Click on the following link to view the video. I posted it so that you could see a prayer that is done in ASL halfway through. A member of our Deaf Community here in Boston did it and we are thankful for his good work:

Click here.

If the link does not work, please copy and paste this into your browser:
http://www.catholictv.org/Default.aspx?videoID=464

Hopeful People,

We are full of hope, especially as this time of Christ's Birthday Celebration approaches. The Children will be here at the parish Advent Party over at the Hall in great numbers. As little reminders of the Christ Child they serve us by being the joy filled receivers of gifts! Today we are so thankful to be able to give them our very own St. Nicholas! He is great at ASL! What a feat to be able to arrange his visit at such a busy time of year! I told him that if he needs any help getting presents to the children we might be able to help as long as he can keep track of what it they might be hoping to get.

In today's Gospel Jesus tells us that he is the fulfillment of the prophecy made by Isaiah over 400 years before his coming. He is the one that John the Baptist was preparing everyone for. How did it show at first? People started to understand God more fully. Jesus began to reveal the loving, and fantastic plan of God's loving salvation for us. People's minds began to open. They began to be set free from the broken spirits that left them crippled. They began to share in the joy of God's Kingdom.

We too are caught up in the continual unfolding of the Kingdom. The Trinity is working now to continue to enlighten our minds, to open the ears of our understanding, and set us free from the tyranny of sin.

I am looking forward to celebrating the mystery of Christmas with you even more because of our special guest. Ghislain! He is our Christmas Deacon, generously shared with us from the Diocese of San Francisco. I hope that you all take turns showing him a good welcome. We wouldn't want him returning to the West Coast with anything but praise for God in his heart.

Lastly, I have decided what I want for Christmas: A Helicopter. It would be so much fun to have one and would really make my commute to Braintree a breeze. Please let St. Nicholas know.

Yours,

Fr. St. Martin

On November 4, I was away for about 10 days. I went to Chile! The Franciscan Friars had a conference about issues of social justice and making peace. They call these issues "JPIC issues." There were Franciscan Friars from all over North America and South America. There were people who spoke Spanish, Portuguese and English. Some of the friars have worked for many years in the rainforests of Brasil and South America. As a group, we wanted to find a way to work together.

There is much pain in the world, and God calls Christians to help heal that pain. When we visited Villa Grimaldi we remembered this. At Villa Grimaldi the former dictator of Chile held and tortured people who opposed his government. Our guide, himself, was held there in the 1970's. It was a powerful, moving experience. My visit there inspired me to reflect on how I can challenge injustice in the world.

People's current relationship to the environment is a source of injustice. The conference heard God's call to consider global warming. It affects the whole world. What we do here in the United States also affects the North Pole, India, South America and other places. It is easy to let economic or political systems run the world. Economics and politics are not evil, but we have to use them with love. Sometimes we make decisions based only on how much money we can make. At those times we can forget that other people are involved. Many companies here in the United States and even the government make decisions about resources in South America. Sometimes we think that the world is good because people can use it and its resources. At those times we can forget that it is also good in its own right. We forget that God plans to save all creation and to bring it to fulfillment.

While we were at the conference, we were able to share in our work. But we also shared a lot of fun. We visited Santiago, the capital of Chile. We saw many sites and some of the Franciscan churches. We visited a vineyard and got to try some Chilean wine... VERY GOOD! As good Franciscans we spent some fun time in the evenings singing and chatting.

Kathy Carey has sorted all the candles you all ordered and they are ready to be picked up. I will have them for you all over in the convent this Sunday. Thank you Cheryl Johnston, Anne Folkard, Jason Botelho, Norma Tourangeau, Marge Tucker, Andrew DeFrancesco, Ronald St. Martin, Kathy Carey, Catherine Hanna, and Ms. Desimme. You did a great job. We raised about $600 for the community!

In Christ,

Fr. St. Martin

Wreaths!