Advent Mercy: Meals, Mass, and Reconciliation

Today (Monday, December 2, as I write this) has been a great day. A few of us from our parish delivered twenty frozen dinners to the Hudson Police Department and twenty more to the St. Croix County Sheriff’s Department. Representatives from both law enforcement agencies who welcomed us were grateful for the work done by our volunteers with I GOT TIME who made the “hot dishes for heroes.” Meeting with the sheriff, we learned that the sheriff’s department has 120 employees, including deputies, dispatchers, jail personnel, bailiffs, and support staff. So they did a drawing among the staff to determine who “won” one of our meals. We also learned from the city police officers that they had a rough weekend that included many calls for people experiencing mental illness. This is a good reminder for us to pray for all in law enforcement and also those who suffer from mental illness and the challenges they face, as many of us enjoy the holidays.

Remember this Monday, December 9, is the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception and a Holy Day of Obligation. Mary, under the title of her Immaculate Conception, is the patroness of our country. We have Mass on December 9 at 6:30 AM, 9:15 AM, and 6:30 PM. Let us pray through Mary and her Immaculate Conception for the many needs of our nation. 

You may have noticed that this year we celebrate the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception on December 9, which traditionally is on December 8. Since December 8 is a Sunday of Advent, the Holy Day is moved to Monday. It is always moved when a feast or solemnity falls on a Sunday during a season like Advent, Lent, or Easter. Often when Holy Days of Obligation fall on a Friday or Monday, the obligation to attend Mass is dispensed. With the importance of Mary under the title of the Immaculate Conception for our nation, the obligation for this day is never dispensed. If the Solemnity had fallen on a Sunday of Ordinary Time, it would have been celebrated on that Sunday. We will see this several times in the upcoming year: the Feast of the Presentation of our Lord, the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, the Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed (All Souls Day), and the Feast of the Lateran Basilica in Rome. 

If you stop by our parish offices, please excuse the mess. We are in the process of exchanging office furniture. This past summer we were able to claim a lot of office furniture from the old Norlake office building in downtown Hudson. We have been storing it for after we constructed some walls to create more offices in the office area and in what was previously the bride’s room. The construction work is almost finished, and this week, especially on Tuesday and Wednesday, we have help coming in to move out our old furniture and move in the new. It will give our offices a great new look and feel. There will also be a lot of commotion in the gathering area, particularly in the morning on these two days. Please excuse the noise and the mess. 

Beginning this coming Saturday and for the remainder of Advent, Father Dan and I will both try to be present on Saturday mornings and Tuesday evenings for the Sacrament of Reconciliation. We appreciate that the lines can get long at this time of year; please be patient as we celebrate God’s great gift of mercy in preparation for welcoming Christ into the world.

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