{"id":4004,"date":"2021-12-10T09:55:41","date_gmt":"2021-12-10T15:55:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.stphils.com\/church\/?p=4004"},"modified":"2021-12-10T09:55:41","modified_gmt":"2021-12-10T15:55:41","slug":"pastors-letter-december-12-bulletin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.stphils.com\/church\/pastors-letter-december-12-bulletin\/","title":{"rendered":"Pastor&#8217;s Letter &#038; December 12 Bulletin"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #800000;\"><strong><a style=\"color: #800000;\" href=\"https:\/\/discovermass.com\/church\/st-philomena-peoria-il\/\">The December 12 bulletin is now available online.<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Dear friend,<\/p>\n<p>This Sunday the Church celebrates <em>Gaudete Sunday<\/em>, the Third Sunday of Advent. \u201cGaudete,\u201d a Latin word meaning rejoice, is the first word of the Latin entrance antiphon for Sunday\u2019s Mass. \u201cRejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice. Indeed, the Lord is near.\u201d Philippians 4:4-5. These words of St. Paul exhort us to rejoice invite us also to understand the result of true rejoicing. When the Lord is near, we are called to \u201chave no anxiety at all\u201d that the Lord will guard our \u201chearts and minds in Christ Jesus.\u201d St. Paul goes on to tell us that rejoicing in the Lord will help us know that whatever is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, and gracious will help us prepare for the coming of Christ both this Christmas and when we meet Him face to face. No matter the challenges we face, our God comes to save us. We can all get so bogged down by the daily anxieties of life and lose sight of what truly matters in life. Mass on the Sabbath Day is an invitation to set aside the troubles of life and enter peacefully into God\u2019s presence in Church. As we acknowledge the beauty of each human life, we are called to rejoice in the Lord for all of our past and present life blessings. This week\u2019s liturgy opens us up to rejoicing in real gratitude for life, family, forgiveness, and the promise of eternal salvation.<\/p>\n<p>Again this weekend, we are presented with a Gospel reading about the ministry of John the Baptist. John served as the bridge from the Old Testament prophets and priests to the New Testament revelation of Jesus Christ. John is the one who was told by the Spirit of God to point to Jesus and proclaim, \u201cBehold, the Lamb of God.\u201d When John pointed out Jesus, essentially all of his followers left to follow Jesus. However, during his time of ministry and preaching, John called the people to live their best lives. As people from different occupations asked John what they were supposed to do to follow God, he challenged them to use their jobs, positions of authority and their very lives to support the needs of others. John said to \u201cShare with the person who has none.\u201d \u201cStop collecting more than what is prescribed.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cDo not practice extortion, do not falsely accuse anyone, and be satisfied with your wages.\u201d As we pray through the Advent Season, it is important to let the Spirit guide us in all our opportunities for growth.<\/p>\n<p>The Sacrament of Reconciliation is a true gift of grace and healing from God. There is no better gift we can offer ourselves for the coming of Christ at Christmas, than a reconciled relationship with God, family, and neighbor. Especially if you have been away from the Sacrament for many years, Confession is always a great opportunity for spiritual renewal. As a priest, I cannot over emphasize the moment of Grace that God offers the soul who comes to confession. Please take advantage of the opportunity for Confession this Advent and approach the newborn Son of God, at Christmas, with a renewed spirit. We have several additional confession times this Advent to accommodate our varying schedules. Please don\u2019t hesitate to call me at the office if you\u2019d like to set an appointment for confession outside scheduled confession times.<\/p>\n<p>God bless,<\/p>\n<p>Father David<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The December 12 bulletin is now available online. Dear friend, This Sunday the Church celebrates Gaudete Sunday, the Third Sunday of Advent. \u201cGaudete,\u201d a Latin word meaning rejoice, is the first word of the Latin entrance antiphon for Sunday\u2019s Mass. \u201cRejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice. Indeed, the Lord is near.\u201d Philippians &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.stphils.com\/church\/pastors-letter-december-12-bulletin\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Pastor&#8217;s Letter &#038; December 12 Bulletin<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1248,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[83,40],"tags":[64,87],"class_list":["post-4004","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-father-david","category-letter-from-pastor","tag-advent","tag-reconciliation"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Pastor&#039;s Letter &amp; December 12 Bulletin - St. Philomena Catholic Church<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.stphils.com\/church\/pastors-letter-december-12-bulletin\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"chadmin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.stphils.com\/church\/pastors-letter-december-12-bulletin\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.stphils.com\/church\/pastors-letter-december-12-bulletin\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"chadmin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.stphils.com\/church\/#\/schema\/person\/5e00f5f2ab9dc0c9672d91f3666e7572\"},\"headline\":\"Pastor&#8217;s Letter &#038; December 12 Bulletin\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-12-10T15:55:41+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.stphils.com\/church\/pastors-letter-december-12-bulletin\/\"},\"wordCount\":583,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.stphils.com\/church\/pastors-letter-december-12-bulletin\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.stphils.com\/church\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/RICHARDSON-Father-David-P.-Pastor.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Advent\",\"reconciliation\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Father David\",\"Pastor's Weekly Letter\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.stphils.com\/church\/pastors-letter-december-12-bulletin\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.stphils.com\/church\/pastors-letter-december-12-bulletin\/\",\"name\":\"Pastor's Letter & December 12 Bulletin - St. Philomena Catholic Church\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.stphils.com\/church\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.stphils.com\/church\/pastors-letter-december-12-bulletin\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.stphils.com\/church\/pastors-letter-december-12-bulletin\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.stphils.com\/church\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/RICHARDSON-Father-David-P.-Pastor.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-12-10T15:55:41+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.stphils.com\/church\/#\/schema\/person\/5e00f5f2ab9dc0c9672d91f3666e7572\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.stphils.com\/church\/pastors-letter-december-12-bulletin\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.stphils.com\/church\/pastors-letter-december-12-bulletin\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.stphils.com\/church\/pastors-letter-december-12-bulletin\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.stphils.com\/church\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/RICHARDSON-Father-David-P.-Pastor.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.stphils.com\/church\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/RICHARDSON-Father-David-P.-Pastor.jpg\",\"width\":1250,\"height\":1000},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.stphils.com\/church\/pastors-letter-december-12-bulletin\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.stphils.com\/church\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Pastor&#8217;s Letter &#038; December 12 Bulletin\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.stphils.com\/church\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.stphils.com\/church\/\",\"name\":\"St. Philomena Catholic Church\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.stphils.com\/church\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.stphils.com\/church\/#\/schema\/person\/5e00f5f2ab9dc0c9672d91f3666e7572\",\"name\":\"chadmin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7ded2ff7c26a780bffc380e3c5959dc4aa8a8b7bd3fb1899fe03ebfb94180bec?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7ded2ff7c26a780bffc380e3c5959dc4aa8a8b7bd3fb1899fe03ebfb94180bec?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7ded2ff7c26a780bffc380e3c5959dc4aa8a8b7bd3fb1899fe03ebfb94180bec?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"chadmin\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.stphils.com\/church\/author\/chadmin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Pastor's Letter & December 12 Bulletin - St. Philomena Catholic Church","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.stphils.com\/church\/pastors-letter-december-12-bulletin\/","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"chadmin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.stphils.com\/church\/pastors-letter-december-12-bulletin\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.stphils.com\/church\/pastors-letter-december-12-bulletin\/"},"author":{"name":"chadmin","@id":"https:\/\/www.stphils.com\/church\/#\/schema\/person\/5e00f5f2ab9dc0c9672d91f3666e7572"},"headline":"Pastor&#8217;s Letter &#038; December 12 Bulletin","datePublished":"2021-12-10T15:55:41+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.stphils.com\/church\/pastors-letter-december-12-bulletin\/"},"wordCount":583,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.stphils.com\/church\/pastors-letter-december-12-bulletin\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.stphils.com\/church\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/RICHARDSON-Father-David-P.-Pastor.jpg","keywords":["Advent","reconciliation"],"articleSection":["Father David","Pastor's Weekly Letter"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.stphils.com\/church\/pastors-letter-december-12-bulletin\/","url":"https:\/\/www.stphils.com\/church\/pastors-letter-december-12-bulletin\/","name":"Pastor's Letter & December 12 Bulletin - St. Philomena Catholic Church","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.stphils.com\/church\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.stphils.com\/church\/pastors-letter-december-12-bulletin\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.stphils.com\/church\/pastors-letter-december-12-bulletin\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.stphils.com\/church\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/RICHARDSON-Father-David-P.-Pastor.jpg","datePublished":"2021-12-10T15:55:41+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.stphils.com\/church\/#\/schema\/person\/5e00f5f2ab9dc0c9672d91f3666e7572"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.stphils.com\/church\/pastors-letter-december-12-bulletin\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.stphils.com\/church\/pastors-letter-december-12-bulletin\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.stphils.com\/church\/pastors-letter-december-12-bulletin\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.stphils.com\/church\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/RICHARDSON-Father-David-P.-Pastor.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.stphils.com\/church\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/RICHARDSON-Father-David-P.-Pastor.jpg","width":1250,"height":1000},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.stphils.com\/church\/pastors-letter-december-12-bulletin\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.stphils.com\/church\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Pastor&#8217;s Letter &#038; December 12 Bulletin"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.stphils.com\/church\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.stphils.com\/church\/","name":"St. Philomena Catholic Church","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.stphils.com\/church\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.stphils.com\/church\/#\/schema\/person\/5e00f5f2ab9dc0c9672d91f3666e7572","name":"chadmin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7ded2ff7c26a780bffc380e3c5959dc4aa8a8b7bd3fb1899fe03ebfb94180bec?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7ded2ff7c26a780bffc380e3c5959dc4aa8a8b7bd3fb1899fe03ebfb94180bec?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7ded2ff7c26a780bffc380e3c5959dc4aa8a8b7bd3fb1899fe03ebfb94180bec?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"chadmin"},"url":"https:\/\/www.stphils.com\/church\/author\/chadmin\/"}]}},"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stphils.com\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4004","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stphils.com\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stphils.com\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stphils.com\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stphils.com\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4004"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.stphils.com\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4004\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4006,"href":"https:\/\/www.stphils.com\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4004\/revisions\/4006"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stphils.com\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1248"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stphils.com\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4004"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stphils.com\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4004"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stphils.com\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4004"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}