Happy New Year! As we continue to celebrate our Christmas season, today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God.

Merry Christmas! I am grateful for you and your family celebrating the Nativity of our Lord with our parish family this year. Our Savior Jesus Christ approaches us with great gentleness and fierce love.

We are blessed to experience a full four weeks of Advent this year since Christmas falls on a Sunday. This gives us added time to prepare our hearts to welcome Christ this Christmas.

Rejoice and be glad, the Lord in near! This theme of the Lord’s nearness saturates every fiber of our liturgy on this Third Sunday of Advent, also known as Gaudete (Latin: rejoice) Sunday.

Advent is the time of fulfilling God’s plan of peace. Last Sunday Isaiah spoke of hostile foreign nations disarming themselves by beating swords into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks. This week he speaks of wolves lying with lambs and babies playing with deadly snakes without harm.