Fr. Greg

How are we doing? The second Sunday of Advent focuses on St. John the Baptist who proclaims repentance to the people to make ready the way for the Messiah. So, let’s take a good look at how we are doing. We are about halfway through our year of Eucharist Revival. Prince of Peace does Mass attendance accounts during the month of October. In 2023, we recorded an average of 1,891 people total for Sunday (including Saturday evening) Masses. That is a lot of people, and thanks be to God for this! However, last year, 2022, we had an average of 1,980.

Happy Advent! Happy New Church Year! We have the shortest possible Advent season this year, so things are going to move fast. Christmas falls on a Monday, therefore the fourth week of Advent consists only of Sunday resulting in an Advent more like 3 weeks than 4 this year. Now, the idea of Advent is really to watch, wait, and prepare so we must make some intentional efforts to slow things down and pray to make this a good Advent.

“God is the infinitely good and merciful Father. But man, called to respond to him freely, can unfortunately choose to reject his love and forgiveness once and for all, thus separating himself for ever from joyful communion with him. It is precisely this tragic situation that Christian doctrine explains when it speaks of eternal damnation or hell. It is not a punishment imposed externally by God but a development of premises already set by people in this life.

Next in our evaluation of the Four Last Things, we will be looking at the third: Heaven. The past two weeks we evaluated Death and Judgement, next week will be our last and final; that of Hell. But this week, the much happier reality of Heaven, where all of us want to be!

As we move through the Last Four Things, we now look at the second of them; that being Judgment. Last week we focused on Death and looked at the reality that all of us will die. After we die, we will all be judged.

As we move into the month of November, we enter into the final Sundays of our liturgical year. The first Sunday of our liturgical year begins with the 1st Sunday of Advent. The readings at the end of the liturgical year always turn to what we call eschatological realities. This is a fancy way of referring to the Last Four Things; that being of Death, Judgement, Heaven, and Hell. Over the next 4 Sundays, I would like to dedicate an article to each of these four things.

Since Halloween is Tuesday, I’d like to start with a few skeleton and ghost jokes:
Why can’t skeletons play church music? Because they have no organs.
How do ghosts stay in shape? By exorcising.
Why do skeletons and ghosts love Sundays? Because they are dying to hear our homilies!
What is a ghost’s favorite response at Mass? “And with your spirit.”
What is a ghost’s favorite hymn at Mass? “Come Holy Ghost”
Why can’t skeletons fulfill the greatest commandment of Jesus? Because they have no hearts, souls, or minds.

Mission Impossible (But all things are possible for God)

Your mission, parishioners of Prince of Peace, should you choose to accept it, is as follows:

Sell your belongings and give alms. Provide money bags for yourselves that do not wear out, an inexhaustible treasure in heaven that no thief can reach nor moth destroy. For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be. (Luke 12:33–34)

October is Respect Life Month. This Sunday, the 27th of Ordinary Time Year A, we are presented in both the first reading and the gospel with parables using the image of a vineyard. A vineyard is a place of life. It is meant to be fertile, to be carefully cultivated, and thus to bear a rich harvest of grapes. However, in both parables, instead of life, we find violence and death. The first reading: ”The vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, the people of Judah, his cherished plant; He waited for judgment, but see, bloodshed!