MESSAGE ON THE 2ND SUNDAY OF ADVENT (YR C)
Friday 6th of December, 2024
My dear people,
I can’t believe that we are at this stage of the year, but it is here already; the season of Advent has started. Advent is the time when we prepare for the celebration of the First Coming of Jesus at Christmas, but also a time to prepare for his Second Coming at the end of time. It is indeed a time of preparation when we make sure that we are spiritually ready for the coming of our Lord. While the next few weeks before Christmas will be packed with Christmas dinners and end of year functions, let us make sure that we keep our eyes fixed on the reason for the season and remain imbued in the preparations for the celebration of Christmas. May you all have a Blessed Advent this year!
The recruitment process to employ someone to share the role of Evangelisation Coordinator with Ann continues. Ann and I will conduct the interviews in the coming days. Again, I invite you to continue praying for the parish as we move ahead with this most important task.
Deacon Ian Vergel arrived in the parish two weeks ago. Deacon Ian will be with us full time until Christmas. He will be on holiday in January and will return in February. He will then be with us during the weekends until his ordination. Let us keep Deacon Ian in our prayers as he starts the last leg of his journey towards ordination. We were grateful to Deacon Ian for his inspiring homily last week and look forward to listening to many more from him.
While we rejoice in the arrival of Deacon Ian, our attention also turns to the sad reality that the end of Greg’s time with us is fast approaching. Greg will conclude his time with us on Christmas Day. There will be a farewell for him on Sunday 22nd December 2024 immediately after the 12:30pm Mass. You are all invited to bring a plate to share. There will be much more to say at his farewell, but it is undeniable that Greg has done a truly marvellous job here at the parish during his year with us for which we are all very grateful.
The Christmas Mass times have been advertised for several weeks now and I trust that you are aware of them. I would like to highlight two events. Firstly, our ChristmasCarols on 15th December. There will be activities starting at 5pm and the carols will start at 6:30pm. Secondly, our advent reconciliation on 18th December. There will be five priests here to hear confessions starting at 7pm.
In the last week, I have celebrated the Graduation Mass for the Year 10 students at CRC North Keilor and Caroline Springs, and the End of Year Mass for the year 7 – 9 students of CRC Caroline Springs. In the coming weeks, I will celebrate the Graduation Masses for the Year 6 students at Christ the Priest and St George Preca, as well as their End of Year Masses and the End of Year Staff Masses for CRC Caroline Springs, Christ the Priest and St George Preca. We wish all members of our school communities a restful holiday.
We continue turning to our patron saint and we ask for her intercession.
St Catherine of Siena, Pray for us.
Yours sincerely in Christ,
Fr Richard Rosse PP