St. Anastasia Roman Catholic Church
The Power and The Point of Place

Think of the places you have visited in your life that have made you feel somehow completely happy. My list includes a tiny guest room near New York City that boasted a bookshelf, a glowing lamp, and a big poofy comforter, turned down just for me. And, ahhhh – the front porch of a certain beach house, where the rocking chairs don’t squeak, the cold drinks are within reach, and the glorious view is unobstructed. Ooh, and of course that lonngggg outdoor table under the Roman moonlight, laden with food I myself would never voluntarily order, surrounded by most of the best friends I will ever have. You have places like that, too, don’t you? Places that mean so very much more than a disembodied voice on the GPS could ever say.

The Canticle Cafe is a place like that.

Advent Is Here - As a society, we yield more and more to the priorities and the attitudes of the secular culture. Christmas becomes for many people a secular holiday that begins at Thanksgiving and comes to an end shortly after dinner on December 25^th. It becomes more and more difficult to observe the Season of Advent with any integrity, even within the Church. With Christmas concerts and Christmas parties, we build to an almost anti-climactic series of services on December 24th and 25th.

From the Office

I was not able to do an Offertory Review for this issue due to timing…we’ll get caught up on that next week. I will be doing the financial review for the last fiscal year and also YTD this fiscal year for you in January; I know I’m late on this but I feel we’ve done a good job of keeping you informed of financial issues and their impact to St. Anastasia. I need to coordinate the timing of the reports with Father J.J. as I plan to be here that weekend for all the Masses to answer any of your questions in person…probably in the Narthex afterwards.

From the Office

You may have noticed some aluminum tape on the gutters on the Davidson Center, Pastoral Center and the Administrative Center. It’s easy to spot as it has some blue writing on it. While we were having the siding repaired earlier in year, we were told that the wood underneath the gutters and eves is slowly deteriorating due to water leakage with most of it occurring during the winter months from ice build up. Our gutters are a little long in the tooth and will probably need replacing in the next couple of years, but a good temporary fix was to affix the waterproof aluminum tape to all the joints. This is being done by an individual at no charge to St. Anastasia; we only have to pay for the tape itself. This individual has also continued to repair our aluminum siding and should be completed prior to the real bad weather hitting. He also repaired a leaking skylight on the church roof for us; again he is doing all this at no charge, we only pay for the parts or supplies.

The Fate of Jesus

As we draw to a close of another liturgical year,  I thought this homily says it all.  I read this in “Celebration”, a resource pamphlet, and thought it was worthy to share with you.