This is my first Christmas in my pastoral role here at St. Stanislaus, and I have been looking forward to it since before Advent began. As we have been hearing over and over again in the readings in Advent, I have been preparing right alongside you in many ways, including for my new little puppy-her name is Lucia. I will introduce her to you in time, but I believe she will be a great gift to me and our community!

Today IV Sunday of Advent the readings invite us to reflect on the incarnation of God in the person of Jesus Christ: Jesus Christ true God and true Man.

God reveals himself in Jesus Christ to save us and achieve Eternal Life, but God also reveals himself so that we can remove from ourselves the image of a distant God, of a God that cannot be accessed, the image of a God who does not care of us. God manifests himself in the incarnation of his Son Jesus Christ, so that like Moses we have a friendly relationship with Him (Ex.33:11). God wants us to experience his presence, he wants us to understand that he accompanies us in moments of danger, illness, in problems, in the hour of experiencing pain, in death...

Today is the third Sunday of the Advent season, known as Gaudete Sunday, which means Sunday of Joy. Today's readings really speak to us of great joy as we await the coming of the Lord.

“The desert and the parched land will exult; the steppe will rejoice and bloom. They will bloom with abundant flowers and rejoice with joyful song.” (Is 35:1)

John the Baptist has a powerful message for us this Second Sunday of Advent:

He is inviting us to make our paths straight and prepare the way of the Lord! We are beautifying and doing lots of landscaping work around our churches and making everything look straight and nice. We should also do this with our life during this Advent Season. Making our crooked paths straight and cleaning our hearts for the Messiah to dwell and journey with us until the end of times.

Dear friends.

We are at the dawn of a new liturgical year, it is the time of Joyful Hope. Soon we will be gathered to announce the preparatory time for the commemoration of the Nativity of the Lord, enlightened this year with the joy of knowing that we will be accompanied by Saint Matthew, the evangelist of the Kingdom, of life, of hope.

The preparatory time is called Advent, the Prophets announce Christ in the readings, His coming is prepared with prayers that tell the Lord to come again: "Come, Lord Jesus." The Virgin Mary stands out in this Time, who teaches us to wait with faith for the second coming of the Lord.

Get ready for the Solemnity of the King of the Universe. Christ is the King of the universe and of each one of us.

He is the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end. He is in each one of us with his message of love, justice and service. The Kingdom of Christ is eternal and universal. We know that the Kingdom of Christ has already begun, since He became present on earth from his coming to the world more than two thousand years ago, but Christ will reign over all men until he returns to the world with all his Glory at end of time.

The Advent season is quickly approaching and what better way to enter into the Advent season and prepare for Christmas than by spending an evening of prayer and reflection. All parishioners are invited to attend our Advent Mission: Made for More. Made for More is an inspired blend of live music, art and presentation that taps the deepest desires of the human heart revealing their ultimate purpose and goal.

Thank you to all who responded to the call to serve at a ministry of the Mass! I appreciate the many of you who stepped up and said yes! For those who are still undecided, feel free to contact the parish office if you discern you are ready to serve-we can always use more ministers!

Today's Gospel tells us a beautiful story of Jesus' encounter with Zacchaeus, but this encounter has its complications and gossip (Luke 19:1-10). Zacchaeus wants to meet Jesus, but the people prevented him. This does not discourage Zacchaeus, but he springs into action and climbs a tree. Zacchaeus's action led him to have an encounter with Jesus who tells him: "Zacchaeus come down soon because today I am staying at your house." Seeing that Jesus is staying in Zacchaeus' house, the people began to murmur against Jesus, but Zacchaeus says something that earns him salvation, "Look, Lord, I am going to give half of my goods to the poor, and if I have defrauded someone, I will pay back four times as much."

“But in order that the liturgy may be able to produce its full effects, it is necessary that the faithful come to it with proper dispositions, that their minds should be attuned to their voices, and that they should cooperate with divine grace lest they receive it in vain. Pastors of souls must therefore realize that, when the liturgy is celebrated, something more is required than the mere observation of the laws governing valid and licit celebration; it is their duty also to ensure that the faithful take part fully aware of what they are doing, actively engaged in the rite, and enriched by its effects.” (Sacrosanctum Concilium, 11).

In this weekend’s gospel, the phrase “pray always without becoming weary” stands out to me. I have been in the position of administrator of St. Stanislaus for just over three months, and it has been a wonderful experience; not always easy, but wonderful. I need to remember that I cannot do everything all at once, and to “go slow,” as people remind me. This weekend and next weekend, there will be an opportunity presented to you - a call to serve your parish community - especially at the Mass.

In Paul's letter to the Philippians we find a statement about Christ, which says: "Assuming human likeness and appearing in his bearing as a man, he lowered himself, becoming obedient to death and a death on the cross" (Philippians 2, 8 -8) The words of the apostle speak to us of a Jesus who is "body and closeness", is the humanized God, made flesh like ours. It is of great importance for his followers (Disciples) not to forget the corporeal and relational dimension. Jesus relates to his environment through his body. God speaks through a human body. Jesus approaches through his body: He sees, hears and touches. Three verbs, three actions, three very human dimensions.

The dominant theme this Sunday is faith, as it is mentioned in all three readings. At the end of the first reading it states: "The just live by faith", a phrase that will be used by Paul and will later have an enormous impact on the Christian life. Jesus focuses on the efficacy of faith, even faith as small as a mustard seed. Finally, Paul exhorts Timothy to bear witness to his faith in Christ Jesus.

In this reflection I would like to start with two questions: Do you think it is important to evaluate our faith? How is your faith?