Sunday Liturgy
Saturday: 5:00 pm
Sunday: 11:00 am
Mission Statement
We are a welcoming Christian community called to embrace and respect the uniqueness of each individual as we join together in our faith and worship. Our ongoing mission is to engage our youth, promote renewal, out reach, evangelization and ecumenical cooperation.
MASS INTENTIONS FOR THE WEEK
Monday, December 8th – 9:00 am No Mass
Monday, December 8th – 12 Noon Funeral Mass – Louise Merzetti
Monday, December 8th – 6:30 pm Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception
(in the Cathedral)
Tuesday, December 9th – 9:00 am Adam Troy Arseneault
Wednesday, December 10th – 9:00 am Mary Jane Wetmore
Thursday, December 11th – 9:00 am Phylis Biddescombe
Friday, December 12th – 9:00 am No Mass
Saturday, December 13th – 5:00 pm Natalie Stafford
Sunday, December 14th – 11:00 am Gisele Marie Arseneau
CHRISTMAS & NEW YEAR MASS SCHEDULE
Christmas
Wednesday, December 24th
4 pm – Mass
7 pm – Mass
Thursday, December 25th
11 am – Mass
New Year’s
Wednesday, December 31st
5 pm – Mass
Thursday, January 1st
11 am – Mass
Weekly Reflections (Homily) from Msgr. Sheehan (December 5, 2025)
SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT
Dear friends;
What we long for… what we hope for… what would ever satisfy us…
These are the thoughts of our readings to-day – dear friends… a longing for things… a longing for a new situation… a new world… will it ever happen? Will it ever come?..
Isaiah tells us confidently… better days are ahead… things you hope for and long for will take place:
“On that day
Who will bring us this better day… this new day?
“A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse… a branch shall grow out of his roots…”
And what will this person be like?
“The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him
the spirit of wisdom and understanding
the spirit of counsel and might…
the spirit of knowledge…
his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord…
he will live in awe of the Lord”
(Isaiah 11)
But it is not only his wisdom… his understanding… his counsel… his knowledge… that is so wonderful… it will be how he uses it… what he does with it…
For while we look to a leader for all those gifts in that person… Those qualities in their make-up… we know that sometimes they don’t use them… they don’t bring them to the table… so to speak… they don’t put them to use for our benefit – for the good of others… for the advantage of others…
Not this person
“He will judge – not by what they eyes see”… (he will go beyond the surface… where so often truth is found…)
“He won’t be swayed by gossip or hearsay… no – He will not decide by what his ears hear…”
“He will judge by righteousness… with equity… taking in all sides…” righteousness will be the belt around his waist… he will be faithful… full of trust… and hope in people… especially towards the poor… the meek… the strugglers…
“Righteousness will be the belt around his waist – and faithfulness will be the belt around his loins…”
And on that day… the day we so long for… nature and hostility and wildness in nature will be tamed… and the violent aggression that we witness will be overcome… and stilled… it will all change…
Isaiah describes the most idyllic of scenes… animals even who use to devour each other… children and youth being taken advantage of… being preyed upon… all that will end… it will cease…
“The wolf will live with the lamb… the leopard shall lie down with the kid… the calf and the lion and the fattling together…” and then one of the most beautiful portrayals of peace and serenity… and reconciling unity in the scriptures…
“A little child shall lead them:… unhurt… untouched… unbruised…
“The cow and the bear shall graze… their young shall lie down together… “(they will get along… they will lie down together
No harm shall come upon the child…
“The nursing child shall play over the hold of the asp… the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder’s den…”
“There will be no hurt… there will be no destroy…” on my holy mountain…
On that day… the earth… the waters that cover the sea even… will be full of knowledge… they will know that this is how it was meant to be…
This is one of the great texts of Advent… dear friends… It is one of the great texts of scripture… the longing for God to come to us in our longing… in our hopes…in our yearning for what God can do it is the cry of a voice… a human voice longing for a change to what one is going through… and how it can be different… and who can bring it about…
As always… Isaiah is not the only one to be inspired…
Some years ago… A beautiful song… Again from a musical that captures so much of Isaiah’s longing… a little girl… in the throes of the French Revolution… longing for an end to her pain… the noise and din of violence… she finds it in her sleep in her dreams… for her it is a castle… a dream castle on a cloud… it’s terribly close to the prophetic voice of Isaiah
Little Cosette’s song from Les Miserables… “A Castle on a Cloud…”
Cossett
There is a castle on a cloud
I like to go there in my sleep
Aren’t any floors for me to sweep
Not in my castle on a cloud
There is a room that’s full of toys
There are a hundred boys and girls
Nobody shouts or talks too loud
Not in my castle on a cloud
There is a lady all in white
Holds me and sings a lullaby
She’s nice to see
And she’s soft to touch
She says: “Cosette, I love you very much”.
I know a place where no one’s lost
I know a place where no one cries
Crying at all is not allowed
Not in my castle on a cloud.
“On that day… the root of Jesse shall stand… as a signal to the peoples… his dwelling… will be glorious…
Come Lord Jesus!!!
Amen.