DECEMBER DAYS...ADVENT......AND THE MONTH OF THE DIVINE INFANCY.........

As we arrive at December and these Advent Days awaiting the Lord Jesus' Coming, we open the Month of the Divine Infancy. The next twenty four days of preparation, anticipation, joy and hope filled waiting and watching, will be crowned with the celebration of the Incarnation and the Solemnity of Christmas, the Nativity of Jesus our Lord and Savior. We hear from the Book of Isaiah, in the First Reading. Isaiah is heard from extensively during the Season of Advent in our Sunday and weekday Liturgies of the Word. Today our passage from Is. 11:1-10; is proclaiming a, "vision of hope", for God's People and anticipation that the events of salvation history will bring our hope of fulfillment. In Luke 10:21-24, Jesus is presented proclaiming the blessedness of His Disciples, for their opportunity to see the ancient prophecy fulfilled, as the Apostles see the face of God in Jesus. They see the face of the Divine, because God in Jesus the Christ has drawn closer to His children. We too, in the 3rd Millennium of Catholic-Christian Discipleship can and do, see the face of God in other human beings, especially those in the Community of Believers, who are our brothers and sisters in the Lord's Coming.
Today is also, World Aids Day. Since 1981, this day has been commemorated to those afflicted, dying, or departed, from the endemic of acquired immune deficiency syndrome. As a kidney transplant recipient my immune deficiency has increased, as my immune system is compromised, as a result of my transplant. So I have a renewed empathy for all those who endure living with immune deficiency. Presently, there are 33 million persons throughout the world with AIDS. On World Aids Day we pray for a wholehearted commitment on the part of our nation and the world, to eradicate it and all forms of cancer, diseases, and illnesses, in the spirit of Christ Jesus the Healer. I am also marking today being at Presentation of the BVM Parish, for three and a half years and it was also three years ago today, I was assigned part-time to St. Philomene's Parish. Many thanks, appreciation, and prayers, for the people of both parish communities.........Anticipatingly Yours in Preparing for Jesus' Three-fold Coming,
Fr. Troy