Fr. Tom’s Letters

Each week Fr. Tom writes a letter to parishioners in our bulletin. Every letter is comprehensive, including current information about the Parish, an explanation of Scripture for that Sunday, and an invitation to become more engaged in the life of the parish.

December 14, 2025

Dear Parishioners,

As we continue our journey through the Advent Season, we come to the special Sunday “Gaudete Sunday”. This is the Sunday when the Church anticipates the joy that this time of the year brings and reaches its heights on Christmas Day with the celebration of Jesus’ birth. So in that spirit of anticipation the Church puts aside the violet vestments and encourages the rose colored vestment. The violet candle gives way to the rose colored candle. The shift in color suggests Christmas is fast approaching.

Most of our parish Advent activities are coming to completion. Again, with great and increasing generosity, parishioners have supported the efforts of Parish Social Ministry in extending a helping hand to more than 700 families and another 150 children. Many thanks for the great outpouring of generosity that has marked our parish during these Thanksgiving and Christmas Days. Our school has celebrated with social gatherings and a Christmas Concert involving about 150 students and their families. Great job last Tuesday night.

Our seniors gathered for a Christmas luncheon, the Knights of Columbus sponsored our tree lighting outside the Church. Parishioners have brightened our dark, cold December nights with lights and manger scenes. We have seen the progressive preparation for Christmas in the church with trees, wreaths, and the manger scene. We await the red poinsettias.

So now, perhaps, we can quiet down a little and anticipate Christmas. We know our music ministry and our beautiful choirs will greet us at Christmas Mass and help to create the spirit of joy that accompanies the celebration of the Birth of the Season.

For the second reading today, the message is made clear in the first two words: “Be patient.” St. James makes clear how patient we must be. “See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient with it until it receives the early and the late rains.”

Patience and waiting are not easy virtues in today’s culture. The busy lives of people and the dependence on technology suggests time goes quickly and we need to keep up. So patience is tested with being on hold during a telephone call. Patience is tested when people do not respond as quickly as we think they should.

Waiting is often understood as a waste of time. How ironic to have to wait on a fast food line. How frustrating to wait when a computer server is down. How rude we think it is for an appointment to show up twenty minutes late.

The Advent stories are full of patience and waiting. Isaiah waited 800 years for his prophecies to be fulfilled. How patient Joseph was in trying to understand his relationship with Mary. How Elizabeth waited into her old age for the birth of John the Baptist. How patient Zechariah was during his imposed silence as he prepared to announce “John” would be his name. How John the Baptist waited in a prison cell to know if Jesus was truly the Messiah. How patient Mary was as the mother of Jesus, pondering all these mysteries of his life.

How patient God has been with me through these years of priesthood. How God has waited for us to truly understand the call to “Peace on Earth.” How patient God is with those of us who struggle with various sins that bring guilt into our lives. How God continues to wait for us to respect truly his creation and realize the world is not our possession to be used only as we wish. How patient God is with us when we remain angry and fail to reconcile in our families, neighborhoods, and community. How God waits for us to come to him in prayer and sacraments.

Patience and waiting! Practice these this Advent week!

Peace be to you!

Fr. Tom

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