A Letter from Fr. Paul - December 11, 2016

The pile of cards for our shut-ins and the mountain of gifts on the altar by the end of the 10:15 Mass last Sunday are wonderful signs of generosity and reaching out to the less fortunate. Thank you.


As of Monday, December 5, we have 202 pledges (41%) at $313,576 (74% of our goal). Thank you to those who have pledged and, if you have not yet pledged, please do so. Thank you.

Usually in this letter I reflect on the Sunday readings, but five different things struck me in the last few days that urge me to look at our cultural reality of consumerism and the meaning of the season of Advent:

1. Thanksgiving morning the advertisements in the Journal Sentinel were almost three inches thick.
   
   
2. Driving back from Chicago on “Black Friday” around noon, I observed the following near the outlet mall just over the WI/IL line in Kenosha: in each direction cars were backed up waiting to leave I-94 almost to the next exit, cars were backed up on every road that I could see, and the parking lot was jammed.
   
   
3. A newspaper article featured a man who camps out with two tents for a week, just to be the first in line when the store opens.
   
   
4. Another article featured a mother and daughter in “Black Friday Fanatics” shirts, who had started shopping on Thanksgiving and were still “going strong,” as they said, at 9 am Friday morning.
   
   
5. I still get junk e-mails from when I lived in Italy and spent time in Salvatorian communities all over Europe. This year included “Black Friday specials” from two different countries, even though that Friday is a regular day for them.

What is going on here? What is this saying to us? Advent is a time of reflecting on how we are cooperating in bringing about the Kingdom of Light, the Kingdom in which the eyes of the blind are opened and the ears of the deaf cleared, the Kingdom in which there is no harm or sorrow or injustice. It is an invitation to examine our priorities, how we spend our time, energy, and resources. Yet our culture is pulling us in another direction, as the extreme examples above underscore.

I invite us to reflect this week on the two “tugs” or calls all of us experience during this time before Christmas: the call to be busy and buy vs. the call to slow down and reflect on how we are bringing about Christ’s Kingdom. Which call is strongest for me? What kind of balance do I have in my life and how can I make it better?

One support for us as we find our way in life is the Sacrament of Reconciliation. This Sunday evening, December 11, at 6 pm, we will have our Advent tri-parish Reconciliation Service at Christ King. Six priests will be available for individual confession. I invite you to take advantage of this opportunity for reconciliation. And let us support each other in prayer.

-- Paul James Portland, SDS