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I am probably "Preaching to the Choir" (this is an old church adage, you know, referring to something commonly known) but the word "Advent" comes from the Latin word "adventus" which means "coming" or "arrival." It is a time to reflect on the humble nature of the birth of Jesus. It is a time to anticipate our heavenly home.

"That in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those that are in Heaven, on earth and under the earth: And that every tongue should confess that the Lord Jesus Christ is in the glory of God the Father.” —-Philippians 2:10-11 Today, November 24th, the last Sunday of the Church’s Liturgical Year is the Feast of Christ the King. It was established by Pope Pius in his 1925 encyclical Quas Primus. Pius XI wrote that if the truths of Christ “are presented to the faithful for their consideration, they will prove a powerful incentive to perfection.”

Have you ever given your opinion about something, and then said "That's just my two cents worth"? It's a way of letting the person you're talking to know that this is just your own opinion, and the listener is free to disagree. When we add our "two cents worth" to a discussion, we let people know that, "yes indeed, this is what I think, but I could be wrong. Take it for what it's worth - a great deal perhaps, or not much, maybe."

The  Scripture readings today are familiar to many here at Mass today. They are the most fundamental principle of  Christianity. They are to love God, and Love each Other.  We remind ourselves of their importance at the beginning of every Mass which is said or sung in the Ordinariate Form, in what is called the “Summary of the Law”.  

By tradition, the Catholic Church dedicates each month of the year to certain devotions. I often like to use my weekly letter to describe some of them. The month of October is dedicated to the Holy Rosary, one of the best known of all Catholic devotions. October includes the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary (October 7). the best way to celebrate the month is, of course, is to [pray the Rosary.

During this month of October we are able to celebrate the Feasts of two great female saints – St. Therese of Lisieux (on October 1st) and Teresa of Avila (on October 15th) of whom we have relics of both, or the two Teresa’s of SMV! (We are also blessed with a Shrine Altar to Saint Therese, a gift of the Oliver family) Because of these connections, I thought I’d share brief outlines of their lives, as inspirations for us today.

Last Sunday, I used our Shrine of St. Thomas More as a homily illustration. Since we also have a Shrine to St. Therese the "Little Flower" at our church (a memorial from the Olivers) and her reelic, and also since her Feast Day was last Tuesday, I thought I would make her the subject of this week's article.

Although one cannot tell this by the temperature. It's now early Fall, and time to focus more on our Religion, our Church and our Parish. I thought therefore that I would use this week's letter to remind everyone of some upcoming events.

As promised here are the last three of the "Seven Sorrows"

When looking through some of FORMED’s September offerings (and you have not already registered for FORMED, which is free to all SMV parishioners, I urge you to so to do!)  I came upon a short program of the Seven Sorrows of Mary,  which is the dedication for this month of September in the Roman Catholic Church. Later, during some private prayers, I envisioned Mary’s experiences, I pondered her most blessed and most sorrowful life. I met Mary heart-to-heart: her sorrows and her Son’s agony became mine, and the Mother of Sorrows became the mother of my own sorrows as well. During this month, perhaps we all could  enter into the mind and heart of Mary, and reflect on the seven major sorrows in her life.

Tomorrow is Labor Day, when many workers are given the day off (We will have our regular Noon Mass tomorrow though, and we welcome back our old friend and former Parochial Vicar, Fr. Tom Kennedy to celebrate the Mass.) What should Catholics think about Labor Day, or the dignity of Work, and what are our theological positions regarding labor itself? His Holiness Pope Leo XIII has affectionately been remembered as the "Pope of Labor" although by rights ought to be known for equally important accomplishments. The website, "The Legacy of Pope Leo XIII" is established to share information about this important, but nearly forgotten Pontiff.

Saint John Eudes, whose feast day we celebrated last Monday, once said: “Never separate what God has so perfectly united. So closely are Jesus and Mary bound up with each other that whoever beholds Jesus sees Mary; whoever loves Jesus, loves Mary; whoever has devotion to Jesus, has devotion to Mary. The Three hearts devotion is easy to understand - it is nothing other than honoring the Three Hearts of the Holy Family, Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.This is often done by making reparation to: 1 - The Scared and Merciful Heart of Christ. 2 - The Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary. 3 - The Most Pure and Chaste Heart of St. Joseph.

Saint John Eudes, whose feast day we celebrated last Monday, once said: "Never separate what God has so perfectly united.So closely are Jesus and Mary bound up with each other that whoever beholds Jesus sees Mary; whoever loves Jesus, loves Mary; whoever has devotion to Jesus, has devotion to Mary." The Three Hearts devotion is also easy to understand- it is nothing other than honoring the Three Hearts of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.

Invitations are powerful, and that is true for the Catholic Faith. If you ask with kindness and enthusiasm, and those whom you invited declines your invitation, you have done your best in an attempt to bring that particular person closer to God. On the other hand , you just might be the final piece of God's puzzle to bring that person, or that family, into or back into the Catholic Church.

The Feast of the Assumption (which we will celebrate Thursday, August 15th) is the Patronal Feast of our Parish. What do we mean by “Patronal Feast”? You may well ask! A Patron Saint is a saint chosen to be the special intercessor in Heaven of a particular place or organization, such as a parish church or cathedral, a hospital, university, or guild. A Patronal Feast is the occasion on which a parish annually honors the saint who was chosen as the Patron Saint of the parish. Thursday our parish will celebrate a special feast to honor Saint Mary the Virgin.

The Feast of the Assumption (which we celebrate Thursday, August 15th) is the Patronal Feast of our Parish. What do we mean by "Patronal Feast"? You may well ask! A Patron Saint is a saint chosen to be the special intercessor in Heaven of a particular place or organization, such as a parish church or cathedral, a hospital, university, or guild. A Patronal Feast is the occasion on which a parish annually honors the saint who was chosen as the Patron Saint of the parish.Thursday our parish will celebrate a special feast to honor S aint Mary the Virgin.

August became known as a month dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, but currently it is difficult to know why this is the case. There exists no particular feast, and the main celebration in August is the Assumption of the Virgin Mary on August 15th. (About which I will write next week.) The physical heart of Mary is venerated (and not adored as the Sacred Heart of Jesus is) because it is united to Her person and is the seat of Her love (especially for her divine Son,) virtue, and inner life. Such devotion is an incentive to a similar love and virtue in us.