Gulf Pine Catholic

Gulf Pine Catholic • December 10, 2021 3 Gulf Pine Catholic (ISSN No. 0746-3804) December 10, 2021 Volume 39, Issue 8 The GULF PINE CATHOLIC , published every other week, is an official publication of the Catholic Diocese of Biloxi. Editorial offices are located at 1790 Popps Ferry Road Biloxi, MS 39532. Periodical postage paid at Gulfport, MS. —POSTMASTER— Send address changes to: The GULF PINE CATHOLIC 1790 Popps Ferry Road Biloxi, MS 39532 —PUBLISHER— Most Rev. Louis F. Kihneman —EDITOR— Terry Dickson —PRODUCTION/ ADVERTISING — Shirley M c Cusker —CIRCULATION— Aimee McLendon —PHOTOGRAPHY— Juliana Skelton —OFFICEHOURS— 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday - Friday —PHONE NUMBERS— Editor: 228-702-2126 Production/Advertising: 228-702-2109 Circulation: 228-702-2127 Photography: 228-201-2132 FAX: 228-702-2128 —EMAIL— News: tdickson@biloxidiocese.org Production / Advertising: smccusker@biloxidiocese.org Circulation: amclendon@biloxidiocese.org Photography: jskelton@biloxidiocese.org —OFFICEAND MAILINGADDRESS — 1790 Popps Ferry Road Biloxi, MS 39532 —WEBSITE— www.biloxidiocese.org —SUBSCRIPTIONS — Subscription rate is $18 per year. When changing address, renewing or inquiring about a subscription, customer should include a recent address label with old address and new address. Allow three weeks for changes of address. —DEADLINES for DEC. 24 EDITION— News copy and photos: Due DEC. 15, 4 p.m. Advertising: Completed Ad and/or copy due DEC. 15, 10 a.m. Bishop Kihneman’s Schedule Dec. 11 Vigil Mass Third Sunday Advent, Sacred Heart, Pascagoula (Our Lady of Guadalupe), 6 p.m. Dec. 12 Our Lady of Guadalupe Mass, St. John the Evangelist, Gulfport, 2 p.m. Dec. 15 Housing Board Meeting, 3 p.m. Dec. 16 Finance Council, 2 p.m. Dec. 16 St. James Christmas Program, 6 p.m. Dec. 17 Polish Dinner with Seminarians, OLV Rectory, 6 p.m. Dec. 19 Nativity BVM Cathedral, 11 a.m. Dec. 24 Christmas Vigil Mass, Nativity BVM Cathedral, 11 p.m. Jan. 2 Mass, The Epiphany of our Lord, Nativity BVM Cathedral, 11 a.m. BY BISHOP LOUIS F. KIHNEMAN III Bishop of the Diocese of Biloxi Brothers and sisters: May the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, just as we have for you, so as to strengthen your hearts, to be blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Je- sus with all his holy ones. Amen. 1 Th 3:12-13 The season of Advent is full of rich sym- bolism. The Jesse Tree symbolizes the expectation of Jesus’ birth. It is a way of preparing for Advent by journeying through the stories of Jesus’ family tree. We start with a branch that appears barren. Each day of Advent, we read a Bible story about the people in Jesus’ family tree and add orna- ments that are symbols of these people and their stories. Through the fullness of the Jesse Tree, we can see how God prepared for Jesus to be born through the many genera- tions of salvation history. The Advent Wreath is a sign that we are in a time of waiting and a time of expecta- tion. Each of the Advent candles are symbols of faith, hope, joy, and love, and each week as we light the candles, we wait in vigil for our Newborn King! Parents and grandpar- ents, think about the first time you held your children or grandchildren in your arms. That joy is kind of the expectant joy that we are being invited into with that first candle being lit and by allowing the Word of God to truly touch our hearts. For those of us who aren’t parents or grandparents, remembering that moment Bishop Kihneman Living in expectant joy of Christ’s birth in our midst because, as we read in Saint Paul’s Letter to the Thessalonians, what we need is provided for us. God’s grace is flowing out to us. The Word of God is part of God’s grace. God’s word speaks directly to us, and anoth- er way we can prepare is to make the Word of God the center of our lives, not just part of our lives. Read God’s Word each day. Those of us who are on Twitter, can follow me at @ KihnemanBp and I will share God’s Word with you every single day. Another thing I would suggest to you during this time of Advent is to think about our propensity to watch the news. If you want to be depressed, just watch the news. So let me suggest something to you: Fast from the news -- television, iPad, phones, computer…everything (except for the Gulf Pine Catholic ). Use this time for prayer and reading Scripture. The world will still be there after the four weeks have ended, unless Jesus comes and, if He comes, you will be ready for Him with open arms and a heart filled with faith, hope, joy, and love. The third thing I would suggest is that we be a people who share the love of God, always, but even more so during Advent and Christmas. People are looking for us to share the reason for our joy and hope. “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.” (John 3:16). I encourage all of us, especially kids, to perform some random act of love every day -- for your parents, for your grandpar- ents, for your brothers and sisters -- some act of random love. For us adults, random acts of love and kindness can be shared every day, even for those we do not know. Make a point to share with others the expectant joy of Christmas, the expectant joy of Jesus being born in our midst. Daily prayer, reading the Bible, sharing your faith, hope, joy, and love of God, and the final piece of preparation is gathering to celebrate the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. We enter the church to worship God -- as we are and who we are -- God says to us, I invite you to this Mass as we wait in joyful expecta- tion of the birth of Jesus. It is a special moment of joy and grace, God’s grace pour- ing out to us as we plead with Jesus who will be present with us in His Body and Blood. He, out of love says, Yes, I love you that much that I am now born anew for you in the bread and wine for it becomes my Body and my Blood that I want to share with you and give you the grace you need to experience the joy of my birth in your life. Let us pray for that grace during this Advent season. when mom or dad or grandma and grandpa held us in their arms and loved us -- and I have to admit that there are days when I would love to be back in the lap of my mother -- those are the moments that we are reminded of what kind of expectation we are called to have and the kind of openness we are called to have with Christ. How do we prepare? One of the ways to prepare is to pray. Daily prayer needs to be at the center of these four weeks as we create a space in our hearts for Jesus to enter in a new and fresh way. We bring that joyful anticipa- tion into our prayer. We bring to Him our weaknesses, brokenness, physical issues, and personal struggles, and through prayer we place it all into the Lord’s embrace,