Pastor's Christmas Letter
and Mass/Confession Schedule

Dear Family of Parishioners,
 
On December 3, we began once again a special time of grace and peace - Advent! In the Gospel of Mark Jesus challenged us to , ‘Be watchful! Be Alert!” As we watched, we prayed in that day’s psalm, “Lord, make us turn to you; let us see your face and we shall be saved.”
 
              As we enter deeper into winter, the darkness of our world can make seeing God’s face harder and harder. There is much in our world which needs the saving face of Jesus. We see death through wars in countries faraway, and also close to home, in our communities, neighbors and friends. We read of continual violence, especially with guns, toward  children in our schools and homes, or shopping centers. We feel the loss of loved ones who have died in this previous year. We therefore watch for Jesus to enter our hearts and souls, and restart the story of our salvation in which God comes close to us.
 
In the book, The Coming of God, Sr. Maria Boulding wrote, “In the lives of those who believe and pray, there are bleak winters of the spirit. We seem to go along for a while in prayer and relationships and life generally, but from time to time we disintegrate. It is very painful. …Looking back, you know that these times brought you closer to the Lord of winter, that it was necessary for you to go through them. In the winters of your prayer , when there seems to be nothing but darkness and a situation of general frozenness, wait for God. He will come.”
 
On the back of this letter you will find a Schedule of Masses for the Christmas season. There is also a Schedule of times for the Sacrament of Reconciliation, including the date and time of a communal Advent Reconciliation service at St. John the Evangelist, Pittston.
 
We invite you to join in our times of worship with family, friends and other parishioners. It is a time to join with people in both times of winter and times of new birth.    If you have been away, we welcome you home with open arms.  May we see in the faces of those who surround us, Jesus, for whom we watch every day.
 
You and your family are in our prayers, as we, the parish staff, share in your watching and preparation for the wonderful time of welcoming Jesus into our world in its darkness and our hearts filled with hope. 
 
From those who offer ministry and service as your Parish Staff,
 
                         Fr. Michael  and  Deacon André