Dear Friends in Christ,

We begin the beautiful Season of Advent, wearing purple vestments.  Advent (from the Latin word "ad-venire" meaning “to come to") is the season encompassing the 4 Sundays & weekdays leading up to the celebration of Christmas.  This year is unique with Christmas occurring on a Sunday.  As a result, we have 4 full weeks of Advent.

The Advent season is a hopeful time of preparation that directs our hearts & minds to Christ, reminding ourselves of His birth on Christmas but challenging us to His 2^nd coming at the end of time.  The final days of Advent, from Dec. 17-24, focus particularly on our preparation for the celebrations of the Nativity of our Lord (Christmas).  To help you to meditate & reflect during the Advent Season, there are different online reflection opportunities listed on p. 9.

Advent is the beginning of a new liturgical church year, & the beginning of another cycle of Sunday scriptural readings (Cycle A) focusing on the Gospel of Matthew.  There are 3 cycles of Sunday readings: A, B & C.

We just finished cycle C readings that focused on the Gospel of Luke.   Cycle B focuses on the Gospel of Mark & chapter 6 of the Gospel of John.  In all 3 cycles, the Gospel of John is read in the Easter Season (Easter Sunday through Pentecost).  The 1^st reading, usually from the Old Testament (except in the Easter Season from Acts of the Apostles) reflects important themes from the Gospel reading.  The 2^nd reading is usually from one of the epistles, a letter written to an early church community.

There are 2 different cycles for weekday readings.  Year I is for odd numbered years, and Year II is for even numbered years.  For more info on the different cycles of scripture readings, go to: https://www.usccb.org/offices/new-american-bible/liturgy

These cycles of readings are an update from Vatican II.   Many mainline Protestant Churches (like Episcopalian, Lutheran, Presbyterian & Methodist) liked what we as Catholics have done & have adopted our cycle of readings with some minor adaptions.  It is amazing that in every Catholic parish throughout the world, the same Scriptures are read normally every weekend & each weekday.  Plus, many Protestant Churches use the same readings on Sundays for the most part.  Can you imagine how many people throughout the world are hearing these same Scripture readings?

“The Eucharist is ‘the source and summit of the Christian life.’   ‘The other sacraments, and indeed all ecclesiastical ministries and works of the apostolate, are bound up with the Eucharist and are oriented toward it.  For in the blessed Eucharist is contained the whole spiritual good of the Church, namely Christ himself, our Pasch.’ (Catechism of the Catholic Church, #1324)" Because of this great central truth, consider attending a workshop on the Eucharist, Our Source & Summit, held at Prince of Peace Church on Saturday, Dec. 10^th:  9 am—4:10 pm.   To register, go to https://stpaulcenter.com/houston2022

The presenters at this workshop are Dr. Scott Hahn & Dr. John Bergsma, both Catholic professors at the Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ohio.  Dr. Scott Hahn was a Presbyterian minister who became a Catholic in 1986.  He has written numerous books and is dedicated to encouraging people to read the Bible “from the heart of the Church.”  Dr. John Bergsma was a Protestant pastor for 4 years before becoming a Catholic in 2001.  He is now a Catholic Biblical Scholar & Theologian.  They are both passionate about being Catholic & use the Bible & the early Church Fathers to support Catholicism.

Cardinal DiNardo to all priests announced in a letter that after consulting many different individuals & groups of Catholics throughout the Archdiocese that he is restoring the practice of distributing Holy Communion from the chalice as of Jan. 8, 2023.  He wrote: “I understand there may be some members of the faithful who are not comfortable receiving Holy Communion under this form due to ongoing health concerns related to the pandemic.  However, as has always been the case, reception of Holy Communion from the chalice is left to the discretion of the communicant, and therefore does not constitute a reason to delay Holy Communion from the chalice to the faithful.”  The Cardinal is encouraging a renewed catechesis among all the faithful (that is coming soon in future bulletins) & to the lay distributors of Holy Communion called Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion (EMHC’s).  Training session options for all current & any new EMHC’s are listed on p. 6, as well as qualifications.  We will need additional people to be trained.  Please consider serving in this ministry & contact me ASAP: ljozwiak@stmaximilian.org

Starting this Tuesday, daily Mass will be held in Kolbe Hall to allow the installers of the church lights to begin work at 7:30 am.  See the holiday & expanded confession schedules on p. 5.  Come to the Taizé Prayer Service after this Tuesday’s 6:30 pm Mass.  See p. 7 about info to contribute to the parish for Christmas.   Remember the 2 different ways to help people in need: the Joy of Christmas (p. 8) & Christmas Tree Giving (p. 10).

St. Maximilian Kolbe, pray for us! 

Fr. Lawrence W. Jozwiak

Pastor