Second Sunday of Advent
December 6, 2025 Bulletin Column Father De Celles
Immaculate Conception. Tomorrow, Monday, December 8, we will celebrate the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception. Remember, this is a Holy Day of Obligation. This great feast day celebrates the conception of Mary, free from original sin, in her mother’s womb. In Advent, it reminds us of Mary’s perfect preparation to receive Christ into her life. In addition to the regularly scheduled 6:30am and 8:30am daily Masses we will also offer Masses at noon, 5pm and 7pm. (Note there is no Vigil Mass tonight, Sunday).
Lessons and Carols. Remember to join the lectors, the choir and me for “Lessons & Carols” tonight, Sunday, December 7th at 7pm in the church. This is one of my favorite Advent traditions in the parish, as the choir provides a beautiful program of inspiring Advent music (“Carols”) and the lectors and I read the Scripture readings about the birth of the Messiah (aka, “Lessons”). By weaving together prophetic readings from the Old Testament and pre-nativity readings from the Gospels, the Lessons lay out God’s breathtaking plan for the birth of His Divine Son. The choir adds to the atmosphere of joyful expectation by leading us in popular hymns and spreading their vocal wings in leading us in carols and a few more complicated choral pieces. And afterwards there will be an opportunity for joyful fellowship at a short reception in the parish hall.
Hundreds of folks from all over the area make this a “must attend” event every year. Please join us! You’ll be very happy you did.
Advent Weekday Evenings.
Masses. Please don’t miss the opportunity to go to 7pm Mass every weekday but Thursday during Advent. There is no better way to keep Advent than frequent Mass.
Advent Series. On Thursdays there is no evening Mass, as I hope instead you will attend Fr. Bergida’s “Advent Series” entitled “The Angelic Doctor on the Bread of Angels” every Thursday at 7pm. Last week Father’s topic was, “What’s the “Matter” with the Eucharist?” and this week His topic will be “Jesus’ Body – Both in Heaven and in the Sacrament?.”
Confessions. Don’t Forget: go to confession during Advent—we have confessions every single day of Advent.
Family Rosary. Think about joining in the Family Rosary we say in the church every weekday at 6:30pm and on the weekend after the 9am Mass. (Maybe you can sign your family up to lead? (It’s very easy to lead, just pray out loud! Go to the parish website and click the link on the drop-down menu).
Other Advent Events this Week. Don’t forget to stop by the “Giving Tree” in the narthex today, and help to make Christmas a little merrier for some folks who are having a rough time this year—families of our parish and Our Lady of the Blue Ridge parish in Madison. The last day to turn in the gifts is next Sunday, December 14th, but the sooner the better or our hardworking staff and volunteers.
The Christmas Tree. This time of year is filled with all sorts of traditions. Unfortunately, many of us have lost sight of the Catholic origins of many of the traditions that dominate the secular celebration of Christmas and Advent.
Consider the Christmas Tree. There are many different efforts to explain the origins of the Christmas tree, including many that try to separate it completely from Christianity. For example, some try to say that since many different ancient non-Christian cultures used evergreens as a sign of life or health that therefore evergreen “Christmas” trees are not “Christian,” or that Christians “stole” the symbol from the pagans. But there is no conflict or stealing here. Since Christianity converted many ancient pagan cultures it was natural for those new Christians to keep the symbols that had meaningfully expressed their long held spiritual desires that were ultimately answered only in Christianity. So, if an evergreen tree expressed a pagan culture’s desires for eternal life, it was natural for them to carry that symbol into to Christianity, which is fine with the Church.
The specific Christianization and “Christmas-ization” of the evergreen tree can be traced at least to the early 8th century in Germany. It seems one Christmas Eve the great missionary St. Boniface and his companions came upon a group of pagans gathered at around their sacred tree, the “Oak of Geismar” (“Donar’s Oak”) to worship their god, Thor, and to sacrifice a little child to please him. Horrified by what he had found, Boniface struck the Oak, which the people believed to be indestructible, and suddenly a great wind came and blew the tree over, tearing it out of the ground by its roots and into four pieces. When the tree fell it revealed a small evergreen tree that had grown behind it. St. Boniface then told the people: “This little tree, a young child of the forest, shall be your holy tree tonight. It is the wood of peace, for your houses are built of the fir. It is the sign of an endless life, for its leaves are ever green. See how it points upward to heaven. Let this be called the tree of the Christ-child; gather about it, not in the wild wood, but in your own homes; there it will shelter no deeds of blood, but loving gifts and rites of kindness.” The people then took the tree to the great hall of their village and decorated it with candles, as Boniface told the story of the Baby Jesus. The whole village, including the pagan priest, were converted that Christmas Eve. (For a beautiful retelling of this tale see The First Christmas Tree, by Henry van Dyke).
Donation to the Parish. I want to inform you that our Scholarship Fund has received a generous $100,000 donation from parishioners who are moving out of the area and wanted to show their appreciation for all they’ve received during their time as St. Raymond’s. I don’t want to give out their names for various reasons, but they know who they are, and I ask you to join in thanking them with prayers for their move. And let us all thank God for the many blessings he has bestowed on us in our wonderful parish.
Youth Apostolate. I just want to say a few words to thank Jeanne Sause for the remarkable work she does with our Youth Apostolate. It was 12 years ago this week that I hired her and gave her the mandate to provide a truly Catholic program that would bring our kids close to Christ and His Church. And she has done just that, providing hundreds of our kids with great opportunities for learning, praying, and playing. It’s always great to see our teens together having fun, and having truly Catholic fellowship. And it moves my heart to see how so many of them have grown so much spiritually.
And Jeanne has done all this in spite of enduring serious health issues. But all that just causes us all, especially me and the kids, to love and appreciate her all the more. She is one of those “many blessings” I wrote about above. Let’s pray for her and thank God for her.
Oremus pro invicem. Fr. De Celles