FRIDAY EVENING MASS HOMILY – FATHER ANTHONY 
 
The Scripture readings for this week tells us what it is like in the reign of God. In the midst of all the chaos in the world, we still look forward to the coming of the Messiah.  What are the things the Messiah would do when He came - healing the sick, giving sight to the blind, etc. The man's faith heals him in the Gospel today. There is a longing in all mankind of that peace that only Jesus Christ can bring. He came and brought that peace and manifested Himself.

The first part of Advent reflects on the second coming of Christ.  Throughout Advent, the focus is on the coming of Christ.  The Savior came in the flesh through the Virgin Mother. We are waiting for Him.  Father asked that we take an image of Our Lady and put it somewhere in the house and let Her get in the way. Ask Mary to form me in my life what Jesus wants.  

Father said he wondered what Jesus would look like when he sees Him. He said to carry a Miraculous medal in your pocket.  As Mary longed to see her Son, we long to see Jesus.

SATURDAY MORNING MASS HOMILY – FATHER JOSEPH

During the season of Advent, one of our companions is the prophets, namely Isaiah. In Chapter 30, today's reading, it says that no longer will your teacher hide himself, but you will see your teacher. We have one master - Jesus Christ. 

Father Joseph gave an illustration of Helen Keller as a child losing her sight and hearing. She learned sign language. When she learned it, the world began to open up to her, and she could understand the things of the world. So it is with us as we come to a deeper understanding of life.  

Jesus Christ is truly our teacher and He instructs us. Isaiah said that you will see your teacher and you will see how to walk. He will bind up our wounds. Jesus Christ gave authority to others (the Apostles) to shepherd the flock and to heal.

This is a season of joyful expectation because our Savior will come and be born to us. He comes anew to those hearts that long for Him and prepare for His coming. This is the purpose of this retreat here - to prepare our hearts now for His coming.

Jesus comes as a little child and as power and glory.  Between these two comings, there is His coming in spirit. In this time we should grow in our friendship with the Lord. If we see life today with friendship with the Lord, we will not dread His second coming, because we will know Him. In Revelation the early Christians prayed the prayer "Come, Lord Jesus."  Think of His presence in the teaching of the Church. He gave authority to others to heal, teach and shepherd the flock. Teaching of Jesus came down to us in the teaching of the Church. 

This is the season of charity. We should be a person of charity and generosity - what you do to the least of the Lord's brothers.
He has ascended to the Father, and yet He has remained with us in the Holy Eucharist

Father told the true story of his great uncle regaining his sight by praying a special prayer from the feast of St. Andrew to Christmas. 

May we be prepared for Jesus' coming anew. In this Mass we have the opportunity to be one with Him. 

SATURDAY MORNING INSTRUCTION – FATHER  WADE

1969 Vatican Document Liturgical Year  - where the Church places the emphasis on the whole Liturgical year. General norms - paragraph 39. Can be found on Vatican web site. 

The whole Liturgical year begins with the first Sunday of Advent. Is really our January 1st. Catholic Christians to make resolutions on first Sunday of Advent. Advent means "to come to".

Father quoted from two Church Fathers. 1) St. Augustine - Treatise on Advent - "Let us not resist His first coming so that we may not dread His second." 2) St. Cyril of Jerusalem - "We look then beyond Christ's first coming and anxiously await His second."

Advent has two periods - Roman rite. The first Sunday of Advent through December 16 - liturgy focuses on Jesus' second coming), and December 17 - 23 (7 days) liturgy focuses on Jesus' first coming. All in Isaiah: 1) O Wisdom; 2) O Lord of Might; 3) O Root of Jesse's Stem; 4) O Key of David; 5) O Rising Dawn; 6) O King of Nations; 7) O Come Emmanuel. 

The liturgical season is supposed to be quiet until December 17. We take the liturgy home. Lent suppresses the Alleluia and the Gloria. Advent suppresses the Gloria because the Gloria is the praise of the Angels to the shepherds. Advent is a time to make spiritual, temporal, devotional and liturgical resolutions. 

What is the Sacred Liturgy? (See Paragraph 33 in the Vatican Document "The Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy"). "The Sacred Liturgy is above all things the worship of the divine Majesty." The Blessed Trinity per se is the divine Majesty. The Liturgy is also about other things. Christ is always present in His Church, especially in the Sacrifice of the Mass, in His minister, and also especially in the Eucharistic species which we call "real", in the other six sacraments, in the proclamation of His Word, and wherever the Church prays and sings. The Liturgy per se includes the following: 1) Holy Mass, 2) the other six sacraments (three categories: 3-initiation; 2-healing; 2-living in communion), 3) Liturgy of the Hours -Advent retains the Te Deum; 4) Sacramentals (sacred signs which resemble the sacraments but are not sacraments); 5) Duly approved processions (led by hierarchical head); 6) Blessings of persons, places and things; and 7) Cult (cultus) - a following of the Most Holy Eucharist outside of Mass (Communion outside of Mass, Communion to the sick, Exposition, Adoration and Benediction, and duly approved processions of the Blessed Sacrament such as Corpus Christi). 

HEALING SERVICE – FATHER  WADE

Father spoke on the sanctuary of our soul. All prayer is directed to the Father through the Son in the Holy Spirit. (to, through, in). Our prayer becomes very Trinitarian. All prayer in the Mass, "we ask this through Your Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Holy Spirit".   

The priest's hands are up because he is collecting all the prayers of the people. The priest has a special duty to collect the petitions of the people and present them to God. 

Father quoted several saints in what they said about the importance of Adoration.

SUNDAY MORNING MASS HOMILY - FATHER ANGELUS

We have the opportunity for good companionship through the four weeks of Advent. St. Francis gave us the Christmas crib. 

Today our companion is John the Baptist. "Of those born of woman, there is none greater than he". Jesus said John was the last and the greatest prophet of the Old Testament. He is the first and greatest prophet of the New Testament. A prophet is someone who speaks in the name of the Lord. His message is 'Prepare the way of the Lord.' His first encounter with Jesus was in the womb when Mary went to visit Elizabeth who was pregnant with John. The baby leapt with joy. There is thought that John was removed from original sin at that time. The second encounter of Jesus and John was in the Jordan River. The Holy Trinity was revealed explicitly for the first time when God said, "This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased". The Holy Spirit in the form of a dove appeared. Their last encounter was at the end of their lives.

The first test of any great man is his humility. John's message was "He must increase; I must decrease." If we go to Hell, it would be because of our pride. We rationalize our guilt - that is pride. We are afraid to accept correction, and that is everywhere today. Jesus said, "Learn of Me because I am meek and humble of heart". God is the Creator; we are the creatures. Our blessings will be determined infallibly by the cultivation of the humble heart.

The degree of our shame is the degree of our pride.
The degree of our sorrow is the degree of our love.
The degree of our love is the degree of our humility.
The degree of our humility is the degree of our happiness.
The degree of our happiness is the degree of our gratitude.
Only the humble are happy; it is irrefutable. 

The times when Jesus showed His love the most was when he was most vulnerable and humiliated. On the cross He was the outcast of the people. In the Holy Eucharist He dumps even His humanity, and we see Him as only bread and wine. And how vulnerable He is here in this humiliation of the Blessed Sacrament. People who receive the Lord sacrilegiously in the Holy Eucharist - He is treated badly. All that He can expect in this world is crucifixion. True humility never compares itself with other people - never. True humility compares itself with God, the Creator. The humble heart will never give in to the temptation of envy. 
 Blasphemy is a frontal attack on God. If I attack God's providence, I am attacking God Himself. Do not give in to envy. If ever you want to cultivate unhappiness, cultivate envy and it will do you in. Envy was the sin of Lucifer and Adam and Eve.

The humble heart always turns to the Lord. It does not turn in on itself. Stay humble. We do want to cultivate that virtue. If we are not humble yet, we will be. Count on it sooner or later. In Purgatory it is all purification. Cultivate the humble heart and admit your sinfulness. Only the humble heart can pray. Only the humble heart can make a sincere, complete confession. For the sake of Jesus Christ, do not carry that burden of guilt one week longer. Go to Confession. The greatest humiliation has occurred in the last one and a half years - the scandal in regard to the Bishops and priests. If we learn from that humiliation to accept that humiliation, if we can accept the correction, we can cash in on this for the glory of God.

Be grateful, repent, come back to the Lord with all your heart. Next week at this time may be too late. Thank God for your faith, the Sacraments, the Virgin Mother of God, your life, our country, your family, home, your friends, for health of mind and body, to thank and praise God for His mercy. That is what John the Baptist is all about. Our prayer today for the Second Sunday of Advent is "Jesus, meek and humble of heart, make my heart like unto Thine". St. John the Baptist, pray for us.