Mary, Mother of Hope

Mary, Mother of Hope

As the Advent season nears, my thoughts gravitated to our Blessed Mother Mary. I reflected on her journey of being the mother of our dear Lord Jesus Christ. What courage it must have taken for a young maiden to say yes to the angel Gabriel. “Therefore, the Lord himself will give you a sign: the virgin shall be with child, and bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel.” Isaiah 7:14 As our beloved St. Pope John Paul II so eloquently stated, “Mary has gone before us on the way offaith:believing the angel's message, she was the first to welcome the mystery of the Incarnation and did so perfectly.”

The Israelites at that time lived in the hope that one day the Messiah would be born, freeing them from their Roman occupiers, and returning Israel to its glory. Mary’s“Yes”, brought to fruition God’s promise.The Word became fleshto save us by reconciling us with God, who "loved us and sent his Son to make amends for our sins."

At Immaculate Heart our retreats, Days and Eves of Prayer, and other spiritual programs, are all intended to bring the Word made flesh to those who come here, and to help all people grow closer to our Lord on their journey toward God. As we enter this Advent season, Immaculate Heart is offering everyone the opportunity to take time away from the busyness of the holidays and experience an Advent Individual Silent Retreat. From Dec. 1 – 20, you can go on a retreat for 1,2, 3, or more days, and spend time in silence to reflect on the most important things in life--the things that make Christmas the great family gift that it is. What a wonderful opportunity to come and spend time in silence to get yourself ready for the coming of Jesus.

As the angel Gabriel was the messenger of “good news,” we here at Immaculate Heart need you to be our messengers too. This September our main server went down. As our technical consultant was installing the new server, he recommended that all our older computers be replaced to avoid potential serious issues that could critically affect our operations. His suggestion led us to take a new look at how we are using technology, and we concluded that we could do more. We need to upgrade and take advantage of new technologies to better serve our retreat leaders and retreatants with Wi-Fi connections, and streamline our check-in procedures. We also need to replace our aging videotape camera, and editing system, so we can continue to bringthe Word of God and the celebration of the Eucharist to those who are homebound, in nursing homes, or in Sacred HeartMedical Center that need spiritual nourishment. To accomplish this, we need to make an investment of $30,000. We have no money in our budget to do this. We need your help. Please this Christmas season make a generous gift to Immaculate Heart in the name of our blessed Mother Mary who said, “Yes” to God’s call. Please say “Yes” to our call for help. Thank you for your prayers and support of our retreat apostolate.

May our dear Lord bless you and your families this Christmas season!

Your servant in Christ,