Dear Holy Trinity Family,

The first Sunday of Advent of this year is December 1st. Although it is two or three weeks away, I would

like to address it a little bit earlier. Approaching the end of Ordinary Time in liturgical calendar, the Church

is getting ready for the Advent Time, which we must be ready for the Nativity of Christ with sense of joy

along with repentance. Advent is the time of hope and anticipation that we are celebrating with not only

Jesus who came two thousand years ago, but also Jesus who will come again for fulfillment of salvation.

He is the most precious gift among many from our Heavenly Father. As we embrace the birthday of Jesus,

like Him, let us be the cause of joy and happiness to other people. The whole Church cries out

“Maranatha,” – in an Aramaic phrase – Come, Lord Jesus! We await the Parousia. Since we do not know

when the Parousia will be, we must be vigilant and stay awake. For the Advent, the color of vestment of

clergy is a bright bluish purple; it is different than the color of Lenten vestment – a deep purple. It is a color

of repentance; yet it is a color of hope as well. At Sunday Masses, the “Gloria” will be omitted during the

Advent until the day before Christmas Eve. The cycle of readings will be Year C for Sunday Masses and

Cycle 1 for weekday Masses. We will read the Gospel of Luke for Sundays.

“Advent has a two-fold character, for it is a time of preparation for the Solemnities of Christmas, in which

the First Coming of the Son of God to humanity is remembered, and likewise a time when, by

remembrance of this, minds and hearts are led to look forward to Christ’s Second Coming at the end of

time. For these two reasons, Advent is a period of devout and expectant delight” (Universal Norms for the

Liturgical Year and the Calendar, 39).

As of December 1st, the First Sunday of Advent, we will find two missalettes in pew pockets – one that we

have been using “Celebrating the Eucharist” and the new one “Unidos En Cristo United In Christ.” The

second missalette is a bilingual edition of English and Spanish. Please get familiar with the new missalette

“Unidos En Cristo United In Christ.” With the consultation with the Holy Trinity Parish Pastoral Council

and Financial Council, we are in transition to change our missalette for everyone – both English speakers

and Spanish speakers. Once this transition period is over, there will be only the new missalette. I hope and

pray that this change of missalette be a sign of our parish as a welcoming community of all and everyone.

Let us continuously ask our Virgin Mary to intercede for us. May God bless us all!

Blessings,

Fr. Brian