Dear PIME Friends,
Another Advent Season is here, and another great opportunity is given to us. We can pause for a moment, find time to disconnect from the world, and reconnect with the Lord. Because the Lord is coming and wants to reconnect with us! This liturgical season is designed to pause and reconnect. Advent comes from the Latin: adventus, meaning “coming” or “arrival”. Our Catholic liturgy offers us a combination of readings, prayers, and signs to signify the coming of the Lord. Yes, the Lord is coming!
My mind goes to our missions, and the more I think of them, the more I realize that this Advent will be extremely difficult for so many. I think of our missionaries in Myanmar, where, after over four years of war, they still don’t see any glimmer of peace. Violence everywhere, churches burned down, displaced children, women, and the elderly hiding in the forest. And still the Lord is coming!
I was talking with one of my PIME brothers who works in Myanmar, and he told me how grateful he is for the support we send him from our PIME US Mission Center. This Christmas, he will be able to bring some joy into the lives of children and struggling families. Yes, the Lord is coming! Every time we do something for someone, and especially for those we don’t even know, the Lord is coming!
With this Advent Appeal, I want to encourage you to be a sign of the coming of the Lord! The generosity we have seen for this appeal is growing year after year, and I want to share with you how much I appreciate your support. This appeal will help us reach our 2025 goal. I hope that together we will be able to send over $ 1.3 million to the missions this year. I prayerfully ask you to consider donating a $50 gift to make this dream come true. The Lord is coming; with your support, we will make a difference in so many lives.
In this Advent Season, the Lord is giving us the chance to stop and pause. To recognize His presence in those who are hungry, thirsty, naked, ill, a stranger, etc. Our brothers and sisters are a sign of His coming. If we see His coming, one day He will tell us: ‘Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.’ (MT 25:37-40)
I want to wish you a very blessed Advent Season and a very Merry Christmas. The Lord is coming even because of you! Thank you so much for being a sign of the coming of the Lord in so many lives.
God bless you!
Fr. Daniele
