Advent Season: Getting Plugged Into Parish Activities

During our last Joe Catholic gathering, I recommended that one of the things we can do during Advent is get plugged into parish sponsored activities. Last night our parish celebrated the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Our parish does not have a Spanish speaking mass nor do we have a formal organization of our Hispanic members. Nevertheless, a group of parishioners organized a beautiful celebration that included a bi-lingual Mass, traditional procession dance by matachines (mostly children from the parish community) and a Mexican meal afterwards.

What I liked best about the evening, is that it was a wonderful blending of the liturgy and social "inreach." It seems to me that this is precisely the sort of thing we need to be doing as part of the New Evangelization.

The parish activities to help members get involved don't all have to be cultural or social events. Next week, out parish, like many throughout the area, will be conducting an Evening of Reconciliation. What this is a night in which we gather for a formal examination of conscience and multiple priests, normally from our deanery, get stationed throughout the sanctuary to hear confessions.

What type of events does your parish hold? Check out the matachines from our Mass last night.