Feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary
Saturday, December 8^th
Vigil 6 pm on Friday and 8 am Mass on Saturday
 
This Saturday, December 8^th, is a Holy Day of Obligation.  It is the Feast Day of our National Patron, Mary Immaculate.  It is always a Holy Day because America is under the protection of Mary.  And yes, it is still a serious sin to miss Mass on a Holy Day or Sunday without a grave reason (e.g. bed ridden by illness).  Masses will be at 6 pm on Friday and on Saturday morning at 8 am (to accommodate those attending the Woman’s Advent Prayer Breakfast).
 
Advent Adoration and Penance Service
Monday, December 10^th
5:30 to 6:30 pm
 
Today as we celebrate the First Sunday of Advent we begin a new liturgical year.  This new beginning hopefully will offer us an opportunity to deepen our relationship with Christ. But you know as well as I do, that any more Advent is something that you only hear about in Church and that so many people today are really clueless that the Incarnation, the Mystery of the Creator becoming creature, is the real reason for the Season.  You know as well as I do, that to some extent all of us lose focus in the midst of what has become a crazy holiday season.  So, I have just two words for you that I pray will help you keep focus through the Advent and Christmas Seasons.  Those two words are Reconciliation and Eucharist.
 
Eucharist and Reconciliation can help us all with new beginnings; these two sacraments can help us focus on what is truly important because they lead us ever deeper into the wonderful presence of Jesus in our lives.  This is a busy, busy time of year but God is not finished with us yet.  If you do nothing else of a spiritual nature in the next few weeks celebrate these sacraments well.  I’d ask all of you during Advent to attend an extra Mass during the week.  This past Monday, there were only 5 people at daily Mass.  That is pitiful.  As those who have been so faithful to daily Mass over the years die or move off the island, we need to have younger parishioners step up to take their place.  A parish with just a few parishioners attending daily Mass cannot be considered a vibrant parish.
 
Hopefully, you will be able to make a good confession next Monday evening when two of our former pastors, Msgr. Costigan and Bishop Boland will be available to show you the great love and mercy of Jesus.  One of the most powerful ways we can grow in our relationship to Christ is to humbly admit that it is not everything that it could be; it is not everything that we would hope it to be.  A very basic Catholic practice during Advent is to confess our sins and seek out God’s great mercy in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.  There will be exposition of the Sacrament at 5:30 pm at which time we will start hearing confessions. As long as you are in line by 6:30 pm we will stay and celebrate the sacrament with you.  But it would be great, if some folks considered spending the whole hour in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament.
 
If it has been a while since your last confession, please trust that Msgr. Costigan, Bishop Boland and I will help you make a good confession.  You only need to be able to “name” your sins and we will be happy to lead you through the details of celebrating the Sacrament. I will post a few questions in next week’s bulletin that will help you in the examination of your conscience so that you will be able to state your sins in a brief and straightforward manner.
********************************************************************************************************
I am always grateful for those parishioners who make a special end of year contribution to the parish. You help our faith community catch up to a balanced budget.  But as a follow-up to Diane Parker’s presentation at Mass last weekend, I also hope this year that many of you will divert your State tax obligation to help fund Catholic Education.   Through the GRACE Scholars Program, state taxpayers can take a credit against their Georgia income taxes and "redirect" their tax payment to scholarships for students entering our Catholic schools from the public-school system.  It is a win – win situation.  The sign up is easy – just google Grace Scholars and register on-line.  It takes just 5 minutes of your time and you can designate up to 3 Catholic Schools.  Don’t delay; the deadline to sign up is December 15^th.

Fr. Jerry Ragan