FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT

DECEMBER 2, 2018

MASS READINGS

MONDAY: IS 2:1-5; MT 8:5-11

TUESDAY: IS 11:1-10; LK 10:21-24

WEDNESDAY: IS 25:6-10A; MT 15:29-37

THURSDAY: IS 26:1-6; MT 7:21,24-27

FRIDAY: IS 29:17-245; MT 9:27-31

SATURDAY: IS 35:1-10; LK 5:17-26

NEXT SUNDAY: SECOND SUNDAY OF AD-

VENT – BAR 5:1-9; PHIL 1:4-6,8-11; LK 3:1-6

MASS INTENTION

MONDAY: JEFFREY DEERR

TUESDAY: FR. AMBROSE ZIEGLER

WEDNESDAY: GILBERT KLOSTER

THURSDAY: BONNIE SNOUWAERT

FRIDAY: 7AM-POOR SOULS

*VIGIL: 5PM: FOR THE PARISH

SATURDAY:7AM: MARJORIE EASTERWOOD

NOON: JEFFREY DEERR

VIGIL 1ST. SUN OF ADVENT 4:30: PAUL VELTEN

7:30: LUKE SPITZNAGLE

10:00: FRED HARLESS

NOON: FOR THE PARISH

*SOLEMNITY OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEP-

TION (12.8) A HOLY DAY OF OBLIGATION—

VIGIL : FRIDAY, 12.7 AT 5PM; SATURDAY, 12.8

7AM AND NOON

MEMORIAL FLOWERS

All members of St. Ann’s parish, families-living &

deceased: (Gerban, Lucille, Stephen, Therese

Brouwer, Charlie & Catherine Sptiznagle). (George

& Robert Bolinger, Vivian Calhoun, Katherine &

Jack Renn). Mallett & Reifenrath family. Ann Hu-

bertz. Ray & Brenda Kincaid. Ed & Steven

Snouwaert. Robert Bohan. Deceased Davit & Nar-

duzzo families. McDonald & Wilhauck families.

Marian Schwartz. Marvin Anthrop. Deidra Sarault

-Sarjent. David & Jean Cooley. Cliff Gause. Jim

& Joe Albregts.

People will die of fright

in anticipation of what is coming upon the world,

for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.

The dire words of Jesus are part of an “apocalyptic formula”

characteristic of a certain literary style found in the bible.

They were usually evoked to get people’s attention so that

they might adopt a certain frame of mind in order to compre-

hend the rest of the message the speaker might wish to con-

vey. In short, it is a rather effective if not wordy way of get-

ting people’s attention. We might find such statements out of

place in what we would normally describe as the “holiday sea-

son” except to refer to the atmosphere of malls on Black Fri-

day. With folks ready to trample over others for the sake of

the latest cuddly toy or electronic device or a combination of

the two, we would certainly not wish to mar our holiday sensi-

bilities with such language. But, having gotten our attention,

Jesus wishes to finish the rest of the message. That may be

found in warning us not to have “drowsy hearts”. While this

may seem to be perfectly good advice to keep us from become

casualties to holiday shopping our Lord really wishes us to

concentrate on something a bit more important…our salva-

tion! Previously Our Lord has used a variety of images to say

essentially the same thing about the suddenness of the King-

dom and that we are always to be prepared. We might wonder

whether psychologically or biologically we can really be that

“up”, even with the assistance of some 5 hour energy some-

thing or other, to anticipate the coming of the Kingdom. Of

course Our Lord is not suggesting that we be on edge all the

time but only alert. Prayer is the way in which we “plug in”

daily to what the Spirit has to teach us about the Kingdom, its

manifestation and its eventual fulfillment. In the meantime

our alert status may be used to put into practice what we

would normally be encouraged to do throughout the rest of the

year so as to make each Advent the calm, quiet period of prep-

aration it is supposed to be and not an antithesis to our plans

to outdo last year’s festivities. If we considered for a moment

the attention we give to the impending sales and offers com-

ing from stores this time of year to the message contained in

the Scriptures regarding our preparedness to receive the Lord I

think we might be justifiably shocked; and that is where the

distressing language used by our Lord originates. Others who

used such language did so to “get people’s attention”. Such

tactics obviously worked for some and not for others, which is

why we keep doing it year after year…some people just don’t

get the message the first time.

FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT

DECEMBER 2, 2018

Sin has undone our wretched race; But Jesus has restored,

And brought the sinner face to face With his forgiving Lord.

This we repeat from year to year, And press upon our youth;

Lord, give them an attentive ear, Lord, save them by Thy truth! Blessings upon the rising race!

Make this a happy hour, According to Thy richest grace,

And Thine Almighty power. We feel for your unhappy state,

(May you regard it too,) And would a while ourselves forget

To pour out prayer for you. We see though you perceive it not,

The approaching awful doom; Oh, tremble at the solemn thought,

And flee the wrath to come! Dear Saviour, let this new-born year

Spread an alarm abroad; And cry in every careless ear,

“Prepare to meet thy God!” William Cowper

1a Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth. The former heaven and the former earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.* 2I also saw the holy city, a new Jerusalem,* coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.b 3I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, God’s dwelling is with the human race.c He will dwell with them and they will be his people* and God himself will always be with them [as their God].* 4He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there shall be no more death or mourning, wailing or pain, [for] the old order has passed away.”d

5The one who sat on the throne* said, “Behold, I make all things new.” Then he said, “Write these words down, for they are trustworthy and true.”e 6He said to me, “They are accomplished.* I [am] the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give a gift from the spring of life-giving water.f 7The victor* will in-herit these gifts, and I shall be his God, and he will be my son.g

n I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God almighty and the Lamb. 23* The city had no need of sun or moon to shine on it,o for the glo-

ry of God gave it light, and its lamp was the Lamb.

FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT

DECEMBER 2, 2018

Beginning Advent:

What are the key first steps to enter into Advent?

We can all slow down. We can all breathe more deeply.

We can all begin to trust that this will be a blessed time.

Then, when we let ourselves be who we are, and hear the

Scriptures, we can begin to quietly pray, “Come, Lord,

Jesus.” We might expand that prayer, in quiet moments of

our days ahead, “Come into my life. I trust you don’t mind

if it is still messy. I believe you love me, because I need

your love. I don’t fear you can’t find the way to my heart.

Come and fill me with peace and the love only you can

give.” Some of us will want to open our hands on our laps

or hold up our arms in the privacy of our rooms and say out

loud, “Come, Lord, Jesus, come into this house, into my

family, into our struggles. Come and heal us, and give us

join again. Come and unite us and let us experience, each

in our own way, a bit of the joy you are offering me now.”

And, before a single decoration goes up, we have prepared

for Christmas’ message with the foundation of faith, with

the mystery of Advent’s gift. God wants to be with us. Ad-

vent is letting God’s will be done in our hearts and in our

everyday lives.

Getting in Touch with Myself

One of the best ways to prepare for the very special season

of Advent is to "get in touch with ourselves." It may sound

odd, but one symptom of our contemporary lives is that we

can often be quite "out of touch" with what is going on in

our very own hearts. We are about to begin our Advent,

right at the time our Western culture begins Christmas

preparations. It is a busy time, and our heads are filled with

details to remember. And, it is a time of emotional com-

plexity that is part of this holiday season - with all of the

expectations and challenges of family and relationships:

who we want to be with and who we struggle to be with.

So, our hearts are a bit tender, if not completely defended

from experiencing anything deeply. We are about to hear

some very powerful and stirring readings from Isaiah, the

Prophet. We will re-enter the ancient tradition of a people

longing for the coming of a Savior. We may remember the

days of our childhood when we longed for Christmas to

come, because it was a magical time of receiving gifts. As

adults, we have to ask ourselves: "What is it I long for

now?" The answer won't come easily.

The more we walk around with that question, and let it penetrate

through the layers of distraction and self-protection, the more pow-

erfully we will experience Advent.

“Taken from Praying Advent, on Creighton University's Online

Ministries web site:

http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/

online.html

Used with permission.”

Advent Thoughts: Some of the Church Fathers on the Divinity

of Christ

Ignatius of Antioch

"Ignatius, also called Theophorus, to the Church at Ephesus in

Asia . . . predestined from eternity for a glory that is lasting and

unchanging, united and chosen through true suffering by the will

of the Father in Jesus Christ our God" (Letter to the Ephesians 1

[A.D. 110]).

"For our God, Jesus Christ, was conceived by Mary in accord with

God’s plan: of the seed of David, it is true, but also of the Holy

Spirit" (ibid., 18:2).

Aristides

"[Christians] are they who, above every people of the earth, have

found the truth, for they acknowledge God, the Creator and maker

of all things, in the only-begotten Son and in the Holy Spir-

it" (Apology 16 [A.D. 140]).

Tatian the Syrian

"We are not playing the fool, you Greeks, nor do we talk non-

sense, when we report that God was born in the form of a

man" (Address to the Greeks 21 [A.D. 170]).

Clement of Alexandria

"The Word, then, the

Christ, is the cause

both of our ancient

beginning—for he was

FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT

DECEMBER 2, 2018

MY ADVENT CONFESSION

Bless me Father for I have sinned. It has been Words known even before my First Communion rush back in this quiet fearful sanctuary and stop

dead in my throat. How do I even begin to explain the twenty-five years since my last confession coupled with my sins of absence from Mass? The

attempts to rationalize become feeble. My souls eyes search them, stripping my banal and petty excuses. I am left with the cloak I hide in, fraying

all its threads. And in that darkness, I am confronted by my fears that, if I speak, will my penance be my eviction? I could easily bolt to the foolish

refuge of the outside world. Yet, the very act of confession means facing what is in our secret hearts as well as admitting the cringing embarrass-

ment of exposing and voicing aloud our sins. I suppose that is the real difficulty; our attempts to be humble when our whole being screams self-

sufficient independence and our pride shouts dependency on no one. Ah, but humility requests from our pride and his willing accomplice, the ego,

a high price our stilled and penitent heart. In my search to find that silent peace, I am left in the darkness with my parish priest and God to speak

to on the folly of my sins. Yet how could He forgive my teetering trust and struggle to find my faith? Mary is a bit easier to approach on my pray-

ers of intercession.

The compression of too many years lengthens the list of sins. I have harbored anger, envy, impure thoughts; the venial at their worst, but have I

really fallen into the mortal? Marrying out of the faith and divorced, yet I left a marriage that had become abusive; where does that lie? Requesting

forgiveness for what I have done is always accompanied by the caveat, what I have failed to do. The easy anonymity of sliding into the confession-

al does not absolve the razor sharp pangs of judgment in stealing oneself from God. The whys of my leaving endeavor to explain away the best of

my excuses, but carry little weight toward the necessity of my returning. It had become a very real ache of loneliness and missing the very orderli-

ness and regularity of her liturgical year. There is the gift of knowing that each foothold and handhold is the reason for the strength to stay on.

Would He, God, the recipient of so much supplication, welcome back the prodigal? Not necessarily caring about the fatted calf, would there at

least be the solace for a wandering souls need to be allowed to come home again? In faith neglected, I grab ancient prayers, still remembered, to

plead for forgiveness, much like the old story of the charwoman kneeling in the back of the Church because she felt unworthy to go and pray at the

altar rail. Her countenance was quite unlike the fellow she saw and heard, who loudly proclaimed all his good works to God by self announcement,

knowing he could laud his own virtues by standing before God. I am with the charwoman, worn and weary and like her, I pray in exhaustion, ask-

ing for help, unable to carry the burden alone.

She has the greater grace than I in her silent requests for absolution. Yet my pride is still winning the skirmish and sabotaging my deeds, dismiss-

ing them as only silly guilt; the shame hardly worth the necessity for confession.

Ah, but as the priest and God wait in patient hope, I turn my heart to Mary, beseeching some part of her courage that accepted in silence the ago-

nizing death of her only child. There, in unworthiness, begins my souls deep acknowledgment of my rupture and my need of reparation to be re-

ceived back into the Church. Confession is not a slick magic trick conjured by a few quick Hail Mary’s and Acts of Contrition- we cannot meet

halfway to the middle we need to go the distance, meet faith, and trust to the end. No need of my added noise only my whispers they will speak

within my trepidation, gentle in their clarity. Yet, perhaps God, aware of the immensity of His name; chose this as one of his reasons for sending

His son to us someone who would never be ashamed to been seen in our company. It was not written on a gilt-edged invitation sent by a footman

waiting for a reply; only His quiet request in person to the worst of us to be guests at His table.

My conundrum continued. I was still fighting against the horrible slap of realization that yes, not only do the consequences exist, they find their

mark. The victory was not won through violence, but by the power of my own still small voice within, finding the courage to say: Bless me Father

for I have sinned. It has been twenty-five years since my last confession and the same since I have attended Mass. In that time I have married out

of the Church and divorced three years later. For this, I am heartily sorry and all of my other sins of harboring anger envy and pride The words,

unstuck at last, left with joy in their release to a merciful Father, who is kind in His gifts of empathy for the small courageous acts taken in faith.

God gives us stepping-stones to ease our seeking amidst our tumbles down and gives always what we need, not what we want. By Ann Casey

Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)

FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT

DECEMBER 2, 2018

DEANERY ADVENT PENANCE SERVICES

(ALL BEGIN AT 7PM)

DEC. 3 – ST. MARY (FRANKFORT)

DEC. 3-ST. THOMAS AQUINAS (WEST

LAFAYETTE)

DEC. 3 – ST. BERNARD

(CRAWFORDSVILLE)

DEC. 5 – ST. MARY CATHEDRAL

DEC. 10-ST. FRANCIS (ATTICA)

DEC. 13 – ST. BONIFACE

DEC. 13-ST. JOSEPH (COVINGTON)

DEC. 17-ST. LAWRENCE

The Immaculate Conception and The Second Sunday of Advent, 2018:

December 8 is the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. However, this year (in 2018),

the Immaculate Conception remains a Holy Day of Obligation, even though December 8 falls on a Saturday.

In general, the Immaculate Conception remains a Holy Day of Obligation, even if December 8 naturally falls either on a

Saturday or on a Monday. This is because Mary, under the title of the Immaculate Conception, is the Patroness of the

United States.

Through the centuries the Church has become ever more aware that Mary, "full of grace" through God, was redeemed

from the moment of her conception. That is what the dogma of the Immaculate Conception confesses, as Blessed Pope

Pius IX proclaimed on December 8, 1854: "The most Blessed Virgin Mary was, from the first moment of her concep-

tion, by a singular grace and privilege of almighty God and by virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ, Saviour of the human

race, preserved immune from all stain of original sin." — Catechism of the Catholic Church

Saint Irenaeus compares the virginity of the pure earth from which Adam was drawn to the virginity of the immaculate

humanity of Mary from which the Second Adam was drawn. ‘And as the protoplast himself, Adam, had his substance

from untilled and as yet virgin soil (for God had not yet sent rain, and man had not tilled the ground (Genesis 2:5)) so

did He who is the Word, recapitulating Adam in Himself, rightly receive a birth, enabling Him to gather up Adam [into

Himself], from Mary, who was as yet a virgin’ (Adversus hereses III, 21:10).

Mary’s predestination to this singular grace—consistent with the suspension of the universal decree by which every

man, from the moment of his conception is contaminated with original sin—leads us to ponder in the deepest depths the

mystery of the Most Holy Trinity’s salvific plan. God, One and Triune, had foreseen from the very beginning the future

incarnation of the Word culminating in the redemption of human nature that had fallen into sin. He therefore predes-

tined pure Mary, so that He could draw from her uncontaminated humanity, which the Son could adopt in order to re-

establish in Himself the original purity of creation and reorientate it to eternal glory.

Immaculate Mary is full of grace. She is not only Christ’s disciple, who with the help of grace has overcome the chains

of sin, but she is totius Trinitatis nobile triclinium, the noble resting place of the Holy Trinity (St Thomas Aquinas, Ex-

posito Salutationis Angelicae, I). The Immaculate, full of grace, will always be Mother and Queen for that elect part of

the Church that we hope one day to join, that will one day joyfully sing before the Almighty.

FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT

DECEMBER 2, 2018

SUNDAY OFFERING: $7276

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BAKE SALE: $1000/B’FAST: $510

“FIND OUT HOW MUCH GOD HAS

GIVEN YOU, AND FROM IT TAKE

WHAT YOU NEED; THE REMAINDER

IS NEEDED BY OTHERS”

ST. AUGUSTINE

We have arrived at the powerful season of Advent, a

season to prepare with awe and wonder for the Feast of

the Incarnation of Jesus — born to us as Savior and

Brother. It is a season to prepare for His return at the

end of time.

It is also a moment to remind ourselves that that our

individual judgment day is coming, too, when we will

be called to give an account for all that God has given

to us during our lifetimes. In other words, Advent is a

steward’s season!

Our readings for the first week of Advent waste no

time in calling our urgent attention to these themes of

reflection and preparation. They seem to shout, “Wake

up! Get ready!” and offer us some practical advice as

we enter into this season.

The Gospel, from Luke, warns, “Beware that your

hearts do not become drowsy from carousing and

drunkenness and the anxieties of daily life.” How easy

it is to lose focus on our Lord either by too much indul-

gence in our lives or by too much worry about our

lives. Both extremes are easy to fall prey to. To avoid

these traps this we are told to “be vigilant” and “pray

for strength to sustain us.”

During Advent, we Christian stewards must ask our-

selves some hard questions. Am I staying faithful to my

prayer life? Am I using my energy and skills to serve

others? Am I overly concerned about material gain?

Am I relying my “stuff” or my investments as my

source of comfort or security? Am I living for the mo-

ment or for the coming of the Lord?

Get ready Christian stewards! He’s coming! Let us

prepare with awe and wonder.

Are you living a busy life and don’t really have time to talk to your spouse? We

have a gift to share with you; it’s called a Worldwide Marriage Encounter Week-end. The Weekend will give you the opportunity to examine your lives togeth-er. A time to share your feelings, hopes, joys and frustrations without the in-terruption of family commitments, TV, internet and phone calls, rather it is a time to get to know your spouse all over again and rediscover your deep love for each other. Future Marriage Encounter Weekends will be at Our Lady of Fatima Retreat House, Indianapolis, from 26-28 April and from 1-3 November 2019, and at Mount Saint Francis Centre for Spirituality, New Albany, from 1–3 February and from 16-18 August 2019. Visit www.wwme.org for further infor-mation. Quote from a couple who made a Worldwide Marriage Encounter Weekend: “Thank you for the most rewarding Weekend of our lives. We are looking ea-gerly to many exciting years together. We wish every young couple could have a Marriage Encounter Weekend.”

DO TO SCHEDULING PROBLEMS WE

ARE UNABLE TO OFFER THE ADVENT

EVENING WITH BP. BARRON, SO

SORRY BUT KEEP AN EYE OUT FOR

OTHER PROGRAMS.