Dear Parishioners,

One of the themes of Advent is light and darkness. During the winter season, the days become darker and shorter representing a lack of God’s presence in the world. Then on Christmas, Christ symbolically returns and the days become longer and brighter. The change in day length displays that Christ is the Light of the World. He shows us who God is by being the Son of God the Father and what it means to live a life in right relationship with God by showing us a life of perfect charity.

Light and darkness are also symbols of the struggle between good and evil. In our lives, we will make many decisions and these decisions have consequences. But, we live in a relativistic age that tries to deny that basic truth. I remember once getting into a friendly argument with someone. They claimed that I just see things as a matter of being black and white. I corrected this person by pointing out that I do admit to there being gray complex areas in life. However, when we know something is right and wrong, we need to be brave and honest enough to say so. When it comes down to it, if we are doing harm to our relationship with God and our neighbor, that will have consequences no matter what lies we try to tell ourselves. It is not compassionate to call evil good. It just causes more harm and makes it harder to return to the loving Lord who is All Good.

God is calling us all to turn to Him. That is why Advent is also a season of hope. Though we live right now in dark, cold and dreary days, we yearn for warmth and brightness. Sometimes we can try to rush this process by putting up Christmas decorations right after Thanksgiving or even Halloween. But, as human beings with a religious sense, we need to take time, to slow down and reflect or else we will never appreciate what Christ brings into the world: true joy, peace and salvation. As the faithful, we should all yearn for the return of Christ into the world. But, we can forget what we really desire when we try to satisfy ourselves with anything else. Advent is a time to step back and to remember this childlike yearning for God.

God bless,

Father Carter

P.S. And speaking of Light, I would like to publicly thank Marshall Conklin for donating money to improve the church’s light and sound system. He was one of the winners of the 50/50 this year and generously gave his prize back to the church so that the choir could see their music better. So, if you also enjoy the new lights, be sure to thank him for that!