From the Pastor’s Desk: December 9, 2018

     The Second Vatican Council has restored the meaning of Advent from a season of penance and conversion to its original purpose: a time of hope. We remember the coming of Christ, and we know He has to come more deeply in our Church and in our world. To dispose us to do this we need conversion that is expressed and lived out in hope. To deepen that hope, we have to learn to see its signs as we "prepare the way" for Christ's coming. The sign of hope and the entire attention is now directed towards John the Baptist and his message. He was chosen to announce the coming of Jesus: the Messiah, the Christ, the Savior and King. John calls out “proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins,” as we hear in today’s Gospel, so we could “prepare a way for the Lord.”
 
     John wondered about calling people to 'repent'. The Greek word 'metanoia' literally means a “change of mind”. Here it is referring to people who were sorry for their past life of sin - sin as falling short of God's plan for us, to love Him with our whole being, and loving other people like ourselves. Sin is a selfish reality with its destructing powers that leads us to the edge of our human dignity and honesty.
 
     Repentance, however, involves not only a conscious decision to turn away from such a life, being sorry for sinning, but a total and radical change of outlook in our relationship with God and other people. It calls for a radical and genuine renewal and conversion of heart.
 
     This metanoia or conversion will bring about the forgiveness of sin and decision of one’s heart to follow God's way. This metanoia experience is at the heart of this Advent message, which is a gift of the Lord to us, and (who knows?) it may be our last. The success of this holy season (we will either succeed or fail) is based on how well we convert and clear our lives of sin so that the Lord may come to us.
 
     Turning around – a conversion of heart – is a choice…the choice of moving away from sin, to embrace the love of God. Today, we listen to John who shouts out again to us as he did to his listeners at the Jordan, one of the most famous sentences of all time: “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world.” That Lamb of God is coming toward us, to take away our sins. May we take advantage of His help to make straight the paths for His arrival, so that as John promised, we, too, might “see the salvation of God” and cross, with the Lord and His precursor, from the slavery of sin to the glories of the eternal Promised Land.
 
      On Sunday evening we begin our St. Luke Advent Parish Retreat– December 9-13, 2018. This year the Advent Parish Retreat will be presented under the spiritual guidance of Fr. Xaviour, Deacons Bob and Steve, and myself. The theme of the Advent Retreat is “Searching for Advent Hope in everyday lives.” We will conclude the Parish Retreat with our Advent Penance Service on Wednesday at 7:00 PM. I pray that you already have set time aside and also invited a friend so others could benefit from this special time of preparation to welcome Christ at Christmas into their lives.
 
With prayers,
Fr. Andy