Pastor Speaks
The celebration of Advent and the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ should encourage us to focus on the family, because it is here that we base our family life on Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, the holy family at Nazareth. It should be a time filled with joy when we ponder the gift of God’s love, open our hearts to receive, and open our hands to give. It is a season for reflecting on spiritual promises, personal reflection, and strengthening the family’s relationship with God. Families can enhance their faith by praying together, having longer family prayer sessions, or reading Advent-specific passages from the Bible or devotionals. It is a time to make a crib and connect our family to the holy family at Nazareth.
Children especially enjoy the beauty and joy expressed in Christmas carols. However, Christmas carols should be sung at Christmas. During Advent, we are still waiting. Our music should express this waiting and longing for the Messiah. There are many beautiful Advent hymns. Learn one new hymn every week of Advent with your family. Your waiting will be rewarded with profound joy at Christmas time.
Greetings to our parishioners! At the onset I wish you all a happy “Monti Fest” in remembrance of birth of Mary, Mother of God. This year the parish reflects on how we can nurture a holy, healthy and loving family. As a pastor, I have a deep respect for every family our parish and wish each family a great family feast during this season. In this issue of tidings I am addressing a vast topic of family life, by giving a birds eye view from a scriptural, church and cultural perspective.
The Biblical family
Gen 6: 18 says “J will establish my covenant with you; and you shall come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and
Preparing our homes Our homes should reflect our readiness for Christ’s birth. Clean your home together, simplify, and share. Children can help prepare a box for the poor and lonely. You can donate extra clothing and household tems, bake cookies together and share them or save them for the joyous time of Christmas. Begin working on Christmas gifts early in Advent so that you can ‘rest your heart’ during the final days of Advent. Preparing our hearts – Just as we prepare our homes, we should prepare our hearts. This is the time for frequent sacrament of reconciliation, longer family prayer, and lots of Advent reading together. This is the time when the family can draw closer to the mystery of Christ’s Incarnation.
The best way to celebrate Advent and Christmas is to reflect on the beginning of a family with reflection on marriage vows and their implications. During the marriage ceremony, the church invites the couple to state their intention to enter into marriage in the presence of the church’s minister and the community. The love between the baptized couple, expressed in the presence of God, establishes the sacred seal. Through this sacrament of marriage, the couple is invited to be faithful to each other forever by assuming the responsibilities of married life. Christ blesses the couple with love that binds them. He enriches and strengthens Holy Baptism through which they were already consecrated. The bridegroom and the bride, without pressure, freely and wholeheartedly enter the marriage by consenting to each other. They promise to love and honor each other for as long as they both shall live. The couple expressly states to accept children lovingly from God and to bring them up according to the law of Christ and His Church. Only when they consent and expressly state their intention to enter into the covenant of Holy Matrimony are they invited to join their right hands and declare their consent before God and His church.
The bridegroom takes his own name and the name of the bride and calls on her to be his wife. He promises to be faithful to her in good times and bad, in sickness and in health, to love her, and to honor her all the days of his life. The bride expresses the same to her bridegroom by taking his name and hers. The minister then receives their consent by saying, “May the Lord, in His kindness, strengthen the consent you have declared before the Church and graciously bring to fulfillment His blessing within you. What God joins together, let no one put asunder.” For this wonderful act of love, the minister invites everyone present to praise God with the words: “Let us bless the Lord.” And all respond, saying, “Thanks be to God.”
The minister invokes blessings upon the rings which they will give each other as a sign of love and fidelity. The husband now takes the ring, wears it on his wife’s finger, and says: “Receive this ring as a sign of my love and fidelity. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” The wife repeats the same as she takes the ring, wears it on her husband’s finger, and says these words.
The sacramental marriage takes place within the Eucharistic celebration because marriage is a sacrament deeply connected to the Eucharist, or Holy Communion. The Mass, which includes the Eucharist, symbolizes the ultimate sacrifice and self-giving love of Christ for the Church. Celebrating a wedding within the Mass unites the couple’s marital self-giving to this ultimate sacrifice. This highlights that the couple is also becoming a visible sign of God’s love and covenant with His Church. The Mass makes present the new covenant in which Christ united Himself to the Church forever. By receiving the Eucharist together, the couple unites their own offering of themselves to each other with Christ’s offering for His Church. This signifies their unity with God and with each other as they begin their new life together. Through these sacraments, they become the “sacrament of love.” The celebration takes place in a sacred space, the church, to underscore the sanctity of marriage and to start their married life focused on God. Receiving the same Body and Blood of Christ allows the couple to form “one body” in Christ, reinforcing their unity and commitment through a shared spiritual experience.
The marriage also involves other preparations such as the marriage preparation course, filling out the pre-nuptial enquiry in the presence of the parish priest along with attached documents like a fresh baptism certificate, and publishing the bans during parish Mass and declaring there are no impediments to enter into marriage. The whole procedure starts six months prior to the nuptials. During this time, it is not only about preparing for the wedding reception; the couple should make an effort to know each other by discussing their past and future. For a good married life ahead, they should consider the physical, spiritual, emotional, psychological, socio-cultural, and economic elements of life. These should never be overlooked as they can be hindrances to future marital well-being.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2026. May our families be protected by the Holy Family!
Fr. Lawrence D’cunha
OCD Parish Priest, St. Joseph Church