Holy Spirit Parish

Dear Holy Spirit Parish:                         November 29, 2020
               “Stay awake!  You do not know when
                   the lord of the house is coming.”     (Mark 13:35)
 
Our new year of faith begins with the cry:  “Stay Awake!”  And being “awake” is standing in hope that the Lord, the Prince of Peace, will come.  To fall asleep is to be distracted, to give our hearts to lesser things and become filled with worry, anxiety and even fear.
 
There is a paradoxical relationship between our readiness and the Lord’s ability to come.  The many problems in the world around us certainly are reasons for our hearts to be filled with worry and anxiety.  The outer world clearly influences our inner world.  But our inner world is also what gives birth to the outer world.  The problems of the world are born of anxious and fearful hearts.  We must work for world justice, for the coming of God’s Kingdom.  But we cannot do so without hearts full of peace and hope.  We must continually move back and forth from the inner world to outer and from outer world to inner.
 
We had a small but committed Advent Liturgy Planning Team who felt the strong need to restore the inner peace and hope after a year of unprecedented outer worry and conflict.  Thus our theme for the season:  “For You Oh Lord, My Soul In Stillness Waits.”  Each week of Advent we will work our way from the outer world more deeply into the inner world, inviting the stillness that allows Peace to be born. 
 
We begin this first week of Advent looking at our schedules and commitments and asking: are they keeping us awake or putting us to sleep?  This time when our routines and activities are largely put on hold by Covid, gives us a rare opportunity to put our lives together in a new way.  What would a life that seeks God’s peace above all else look like?
 
Please see the November Newsletter for a full listing of opportunities for growth this Advent.  In the past we have offered the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick during Masses the first Sunday of Advent.  This year Fr. Todd and I will be available in church this afternoon from 1:00pm to 3:00pm or until all people have been served.  In the past every parish had a communal celebration of Reconciliation. This year we will offer a live streamed Reconciliation Service December 10^th and individual confessions the following Saturday mornings and Wednesday evenings before Christmas.
 
Julie Meadows has sent out a note to all listing the resources available through our Faith Formation Ministry to families for their own enrichment.  I highlight the offering of our Advent Planning team.  We have prepared a 20 minute home Advent Service video for each week of Advent.  It is designed for families with small children, but hopefully will be helpful for all households. 
 
During the prayer I will guide families to light the Advent Wreath candles, read the Sunday Gospel, talk about how to bring peace to their family, and then experience a meditation that includes a time of silence.  My goal is to increase that silence a little each week.  Maybe by Christmas families can be comfortable with several minutes of silence!  It was in silence that divine life filled a human being that first Christmas.
 
The video was included in my Thursday Pastoral Pondering. But it is available also on the parish website.  Or call the office and we’ll email you the link directly.
 
The Small Groups meeting during Advent will follow the Sunday Gospels and our weekly themes of deepening stillness.  The schedule for these small groups can be found on the front of this bulletin.  They will all be online.  If you would like to take part in a small group please contact the parish office.
 
We begin a new year.  Let us Stay Awake!
 

 
Fr. Steve

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