FROM THE PASTOR’S DESK
Dear St. Mary’s Parishioners:
What is the point of our Catholic religion? Is it simply to be “nice”, as so many of our contemporaries think is the point of Jesus’ teachings? Charity is an integral part of the faith, but it is so much more; it’s literally infinitely more glorious. The beating heart of the Christian faith is union with God. Allow me to say that again. The entire point of creation from the very first pages of the Book of Genesis with Adam and Eve, to Noah and the famous ark, to Moses freeing the Jewish people clutches of slavery in Epypt, to the giving of the Promise Land, to the construction of Holy Temple in Jerusalem, and finally to the coming of Jesus Christ, God in the flesh walking among us, to choosing and sending of the Twelve Apostles into the world, thus establishing the Catholic Church to preach the Resurrection of this same Jesus Christ, is to unite humanity back to God. That is the singular cornerstone, brilliantly intense purpose and zeal of the Christian life.
Writing long ago in the year 130AD, St. Irenaeus, the then Catholic bishop of Lyon in modern day France, famously said, “The glory of God gives life; those who see God receive life. For this reason God, who cannot be grasped, comprehended or seen, allows himself to be seen, comprehended and grasped by men, that he may give life to those who see and receive him. It is impossible to live without life, and the actualization of life comes from participation in God, while participation in God is to see God and enjoy his goodness.” Irenaeus here marvels at the coming of Jesus who makes himself one of us. In other words, God makes himself “small” so that we may approach and try to understand him. Jesus Christ is the final fulfillment of every human desire. He is the beginning and the end; he is the alpha and the omega.
This Sunday we begin the new liturgical season of Advent. The colors in the sanctuary will shift to purple. The readings at Mass will soberly point our minds to what we call the Four Last Things, death, judgment, Heaven and hell. Why this somber and even melancholic note during the beginning of the Holiday season as we ramp up the Christmas lights and presents? It’s simply to get our wondering minds back onto what truly matters in life. Advent is the season we take a hard look at ourselves and ask, “Am I ready to see God?” We return to the core of what makes truly life worth living. St. Augustine sums it perfectly, writing in the early 4th century, when he said, “You have made us for yourself O Lord & our heart is restless until it rests in you.”
A Slave of Jesus Christ,
Fr. Brian J. Solive
