Welcome to Advent! In the midst of all we’re dealing with, we begin this season of Advent, as always, with unmistakable optimism. This part of Advent is not yet about Christmas! The readings and prayers first stir our hopes, not for an annual feast, but for the great return of Christ at the end of time—the Parousia, the Second Coming. Early on, the Church saw the opportunity to use this season to stir up this hope, which we recite every week: “He will come again in glory to j

“You’ve got it backwards.” We may say that to each other about a lot of things—a screwdriver, a piece of clothing. Last Sunday Jesus taught us, perhaps with a little amusement, that we’re backwards when we try to imagine heaven in earthly ways. Some people are afraid of heaven (really) because they assume somehow they won’t know anyone, as we’re so limited on earth to how many people we know. Jesus taught that heaven is rather a time we value God and all people. The  relation

Work goes on over the Finances of the parish. As I reported in September, we took in a lot less revenue in tuition last year because of the new school partnership, but we still pay an assessment for all Archdiocesan services based on our tuition revenues the previous year. This is not an expense of the new school, but a carryover formula that’s been hard for us to sustain. With the help of our Finance Committee, the Archdiocese has agreed to begin adjusting that formula accor