WINTER 2016 THE ASCENT A QUARTERLY PUBLICATION OF CHURCH OF THE ASCENSION I N THIS ISSUE: L ETTER FROM FATHER TOM Page 3 C HRISTMAS TRADITIONS FROM ITALY- FATHER ALESSANDRO Page 4 C HRISTMAS TRADITIONS FROM INDIA- FATHER REGIE Page 5 G ENEROSITY Page 6-7 W HAT DOES “BEING PRO-LIFE” MEAN TO YOU Page 8-9 A BITTERSWEET SEASON Page 10 R EFLECTIONS ON THE JOYFUL MYSTERIES Page 11 T HE SEASON OF ADVENT Page 12 L ITURGICAL YEAR Page 13 A DVENT CANDLE ORDER FORM Page 14 A DVENT CALENDARS Page 15-16 9510 West 127th St. • Overland Park, KS 66213 (913) 681-3348 • www.kcascension.org • [email protected] LETTER FROM THE PASTOR BY FR. TOM TANK November, 2016 Dear Parishioners, As I write this the election is yet to take place. As you read this, it has already been completed. Whoever has won will need our prayers for guidance as our new president assumes office in January. This has been a very difficult election cycle with much acrimony and debasement. Hopefully our society will rise above this and will move forward now in a spirit of reconciliation and collaborative effort. We need to pray that all our civic leaders, president, senators and representatives, will all work together not for the good of their particular party, but for the good of our nation. Very shortly we will begin the season of Advent, the beginning of a new Church year. With this Advent we pray for a renewed spirit of faith and openness to the working of the Holy Spirit in our lives and in our world. The Old Testament prophets of Advent call us to a renewal of spirit that enables us to accept and reflect the love and truth of Jesus in our daily lives. As we celebrate Christmas we are invited once again to recognize in the Babe of Bethlehem the Word become Flesh for our salvation. Our life as a parish continues to flourish thanks to the involvement of so many generous parishioners who give so graciously of their time, talent and treasure to make our parish strong. There is not a week that goes by that I do not hear some wonderful comments about our parish and the great spirit that many people experience in our community life. We are far from perfect, but we are continuing to grow as a community that joyfully celebrates, proclaims, serves and witnesses Jesus Christ. Thanks to all who have made your stewardship commitment for 2017. If you have not yet done so, please return the commitment card as soon as possible. A special challenge we have is to ever more effectively promote faith-filled marriages and families. Our Archbishop has asked that all married couples be enabled to continue their growth in living the Sacrament of Matrimony. We are blessed with many opportunities for good marriage preparation and enrichment and hopefully these will be expanded and taken advantage of over the next several months. This year we have been invited by Holy Cross Lutheran Church to join with them in striving to heal the divisions caused by the Reformation which occurred 500 years ago. While we lament the divisions that the Reformation caused, we are grateful that progress is being made in mutual understanding and healing of the divisions in the Body of Christ. Christ prayed for unity in His Church and we are challenged to do the same. So we welcome this opportunity to engage in this ecumenical endeavor. Outreach in faith to others continues to be a primary responsibility we all have as disciples of Jesus. The last several Popes have reminded us that we are not called to be just disciples of Jesus, but missionary disciples, those who witness to their faith in daily life. We know that there is a growing number of inactive Catholics and ‘Nones’. The only way to engage or reengage these folks is through one on one contact in which we affirm the goodness of others, acknowledge the brokenness and share Christ’s message of reconciliation and love. More evangelization takes place over a cup of coffee, a beer on the deck or a casual conversation at the supermarket than takes place in any formal programs or activities at the parish. We can all share our faith in Christ with others through the witness of our example as well as our words of loving encouragement. Thanks for reading this brief update on our life as a parish. Thanks especially for your engagement in our parish life and your love for Christ and His Church. Let us pray for each other, for our Church and for our nation. God’s blessings always! Father Tom 3 CHRISTMAS TRADITIONS IN ITALY BY FR. ALESSANDRO Christmas has a color. Definitely white. Every 24th of December with my mum and dad and my two sisters, Sabrina and Valentina, we walked to our parish, St. Anthony of Padua church, for the vigil Mass, around 11:30 pm. Mass was always over way after midnight, and the hope was to find big flakes of snow coming down from Heaven. No tiredness was strong enough to keep me and my sisters from jumping up and down all excited, engaging in a snow fight and perfecting our aim from a distance towards my parents or parishioners we knew well. Christmas has a sound. It starts soft, with surprised and overly excited whisperings between me and my sisters, up in the middle of the night in the living room, scouting for little and big boxes wrapped with love and color. Our curiosity always won over any patient wait. There was a nice ritual in the morning, when the whole family was gathered around the Christmas tree; in a circle, one at the time, we opened our gifts - so when it was your turn you had everyone’s attention. But still we were searching frenetically on every side of the wrapping for the magic initial of our names, hoping to claim the property of the gift, especially of the bigger ones: “is there an A, V, or S?” Those soft whispers became loud cheers and cry of joy in the morning when we unpacked the long desired surprises. The sound usually changed into Christmas music as we were having breakfast together, and later on as we helped to set the table for our grandparents to come over. I also remember the typical expressions my grandmothers used, my dad’s jokes, or the “sound of silence” it had to reign like a tyrant during the sooooo anticipated bingo - because if you missed a number, you couldn’t mark your card, and you could lose the rich bingo prize of 50 cents!!! Christmas has a smell. Not one in particular, but a mix of delicious favorites and best dishes prepared by mum and grandmas: salmon and cold cuts, gnocchi or cannelloni, a new kind of roast, potatoes, dessert. You didn't sit at table before 1:30pm, and you didn't get up without the fragrant aroma of the espresso coming at the end of the FR. ALESSANDRO AND HIS TWO SISTERS meal, usually not before 4:00pm! Christmas has a taste. Among all the many goodies, the one that stands out the most is one simple dessert my grandma taught me: dates with mascarpone cheese and walnuts. I was always making sure I won the competition with my dad regarding who could eat more. His cholesterol and my mum’s words of warning and reminder to him definitely helped my victory! Christmas has a touch. The loving and caring touch of the family coming together to celebrate, of the desire to be with one another and nothing more, of the hugs and kisses for wishes and to express our gratitude. Christmas has always been the celebration of Love, Love made flesh, made flesh in the flesh of my loved ones. You can call it an explosion of sense, and it truly was… I simply called it Christmas at the Borraccia’s. 4 CHRISTMAS TRADITIONS IN INDIA BY FR. REGIE Dear Ascension Parishioners, Greetings from Fr. Regie! The days have become shorter and the temperature has dropped steadily. That sounds like its Christmas season again. With Christmas now fast approaching I thought I’d take some time to get into the festive spirit, by sharing with you some of the wonderful Christmas traditions celebrated in my hometown, Mangalore, in the state of Karnataka, India. Just to give you some background, the Mangalorean Catholics were converted to Catholicism by the Portuguese, who landed in Goa around the late 15th century. Historically, Goa has been known as the Rome of the East for its churches and architecture. Since Mangalore also has a large number of churches, convents and religious institutions in its diocese, the title is prefixed to Mangalore too. Mangalore derives its name from the Sanskrit words: mangola and uru, which mean happiness and place respectively. Like any other community, Mangaloreans have a unique culture with Konkani as their Mother-tongue. Christmas in Mangalore is celebrated in a grand manner with a myriad of traditions. Here are a few Christmas traditions I grew up with. Carol singing: My parish used to organize Carol Singing Teams consisting of teens and children. We were engrossed in rehearsing Christmas carols in our vernacular, several weeks in advance, which we sang as we went ‘carol singing’ from door to door (including Hindus and Muslims) within our parish boundaries. We also extended warm invitations to the families for the Christmas programs being held in our parish.