Dear Parishioners, today begins Advent, that beautiful season when we prepare our hearts to receive our Lord at his birth. One of my favorite hymns of Advent is “O Come; O Come Emmanuel”. Emmanuel is a good word for Advent and Christmas; it is a Hebrew word that shows up in the Prophet Isaiah which means “God is with us” and God will save and protect the House of David. The Messiah will come from the House of David. Let’s take this our word for Advent and really think and believe that God is indeed with us. Jesus came 2,000 years ago and he comes in our time. Jesus is present in our time and cares about every moment of our day, the routine things, the little things, the people that populate our lives, our hopes, our sorrows, worries and sufferings. Jesus became one of us, he is the son of Mary and our brother. O come; O come Emmanuel! God is with us!

Last weekend, we held the final mass for Sacred Heart Church in Springdale and the church is now closed. (The building will be put up for sale soon). Thank you to all who assisted during the closing mass and have assisted in moving the items out of the church to distribute them within the local community and other churches in the Diocese. We want the legacy of Sacred Heart to live on and have already placed the statues of Mary and the Sacred Heart in the adoration chapel in preparation for the dedication of the Sacred Heart Adoration Chapel to take place next Sunday, Dec. 8 at the 10 am mass. We also plan to have a memorial wall at St. Mary of the Rosary celebrating the history of all our church locations.

On Monday, Dec. 9, we will celebrate the Solemnity of Immaculate Conception with a morning mass at 9 am and evening mass at 5:30 pm at St. Mary of the Rosary. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops transferred the Holy Day of Obligation to Monday this year because the second Sunday of Advent is on Dec. 8. The Feast of the Immaculate Conception is the Patronal Feast Day of the United States and celebrates Mary’s conception without sin.

This Wednesday, we are celebrating St. Mary’s Saint of the Month on Faith Night, Dec. 4 and will learn about St. Juan Diego. He is the saint who the Blessed Virgin Mary chose to be the instrument of her motherly love to the people of the Mexico and the Americas. This is the story of Our Lady of Guadalupe and it is a beautiful story. This miraculous image has been responsible for countless conversions to the Catholic faith. We’ll once again conclude the Saint of the Month Faith Night with everyone praying the rosary in the sanctuary.