My dear Parishioners and Friends,
Maybe you remember this beautiful song for advent:
Come, Thou long expected Jesus
Born to set Thy people free;
From our fears and sins release us,
Let us find our rest in Thee.
(Come Thou Long Expected Jesus)
It is now time for Advent and a new liturgical year. With the celebration of the Feast of Christ the King, our liturgical year comes to its end and a new one - I mean liturgical year - is coming with the first Sunday of Advent.
The word Advent means coming toward or approaching. As we draw close to the end of another year, once again the days become shorter and shorter in terms of sunlight until we mark the shortest day of the year on December 21. We wait for that.
Advent is a season of waiting – yes waiting for the celebration for Christmas, but more importantly, it marks a season of waiting for Jesus’ second coming. As a church we have been patiently waiting for that day for almost two-thousand years, perseverance is a hallmark of our faith and so I call each and every one of us to keep the faith and to embrace the gifts of hope, peace, joy and love that we experience and celebrate in the Advent season.
My dear friends, I know that for many people today there is still fear and uncertainties in life about the future, but we need to take courage in the long-waited Messiah- Jesus Christ - born to set his people free from our fears and sin. Come join us during this season to pray, to wait and to celebrate in the Eucharist with open hearts and minds and to set our lives a cradle where he can be born again.
May the Christ Child whom we long to see for ourselves one day in the Bethlehem of heaven find his Heart burning brightly in our own now and in the coming year.
Yours in Christ,
Fr. Milhton Scarpetta.
Pastor
www.wlpcatholic.org
360-748-4953. Ext 102