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ADVENT POCKETS OF PRAYER Second Sunday of Advent-

This Sunday we meet the great prophet John the Baptist in our Gospel reading. John tells us that the Messiah that is to come will baptize us in the Holy Spirit. Do you remember your Confirmation? Easier for some of us than others! Upon Confirmation we are sealed with the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Wisdom, Understanding, Knowledge, Counsel, Fortitude, Piety, Wonder and Awe. Pray about these gifts. Find a picture of someone you know or admire, who embodies one of these gifts and put it on your fridge this week asking God to increase this gift in you as well.

Saints of the Week- Our Lady of Guadalupe and Juan Diego The famous appearance of the Blessed Virgin Mary to the poor peasant Juan Diego reminds us that God is always speaking to us. Just as Mary filled Juan’s tilma with roses, God fills our lives with blessings and reminders of his love for the world. Can you find a “rose” this week, an unlikely reminder of the love of God? Maybe share an actual rose bloom with someone who also needs this reminder.

December 10, 2017 2nd Sunday in Advent

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INTENTIONS

Monday Dec. 11 8:30 am

Tuesday Dec. 12 7:00pm Wednesday Dec. 13 8:30 am Parish Community Friday Dec. 15 8:30 am Saturday Dec. 16 5:30pm +Victoria Cusack Sunday Dec. 17 8:15 am +Mike Turano 10:30am +Dee Mudrock

God is the source of all healing and hope, to whom we lift up in prayer the needs of the sick and those who care for them. Pray for all the needs in our Book of Intentions and for

those in our Parish Family who are sick: Lord, allow your healing hand to assist JD Howell, Jack & Jane Tabaka, Bill Dorsey, Joseph Hemphill, Alyssa Stover, Chet Andruskiewicz, Jim Gambort, Maryann Ciabattoni, Helen Meys, Candi Smith, Sean McCormick, Janice Kane, Ralph Culver, Kevin Rzucidlo, Mike Pohlen, Cass Thomas, Courtney Corridori, Joel Rivera, David Heckman, Carol Strasser, Burt Strasser, Patty Calhoun, Laurel Milano, Gloria Oosterom, Burt & Carol Strasser, and others mentioned in our parish book of intentions.

LITURGY Pope Francis’ Prayer Intention--December 2017 The Elderly: That the elderly, sustained by families and Christian communities, may apply their wisdom and experience to spreading the faith and forming the new generations.

Penance Service

December 12 at 7:00 pm St. John Beloved,

Wilmington

Taize Prayer and Reconciliation Service Wednesday, December

20th at 7:00 pm Immaculate Conception

Elkton, MD

In addition, a priest is available at Resurrection each Tuesday evening from 6:30-6:50 pm

and Saturday from 4:45-5:15 pm for confession.

MUSIC for Christmas Eve: Teens and adults interested in joining the Resurrection Parish Music Ministry are most heartily welcomed! All newly interested and currently serving singers are invited to

join the choir for our 11:00 pm Christmas Eve Mass. Rehearsals are Monday, December 11, and Wednesday, December 20, 6:45-9:00 pm. We’d love to have music ready for you, so if you plan to join in, please contact Ruth Sanders, 302-368-0146 Ext. 106, rsanders@resurrectionde.org . ENVIRONMENT Preparation for Christmas: HOLY CRECHE and CHAIRS and BANNERS and TREES and … well you name it! Christmas Eve is on SUNDAY December 24 this year! We’ll be preparing on Sunday December 17, a week earlier than usual. Thanks for all help you can offer and for putting the date on your calendars.

PARISH LIFE

It’s not too late to sign up for Best Advent Ever at https://dynamiccatholic.com/best-advent-ever.

You are all welcome to attend your next Pastoral Council Meeting to be held on Sunday, December 10, 2017 at 6:30 p.m. in Room 4. The agenda will include an update on the progress of Teams to Improve Pastoral Council; to Improve Parish Communications; to develop a New Parish Model; to Attract New Parishioners; and to Grow and Promote Ministries. Pastoral Council will discuss the format for introducing, to the parish, the objectives of each Team. Also on the agenda is a report from the Property and Grounds Committee. Pastoral Council members will now be identified with name tags in order to be more visible to the Parish. Please take time to share your concerns, ask questions and get to know your representative. There are challenges ahead for the Parish and we need and value your input.

A Parishioner Appreciation Brunch will be offered 12/17/17 after the 8:15 and 10:30AM Masses. We appreciate you!

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Welcoming…Christmas Greeting

Zac Davis, age 24, is an editor in Catholic media. He writes: “I have spent plenty of time parish shopping—it took me a while to find a sacramental home. I have been the youngest person in the pews too

many times. I can no longer count the number of churches I have walked in and out of without anyone saying hello and asking what my name was, or if I was new.”

Over the holidays (especially Christmas) there will be hundreds we don’t usually see at Resurrection, and some of them will be new. I want to have at least 20 greeters for the Christmas Eve Masses. So, please think ahead and decide which Mass you are attending and then if feasible contact the office to sign up to be greeter at a Christmas Mass. Thanks for helping us plan ahead and be ready to greet the unknown potential in our midst. Fr. Bill Graney Need thin tapered Advent Candles? There is a limited supply of advent candles in the youth ministry office. Suggested donation $5 for the set of 4. Contact Elaine at elittle@resurrectionde.org if you would like a set. Roof repairs As most of you recall we did replace the shingle part of the roof a few years ago. This past week the flat roof (over the worship area) was replaced. Because of your past giving (in savings) and funds from the Capital Campaign (Sustaining Hope for the Future) we have enough to pay for these repairs. Some people did not want to give to the Diocesan campaign for a few reasons. But if those donors/ parishioners would like to help pay for the roof, it is a very welcome end of the year cause. This would help replace the savings used for the two roofing projects. The other two causes that the funds from Sustaining Hope for the Future are covering to a limited extent is ministry development and kitchen expansion. We have used some funds for ministry development and adult formation. More on kitchen expansion later. Thanks to all who actively support this parish in your time and talent besides your financial support. Thanks especially to those who have turned in the blue pledge forms for the coming calendar year. It is good evidence to all concerned that we are a vital community furthering the Gospel message.

With great appreciation, Fr. Bill Graney

Dec 12 Capriotti’s Fundraiser to Support the Service trip to Brooklyn, NY this summer -No need to prepare lunch or dinner. Anytime between open and close come to the Fundraiser at the Capriotti's in Newark (230 E. Main Street Suite 241,Newark, DE 19711) let the cashier know that you are supporting the Resurrection Service Trip and 20% of your total bill will be donated back. RSVP at: https://www.groupraise.com/events/46200

CONTEMPLATIVE CHRISTIANITY

Wednesday, December 13, 2017 6:30 - 8:15 p.m.

Gathering Space at Resurrection Church

ALL ARE WELCOME

please join us!

Facilitated by Fr. Greg Corrigan

SOCIAL CONCERNS

Please return wrapped gifts to the tree in the Gathering Space and Resurrection Outreach Donations to Church Office By December 10th Contact Cathy Blanchet 302-462-6700 or Betsi Gerber 302-354-0834 for

information or to help sort and/or deliver.

ELEMENTARY CHRISTIAN FORMATION

Sacramental Preparation: Church Tour Class is Sunday, December 3rd at 11:45am-12:30pm

Welcome! K-5 Christian Formation Program (CFP) will meet on 12/3, 12/10, and 12/17 from 9:15-10:15. Drop off begins at 9:10. See you there!

Would you like more information about Christian Formation for Children (Religious Education or Sacramental Preparation)? Contact Nancy Maloney, CFP Coordinator, at nmaloney@resurrectionde.org

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CFP: YOUTH MINISTRY Middle and High School Youth Group

December 17 6:30-8:15 PM Confirmation 2018 Current 8th and 9th graders are invited to register and prepare to be confirmed fall of 2018. We will begin with a parent meeting on December 10 at

12:00 noon in the youth room. The first gathering for the youth will be on Sunday, January 28, 2018 from 12:00-2:30 PM. College Age Retreat on the Jersey Shore- January 5-7, 2018: This retreat is designed to bring together young people of college-age (17-22 Current Year High School Seniors are welcomed) to renew your spiritual life, deepen your relationship with God and to enrich your association with your peers. Our time will be filled with prayer, special liturgies, peer group discussions and Eucharist. To register and for more information go to capemaymarianists.org Marianist Family Retreat Center 417 Yale Avenue Cape May Point, New Jersey 08212-0488 A MORNING PRAYER Living God, refine my vision today, Let me focus on the faces I pass every day and never see.

TAKING IT HOME

Surely these are still uncertain times. The state of our economy, though improving, is not improving quickly enough for some. The political picture appears blurry with a President who seems so self-absorbed that he could in fact create a catastrophe without even realizing it. Terror continues to be a concern and worry over the state of health care has us all on edge. Then there is the future of our children; what will become of them? What kind of world will they live in? Still others have elderly parents who need care. Who and how will that care be provided? And on and on it goes. So is it any wonder that we still anticipate the joy of Christmas? And if we don’t anticipate joy at Christmas, what are we to do with Advent? So our inclination may be to dismiss Advent. Is it really a season worth celebrating? The curious thing about life is that we think what happens here and what we do here will give us complete happiness. We think that things like worry, anxiety and

the crush of world events should simply give way to our desire to be happy; to be at peace. Happiness is our right and so this is the way things should be. But when things don’t quite go the way we imagined, when happiness doesn’t appear at the end of the rainbow, we are disappointed. The reality, however, is that we do live in an uncertain world and that, not everything will go as expected. Why should we have thought otherwise? This world, this place and this time cannot give us everything we desire, including the happiness that we seek. It can’t give this to us because this world is not yet complete. It is not yet the place where God reigns in God’s fullness. And so because our world is not yet complete and because God is not yet reigning in fullness we have a need for a season like Advent. We have a need for Advent because Advent teaches us how to live in-between this time of uncertainty, this time between our urgency for wholeness in our lives and the reality of our incompleteness. We long to be whole, to be happy and complete, but the reality of our lives tells us that this is a satisfaction that we cannot have because this world cannot give it. Only in God can we find the peace we seek. This is the message we hear in our second reading from Peter. “The Lord does not delay his promise, as some regard delay, (rather) God is patient with you not wishing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” So be patient people, there is reason to hope and not worry. God works in God’s own time, gently waiting for resistance to breakdown so that we might come to understand God’s ways and live according to God’s design. Advent can teach us this message. Though our lives may seem incomplete and without hope, with God’s help we can savor the life we do have and become grateful that God gives us the opportunity to build that bridge to a new way of seeing, being and living.

In our human hearts this takes time and God is prepared to give us as much time as we need to hear, to

listen and to live in God’s mercy and love. For indeed, the Christmas story is the story of God taking us seriously by

taking our flesh and becoming bone of our bone. God does satisfy every longing in our hearts, so it is for us to determine how we might be eager to be “at peace.”

Deacon John

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Gospel Reflection: This gospel should sound very familiar. It is the gospel of John version of the passage used in the prior week’s liturgy, which came from the gospel of Mark. The passage recalls the ministry of John the Baptist, but it is given the particular slant of the gospel of John. Aside from the greater focus on the conversational interaction, it presents John as a “witness”. This is perhaps more typical of the John gospel emphasis on personal encounter with Jesus. Rather than acting as something of a herald, as in Mark’s account, here John the Baptist is witnessing “to speak for the light.” He makes a very clear distinction between himself and the Christ, his mission is simply to point towards the light; the Christ. Our common understanding of the word “witness” tends to be related to legal situations: providing a witness statement or acting as a witness to a fact in court. The use of witness in this gospel carries a different connotation: to provide witness through action and lifestyle that draws others to wonder about and perhaps come to accept the motivating belief. It is this understanding of witness that all Christians are called to provide. We are called to witness to our beliefs in the way that we live our lives, engage with others and hold to certain truths. Of course, there are some Christians who believe that their witness needs to be more obvious and more clearly stated. They feel that providing witness, or testimony, to their faith through spoken proclamation has a greater potential to change lives. Whether we choose to witness through our words or through our actions, it is essential that both words and actions have integrity; that there is no clash between what we proclaim and the way we live.

3RD SUNDAY OF ADVENT GOSPEL – JOHN 16:6-8, 19-28

A man named John was sent from God. He came for testimony, to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to testify to the light. And this is the testimony of John. When the Jews from Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to him to ask him, “”Who are you?” he admitted, “I am not the “Christ.” So they asked him, “What are you then? Are you Elijah?” And he said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” He answered, “No.” So they said to him, “Who are you, so we can give an answer to those who sent us. What do you have to say for yourself?” He said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the desert, ‘make straight the way of the Lord,’ as Isaiah the prophet said.” Some Pharisees were also sent. They asked him, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ or Elijah or the Prophet?” John answered them, “I baptize with water; but there is one among you whom you do not recognize, the one who is coming after me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to untie.” This happened in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

A time to Rejoice! This Sunday, the third Sunday of Advent is traditionally known as Gaudete Sunday. Gaudete is the Latin word for Rejoice! Advent was originally celebrated as a five week season and with the same fasting and penitential nature as the season of Lent. The third Sunday, Gaudete, was like a break for rejoicing in the midst of the fasting. When Advent was reduced to four weeks and the nature of the season altered, Gaudete Sunday was retained. The color of this Sunday is rose—a celebratory color.

A Witness? Me? It came as something of a surprise to me to think that other people might observe the way I treated others and draw conclusions about my motivation. It was when I started to work with young people that the truth of this was revealed. I realized that my actions could speak so much louder than anything I might say. I hoped that the young people I was working with might stop some time and think to themselves, “I wonder why he treats us all that way? I wonder how it fits with that religion stuff he talks about?” Well, I can hope can’t I?

Same but different: Hearing the same gospel passage from two different gospels in consecutive weeks is an ideal opportunity to highlight the different focus adopted by the different gospels. The language of John’s gospel is remarkably different from that of the three synoptic gospels (synoptic = “seen together”). The synoptics share a fairly common narrative style, while John relies much more on metaphor and imagery—it is a more poetic language. In the gospel account of John the Baptist, we see in John’s gospel a greater emphasis on the conversation around what was occurring, while Mark’s version emphasizes recording the event.

Exploring the Word prepare for 12/17/17

The English translation of the Gospel Verses from the Lectionary for Mass © 1997, 1981, 1968, International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc. All rights reserved. Lectionary for Mass, Copyright © 1998, 1997, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine; All rights reserved. Reflection, questions and alternative viewpoints © Greg Sunter. © Creative Communications 2008. Used with permission. Art: © Jenny Close. 2006 0310

Q. Why do you think we have two accounts of the same event in the liturgy on consecutive weeks? Q. Is there someone you know who witnesses to their faith through their actions? How do they do it? Are there forms of witnessing to faith that “turn you off”? Q. How can you effectively witness to your faith?

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