Hello Friends,

What an interesting weekend. We are celebrating the 4th weekend of Advent and at the same time the beginning of Christmas. This brings joy to the world: the Lord is near! I want to wish you all a joyful Christmas! On Christmas we are going to hear the story of Jesus' birth. We have heard it over and over, yet our hearts rejoice to hear it again. Our God came to us, not in majesty and glory, blinding us with his brilliance and deafening us with the sound of his voice, rather our God came to us in humility and poverty and simplicity. He showed us, by sharing in our life, that there is goodness in the world he created, goodness in the life he gave us, goodness in all of us and that we are worth saving, even worth dying for. Words alone cannot express the wonders we celebrate this weekend. And so we express our words in song. It is a time for singing. May the birth of our Savior bring love, peace and joy into your hearts and bring unity among your loved ones. Merry Christmas! Feliz Navidad!
​
Fr. Alex Ureña

Hello Friends,
​
As the celebration of Christ's birth draws near, joy is in the air. As a matter of fact, this Sunday is called "Gaudete" Sunday, which means "Rejoice." It is also reflected in today's liturgy. The prophet speaking to us in our first reading tells us he was sent to bring glad tidings to the poor, that he rejoices in the Lord, and in God, is the joy of his soul. The response, which is almost always from the Book of Psalms, is today taken from St. Luke's gospel. It is Mary's hymn of joy which she enthusiastically proclaimed when she visited her cousin Elizabeth after the annunciation. St. Paul in the second reading tells us to rejoice always. His instruction "rejoice" implies that rejoicing is more of a choice in attitude rather than a feeling that spontaneously comes over us. John the Baptist, whom we meet in the gospel, was an austere person, but his message was a joyful one, joyful because the Lord was coming. John was honored to have been chosen by God to point him out and to prepare the people for that coming.

Fr. Alex Ureña

Hello Friends,

As we continue in this time of faithful watching and waiting, a time of Advent. This weekend we celebrate the second Sunday of Advent. As you all know, we already had some activities in the parish that continue pointing to the big day of Christmas. On Tuesday we had the parish Penance Service. An opportunity to clean our hearts and to prepare ourselves for the birth of God Emmanuel (God-with-us) in our families and hearts. Followed by that, we just celebrated the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. This feast is about Mary. From now on we are going to hear about Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus. This Sunday, there is a figure, a messenger that comes to prepare the way for Christ, John the Baptist. He proclaims a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. He is aware that he is not the "One" to come, but that there is "One mightier" than he is coming after him. The One following John the Baptist will baptize with the Holy Spirit. The infant child Jesus wants to change our worlds, our families and our way of living. Though we have time to ponder the meaning of his birth or not, he is coming. Perhaps we are busy with our Christmas routines, checking off lists, ensuring we have purchased just the right gift, delivering food and presents, I encourage you to think about the real meaning of Christmas. Let's prepare our hearts for Him.

​Fr. Alex Ureña 

Hello Friends,
​
We welcome this new liturgical year with the season of Advent. As you can see, Advent invites us to a quieter time, to stay awake, to “watch.” We can see this in the environment that we experience in church: we switched out old missalettes, worship aids, liturgical calendars and we leave behind the color of green of Ordinary Time and introduce the violet color and the Advent wreath. How interesting that the gospel ends with the word “Watch!” The Lord encourages us to not sleep through the opportunities life gives us to discover God in our lives and in the lives of others. To “watch” is to pay attention to the signs of God's presence in our lives, to live expectantly as a gift from God. This is what our lives are, an Advent, a prelude to the life of God to come. Let's pay attention to this time of Advent and have an encounter with our Lord. Do not get distracted with Christmas season yet. We are heading there, but in the mind time stay watchful and let us journey together to the coming of our Lord and Savior. On a different note, December the 8th is The Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Patronal Feast Day of the United States of America and it is a Holy Day of obligation. Come and celebrate with us this Marian Feast, because all of this is all about Mary!


Fr. Alex Ureña