A few mornings ago we sat together in the darkness, awaiting the rising of the sun. We quietly agreed that, to us, Advent is our time of darkness when we are expectantly awaiting the coming of the Son of God, Jesus, our Light and our Hope.

More than 2,000 years ago, the People of Israel were overcome by darkness, oppression and fear. Many felt helpless and hopeless. They had waited so long for their Promised Messiah. It was then that Our Father sent His Son to become one with them and with us.

Today we too need Christ’s Light and Hope to shine through the darkness which sin has created to our world—the sins of prejudice, injustice, oppression, hatred, violence, terrorism and war. These sins have stolen peace from our hearts and from our world.

We, as individuals, may feel helpless and often hopeless in bringing about a just and lasting peace, of becoming a kingdom of forgiveness and love. We are not helpless! We are not hopeless! We have Jesus to lead us. He shows us God, Our Father, who forgives us and loves us unconditionally. He asks only that we come to Him, seek His forgiveness and love Him and one another.

It may seem an impossible task to change our world; but each of us has a chance with the help of Jesus to change ourselves. On Monday, December 20th, at 7:30 pm, all are invited to our Advent Penance Service. We will gather as family; listen to God’s Word; pray together; examine our consciences and confess our sins. Our priest will speak to us the words of absolution. Then we will feel a physical sense of relief; the heaviness of our heats will be lifted; our darkness will turn to light as we discover a deeper relationship with our God. We will experience His mercy, His forgiveness and His love to share with all the world. All we have to do is come—Jesus will do the rest!

TO HAVE A PEACEFUL, JOYOUS LIFE—
SEE JESUS IN EVERYONE YOU MEET…
BE JESUS TO EVERYONE YOU MEET!

As the holiday season reaches its climax, you may feel the craziness. Remember you can always come to Church and visit with God to find some peace. You will find St. Robert's Church open from 6:30am Mass until 5pm. As you're going to or from work or school or on your way home from shopping why not come in and thank the Lord for the gift of his love.

A faithful group of men has been ushering every other month at the 9:30 am for more years than most people can remember! They’ve decided that it’s time to let some other people take on this ministry and responsibility. Many thanks to:

Gary DeMartini, John Tursi,
Bob Glass, and Dennis Gunther

Applications for Kindergarten for the 2005/2006 school year will be accepted at the school office January 10th thru January 14th from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Child must be 5 years of age by September 1, 2005. Please have copies of the child’s birth certificate, baptismal record, Social Security card and a check for $30 to cover the testing fees.

Signs of Hope

During the weeks ahead, we will be listing the names that we have been asked to pray for during the week. We will continue to ask each week that parishioners continue to pray for the chronically ill of our parish.

If you have a friend or loved one in need of our parish prayers please call the Rectory at 589-2800.

Also, remember our Emergency prayer network that continues to pray for specific intentions that require a concerted effort due to their critical nature. To facilitate the network, please call Michele Pipinich. The network then prays frequently for the next 72 hours. We would appreciate a return call with the outcome so we can praise God for His faithfulness:The Parish Priests and Staff

Christmas Poinsettias will decorate the Church during the Christmas Season. If you would like to make a donation of $10 toward their purchase in memory of a loved one, fill out the form below and return by Sunday, December 21st. Please make a check out to St. Robert's Poinsettia Fund.

The Circle Is Complete 

Finally, the circle of candles on our wreath, symbolizing God’s never-ending love for us, is completely lit! Christmas is around the corner! The kids can hardly wait and we adults wish we had more time to get ready. Remember if you get stuck, the 12 days of Christmas are from the Eve until Jan. 6th. (Because of the 25^th falling on Saturday this year, the Feast of the Epiphany is celebrated Jan. 2.) You might surprise relatives and friends who haven’t gotten their Christmas cards by sending them after the 25^th, then you can respond to the news they’ve included in their cards.

Dec. 9 was the feast of Juan Diego, the poor Christian Indian to whom Mary appeared, whom we now honor as Our Lady of Guadalupe. What does this mean to us in the 21^st century, believers from so many different cultures and nations? Mary comes in 1531, ten years after the violent conquest of the Aztec people, made worse by their mythology which indicated that one of their gods with light skin and blonde hair would visit them. The Spanish Hernán Cortez, unfortunately, was greeted joyously as the embodiment of this god, so there was little opposition to the pillage and murder visited upon the people by his men. Ten years later, God sends Mary to the people - heart-broken, defeated and with little hope.

The Mother of God and our mother appears as a woman of Juan Diego’s tribe and speaking his language, Nahuatl. She comes to the new world, pregnant with new life, signified by the black band she wears. The bishop of Mexico City, from an upper class family, won’t believe Juan Diego’s story of her appearance. (Mary would hardly appear to an uneducated Indian, he thinks. How little the bishop knew his scripture!) Juan Diego tells him of Mary’s request for a church to be built in her honor so the people will know of God’s love for them through her presence. But he is ignored by the bishop, she provides Juan with roses in December and leaves her image on the tilma (or poncho) he wears. (The tilma has been painstakingly examined by believers as well as those wanting to discredit it. It is definitely from that era and contains fragments from that area of Mexico.) It is still on display in Mexico City in the third basilica built in honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

What does this mean for us? God will never abandon a people, no matter how desperate their circumstances may seem. Mary, like her son, chooses unlikely people to carry out God’s designs; that no one is too humble, too poor to be an instrument of God. Through Juan Diego’s faith and his perseverance, a whole people were evangelized and came to believe. We, too, need to imagine what God can do through us if only we will be open and trusting enough to say, “Yes.” What might Emmanuel, God-with-us be asking of me during this season of gatherings with family and friends? How might I make God present by my peacefulness, my forgiveness, my compassion?