Fourth Sunday of Advent

“When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife”

This is the last Sunday of our preparation for Christmas, the anniversary of Christ's birth. Like Joseph, we can all feel unworthy of the honour of welcoming him into our hearts and our homes. We are indeed unworthy, not because we have little of this world's goods, but because we have so little humility, so little charity, so little faith and trust in God's goodness. Let us try to imitate Joseph and Mary, the humblest of the humble, the kindliest of the kindly, and the greatest-ever believers in God's goodness and mercy. We can never hope to equal them, but we can follow them humbly, from afar.

The feast of Christmas should draw the hearts of every child of God towards the furnace of divine love. In the manger, the infinite love of God for us miserable sinners is dramatically and forcefully portrayed before our eyes. In that helpless Baby, represented by a statue, we know that the person, and the power, of the omnipotent Creator and sustainer of the universe lie hidden "He emptied himself, taking the form of a slave" for us. He became a creature, like ourselves, so that he would make us sharers in his divine nature. He came on earth to bring us to heaven https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/calendar/day.cfm?date=2019-12-22

Third Sunday of Advent

Today is Gaudete Sunday—meaning “to rejoice”. As Advent draws to an end, the Church calls us to rejoice because the birth of our Saviour is now very near. Yet, even as we rejoice, it is a challenging call and reminder to be attentive to use the time left wisely, and to prepare ourselves for his coming.

Our Advent preparation is primarily spiritual: the conforming of our mind, heart and soul to God by allowing his grace to work within us. First and foremost, this means a commitment and fidelity to daily prayer and meditation—to generously “waste time with God” in his presence. Secondly, a good Confession, as we place ourselves in the merciful heart of the Saviour who came to forgive and redeem us. Thirdly, nurturing our love and devotion to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament by our worthy reception of him in Holy Communion at Mass https://catholicoutlook.org/third-sunday-of-advent/

Second Sunday of Advent

“Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.”

In this week's Gospel Reading and next week's, our Advent preparation for Christmas invites us to consider John the Baptist and his relationship to Jesus. In this week's Gospel, Matthew describes the work and preaching of John the Baptist.

John the Baptist appears in the tradition of the great prophets of Israel, preaching repentance and reform to the people of Israel... John's baptism can be understood as an anticipation of Christian baptism. “I am baptizing you with water, for repentance . . . He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” (Matthew 3:11).

John's preaching of the coming of the Lord is a key theme of the Advent season. As John's message prepared the way for Jesus in the first century, we, too, are called to prepare ourselves for Jesus' coming. We respond to John's message by our repentance and reform of our lives. We are also called to be prophets of Christ, who announce by our lives, as John did, the coming of the Lord https://www.loyolapress.com/our-catholic-faith/liturgical-year/sunday-connection/second-sunday-of-advent-cycle-a-sunday-connection

First Sunday of Advent

"At an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come"

Christmas is just around the corner and we have our hopes and aspirations for family; for presents; for a fresh start in the New Year. However, these four weeks of Advent are to prepare us for something more important – the coming of Christ into our world and our lives.

Did you know that there are four advents, or arrivals of Christ? We know that the 1st is Christmas when Christ came as a child of Mary. The 2nd is the coming of Christ into our lives through faith and Sacrament. Another time is when Jesus comes to us at the end of our lives. We call this our particular judgment. Last, we expect Jesus to come again in judgment “as we await the blessed hope and the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Special Calendar Events

Moora
• School Mass 9am Friday 13th December

Can Catholics Receive Communion If They Fail In Their Sunday Obligation?

Parish Launch of 2020 Plenary Council

Holy days of obligation

What are the Holy Days of obligation in Australia? Is missing Mass a sin?

Do you know the five precepts of the Catholic Church?

Is Missing Mass a Mortal Sin?

Given how precious the Mass is the Code of Canon Law (#1246) proscribes, "Sunday is the day on which the paschal mystery is celebrated in light of the apostolic tradition and is to be observed as the foremost holy day of obligation in the universal Church." Moreover, "On Sundays and other holy days of obligation, the faithful are bound to participate in the Mass..." (#1247).

Therefore, the Catechism teaches, "Those who deliberately fail in this obligation commit grave sin" (#2181), and grave sin is indeed mortal sin. http://www.catholiceducation.org/en/culture/catholic-contributions/is-missing-mass-a-mortal-sin.html

Preparing for Confession

Teacher resources

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