Lord, You invite all who are burdened to come to you. Allow Your healing Hand to heal me. Touch my soul with Your compassion for others; touch my heart with Your courage and infinite Love for all; touch my mind with Your Wisdom, and may my mouth always proclaim Your praise. Teach me to reach out to You in all my needs, and help me to lead others to You by my example. 

Most loving Heart of Jesus, bring me health in body and spirit that I may serve You with all my strength. Touch gently this life which you have created, now and forever. 

Amen. 

Dear St. Mark Family,

Happy second week of Advent! A week ago, we began the season of Advent, a time of grace and preparation to receive Jesus in the manger of our hearts. For me it is one of the most beautiful times, because together with Christmas they make me enter an atmosphere of peace and meditation on the great mystery of the incarnation. We have also started a new month, the last month of this year, a year that has been fraught with great challenges but also with faith and renewed hope. Many things have changed this year and others may remain the same, but as Christians, we cannot stagnate, we must to look at Jesus who comes to save us and give us new life.

December is a month of many celebrations, including “The Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception” and the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. I ask that we celebrate them with much love and enthusiasm. The solemnity of the Immaculate Conception is a holy day of obligation, therefore it is mandatory to attend mass. I also would like to remind you that in preparation for Christmas, we will have an Advent Penance Service on Monday, December 23rd ,please put it on your calendar. We will be hearing confessions starting at 6:00pm; we will invite other priests to help us so that we all can be best prepared to celebrate Christmas Day. I invite you to please prepare for this day.

Finally, I want to thank everyone who generously make an increase in their weekly offertory, your increase will greatly help our parish family. I encourage you with faith and confidence in your generosity, to increase your weekly offertory a little. If we all unite to give a little more, we will be able to erase that deficit that can be generated. A piece of bread is built by many small particles of wheat, and when they come together they feed our hunger; as a parish we are similar to this example, we are all a small particle that make up this parish and if we come together we can do great things.

I hope you have a happy Advent season and that you enjoy this time of grace with all the activities that this month brings us to grow and improve ourselves as Christians. Oh, and don’t forget this month’s challenge – place a nativity scene in your home, make it visible and remind your family that Jesus is the center of Advent and Christmas. I invite you to keep the holy season of Advent as we pray for Jesus to come again. Take a small step this year. If you’re not sure what you should do then I suggest that you start by praying for the grace to desire and yearn for Jesus to come again in glory. Again, taking the opportunity to celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation, going to Confession, during Advent is an excellent way to “Prepare the Way of the Lord!”

I have you in my prayers.

God bless you.

Fr. Santhosh George O.SS.T