Dear Parishioners of Our Lady of La Vang,

Today Vietnamese Catholic Mothers of our parish celebrates their Feast Day- Immaculate Conception. Together with Father Bao Thai, we want to express our deepest gratitude and congratulate to our Catholic Mothers who have graciously worked very hard in making and selling Vietnamese foods throughout the year. Their great sacrifices and working very hard is only God can redeem them. May the Lord, through the intercession of Our Lady of La Vang, bestow upon them peace, love and joy. Again, we are very grateful to the Vietnamese Catholic Mothers and congratulations to all of you on your feast day today.

The theme for the Second Sunday of Advent is to prepare the way for the Lord. Today's first reading, from Isaiah, emphasizes that, through his Son, God does all the saving. On the other hand, we must cooperate with God because He cannot force his bounty upon us. That is why John the Baptist in today’s Gospel summons us to play our essential part by leading lives of repentance, conversion and renewal, thus preparing the way for the Lord's second coming. We start this process by preparing for the celebration of Christmas, the Lord’s first coming.

Because of the bad example of the unfaithful successors of King David, the Chosen People were wavering in their loyalty to Yahweh. Hence Isaiah, in the first reading, tried to dispel their fears, and stir up hope among his people with God’s promise of a new Davidic King (a son of Jesse), who would establish peace and a glorious kingdom of justice on earth. In the second reading, Paul was praying for the Jewish Christians of Rome and instructing them to draw endurance and encouragement from the Old Testament books. They were to live in harmony with Gentile Christians, accepting them as equals and brothers and sisters while they waited for the second coming of Jesus. In today’s Gospel, John the Baptizer warned the Pharisees and Sadducees to give evidence that they meant to reform their lives so as to recognize and accept the promised Messiah. He challenged them to repentance, conversion and renewal. He told the common people, who expected the Messiah to come in the near future, to act with justice and charity, letting their lives reflect the transformation that would occur when the Messiah entered their lives. In the same way, as we prepare to welcome Christ at Christmas, John advises us to "prepare the way of the Lord. We need to prepare for Christ’s coming by allowing him to be reborn daily in our lives: Advent is the time for us to make this preparation by repenting of our sins and renewing our lives through prayer, penance, and the sharing of our blessings with others.

Your humble Servant in Jesus Christ the King and Our Lady of La Vang

Reverend Joseph Luan Nguyen - Pastor