicing to the House of the Lord.

Keep Singing!

Elizabeth Dyc

Just a Note: Save the Date: Our Advent Pageant: “Cradle, Cross and Crown will take place on Sunday, December 11 at 4:00pm in Church. This is a fund and food raiser for Christmas giving after emptying our Food Pantry for the Thanksgiving holidays. Please come and join us as we celebrate the season and feed those less fortunate.

All Saints Day (11/1) and All Souls Day (11/2) are traditional days for visiting the grave of a family member or friend, as is the whole month of November.  Here is a prayer you can offer during such a visit in what remains of this month.

​Almighty God and Father, it is our certain faith that your Son, who died on t he cross, was raised from the dead, the first fruits of all who have fallen asleep. Grant that through this mystery your servant [insert name], who has gone to his/her rest in Christ, may share in the joy of his resurrection. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

It is therefore a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from sins (2 Maccabees 12:46).

David J. Conrad

Today on this Feast of Christ the King, we hear a piece of the story of Christ’s crucifixion:  His conversation with the two thieves as they all suffer together. This is Jesus at His most human and His most divine. The “bad” thief reviles Jesus, but the good thief recognizes Him as full of mercy. The “good” thief recognizes Jesus’ kingship in the (obvious) sacrifice of Himself and asks to be remembered by Him when He comes into His kingdom. Christ evinces His kingship in the free and deliberate surrender of Himself for us and the Feast of Christ the King celebrates this act and calls us to remember our place at His side in all we say and do here on earth.

​How will you be remembered? A better question: how will you want to be remembered? Today we think of end times as we celebrate the Solemnity of Christ the King—the end of our liturgical cycle “C” and the beginning of cycle “A” for our Scripture readings. We end this long run of Ordinary Time and will enter the new and next season of Advent. During this past month of November we have remembered all of our Saints and all of the Souls who have passed away in the last year—and we have remembered those long gone from us, too. In the Gospel today as we hear the “good” thief ask Jesus to remember him it got me to wondering if Jesus would remember me—and say to me when the time comes: “Amen…today you will be with me in paradise.”

​I am convinced that probably most of us would like to do some great thing with our lives. But we labor under the illusion that the doing of authentically great things is reserved for a chosen few: heroes, Olympians, martyrs, Saints--not really for you and me. Yet what if the greatest thing to do is just to honor God with a life that seeks to do His will in all the little things—like spending our lives in love and care? (maybe it’s not such a small thing…) We may not climb the highest mountain, but we may work to stay on the uneven path that life has marked out for us. We may not die for our faith, but we could strive to stay true to it in all we say and do during our lifetime.

We are called not to simply pay homage to our King, but to do as He did: to take up our crosses, living each day in self-sacrifice because we know that only through the cross is God’s reign at hand. Jesus is the model of the Servant-King; and our faith calls us to this same image. That is how we will be recognized and remembered by Christ.

Like the “good” thief, we also must ask for mercy for our sins. In God’s kingdom, even the guilty can find welcome, no matter what their crimes, lifestyle or deeds. (We have seen our Pope Francis model Jesus in this behavior—we are called to that action, also.) Jesus, hanging on the cross, extended comfort to the repentant thief. He extends comfort to us, too, as we also hang on our own crosses of our choices, shortcomings and sins, of our responsibilities, burdens and obligations. 

And, like the two thieves, we have a choice: we can be like the “bad” thief turning away from salvation offered and stick with our destructive ways (to ourselves and others); or we can be like the “good” thief and embrace the new life offered by Jesus. The question is: which thief are you? This is an everyday and constant question that as believers must be asked.

In God’s kingdom we look forward to joy; and yet we can claim this joy-filled kingdom at once, today. As We Remember Him, we will be remembered and recognized by Jesus in all we say and do, in the here and now.

Keep singing!

Elizabeth Dyc

Just a Note: Save the Date: Our Advent Pageant: “Cradle, Cross and Crown will take place on Sunday, December 11 at 4:00pm in Church. This is a fund and food raiser for Christmas giving after emptying our Food Pantry for the Thanksgiving holidays. Please come and join us as we celebrate the season and feed those less fortunate.

Like last weekend, this week’s readings leading to the end of our liturgical year are about end times. We all love happy endings to stories, yet the Prophet Malachi and our Lord Jesus in today’s Gospel paint for us terrible images of what will come at the end of time. They both give us good advice, though. Malachi says that for those who always keep God present there “will arise the sun of justice with its healing rays.” Jesus tells us: “By your perseverance you will secure your lives.” We are “counseled” by Him in three ways: (1) Live in his name—it gives you the strength to stand up to the worst that is offered in life; (2) Do not fear! If we are hated for his sake, then we are blessed, as there is nothing to fear if we are reconciled to Him; and (3) we will be rewarded for our perseverance in the face of turmoil with the grace and the gift of His wisdom.

​Basically it all boils down to keeping your eyes on God─in all you say and in all you do as you witness your faith belief in the everyday. St. Paul has a bit of advice this weekend for the Thessalonians and for us, too. He talks about working for the kingdom, not burdening others, keep your nose clean, and very important: MYOB, mind your own business!

We have heard in the Word that we do not know when the end will be: either our own personal, physical end on earth, or the end of the world when Jesus will come in glory. As the faithful, we know, however, that the end times will be a happy ending in spite of the scary images we hear today. This is because of our covenant with God. Nevertheless, we have to do our part in this covenant. Remember the old saying: “Just because God gives every bird a worm, he does not throw it in the nest!”

The popular teen—kids Christian saying “WWJD─What would Jesus do?” is a good ‘credo’ for our priorities, our behavior and our Christian witness.  It is really very simple: follow the advice you hear today, but—Be Not Afraid, and Sing a New Song because the end times will be happy times since we have already been saved! (Saved in one way or another, Soon and Very Soon!) As faith filled and faithful Catholic Christians we can stand secure in the knowledge of our happy ending and our place at the table in heaven.

Keep singing!

Elizabeth Dyc

Just a Note: The St. Aidan Adult Choir has been invited to sing for St. Cecilia (the patron saint of music) today, November 13, at our archdiocesan Cathedral at 3pm this afternoon. Along with 7 other choirs we will be performing in honor of St. Cecelia—and all are welcome to attend this lovely afternoon of good music by different archdiocese’ choirs. We feel honored to participate and hope you will join us and support our work for this lovely event.

Save the Date: Our Advent Pageant: “Cradle, Cross and Crown will take place on Sunday, December 11 at 4:00pm in Church. This is a fund and food raiser for Christmas giving after emptying our Food Pantry for the Thanksgiving holidays. Please come and join us as we celebrate the season and feed those less fortunate.

Dying is losing; death is winning, for once you march through the door of death - and do so in God’s good graces - you’re guaranteed heaven no matter how painful your purgatory is.  In fact, purgatory is a joy; you want it; it is God’s will and you are totally in that will.  You cannot sin after death; that’s the best thing about it!

​The month of November is traditionally dedicated to prayers for the holy souls in purgatory. The Catechism of the Catholic Church tells us, “All who die in God’s grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven” (1030). It has long been the practice of Christians to offer prayers and sacrifices for our loved ones who are in this state of purification.  Be sure to join the parish community on Sunday, November 6 at 5 PM for the annual Memorial Mass for the deceased of our parish.

The Church offers us many other prayers and devotions we can offer up for our loved ones who have died.  Here are two suggestions:

Eternal rest grant to them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.

This prayer can be inserted in between decades of the Rosary, and can be added to the end of the "Prayer Before Meals:”

Bless us, O Lord, and these thy gifts,
Which we are about to receive,
from Thy bounty,
through Christ, our Lord, Amen.
And may the souls of the faithful departed,
through the mercy of God, 
rest in peace. Amen.

The beautiful prayer from the end of the funeral Mass, “In Paradisum,” has inspired many comforting musical settings, but my favorite is the traditional chant, embedded below.

May the angels lead you into Paradise;
May the martyrs receive you and bring you into the holy city, Jerusalem.
May the choir of angels receive you, and with Lazarus, once a beggar, may you have eternal rest.

David J. Conrad

As we near the end of our liturgical year, we begin to hear readings about end times—death, life after death, and the second coming of Christ—the end of this world as we know it. Today we celebrate the Thirty-Second Sunday of Ordinary Time; just two weeks until we celebrate the Solemnity of Christ the King (the ending of this liturgical year and the beginning of the next). We are three weeks to the First Sunday of Advent, five weeks to our Advent Pageant (Save the Date!), and then seven weeks until Christmas (less than 2 months away—yikes!). I don’t mean to rush things, as we all understand that time is a process, but it’s just that it feels like we are rolling downhill as we end one season and prepare for the beginning of another. We end this liturgical year and are “shot out of a cannon” into the short seasons of Advent and then Christmas.

​Today, though, we have the opportunity to stop to think specifically about “endings” from the readings: our end, the “end” of Jesus, the end of our liturgical year. Personally, though, I do think, that it is important at the same time for us to keep beginnings in mind as we contemplate the endings in order to live in hope for whatever the future may bring even as something else ends. While being reminded today of endings, we are all in the midst of, and busy preparing for the beginning of the new seasons.

Our St. Aidan Music Ministry is preparing diligently for Advent and Christmas while singing about all the ends we are encountering right now in Scripture. This mixture of endings and beginnings reflects our very spiritual beliefs in that we live preparing for our endings here on earth by living truly Christ-like lives, and always knowing our life choices should reflect the beginnings of our new life in heaven. The “end times” we experience on earth are not really the ending for those who believe. We believe in resurrection living, and in the surety and hope of eternal life—because we remain faithful in our relationship with the living God.

The Gospel story we hear today isn’t really about marriage in heaven, but it is about the resurrection and the new life heaven will bring. The debate about heaven and marriage that took place between Jesus and some Sadducees is a silly one—it was simply a trick to trap Jesus. Jesus knew that—for to be in heaven is to leave behind our misinformed, malformed egos and become fully the creatures that God destined us to be. Only in heaven do we find our true identity, and our destiny—but it doesn’t mean we can’t have Kingdom living right here and now.

The righteous will live forever with the risen Christ (and All the other Saints, too) and all of us will eventually stand before Christ as his Bride (the Church). In heaven all (souls) are espoused to Christ, who never stops caring and loving His bride--us—as His own Body. This is an everlasting covenant—it began but will not end. We, the faithful need not really worry about end times as we only need to be ready and to be busy about God’s business for the Kingdom. We need to keep the promise of new life in our sight, while preparing for the ending of this one.

Keep singing!

Elizabeth Dyc

Just a Note: The St. Aidan Adult Choir has been invited to sing for St. Cecilia (the patron saint of music) at our archdiocesan Cathedral on November 13 at 3pm in the afternoon. Along with 7 other choirs we will be performing in honor of St. Cecelia—and all are welcome to attend this lovely afternoon of good music by different archdiocese’ choirs. We feel honored to participate and hope you will join us and support our work for this lovely event.

Save the Date: Our Advent Pageant: “Cradle, Cross and Crown will take place on Sunday, December 11 at 4:00pm in Church. This is a fund and food raiser for Christmas giving after emptying our Food Pantry for the Thanksgiving holidays. Please come and join us as we celebrate the season and feed those less fortunate.