Pastor's Weekly Message
second SUnday of Advent, 6-7 DEC 2025
My Beloved Fellow Saints-in-the-Making,
Greetings in Jesus Christ for Whom we are waiting!
A Blessed Second Sunday of Advent. We continue this sacred Season of expectation and anticipation for the Nativity of our Savior as well as His Return, when He will bring the righteous to Heaven. Until such time, you and I, we are commanded and exhorted to “Prepare the way of the Lord,” as John the Baptist says in this Sunday’s Gospel, for the Lord “will baptize us with the Holy Spirit and fire.” This, in turn, ignites love for our Lord in our heart, setting it afire with devotion for Him and obedience to His Will.
So that we might properly prepare the way of the Lord in this second week of Advent, we return to the example of one of the newest canonized saints, Carlo Acutis, and his five steps to being a saint. St. Carlo is known as “God’s influencer” for his having used technology and the internet to bring others closer to God.
For St. Carlo, a first step to being a saint is Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Saints, as mentioned in last week’s Pastor’s Notes. A second step, which I encourage us to focus on this week, is performing acts of charity, small and hidden, lovingly, willingly, and cheerfully. Carlo repeated the words of Our Lord, that “everything passes away.” To this, the Saint added, “the only thing that will make us truly beautiful in God’s eyes is the way that we have loved Him and our brothers.”
St. Carlo is simply saying in his own words what Jesus Himself has commanded as the two greatest commandments: to love God and neighbor. Therefore, by doing acts of charity, small and hidden, especially for the poor, weak, and vulnerable to whom St. Carlo was devoted and for whom he gave much of his time and resources, we show our love for one another and particularly to God, because the human person is made in the image of God. By demonstrating love for those made in His image, we honor and love the God Who made us. We are called to love like Christ in the moment, because in the words of St. Carlo, “every minute that passes is one minute less to sanctify ourselves.”
Therefore, as we continue to prepare the way of the Lord this Advent, let us continue to draw closer to Jesus by drawing closer to Mary through our parish-wide Consecration to the Immaculata with daily meditations so that we, Saints-in-the-Making, will bear good fruit.
God love you! I do.
Fr. Lewis