From the Desk of Father Nathan

St Gabriel Catholic Church | Pompano Beach
God Bless You All

A Message from Father Nathan

My dearest people who are all close to my heart!
Lots of love, blessings, and prayers to you all.

The Season of Advent

This week Marks the beginning of Advent — a time of spiritual preparation for the coming birth of Christ. 

This week we will begin our Advent Season. This liturgical season of Advent marks the time of spiritual preparation by the faithful before the celebration of Christmas. Advent comes from the Latin word meaning “coming”. Jesus is coming!

Preparation For the Birth of Christ

Advent is intended to be a season of preparation for His arrival. While we typically regard Advent as a joyous season, it is also designed to be a period of preparation, much like Lent. Prayer, penance, and fasting are appropriate during this season.

What is Advent?

The celebration of Advent is evolved in the spiritual life of the Church. The historical origins of Advent are hard to determine with great precision. Advent is not as strict as Lent, and there are no rules for fasting, but it is meant to be a period of preparation. The purple color associated with Advent is also the color of penance. A good pious way to help us in our Advent preparation has been the use of the Advent wreath. The wreath is a circle with no beginning or end – so we call to mind how our lives are here and now, participate in the eternity of God’s plan of salvation, and how we hope to share eternal life in the Kingdom of Heaven.

The wreath is made of fresh plant material because Christ came to give us new life through His passion, death, and resurrection. Three candles are purple, symbolizing penance, preparation, and sacrifice, the pink candle symbolizes the same but highlights the third Sunday of Advent: Gaudete Sunday. On this Sunday we rejoice because our preparation is now halfway finished. The light represents Christ, who entered this world to shatter the darkness of evil and show us the way of righteousness.

May you and your family have a meaningful and profound experience of Christ in this season.

God bless you all.

With lots of love and blessing.

Ever wanting to be faithful to your service.

—Fr. Sahayanathan Nathan

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Past Messages from Father Nathan

From The Desk Of Father Nathan | January 10, 2021

From The Desk Of Father Nathan | January 10, 2021

Together, We Are the Church. A universal body of believers, delivering God’s message of hope and love to everyone, everywhere. Your generosity to the Archbishop’s Charity and Development Drive, ABCD, serves the Church so that the Church can serve you.

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From The Desk Of Father Nathan | January 3, 2021

From The Desk Of Father Nathan | January 3, 2021

Happy New Year. Goodbye, 2020. Hello, 2021. We have all experienced a most unusual year. Our lives have had to adjust to never-ending uncertainties that shake our personal and public lives. We have witnessed a shutdown in our thoughts and actions all over the world…

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From The Desk Of Father Nathan | December 20, 2020

From The Desk Of Father Nathan | December 20, 2020

Merry Christmas to You! “JOY TO THE WORLD” Fourth Advent of Sunday. In this season…when the people were all tired, worried, concerned, and waiting with lots of perplexities, the Lord incarnated Himself and opened up a new world of love to His people.

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From The Desk Of Father Nathan | November 1, 2020

From The Desk Of Father Nathan | November 1, 2020

On November 2nd we are going to celebrate All Souls Day. This is a holy day set aside for honoring the dead. The day is primarily celebrated in the Catholic Church, but it is also celebrated in the Eastern Orthodox Church as well as a few other denominations of Christianity.

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From The Desk Of Father Nathan | October 25, 2020

From The Desk Of Father Nathan | October 25, 2020

Every week as we profess our faith, we express… “I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Catholic
Church and THE COMMUNION OF SAINTS.” The author of this letter to the Hebrews wrote. “Therefore since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us rid ourselves of every burden and sin that clings to us and persevere in running the race that lies before us while keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the leader and the perfecter of faith.” (12.1-2)

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