December 22, 2024

Fourth Sunday of Advent

by Fr. Boniface Endorf, OP

Dear St. Joseph Parish Family,

Happy 4th Sunday of Advent–we’re almost at Christmas! Please see the Christmas schedule in this bulletin or online at our parish website. I pray that you have a blessed Christmas, and that Jesus brings you many blessings this Christmas season! As we celebrate the coming of Our Lord, God taking a human nature to Himself in order to save us, let us give thanks for the manifold gifts He gives us. His grace provides us with faith and hope that overcome the sufferings of this world, and his grace strengthens us to love again in this world grown cold. Let us take heart and live those great gifts of faith, hope, and love. Through them we encounter Christ, and by them He leads us to our true homeland in heaven.

This is a season with many feast days. Coming up are:

–The Solemnity of Mary the Mother of God is Wednesday, January 1st. It’s a Holy Day of Obligation; therefore, we’ll have the vigil Mass at 7pm Tuesday night, the 12:10pm daily mass on the 1st, and a 7pm Mass the night of the 1st.

–The Epiphany of the Lord is on January 5th, a Sunday. We’ll again have the special blessing of Epiphany water at 5pm, before the 5:30pm Saturday Vigil Mass. We’ll give out the blessed Epiphany chalk at all the masses so that you can bless your homes with it.

God Bless,
Fr. Boniface