{"id":43032,"date":"2025-12-03T08:22:02","date_gmt":"2025-12-03T13:22:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fallriverdiocese.org\/?p=43032"},"modified":"2025-12-03T08:22:32","modified_gmt":"2025-12-03T13:22:32","slug":"during-advent-celebrating-service-and-preparing-our-hearts-for-christ","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fallriverdiocese.org\/pt-pt\/bishops-blog\/during-advent-celebrating-service-and-preparing-our-hearts-for-christ\/","title":{"rendered":"During Advent, Celebrating Service and Preparing Our Hearts for Christ"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Recognizing the Faithful Service of the Marian Medal Recipients<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:5px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"819\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fallriverdiocese.org\/app\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Copy-of-Copy-of-Chrism-Mass-1024x819.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-43033\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.fallriverdiocese.org\/app\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Copy-of-Copy-of-Chrism-Mass-1024x819.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.fallriverdiocese.org\/app\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Copy-of-Copy-of-Chrism-Mass-300x240.png 300w, https:\/\/www.fallriverdiocese.org\/app\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Copy-of-Copy-of-Chrism-Mass-768x614.png 768w, https:\/\/www.fallriverdiocese.org\/app\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Copy-of-Copy-of-Chrism-Mass-1536x1229.png 1536w, https:\/\/www.fallriverdiocese.org\/app\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Copy-of-Copy-of-Chrism-Mass-225x180.png 225w, https:\/\/www.fallriverdiocese.org\/app\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Copy-of-Copy-of-Chrism-Mass.png 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:5px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>As we gathered for this year\u2019s Marian Medal celebration last Sunday, I shared a tremendous and deep sense of gratitude in the days following Thanksgiving. During the ceremony, we recognized parishioners whose faithful and generous service strengthens our Church and Diocese in so many unique and important ways. I thanked the honorees for the quiet and consistent ways they bless their parishes, and for their kindness that reflects exactly what St. Paul speaks of in the Scriptures: prayer, gratitude, gentleness, and love made visible. I wanted them to know that their service has not gone unnoticed and that it inspires others to serve with the same spirit of generosity and love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fallriverdiocese.org\/releases-and-statements\/58-to-receive-marian-award\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>Please click here to read the complete list of the 2025 Marian Award recipients.\u00a0<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I also invited everyone to view this celebration through the lens of the First Sunday of Advent, a season that calls us to awaken to hope. We live in a world that has succumbed to division, violence, and uncertainty. Many wonder where hope can be found amid such darkness. As St. Paul reminds us, \u201chope does not disappoint, because God\u2019s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit.\u201d&nbsp; Advent urges us to stay awake, to recognize the signs of God\u2019s presence, and to welcome the light of Christ already breaking into the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As we honored this year\u2019s Marian Medal recipients, who were nominated by their pastors for their outstanding service, I encouraged them, and all of us, to persevere in kindness, charity, and faith. Advent is a reminder that despair never endures. While we wait for the birth of the Christ-child, let us bring joy, to lift up others, and to let Christ\u2019s light shine through our actions. We must never lose hope, never lose faith, and never allow the darkness to smother the light God has placed in our heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:5px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Feast of the Immaculate Conception<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:5px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"818\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fallriverdiocese.org\/app\/uploads\/2025\/12\/The_Immaculate_Conception_by_Placido_Costanzi_c._1730_Getty_Center-1024x818.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-43036\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.fallriverdiocese.org\/app\/uploads\/2025\/12\/The_Immaculate_Conception_by_Placido_Costanzi_c._1730_Getty_Center-1024x818.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.fallriverdiocese.org\/app\/uploads\/2025\/12\/The_Immaculate_Conception_by_Placido_Costanzi_c._1730_Getty_Center-300x240.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.fallriverdiocese.org\/app\/uploads\/2025\/12\/The_Immaculate_Conception_by_Placido_Costanzi_c._1730_Getty_Center-768x613.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.fallriverdiocese.org\/app\/uploads\/2025\/12\/The_Immaculate_Conception_by_Placido_Costanzi_c._1730_Getty_Center-1536x1226.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.fallriverdiocese.org\/app\/uploads\/2025\/12\/The_Immaculate_Conception_by_Placido_Costanzi_c._1730_Getty_Center-2048x1635.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/www.fallriverdiocese.org\/app\/uploads\/2025\/12\/The_Immaculate_Conception_by_Placido_Costanzi_c._1730_Getty_Center-225x180.jpg 225w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p><em>&#8220;No sin would touch her, so that she would be a fitting and worthy vessel of the Son of God. The Immaculate Conception does not refer to the virginal conception and the birth of Christ, but rather to Mary&#8217;s being conceived without inheriting Original Sin.&#8221; (United States Catholic Catechism for Adults, 142-143)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:5px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>On Monday, December 8, we will celebrate the <a href=\"https:\/\/bible.usccb.org\/bible\/readings\/120825.cfm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception<\/a>, a holy day of obligation when we pause to honor Mary, who was chosen by God to become the mother of our Savior. This feast day reminds us of God\u2019s great love for us, who prepared the way for His Son. Mary\u2019s \u201cyes\u201d to God is a reminder of our faith, humility, and trust in God. As we look to the Blessed Mother during this Advent season, may we open our lives more fully to God and to what we are being called, just as Mary did.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:5px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Second Week of Advent is Upon Us<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:5px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"549\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fallriverdiocese.org\/app\/uploads\/2025\/12\/advent-1024x549.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-43039\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.fallriverdiocese.org\/app\/uploads\/2025\/12\/advent-1024x549.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.fallriverdiocese.org\/app\/uploads\/2025\/12\/advent-300x161.png 300w, https:\/\/www.fallriverdiocese.org\/app\/uploads\/2025\/12\/advent-768x412.png 768w, https:\/\/www.fallriverdiocese.org\/app\/uploads\/2025\/12\/advent-1536x824.png 1536w, https:\/\/www.fallriverdiocese.org\/app\/uploads\/2025\/12\/advent-2048x1098.png 2048w, https:\/\/www.fallriverdiocese.org\/app\/uploads\/2025\/12\/advent-240x129.png 240w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:5px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>This week, we continue the reflections offered by the Deans of the Diocese, which began with Christ the King and will conclude on the last Sunday of Advent. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fallriverdiocese.org\/bishops-blog\/building-christs-kingdom-reflections-from-the-u-s-bishops-meeting-and-the-journey-toward-advent\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Fr. Riley Williams provided a reflection to begin the series<\/a>, and last week, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fallriverdiocese.org\/bishops-blog\/from-gratitude-to-hopeful-waiting-thanksgiving-blessings-and-the-first-week-of-advent\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Fr. Thomas Washburn offered a reflection on the first Sunday of Advent and the start of a new Liturgical year for the Church<\/a>. Below, Fr. Christopher Peschel reflects on the second Sunday of Advent. I am grateful to our Deans who work tirelessly to support their brother priests and also the pastoral support they offer to their parishioners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote alignleft is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p><strong><em>Walking with John the Baptist on Our Advent Journey<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignleft size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"225\" height=\"225\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fallriverdiocese.org\/app\/uploads\/2025\/12\/images.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-43042\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.fallriverdiocese.org\/app\/uploads\/2025\/12\/images.jpg 225w, https:\/\/www.fallriverdiocese.org\/app\/uploads\/2025\/12\/images-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.fallriverdiocese.org\/app\/uploads\/2025\/12\/images-32x32.jpg 32w, https:\/\/www.fallriverdiocese.org\/app\/uploads\/2025\/12\/images-48x48.jpg 48w, https:\/\/www.fallriverdiocese.org\/app\/uploads\/2025\/12\/images-80x80.jpg 80w, https:\/\/www.fallriverdiocese.org\/app\/uploads\/2025\/12\/images-180x180.jpg 180w, https:\/\/www.fallriverdiocese.org\/app\/uploads\/2025\/12\/images-120x120.jpg 120w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Every year, on the second Sunday of Advent, one of the famous characters of this season makes his annual appearance. John the Baptist, the obscure distant cousin of our Lord Jesus appears in the Gospel story to point out to us and remind us that our Savior, and more importantly, Salvation itself, is coming.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Earlier this year, I was prompted to move a historic stained glass window of John the Baptist from the former church of St. John the Baptist in New Bedford into the Baptistry area of my parish, Our Lady of Mount Carmel. What struck me so much in the window, which has so much beautiful imagery, is that the central figure is not John, but Christ. John the Baptist exists to point us to Christ.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The popular Advent hymn, likely sung in many parishes across the diocese this Sunday, \u201cOn Jordan\u2019s Bank,\u201d tells us that John the Baptist announces that \u201cThe Lord is near, be awake, hearken!\u201d These repeated calls to prepare ourselves for an encounter with the coming Messiah urge us to renew in our own hearts and Souls the very nature of repentance, renewal, and change of life, that John the Baptist was known for preaching and bringing about through baptism.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For us Christians, Sacramental Baptism radically changed our lives. It infused to our soul a Sanctifying grace that not only rid us of sin, but immediately joined us to the family of God as beloved sons and daughters. Our Baptism serves as a foundation for the entirety of our life of faith, which ultimately seeks day after day to rid our lives of sin and turn us toward repentance, drawing us more and more to Christ in that common sonship through Baptism. For many of us, Baptized as infants, that Sacramental moment was decades ago, yet Baptism, and the repentance of life that it calls us to, is something we are charged with living out for the rest of our lives. Why do you think John the Baptist gave such a hard time to the Pharisees and Sadducees in today\u2019s Gospel? It wasn\u2019t just about having one more communitarian symbolic activity to check off in the course of life, but rather about a moment of encounter with the Divine that changes us forever.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For us, repentance to prepare the way for the Messiah and the encounter with him in our hearts and souls might look more like cleansing the soul from sin in the confessional, or taking upon ourselves a devotional practice or work that brings us closer to the Lord. Remember, repentance might begin with a penance of some sort, but the goal is to strengthen our bonds with our Lord and God, and to prepare for what is to come. If John the Baptist exists to point us to Christ, then Baptism (and by extension all the Sacraments of the Church) exist to point us to Heaven!&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>May this Advent be a time for us to look within, as so many other things are prepared externally with decorations, gifts, food, and the like. Let us look within! Let us not forget the preparation of our own hearts and souls for the beautiful encounter with the Lord that has already happened and that is still to come!<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>For more information on how to deepen your Advent journey, please visit the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fallriverfaithformation.org\/celebrate-advent\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Celebrate Advent page on the Diocesan website<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sincerely,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>+Bishop da Cunha<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This week, Bishop da Cunha reflects on the faithful service of our 2025 Marian Medal recipients and invites us to enter Advent with renewed hope. From honoring parishioners who embody Christ\u2019s love to celebrating the Immaculate Conception and hearing John the Baptist\u2019s call to prepare our hearts, let us look within and welcome the light of Christ this Advent season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":43045,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crosspost_to_16":false,"_crosspost_to_17":false,"_crosspost_to_18":false,"_crosspost_to_19":false,"_crosspost_to_20":false,"_price":"","_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_tribe_ticket_capacity":"","_ticket_start_date":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":false,"_tribe_ticket_use_global_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_global_stock_level":"","_global_stock_mode":"","_global_stock_cap":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_going_count":"","_tribe_ticket_not_going_count":"","_tribe_tickets_list":"[]","_tribe_ticket_has_attendee_info_fields":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[186],"tags":[39,41,246],"ppma_author":[178],"class_list":["post-43032","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bishops-blog","tag-advent","tag-marian-medals","tag-mary"],"pp_force_visibility":null,"pp_subpost_visibility":null,"pp_inherited_force_visibility":null,"pp_inherited_subpost_visibility":null,"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>During Advent, Celebrating Service and Preparing Our Hearts for Christ - Roman Catholic Diocese of Fall River<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fallriverdiocese.org\/bishops-blog\/during-advent-celebrating-service-and-preparing-our-hearts-for-christ\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"pt_PT\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"During Advent, Celebrating Service and Preparing Our Hearts for Christ - Roman Catholic Diocese of Fall River\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This week, Bishop da Cunha reflects on the faithful service of our 2025 Marian Medal recipients and invites us to enter Advent with renewed hope. 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