FROM THE PASTOR

December 01 , 2007

THE DEATH OF ADVENT
(Reprinted from 2003 Bulletin)

Advent died and no one cried.

Once upon a time Catholics observed Advent by putting off all Christmas decorations until a few days for even a few hours before December 25.

This tradition had a religious purpose characterized by Austerity, Anticipation and Atonement.

The austerity of the season was marked by purple vestments, omission of the Gloria at Mass, minimal floral decorations in Church and none of the external signs of the Christmas celebration.

This was seen to provide a quiet, reflective mood as we prepared for the coming celebration of Christmas.  But there was a deeper religious meaning: to remind us that the present time cannot be compared to the glory that is yet to come.

And so a sense of anticipation pervaded Advent—not simply awaiting the coming celebration of God coming to us in human form but also waiting our wondrous future with Him.  We were reminded that we do not have the fullness of Joy from God in the present time.  We await His coming again to bring us in to the eternal happiness of heaven.

Atonement was seen as the way to prepare for this since sin is the major obstacle which might prevent us from obtaining future glory.

But most of this has passed away.  The deeply religious moods of the Advent season which were created by the traditional observance have been replaced by the premature celebration of the Christmas season encouraged by the modern commercialism.

And the past is not missed by most Catholics who were happy to give up the observance of a somber season in favor of the soothing and uplifting spirit coming from a greatly extended Christmas season.

We are not saying it is a sin to give up the traditional observance of Advent, but rather that its disappearance leaves us without a yearly reminder of some of the most fundamental truth of our faith.

Since the external signs of the Christmas celebration pervade our society for nearly two months before Christmas there seems to be nothing we can do about reviving the Advent traditions.

Perhaps we could take a cue from some other religious groups in American society, the Amish in many part of our country and the Hasidic Jews in our own city.

Both groups live and work in our society and have managed their own special religious traditions which are alien to the cultural at large but which support their own religious beliefs.

Could we not attempt to act in a similar way in the Advent season?

Certainly we could do something where we are in control, viz., our churches and homes.

We have tried to maintain the traditional spirit of Advent here in St. Thomas More Church and I would encourage you to consider how you could do so in your homes.

I have a few suggestions.  Set up a Christmas tree at the time you always have, but leave the decorations off until the last days before Christmas.  Put the lights on the tree now but do not light them until December 25.  Meanwhile decorate the tree each day or week with notes or colored pieces of paper—notes on which family members write a prayer or speak of some good deed they have done for others.

Also, gradually put gifts under the tree, but only gifts for others in need—waiting until Christmas Eve to put the gifts for family and friends under the tree.

Also, perhaps you could wait until the last week of Advent to send out your Christmas cards and wait until Christmas Eve to express Christmas greetings.  We started off by saying that Advent died and no one cried.  Perhaps next year we could say that Advent came back to life because someone tried.

September 16, 2007

Dear Parishioners,

In the last Parish Bulletin before the summer, I informed you that our Parish Finance Council had alerted me that we are facing a huge deficit of almost $ 178,000 in the budget for our fiscal year 09-01-07 - 08-31-08.

Primarily this is due to the ever widening gap between revenues which are decreasing (by 16%) and expenses which have increased by 9% in the past three years.

Personnel costs alone are projected to increase 14% by 08-31-08 primarily because of rising medical insurance premiums.

Consequently, I was adviced by the Finance Council to lower expenses by eliminating staff positions and one priest position as well as a number of small economies.

That is why painfully I had to ask Fr. Francis Ong to leave us and to reduce our maintenance staff from two full-time men to one, as well as reduce the full-time Sacristan position to a part-time one.

The above actions should help reduce the projected budget gap of $ 178,000 by $ 97,000.

But a big gap remains and so we must increase revenues primarily through our major source of income - the Sunday collections.

This week, I am sending information on all of this to registered parishioners and next weekend I will address it all masses.

The measure already taken have been most painful to me, particularly the cuts in our staffing.

Now I ask to you to give seriuos consideration to what you will be asked to do on your part in the coming weeks.

God Bless You,

Fr. Boehning

September 9, 2007

Fr. Francis Ong, S.S.S.

Fr. Francis, who has served us here for the past three years, is leaving us in mid-September.

He will be entering a Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) residency at the Alexandra Veterans Medical Center in Alexandria , Louisiana .

We have not seen much of him these past months because he had gone to the Philippines to be with his dying mother Natividad Ong and then had spinal surgery here from which he is presently recovering.

We will use the opportunity to wish him farewell afforded by the Coffee Hour after the ten o’clock mass (which he will celebrate) on Sunday, September 9, 2007 .

Hope as many parishioners as possible can come to thank him for his ministry here.

We will miss him very much and hope that he might some day be able to return to us.

 

Fr. Boehning