2000 Marietta (S.E. 25th) Avenue ~ Fort Lauderdale, FL 33316

(954) 524-9344 ~ Fax : (954) 524-9347

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Mary Expecting...

msgrfetscherDear Family,
This Thursday is December 8th, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. It is a Holy Day of Obligation. We will have Mass at 8:30 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. (We will NOT have a Vigil Mass on Wednesday.)

Each country adopts a set of patron saints, members of the heavenly court who are special intercessors for all those within a particular country’s borders. It took the bishops of the newly created United States of America 70 years to appoint the Blessed Virgin Mary as patroness of their country. In doing so, they invoked Mary under her title of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception.

It was a choice met with unanimous support, one that was based on many different factors. The decision was reached on May 13, 1846, during the Sixth Provincial Council of Baltimore.

Having the feast in Advent time helps us focus a little better on the celebration of the great mystery of Jesus becoming man through Mary, one of us as she was one of us.

֍ Gear Change, hopefully not too abrupt. In Give Us This Day, the reflection for the feast of St. Andrew, Nov. 30th, was written by Jesuit Walter Burghardt. I asked permission from Paulist Press to reprint it here for you.

No Advance Script
Did Peter and Andrew, James and John actually leave their nets “immediately” and follow Jesus (Mt 4:20,22)? Not at all impossible, not when we read a bit later that a would-be disciple who wanted time to go and bury his father was told by Jesus, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead” (Mt 28:21-22).

Matthew may well be suggesting the powerful attraction of Jesus, may well be hinting at the demands made by a gospel call: no delay, leave all else now.

On the other hand, it is still possible that Matthew is compressing a longer story, possible that there may have been time for growth in attraction. We find hints of this in John’s Gospel. Remember how Andrew and John spent the day with Jesus, how Andrew then brought his brother Peter to him?...

But if we are not sure how quickly each of the disciples responded to Jesus, one element in their vocation is clear as crystal. Like Mary of Nazareth before the angel Gabriel, so the Twelve before Jesus: None of them received a script, not one was given a scenario, detailing what apostleship would bring in its train. It was only gradually, only through harsh experience, that they would learn the cost of discipleship...

For Peter and the rest, [it was] nothing but a grace – an extraordinary grace – grace to say yes to a most extraordinary man. Grace to leave a profitable job – fishing, for example, or collecting taxes – and follow this strange, attractive teacher wherever he might lead.

From Let Justice Roll Down Like Waters Paulist Press, 1998

Father Burghardt died Feb. 16, 2012 at the age of 93. He was one of the major theologians of the 20th century. Google his name if you want to meet a great man in more depth.

For me, the reason I was so struck by Father Burghardt’s short excerpt is that it reminded me of something I’ve mentioned before, namely, “Man proposes and God disposes.” For me now, it’s more than a maxim: it is the truth of how my life has played out. You think you are doing the planning, and you even pray for Divine Guidance. But now that I have a bit of history, as I look back, I realize that while I thought I was planning it all out each day, in fact there was (and is) a subcurrent that really is worth singing about: “He’s got the whole world, in his hands...”

Mary of Nazareth knew that. So may we.!
In Jesus,
sign frjim

Saturday 5 pm
(Sunday Vigil)
Sunday 8:30 & 11 am
Weekdays 8:30 am
(Mon. through Fri.)
Holy Days
(Schedule varies)

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SAINT SEBASTIAN CHURCH

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2000 Marietta (S.E. 25th) Avenue ~ Fort Lauderdale, FL 33316
Parish Office : (954) 524-9344 ~Fax : (954) 524-9347
E-Mail : info@stsebastianfl.org 


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