Sunday, November 30th 2025

Dear Parishioners of Pope St. John XXIII Parish Family,

Welcome you all to the new liturgical year of the church, with this first Sunday of the Advent. We enter into this new cycle “year A” with an invitation to “stay awake, for you do not know on which day your Lord will come.” (Mt 24:42). Advent is a time of eager waiting for the coming of the Lord as prophesied by Isaiah in the first reading. Indeed, it’s a time of preparation to welcome the Messiah who comes to save us. He comes to save us, from our own selfishness and our bondage to sinfulness. That’s also the main reason we share gifts at His coming, a sign of breaking free from our bondage and looking out for our neighbor. Let us make this Advent more meaningful by preparing ourselves worthily, utilizing the opportunities provided in the parish in the form of advent retreats and sacrament of reconciliation, so that we be ready to receive the Lord at His Nativity.

Thank you to the Confirmation students from PSJ’s English and Vietnamese classes for completing three hours of community service inside the church. Thank you also to the parents for your support and for bringing your children. In addition, on December 14th, from 9:30–11:30 a.m., the Confirmation students from SJOW will visit the King Manor Senior Living Facility to socialize with the residents, uplift their spirits, and share the joy of Christmas by singing carols. It is beautiful to see our young people taking the initiative to reach out and spread joy. Thank you to the teachers, parents, and children for this kind and meaningful effort.

Speaking about sharing, the parish Food Bank is planning for the Christmas basket for the poor families that need them the most. The ministries of the Food Bank will come up with the list of the necessary items. We can participate in donating to the food bank to prepare the baskets by dropping the requested the items at each of our locations in the destined spot. May I also request you to bring to our notice, if any family in your neighborhood would need the Christmas Basket, so that we can reach-out to them. We also have the giving tree set up by the out-reach ministry, you can pick a slip from the tree and buy the gift named in the slip to brighten the day of those home-bound and confined to care-homes. The tree will be set up from the first to the third week of advent.

This year, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception falls next Monday, therefore I urge everyone to participate in the Eucharist on December 8. This Holy Day of Obligation will be celebrated with Masses at various times and locations: PSJ23 (English at 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., Vietnamese at 7 p.m.), and St. John of the Woods at 6 p.m. We invite you to attend any of these Masses. Remind you also of the celebration of the Simbang-Gabi this year at Visitation on the 9th of December at 7pm and at PSJ23 on 15th of December at 7pm. All are invited to come and celebrate with our Pilipino community their faith and culture on these days.

The out-reach ministry of our parish also plans to celebrate the Christmas with the senior members of our parish on December 17 at 10:30 am, specially who are home-bound with the Eucharistic celebration with the sacrament of healing followed by the entertainment by the pre-K children and lunch. Help bring those who can’t partake in our parish Christmas celebration to come and participate on this day.

We warmly welcome our new parishioners and those recently baptized, and we are grateful for everyone joining our parish leadership roles. Finally, a sincere thank you to everyone who helps keep our church grounds clean. Your efforts create a welcoming environment for all, and we ask everyone to help maintain clean restrooms across our campuses and check the doors and gates before your leave the church premises so that we can secure our facilities from vandalism and excess heating bills. Let us together build our parish with responsibility and love.

Sincerely yours in Christ,

Fr. Tuan Nguyen, D. Min

Pastor