Pastor’s Letter: December 4, 2022

Pastor’s Letter: December 4, 2022

2 Dec 2022 | Posted by: chadmin

The December 4 bulletin is available online.

Dear friend,

At the Masses this weekend, I will use a new Chalice and Ciborium purchased by Bishop Lou Tylka for the Diocese of Peoria. The Bishop has asked all the priests of the Diocese to celebrate a public Mass with the Chalice. This past year, the Bishops of the United States launched the Eucharistic Revival. This is an effort by the Bishops over the next few years to encourage participation in the Eucharistic celebration and for the faithful to grow in unity and belief in the Real Presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. Bishop Lou has also begun the Growing Disciples Pastoral Planning initiative to plan how to best serve the Catholics of the Peoria Diocese into the future. This Chalice and Ciborium will serve as a sacramental reminder to all Peoria Catholics of our principal unity with Jesus Christ in the Eucharistic Celebration. Please join me in praying for our Bishop, his Episcopal ministry, and the faithful of our Diocese.

With the 2^nd Sunday of Advent, the Church reads about St. John the Baptist. John is seen as the bridge from the Old to the New Testaments. The Old Testament records the promises of God to visit His people, to save all from sin and death. The prophets of the Old Testament paved the way for the Messiah to enter the world. Prior to pointing out Jesus, John’s ministry challenged people to repentance and forgiveness. People came to John to listen, to be baptized, and to experience forgiveness. John understood himself to be “the voice” that Isaiah the Prophet predicted would point out the Christ, the Messiah. The day that Jesus approached John for baptism, John resisted out of humility, but ultimately baptized Jesus and saw the Spirit descend. The next day John pointed to Jesus and said, “behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world.” These same words, said at Mass when the Eucharistic is presented to the people, remind us that God is present. One of my favorite passages about John the Baptist comes later when John is imprisoned. While jailed John reflects on his life. He sends two of his disciples to Jesus to ask Him, “are you the one to come, or should we look for another?” In one way or another, we all think and pray that we have completed the life task the Lord put before us. The fear of failure that tempts us all got to John as he sat alone in prison. Jesus told the disciples of John to go back and tell him that the “blind walk, the lame see, and blessed is the one that takes no offense at me.” Certainly, these words comforted John, prior to his death. As we pray with John the Baptist this week, may we all seek to do our best in the name of the Lord, while always trusting that the Lord can bring good out of any mistake or failure in life. May the Lord console our hearts to join John in always pointing to the truth of the Lamb of God, Jesus the Christ.

God bless,

Father David