Blessed Advent to you! For the next three Sundays we will be preparing prayerfully and
faithfully for the birth of our Savior. It is a holy time. It is a joyous time. It is a special time.
This weekend, the generosity of the people of St. Mary's is very evident in the outpouring of love and kindness to our sharing parish, Most Blessed Trinity. The Christmas Sharing Tree fills up many vehicles with the love, kindness, and generosity of our parishioners. The Pack the Pantry program will feed many families through the donations to the Food Pantry. On behalf of the recipients of the love, kindness, and generosity, thank you.
I want to share with the larger parish community two efforts hosted by Catholic Charities that are available that may speak to the hearts and faith of our parishioners this Advent season.
In 2011, Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Chicago Lake County Regional Services
office in Waukegan recognized an opportunity to help close the diaper gap for families living in Lake County and created The Diaper Depot, a self-funded diaper bank that distributes diapers
through agency partnerships. In 2017, Catholic Charities Diaper Depot distributed
169,765
diapers
to
2,405
children throughout Lake County through different social service agencies.
Each year Catholic Charities partners up with the National Diaper Bank Network to bring
awareness to the diaper need.
For more information please contact Lisa Roti at 847.782.4117
Also, each Christmas,
thousands of people
count on Catholic Charities to help make Christmas wishes come true. More than
14,000 children
and their families are blessed every year by the generosity of residents, businesses, community groups, and parishes who provide gifts and necessities during the holiday season.
You can help provide gifts for Lake County families in need!
Please contact Jim Wogan at 847.782.4210 or
jwogan@catholiccharities.net
i
f you are able to participate.
Advent is a wonderful time to prepare for Jesus' birth. Jesus, our Lord and Savior born of love, lived in love, and sacrificed His life in love. Jesus' sacrificial love is shared in many ways in the Church. In the sacrament of reconciliation we are reminded of the extent of the love of Jesus, who died on the cross for the forgiveness of sins.
During the Advent season reconciliation services will be held at St. Patrick's, Holy Cross in Deerfield, and at St. Mary's. The reconciliation services begin at 7:00pm on December 17 at Holy Cross in Deerfield, on December 18 here at St. Mary's, and on December 19 at St. Patrick's. You are invited to come and share in the healing sacrament of reconciliation this Advent season at one of these celebrations of God's love and mercy. The sacrament of reconciliation is celebrated weekly at St. Mary's following the 8:00am Mass on Saturday as well as by appointment which can be arranged by calling one of the parish priests. All are invited and encouraged to celebrate the sacrament of reconciliation this Advent.
Pope Benedict XVI wrote, "Just as the Virgin Mother pondered in her heart on the Word made flesh, so every individual soul and the entire Church are called during their earthly pilgrimage to wait for Christ who comes - and to welcome Him with faith and love ever new."
In addition to the efforts already mentioned in my article, we are invited to pray for and contribute financially to the Retirement Fund for Religious - Share in the Care second collection. Thank you again for your generosity demonstrated in many ways this Advent season. Indeed, preparing for the birth of our Savior is a holy time, a joyous time, a special time.
God bless you with a receptive heart this Advent!
