Dear brothers and sisters,

….As we reflect on God’s goodness and give thanks for the many gifts we have received from Him, let us recall and pray for our brothers and sisters who are experiencing hardships: the poor, the homeless, the sick, those mourning the loss of loved ones, pregnant women considering abortion, the lonely, refugees, migrants seeking a better life for their families, married couples and families struggling to live the joy of love, the incarcerated, and all those suffering from depression or other mental illnesses. May they experience the love and closeness of Christ in their lives….

To help us better experience the Season of Advent, let us reflect upon some wisdom from the recently canonized Saint John Henry Newman:

“Thus the soul is cast forward upon the future, and in proportion as its conscience is clear and its perception keen and true, does it rejoice solemnly that ‘the night is far spent, the day is at hand,’ that there are ‘new heavens and a new earth’ to come, though the former are failing; nay, rather that, because they are failing, it will ‘soon see the King in His beauty,’ and ‘behold the land which is very far off.’ These are feelings for holy men in winter and in age, waiting, in some dejection perhaps, but with comfort on the whole, and calmly though earnestly, for the Advent of Christ” (Parochial and Plain Sermons vol. V, “Worship, a Preparation for Christ’s Coming”)….

+Oscar Cantú

The above domes from a Nov 18 story in the Valley Catholic.