Embracing the Spirit of Advent: A Time of Hope, Peace, Joy, and LoveAs the days grow shorter and the nights longer, we find ourselves on the brink of a season of hope, a season of waiting, a season of longing, and a season of anticipation. Advent invites us to slow down, pause, and reflect on the true meaning of Christmas. It's a time to prepare our hearts for the celebration of the Incarnation, that event 2,000 years ago when God took human flesh and became man and dwelt among us.
We mark the Sundays of Advent with candles. Each week's candle focuses on a different virtue that connects us with the spirit of the season: hope, peace, joy, and love. How can we embody these virtues in our daily lives?

• Hope: Even in the darkest of times, we can cultivate hope.
• Peace: We can strive for peace within ourselves and with others.
• Joy: We can find joy in the simple moments and share that joy with those around us.
• Love: Most importantly, we can seek to love unconditionally, just as Christ loves us.

It's worth engaging in the Advent season, even as the world around us seems to leapfrog it and jump right to Christmas. By doing so, we can truly enter into the meaning of the Incarnation.
Embracing Advent at Our Parish
Here at the parish, we'll be offering a couple of nights for quiet prayer in church. We'll have Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, and confession will be available. Remember, our parish is a Christmas parish, consecrated to the Archangel Gabriel who announced the dawn of Salvation and the wondrous event of the Nativity.
May this Advent season be a time of renewal, hope, and drawing closer to God. Let's embrace the spirit of this season, open our hearts to the love of God, and share that love with the world.

Dear Friends,
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It is exciting to have our school children back in our buildings again (although I wish the weather for the first week of school had not been so warm). To celebrate and welcome everyone back we’ll have hospitality in front of church after the 9:30 and 11am Masses this weekend. This will also give parishioners a chance to meet the Principals of our Schools.

Our Religious Education catechists met last week as we prepare to welcome our RE students back to class in our building as well, beginning Tuesday evening the 12th. I am grateful to Fr. Klavins for working with Lori to help oversee the RE program, while serving as a catechist for our Confirmation Level II students.
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We will have short talks after the Masses this weekend from parishioners who have taken part in our parish ALPHA program. The next session starts on September 6th, and we look forward to gathering with a new group of parishioners, neighbors and friends to explore issues of faith and meaning over a meal. I encourage you to block out your Wednesday evenings this Fall so that you can take part in this.

Tickets for the September 30th Kenned and Carl concert are on sale. Last year’s event in the auditorium was a lot of fun, and this year’s promises to be as well. We’ll have a raffle connected with the concert and dinner available in the hall beforehand. See the bulletin for more information.


 May your week reflect the encounter with Christ
  we experienced at Mass today

Dear Friends, 

This week we welcome our children back into our schoolhouses! The start of the year always brings life back to our campuses, which feel a little sleepy during summer months. Along with school starting again we’ll see more parish activity. The SGCS Golf Outing is next weekend; Rock the Block is September 16th and the Kenned and Carl concert is September 30th. We are also working to put together some after-Mass hospitality. Lori Serpico is going to spearhead organizing this, so if you are interested in helping out, please contact her ([email protected]). We had beer/wine/cheese after one Saturday evening Mass in July, and that was really nice. It seems like this should be part-and-parcel to our Sunday experience, at least once a month… the challenge is just getting it up and running. 
 
Let me put in another plug for the Fall ALPHA, due to begin on September 6th. Consider inviting a family member or neighbor to attend the first one (preregister, please, since dinner is included). This is a relaxed and conversational event that offers people the chance to explore issues of meaning and faith. Information on registering for the September 6th session is in the bulletin. 
 
Finally, I received notice by mail (maybe some of you did, too) informing me that some residential safety concerns led to a decision by the city to invest $400,000 to modify many of the Canaryville streets and alleys. I was disappointed that neither the parish administration nor the school administration was contacted prior to this decision being made, and so we did not participate in the gathering of opinions about the project. I must admit that I don’t relish having to navigate an obstacle course of speed bumps and traffic circles when driving in and out of the neighborhood. I suppose that time will tell whether these changes actually enhance the safety of Canaryville residents (which was the reason given for these changes).  
 
May your week reflect the encounter with Christ 
we experienced at Mass today! 
 
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Dear Friends, 

This week’s Gospel continues with the agricultural theme that Jesus introduced last week. Whereas last week he used the sowing of seeds to the spreading of the faith, this week he talks about the weeds and the wheat. Making an interesting and important point, he talks about how one needs to be careful about being overzealous with our weeding efforts, lest we pull up the good plants along with the weeds. Instead, he says, we often need to let the weeds and wheat grow together, and then worry about the sorting come harvest time. The application for our own lives can be discerned- both with the “weeds” and “wheat” growing in our soul (vice and virtue), and the “weeds” and “wheat” (the evil and the good) in society. That said, we can’t look at this passage in isolation. In the context of Jesus’ other teachings, it is clear that Jesus is not saying we shouldn’t work to root out sin and evil… from our own hearts, and from society. Of course we should! But He acknowledges that we’ll never manage to create a perfectly “pure” garden in this world- our hearts will always experience some sin and conflict, and our society will never be perfect. So we do what we can… 
 
Speaking of doing what we can: we are in need of a generous parishioner willing to take on the ministry of washing and ironing the altar linens (mostly the purificators, which are the cloths for wiping the chalice) for our Saint Gabriel site. Be advised- pesky stains from the wine can try one’s patience. 😊 There are a few special processes involved due to the sacred nature of the task. I think it would involve three or four hours every three or four weeks, although this might increase a bit in the Fall after we re-introduce offering the Blood of Christ to the congregation at Mass. If you’re interested, please let me know. 
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May your week reflect the encounter with Christ 
we experienced at Mass today!