Mass Times: Saturdays at 5:00 pm;
Sundays at 8:00 am and 10:30 am.
Mon, Tues, Wed* (*Communion service),
and Fri at 8:15 am;
Thurs at 6:00 pm.
St. Rita Roman Catholic Church
1008 Maple Dr., Webster, NY 14580
585-671-1100
 

The Parish Office is open from 9 am to noon, Monday through Friday.  Stop by or give us a call at 671-1100.

Pastoral Messages

A Prayer for the Fourth Sunday of Advent

Heavenly Father,

Help us to prepare our hearts in these final moments of waiting. May we open ourselves more fully to Your love, and allow that love to guide us in all that we do. Grant us the grace to be instruments of Your peace, compassion, and joy, especially to those in need around us.

Lord, as we light the fourth candle of Advent, symbolizing love, we pray that Your love will be evident in all our thoughts, words, and actions. May the love of Christ, which surpasses all understanding, fill us with warmth, and may it shine brightly in the lives of those we encounter.

We pray for a spirit of unity and goodwill, that through the coming of Jesus, we may grow closer to You and to one another. Prepare our hearts for the birth of the Savior and let us rejoice in the promise of His coming.

We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.


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Scripture

An Introduction to the Sunday Scripture Readings - December 29, 2024

“He Went Down With Them And Came To Nazareth And Was Obedient To Them”

This Sunday is the Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. In this important solemnity, the Church seeks to show us what makes a family holy – how a family can live a holy life in the midst of daily struggles.  Our two examples today are not perfect, idyllic families but fully human with all their ups and downs. Sustaining them, though, is a faith and trust in God.

Our first reading, taken from the First Book of Sirach (3:2-6, 12-14) can be summed up in just six words - Honor thy father and thy mother. It is a call for love and respect within the family that is holy as the holy family itself. Sirach writes, “God sets a father in honor over his children; a mother’s authority he confirms over her sons . . . Whoever reveres his father will live a long life; he who obeys his father brings comfort to his mother.”

In our Epistle reading (1 John 3:1-2, 21-24), St. John gives us a clue to our destiny, “Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we shall be has not yet been revealed. We do know that when it is revealed we shall be like Him.” John’s letter calls us to holiness, to love one another, to have confidence, to believe in the name of Jesus. We who keep His commandments remain in Him and He remains in us.

In our Gospel reading (Luke 2:41-52) is the story we know well as “The Finding in the Temple.” It is a story of the tension of an adolescent Jesus, full of zeal to be about His father's business, and yet very much under the control and loving protection of His parents. In the end, Jesus returned with them to Nazareth and was obedient to His parents, while His mother pondered all these events in her heart.

Our family is God’s gift through which we journey home to the Father; our parents, brothers, sisters, and siblings in Christ are all on the same journey with us. May we pray for guidance and follow the example set for us by the holy family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. "See what love the Father has bestowed on us that we may be called Children of God."

www.bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/122924.cfm


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© 2014 St. Rita Roman Catholic Church - Last updated 2022-09-13 21:11:10
Mass Times: Saturdays at 5:00 pm;
Sundays at 8:00 am and 10:30 am.
Mon, Tues, Wed* (*Communion service),
and Fri at 8:15 am;
Thurs at 6:00 pm.