![\"IMG_1690.jpg\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/salesianbulletin.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/img_1690-1.jpg?resize=720%2C614&ssl=1\")
<\/p>\nWe have entered the beautiful season of Advent.\u00a0\u00a0 It is one of my favorite seasons of the Liturgical year.\u00a0 This season of Advent always invites me to a spirit of reflection, prayer, slowing down and connections with friends and loved ones.\u00a0 It is a time that focuses on preparation for the feast of Christmas but which sometimes includes more celebrations than preparation.\u00a0 And, Mary becomes an important focus, \u00a0as a model of reflection, prayer, silent waiting but also connecting in service with loved ones like her cousin, Elizabeth.\u00a0\u00a0 From December 8, feast of the Immaculate Conception to December 12, feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe to the days just prior to Christmas when we read about Mary and her preparations of the birth of her son, Jesus, we see her as a \u201cconstant.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 She is there waiting, listening, discerning,\u00a0 contemplating on the events of her life and what God wants from her. \u00a0\u00a0She is open and willing to serve.\u00a0 As a humble servant, she opens herself to receive God\u2019s grace.\u00a0 At the same time she is also open to receive all who enter her life, from God, to her husband, Joseph, her cousin Elizabeth, the Shepherds, the simple and poor around her and the magi.<\/p>\n
In celebrating the feasts of Mary, \u00a0which we celebrate during this Advent Season, the Church reminds us of her powerful intercession in our lives, her prayers for us and her tender care and concern for those who are considered vulnerable and insignificant.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe is a particularly beautiful and tender feast.\u00a0\u00a0 It is a reminder to a people who suffered oppression and loss of hope in Mexico, assuring them that God would not abandon them.\u00a0\u00a0 Mary becomes that symbol of hope, which is also a very strong Advent virtue, expressed powerfully in the Liturgical readings at Mass.\u00a0\u00a0 God intervenes for his people and, despite their sufferings and their exile to a foreign country, the people of Israel hear messages of hope, visions of new and beautiful things to come and a renewed future described as more beautiful and \u201cmagical\u201d than their pre-exile days in Jerusalem.<\/p>\n
As we enter this season of Advent and listen intently to the liturgical readings, let us ask what God is asking of us.\u00a0\u00a0 As we encounter some difficult events in our world and province, we put our trust in a God who loves us and shows us his care and hope through his Mother, Mary.\u00a0\u00a0 We must always interpret these events and what happens to us with the eyes of faith and with the trust which Mary exemplified in her life.\u00a0\u00a0 In her moments of doubt and fear, she trusted what the Angel Gabriel said to her.\u00a0\u00a0 Mary is called blessed precisely because she trusted.\u00a0\u00a0 She trusted that God\u2019s words of hope, strength and \u00a0accompaniment were true.\u00a0\u00a0 He would be there!\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 He would not abandon her! Let us take to heart Mary\u2019s example and her openness.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Last Wednesday we celebrated Fr. Leo Baysinger\u2019s life with a Funeral Mass in St. John Bosco\u2019s school chapel.\u00a0 The chapel was packed and you could sense the love and respect many, especially, the alumni, had for Fr. Leo.\u00a0 Several stories were shared by those attending.\u00a0\u00a0 Fr. Joe Nguyen \u00a0gave the homily or reflection, as Leo preferred to call this time after the Gospel. \u00a0\u00a0Joe Nguyen stressed Fr. Leo\u2019s humility and deprecation as a way to have others shine.\u00a0 His mission was clear:\u00a0 to be with the young.\u00a0\u00a0 And, this he did rather easily and with grace.\u00a0\u00a0 He had no problem, even in his golden years, to simply walk among the kids.\u00a0 While others would be hesitant to mingle with kids they did not know well, Fr. Leo would simply walk to young people and ask them questions.\u00a0 Fr. Leo would remember young people\u2019s names and birthdays.\u00a0 Fr. Leo also loved the Liturgy and was a stickler for liturgical details but never in a mean or obnoxious way.\u00a0 On Friday of that same week, the Province Salesian community once again gathered to \u00a0remember Fr. Leo at a Mass in our Salesian community chapel in Richmond, followed by the burial in our local Salesian cemetery.\u00a0\u00a0 That particular Mass was mostly attended by Salesian brothers and priests, novices, two pre-novices and a few lay people who came to pay their respect to a man they admired.\u00a0 Fr. Leo will be fondly remembered for his generous service throughout the province and his kind spirit.\u00a0 Eternal Rest grant unto him, O Lord!\u00a0 And, let perpetual light shine upon him.<\/p>\n
Today I am in Watsonville to celebrate the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe with the parish community of Our Lady Help of Christians.\u00a0 I will preside at the evening Mass, at the parish, for the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe.\u00a0 This feast is celebrated in most of our parishes where there is a large Latino population.\u00a0\u00a0 It is a beloved feast which attracts thousands of devotees to her shrine and to parishes and holy sites where she is being honored.\u00a0 A sign of the times is to pay attention to what is happening around us and be with the people who come to venerate our Lady and reaffirm their faith in her care and motherly tender love.\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cQue viva la Virgen de Guadalupe!\u00a0 VIVA!\u201d<\/p>\n
On December 13th<\/sup>, I will drive to Los Angeles for a Salesian Family Retreat being held on Saturday, the 14th<\/sup> at St. John Bosco High School.\u00a0\u00a0 And, on Sunday, I will drive up to St. Luke\u2019s, Stockton, \u00a0for our Provincial Council meeting and meeting with the province delegates.<\/p>\n A happy and prayer-filled Advent to all of you.\u00a0\u00a0 And, may our Lady of Guadalupe, whose feast we celebrate this Thursday and who was declared patroness of the Americas by Pope Pius XII, continue to bless and guide us through this Advent journey.<\/p>\n With warm regards and gratitude,<\/p>\n Fr. Ted<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Dear Salesian Sisters and Brothers, We have entered the beautiful season of Advent.\u00a0\u00a0 It is one of my favorite seasons of the Liturgical year.\u00a0 This season of Advent always invites me to a spirit of reflection, prayer, slowing down and connections with friends and loved ones.\u00a0 It is a time that focuses on preparation for the feast of Christmas but which sometimes includes more celebrations … Continuar leyendo Provincial Letter: December 11th, 2019<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":10336596,"featured_media":2560,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20310044,69785],"tags":[35890,686820593,100143],"class_list":["post-2559","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-province-news","category-provincial","tag-featured","tag-provincial-letter","tag-sdb"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/salesianbulletin.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/img_1690.jpg?fit=3024%2C2578&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p59ePG-Fh","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2559","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10336596"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2559"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2559\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2587,"href":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2559\/revisions\/2587"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2560"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2559"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2559"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2559"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}