Beloved Family:
How can anxiety be as destructive as carousing and drunkenness? This question may initially puzzle. Not to become stuck in last week, but in fact in the gospel for the First Sunday of Advent (Luke 21:25-28, 34-46), Jesus admonishes us not to allow our hearts to become drowsy from carousing and drunkenness and the anxieties of daily life. Thanks to a Dominican priest, Fr. Patrick Briscoe, one of the hosts of the Godsplaining podcast, probably for the first time it fully registered that Jesus lists these three on equal footing.
It surely causes me to pause and ask: How have I, at least on occasion, allowed legitimate fear, concern—even if concern for another out of love— cross a line and become almost “addictive” or an act of self-indulgence rather than selflessness? If this is helpful to you in any way as you read it, praise God! For me, it is certainly worth carrying over into the Second Week of Advent.
And here we are at that Second Week. Here is the listing of the Jesse Tree symbols and Scriptural citations for Week 2 of Advent. This serves as a reminder that we have multiple Jesse Tree “stations” on the windowsills of church and one in the parish hall. It serves as a kind of mini-journey to discover which symbols are on which branch of which tree. We encourage families to take advantage of the opportunity to linger in church after Mass on one of these Sundays.
December 8: The Story of Joseph; Genesis 37:3-4, 12-24, 28; 45:3-13; symbol: Coat
December 9: The Story of Moses; Genesis 2:7-9, 18-24, 37:3-4, 12-24, 28; 45:3-13; 3:1-15, 20-23; symbol: Baby in basket
December 11: The Story of Samuel with Joshua; Joshua 6:1-20; symbol: Oil lamp
December 12: The Story of Jesse; 1 Sam. 16:1-13, 18-22; Isaiah 11:1; symbol: Staff
December 13: The Story of David; 1 Sam. 11:1-17; 17:12-51; 2 Sam. 5:3-4; 12:1-7; symbol: 6-point star
December 14: The Story of Solomon; 1 Kings 3:5-14, 16-28; 5:1-15; 8:14-21; 10:1-13; symbol: Scales/justice
Over the course of the next couple of weekends, we will hear from a parishioner regarding the Angel Scholarship Fund. We have printed materials related to this initiative in the past. It is not the same as the Saint Mary Guardian Angel Fund, established quite a few years ago and to which parishioners have generously donated toward direct tuition aid for families. The Angel Scholarship Fund, on the other hand, is a tax credit offer from the State of Ohio. This means that anyone who would normally owe money to the state, at the conclusion of a tax year, can redirect those funds toward Catholic education.
Your donation will actually reduce—or possibly even eliminate— your Ohio tax liability on a dollar-for-dollar basis. That is, money that ordinarily would have been owed to the State of Ohio can be “directed” to fund Catholic education scholarships. Look for more detailed information in next week’s bulletin. Thank you, in advance, for your consideration of this initiative.
Let His Peace be with you,
Fr. Stephen
