Latest Message from Fr. Paul Cao – December 14, 2025
RECONCILIATION SERVICE – Please come to the Sacrament of Reconciliation in order to prepare yourself to celebrate the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ on Monday, December 15 at 7 PM at St. Cyprian Church. Confessions with a Polish-speaking priest are also available on Saturday, December 20 at 3:30 PM at St. Celestine.
Let us come to the sacrament to experience God’s love and to seek forgiveness in our lives. Jesus is waiting for you in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, so please take this opportunity to come clean your spiritual house in order to have a better place for Jesus to come during this Christmas Season.
SIMBANG GABI – Be sure to join us, along with the Filipino members of our parish community, as we celebrate Simbang Gabi at the 5 PM Mass next Saturday, December 20 at St. Celestine Church. Simbang Gabi (“Masses of the Night”) is a novena of Marian Masses that are celebrated on nine days immediately preceding the Masses of Christmas. Everyone is also invited to a meal of Filipino delights in the gym and annex immediately following the Mass. I would like to thank Deacon Roland, the Domingo and Arenga families and those who helped to make this beautiful celebration possible.
REJOICE SUNDAY – This weekend we celebrate the Third Sunday of Advent, which is traditionally known as Gaudete Sunday, a name taken from the Latin word for “Rejoice!” Joy is the central theme of our liturgy, highlighted by the rose-colored candle lit on our Advent wreath. It is a joyful pause, reminding us that the Lord’s coming is drawing near.
In only 10 more days we will celebrate Christmas. It is a day of rejoicing and of “joy to the world.” Love came down at Christmas, as one seasonal song goes, and with it came joy, the ability for us to overcome sin and sadness, because our Lord loved us enough to become one like us. As in the chorus of the song we sing, “Rejoice and be glad. Blessed are you, holy are you. Yours is the kingdom of God.”
May joy be ours at this special season!
Happy Advent!!!
Fr. Paul Cao
Pastor of St. Mother Theodore Guerin Parish