May Jesus Christ, Emmanuel, the Son of the Most High, be with you!

We enter into our last week of Advent.  Our joy and excitement for the season of Christmas increased each day.  The celebration of Jesus' birth is very near.

We hear about this anticipation in today's Gospel with the announcement by the angel Gabriel to Mary.  He informs her that she has been chosen to be the bearer of the Savior of the world.  Mary's initial hesitation led to her "Fiat!": "Let it be done according to God's will."  Her "Fiat!", her "Yes!", gave us the Savior of the world.  However, her "Fiat!" was not without a strong faith in her God.  Like Mary, we need to hold onto our faith in God, it will assist us through whatever may come our way.

Recently, in the news, we have heard about a Pastoral Letter written by Archbishop Chaput.  In his letter, he informs us of what is expected in the coming year: 1) a decision on the closure of several schools and parishes; 2) the Grand Jury case regarding the sex abuse scandal that has affected our Archdiocese; 3) the decision on the 21 priests who were removed from their parishes...  who will return and who will be let go; 4) the financial issue of the Archdiocese.

These issues, we will be hearing about more than we want to.  However, like Mary, our faith will assist us through all these challenges.

Do  not let your hearts be troubled and do not allow your faith to be weakened.  Together we pray for each other, the Church,and the Archdiocese. We pray that God wil congtinue to increase our faith, and walk with us during our challenging moments.

God be with you and keep your faith fixed on Jesus.

Happy Advent,

Msgr. Britto