December 18, 2022 4th Sunday of Advent To My Spiritual Family of Holy Redeemer and St. Anthony, A Mother’s Love: What a wonderful outpouring of warmth and grace as we celebrated Our Lady of Guadalupe on Monday! First of all, I wish to thank our Blessed Mother herself. As she said to St. Juan Diego: “Am I not here, your mother?” Well, she was definitely here with us in Warren on her feast day! Thank you, Mother Mary! I also want to express my gratitude to John Finch and his team of talented musicians and singers. They are using their gifts to bring others deeper into relationship with Jesus Christ and it is a powerful work indeed. Please join me in thanking the Catholic Foundation of Northwest Pennsylvania for providing funding through a grant from the Education Endowment. That $6,000 grant went a long way to defer the costs of Monday’s celebrations. I desire, as well, to thank the parish staff, all the volunteers and bakers, and everyone else who worked so hard to make Monday a beautiful family event. Thank you! May the graces of that night continue to fill our hearts as we prepare for Christmas! Catechism in a Year: Fr. Mike Schmitz, one of the most dynamic Catholic evangelists of our day, will begin his new podcast – The Catechism in a Year – on January 1, 2023. Countless people listened to and made his Bible in a Year podcast the #1 podcast in America. Given our secular and anti-Christian culture, that’s quite an accomplishment! You can find this latest work at www.ascensionpress.com or on your phone’s app store. I highly recommend you give it a try! Opportunities for Confession: I so appreciate how many of you have already been to confession this Advent! Thank you for unwrapping God’s amazing gift of mercy! As we near the celebration of our Lord’s birth, I once again encourage everyone to make use of this beautiful Sacrament of Reconciliation. I will be hearing confessions tomorrow evening (Monday, December 19) during the regularly scheduled 5:30-6:30 pm time slot. There is also a penance service at St. Callistus in Kane on Tuesday evening (3 priests available). On Tuesday, December 20th, Fr. Rick will be hearing confessions beginning at 6:00 pm at St. Joseph’s. And then on Saturday, December 24, Christmas Eve Day, I will be in the confessional from 10:00 am – noon. If there is still a line, I will stay longer! Christmas Mass Schedule: We sincerely hope that you will be with us for Christmas Mass. Our musicians have been rehearsing, our altar servers and lectors will be with us in full force, Deacon Ray will be sporting one of his stylish sweater-vests, and joy will undoubtedly abound. Our schedule for the feast of Christmas is as follows: Saturday, December 24: 5:00 pm @ St. Anthony & 10:00 pm @ Holy Redeemer. Sunday, December 25: 9:00 am @ Holy Redeemer. If you are going to be away with family or friends, we wish you safe travels and yuletide blessings. Whatever the case, let’s use these remaining days of Advent to pray and prepare our hearts. A Savior is to be born for us! Glory to God in the highest! God bless you all and have a wonderful and peaceful week!
Mary, Mother of the Holy Redeemer – Pray for us! Our Lady of Guadalupe – Pray for us! St. Anthony – Pray for us! St. Joseph – Pray for us! Fr. Steve