St. Vincent de Paul Church

 This week, we celebrate on Wednesday, the great Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. We celebrate the Immaculate Conception on December 8th each year and then we celebrate Mary’s birthday on September 8th of the following year, 9 months to the day since we celebrated her conception. It’s the same with Jesus, we celebrate the Annunciation on March 25th and then 9 months later, on December 25th, we celebrate his birth at Christmas. Just an interesting way that the liturgical calendar is sketched out.

 This week, as we enter into the season of Advent, we begin a new Church year, a new opportunity, a new invitation for the grace of God to be unfolded in our lives. What we celebrate in Advent is not so much our coming to God, but that we have a God who comes to us. What we see revealed in Jesus is that we have a God who takes the initiative, who doesn’t wait for us to make the first move towards Him, but rather who takes the first step towards us.

This Thursday, we pause to remember all the blessings in our lives. Gratitude is a foundational attitude of the Christian life, remembering and giving thanks for all that God has done for us. There’s not one person who can say that God hasn’t done anything for them, that God hasn’t poured out some blessing in their life.