This Jubilee year of 2025 seems to be going by very quickly. I can’t believe that we are in the middle of November already and that we have arrived at the 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time. What does this mean? It means that we only have one more week in our Liturgical year of 2025. Next week is our final weekend and the Solemnity of Christ the King.
If you think that these past weeks have flown by, the next couple of weeks will seem to go by even quicker. The final weeks of the year often go by so much faster than we want, and it is sometimes very hard to enjoy them. Many of us will find ourselves to be very busy in the next few weeks. But sometimes we also need to remember to slow down and enjoy what is in front of us.
By this weekend, I know that many are finalizing their plans for Thanksgiving and even looking ahead to Christmas. I would like to invite you to also start to think about what you might want to do for the upcoming season of Advent.
I’m pleased that I was able to invite Fr. Mike Reyes OSB to give our parish Advent retreat this year. Fr. Reyes is a Benedictine priest from St. Meinrad Archabbey in Southern Indiana. Some of you may remember that I attended college seminary at St. Meinrad and I am very familiar with the monastic community there. Fr. Reyes is one of their newly ordained priests and visits St. Catherine to work with the Benedictine Oblate group that meets here. You may even have seen him here on Sunday mornings.
Our Advent retreat is scheduled for Saturday, December 6th, starting at 10 AM. The theme of the retreat is: “The Journey to the Manger Begins in Prayer.” If you would like to sign up for this retreat, please contact our office by November 24th so that we can plan accordingly.