This past Thursday, December 1st, our second graders participated in their First Reconciliation! Each of them experienced for the first time, the beauty of the Sacrament of Confession, the font of the Mercy of the Lord! Congratulations to each you! May this be the first of a multitude of experiences of this magnificent Sacrament!
The Sacrament of Confession/Reconciliation/Penance is a gift from Almighty God in which we touch and experience His Divine Mercy. At our Baptism, the grace of God began working in our hearts and souls to make them more like His. The Sacrament of Reconciliation continues this good work He has begun in us. A soul that is not clean cannot transmit the light of the Lord burning within us. When we avail ourselves of this Sacrament, our souls become clean so that the light of our faith, the light burning within us can be seen by others and continue to work within us. When was the last time you experienced this glorious Sacrament so that the light of Christ and you may shine forth from your heart?
To prepare us and to help us experience the Divine Mercy of our Lord, we have two great experiences to help us this Advent.
Advent Parish Mission
I invite each of you (and bring a friend) to our Annual Advent Parish Mission this Sunday through Tuesday, December 4 – 6. Fr. Ben Dallas, priest of the Diocese of Savannah and Pastor of Holy Family Catholic Church in Columbus, GA, will give our Parish Mission this year! His theme will be “Be Not Afraid”. He is a dynamic speaker and will have us captivated and engaged as we deepen our faith and our discipleship of Jesus. Please come and attend each or one of the evenings!
Advent Penance Service
In the evening of December 21st, we will hold our Advent Penance Service. Priests will be available to hear confessions during this time. Our normal times for confession will remain the same throughout Advent: Monday through Friday at 7:45 – 8:15 AM; Tuesday at 5:00 – 6:00 PM; and Saturday at 3:45 – 4:45 PM. The light is on for you! Welcome to the font of the Lord’s Mercy in the Sacrament of Confession!
Invitations
Brothers and Sisters, if you are reading this, you attend mass on Sundays and pick up the bulletin or you receive it via email. I would like to invite those who haven’t been to mass in a while, to come and worship with us once again! It is easy to gt out of the habit of getting up on Sunday morning and getting ourselves and our families ready to go to mass. It is easy to fall back on watching mass online. But, we are not called to easy. We are called to be family, to be with each other and worship God as a community. I invite you back if you have not been with us on Sunday in quite some time.
I also invite those who are coming to Sunday mass to invite those friends or family members who you know are not coming to Sunday mass to return and worship with us again. I am sure that you and I know a few people we haven’t seen lately at mass. Let’s invite them to come back! If there is anything keeping them from coming back, I encourage them to contact me and we can speak about it. Our lives can be complicated and as pastor, as spiritual father, I want to know how I can assist people in coming back into our family, our community as we give thanks to God and worship Him.
We have cards in the narthex and in the pews that you can take to hand out to people inviting them home to church on Sunday and on Christmas. Please take a few and pray about those to who you might want to give them and invite.
I am in Augusta this weekend celebrating my little sister’s wedding! What good family time and fun it is! See you next weekend!
A Blessed Advent to you and your families!
God Bless you all!
~ Fr. Daniel Firmin