FROM THE PASTOR'S DESK……

December 14, 2003

Dear Fellow Parishioners,
    There's a good news/bad news story my mom liked to tell.  It seems that there were two baseball players, Mike & Pete,  They were also good friends.  Mike was a catcher & Pete was a pitcher.  They often talked about life after death and made a pact that whoever died first would come back and tell the other one if there was baseball in heaven.  It so happened that Mike died first.  As he had promised, Mike came back to Pete in a dream a few nights later.  Pete was glad to see Mike and asked him how heaven was and whether or not there was baseball.  Mike said that he had good news and bad news.  Pete told Mike to give him the good news first.  Mike said, "Well, the good news is that heaven has a super baseball league, and I'm on one of the best teams up here."  Pete was elated with the good news.  He then asked Mike what the bad news was,  Mike said "Well, the bad news is that you've been selected as our starting pitcher tomorrow night!"

    We are to be messengers of good news this Advent.  We hear about another Advent figure in today's Gospel, John the Baptist.  Luke says about John: "Exhorting them in many other ways, he preached good news to the people,"  (Luke 3: 18)  John's role was to prepare people to receive Jesus when He came.  As Advent people, we are called to do the same.  However, in order to bring good news to others, we first have to be filled with it ourselves.  That's why we've been trying to renew our Sunday Liturgy during this Advent season.  In his pastoral letter, "GATHER FAITHFULLY TOGETHER', Cardinal Mahony  states that liturgy calls forth reverence.  He invites us to retrieve from the past those traditional moments of contemplative silence we've lost since Vatican II --- specifically three times:  First, between the first & second readings;  then, after the homily before the creed;  and finally, after receiving Holy Communion.  If we observe these silences, we'll become better messengers of good news to others and like John the Baptist we'll be a true blessing this Advent.

                                                                Sincerely yours,

                                                                Fr. Ray Tintle, OFM
                                                                Pastor