As I mentioned at all the Masses last weekend, the people of Saint Catherine of Siena Parish were amazingly generous and kind in our 2018 Advent Giving Tree program, raising a total of $98,237.79 and then directing their donations to be allocated in the following manner: to the Knights of Malta Mobile House of Care, a total of $55,856.00 and to our parish’s Neighbors in Need Fund, a total of $42,381.79! No other word can express my thanks other than AMAZING! When I spoke to Michelle Murphy, the executive director of the Malta House of Care

This Sunday the Gospel of John proclaims the account of Jesus’ first miracle, and what the Church considers another manifestation of Christ as the Son of God (adding to the Nativity of Jesus, the Epiphany of the Lord, and the Baptism of the Lord) at the Wedding Feast at Cana—the miracle of changing water into wine.

A parishioner working on his Eagle Scout project has designed and built a new food pantry collection station—it’s in the same location in the vestibule, but this new set-up provides for a safer, bigger and wonderful ease-of-use, offering better organization of the various types of food stuffs we collect. The new food pantry station is easily mobile and can be brought right to the vehicles outside that are taking the food to the Town of Simsbury Food Pantry.

As we end the Christmas season with today’s celebration of Jesus’ Baptism by John in the waters of the Jordan River, we might ask ourselves “what is today’s celebration all about?” We are told by John that he baptizes with water but when Jesus comes, He will baptize with “fire and the Holy Spirit.” What does this mean, and why do we then in the Catholic Church use water at baptisms?

With the conclusion of this Christmas season,ending with this Sunday’s celebration of the Baptism of the Lord, I would like to complete this holy and joyful time of the year with my deepest and most sincere thank-you to all who were involved with our celebration of Christmastime here at Saint Catherine of Siena Parish:

As each year draws to a close it is customary to look back and count our blessings as well as take stock of the trials and tribulations, considering how we might have handled them differently—and hopefully better. 2018 was a blessed year here at Saint Catherine of Siena Parish! We are blessed in that we have a parish that works very well together. We benefit from the blessings of a committed and dedicated staff who consistently seek the “big picture,” meaning the greater good of the parish

This last Sunday in Advent brings us to the brink of Christmas—but we still have one weekend left in this season of preparation. The readings have now changed a bit in direction as we are focusing on the Nativity of the Lord Jesus Christ. What we celebrate in Advent, as I mentioned during the first Sunday of Advent, is Two Comings of Christ: first, we celebrate the Nativity or the birth of baby Jesus—the Incarnation of God into humanity.

Why is one candle not like all the others? Advent and its counterpart, Lent, are seasons of penitence. On the Advent wreath, the three purple candles mark the preparation Christians undergo while awaiting the arrival of Christ on Earth. But, unlike dour Lent, Advent is usually a happy season, full of food, parties, shopping, music and lights. In the retail world, Christmas begins right after Halloween and then kicks into overdrive on the day after Thanksgiving. Many people mirror this, barely putting away the leftover turkey before putting up every Christmas decoration they own.

Advent, as the new beginning of the liturgical year, brings with it a new gospel companion for most of the upcoming year—this year we shall hear from the Gospel of Luke—one of two evangelists, the other being Mark, and Luke’s writings speak to us about the origins and birth of Jesus Christ and of the ministry of John the Baptist.

As I mentioned a few weeks ago and have announced at Masses from the chair, the RCIA program is aimed at welcoming non-Roman Catholics into the faith by leading them on a journey to whet their appetites and come to know the teachings of Christ, why He loves humanity so much and why He desires us to freely love Him back, thus becoming members of His Mystical Body on earth and live in His Kingdom forever.

Today our Church celebrates the Kingship of Jesus Christ—a kingship that has nothing to do with an earthly understanding of power, might and authority. Pontius Pilate had no real understanding of the power Jesus would wield, nor did he understand what Jesus the Christ was all about. Pilate feared a new king entering his territory who would challenge his word with new decrees or another military.

Busy at work, overwhelmed with the children, the family and everything else in the world? Finding it difficult to carve out a few minutes each week for yourself, no less to “get involved” in helping another—even though you want to and know you should? Let Saint Catherine of Siena help you with this conundrum. Again this year our parish will hold our Advent Giving Tree Ministry (AGTM) collection from December 1st to January 6, with the hope of enabling everyone in our parish to take on the persona of Christ and help someone out who is really suffering.

This weekend we hear again from the Gospel of Mark whom we have been listening to for a good part of the past year—and as we soon end this current Liturgical Year (with the coming of Advent) we will say goodbye to the Markan Gospel. Today we hear about a poor widow who put into the Temple Treasury the equivalent of about two (2) cents while other, more well-to-do members gave larger sums of money. And yet, the Lord considers the widows gift to be of greater value than “the larger sums.” Why?

The process of “becoming Catholic,” known in the Church as the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults (RCIA), calls for the “whetting the appetite,” if you will, for someone on a journey to a deeper relationship with God. RCIA is not meant to be a credited course in theology nor is it meant to answer every question one has about the Roman Catholic faith. Rather, it is meant to open one up to come closer to God via faith in the Church: her sacramental life, theology and the lived-experience of being Catholic in the community.

Thanks to the generosity of our parishioners in the monthly Repair and Refurbishment collection, Saint Catherine of Siena Parish is able to maintain and improve our parish facilities. While no one likes to do all these projects, it is certainly better to “keep up with things” then to play “catchup.” Current projects underway are:

In the Catholic tradition our eternal hope is to join the Communion of Saints. Our Christian goal is to align our individual wills to the Will of God—and seek the gift of eternal life. Clearly we do not “earn” or “merit” eternal life for it is a gift given freely by God—because of His unfathomable love for each of us. Our role it to make life decisions that lead us to accomplishing God’s Will by way of our words and deeds

In every age the Church must come to understand the kind of leadership she needs to carry out the mission and ministry of Jesus Christ. As noted a few weeks ago in the homily, we are a Church that is both human and Divine. We are comprised of human beings, both clergy and laity, who administer the Church’s offices, ministries, parishes and agencies—the human side of the Church. We are also created by God, founded by Christ, and now guided by the Holy Spirit in-and-through human cooperation/discipleship—thus the magisterium of the Church. Indeed we are both human and Divine.

Catholic education seeks excellence in academic formation—in math, science, languages and art and more—which is then rounded out with the excellence of moral teachings. This moral understanding of the human condition, not just in the “why” God commands us to be a moral people but also how that moral standard is meant to be applied in everyday living.

Hy-per-bo-le (noun) “exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally.” More detail is given in the words from the Thesaurus.com including: amplification, exaggeration, overkill, embellishment and (in poetry) purple prose. Today’s Gospel of Mark employs hyperbole, as do other areas of the Bible particularly when Jesus teaches His disciples. In Matthew (5:30) Jesus says: "Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were put around his neck and he were thrown into the sea

In our Catholic Christian faith, corporal works of mercy are a “big thing.” Jesus not only spoke about service, or corporal works of mercy, He actually did them—giving new meaning to “actions speak louder than words.” In fact, the mission and ministry of Jesus came to be known as “the Suffering Servant” by Scripture scholars and Christ Himself said, “Just so, the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (MT: 30:28, MK 10:45 and John 13:1-7)