ADVENT LETTER
 
"Prepare the way of the Lord, straighten your paths. The streams will be filled and the mountains and Smooth hills. The crooked will be straightened, and the roughness of the roads will be softened. "Every mortal will then see God's salvation."
                                                                                Luke 3, 4-6
 
My Dear Friends:
                  The daily news does not stop reminding us of the conflicts that exist in the world: Shooting in schools, workplaces and shopping centers, political scandals, international conflicts, natural disasters and ecological problems. Given this, it seems that there are not  any good reasons for joy and happiness. We have prayed to God and it seems that things have not improved since Christ came into the World. However, what happens in the World is not the will of God, but rather by the misuse of free will that God gave us.
  But there is hope because we love God and listen to his Son who invites us to proclaim the Good News to the whole World. The Good News is that the Kingdom of God is already among us, that there is hope because God's Justice is greater than that of man, because the peace that brings us is not conditioned or threatened; because his love is true and we reciprocate His love by loving our neighbors. This is the way we prepare the way of the Lord.
  But what can we do?
  When the disciples worried about the people who had followed Jesus, they asked Him to dismiss them so they could go eat, and Jesus replied: "Feed them yourselves," and they replied , "We have only five loaves of bread and two fish.” Luke 9, 13
  Love is like five loaves of bread and two fish. It is nothing unless we share it.
Maybe we may not change the World, but we can change ourselves and those who are close to us. There is much we have achieved and a lot more of what we can still achieve.
  This Advent season is an opportunity for us to prepare the way for the Lord.
  I thank God for all we have accomplished in our Parish thanks to your generosity. Last winter was very cruel to us and left us with many devastations and unexpected expenses that seriously unbalanced the budget. Snow removal from the parking lot  cost us $ 64,000.00. We have already changed companies this year, and we have had the help of volunteers, who made immediate repairs, but despite all that, we expect great expenses in the future.
  Thanks to your generosity we have built the long-awaited and necessary Parish Hall that is now at your service. But it is not just the material things. We thank God for the pastoral and spiritual service we are doing in our Parish and the Missions of Lee Vining, Bridgeport and Coleville.
 I ask God to bless you and that this Christmas Christ comes to reign in your homes and fill you  with grace and happiness.
Yours in Christ:
 
Pbro Jorge A. Román
           PASTOR