November 30, 2025, 12:00 PM
Whether you’re holding a bulletin in your hands or reading it online, you’ve already noticed something different, something new.
Yes, it’s our first combined bulletin for St Ann and St Boniface Parishes. It probably looks and feels different for you. More pages, more activities, more schedules, more names and numbers. Sure, it feels new. And, like all things new, it can catch us off guard.
But, let’s think about this Advent we begin today. Isn’t the message of Advent always about the “new”?
The prophets voiced Israel’s intense longing for God’s new initiative in history. They didn’t stop at telling stories about old heroes like Moses and David. They wanted God to keep his promise to do something new.
Mary and Joseph journeyed to Bethlehem, yes, as parents in a new family. But, they welcomed something even more radically new: The virgin literally conceives and bears a Son. And that Son is literally God! Not a rehash of an old story, but God’s new intervention in human history.
And this Sunday—which maps out the Christian attitude for every day and time—Jesus directs our attention in a very particular direction. It’s not the past. He doesn’t tell us to relive the hunger of prophets. He doesn’t invite us back to the manger. He calls us to a new heaven and a new earth. That’s where our sights are set every time we celebrate the Eucharist. We proclaim his death, profess his resurrection until he comes again.
Let’s orient ourselves to the newness God wants to place in our lives. New initiatives as linked parishes. New commitments to prayer and service. New life as we leave the confessional. New opportunities to sustain family and friends. New compassion for the stranger and the poor. How often we hear the psalmist cry out “Sing a new song to the Lord.” Let this Advent be our new song to the Lord!
Fr. McCreary
