THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT
GAUDETE (REJOICE) SUNDAY
DECEMBER 15th, 2024
Brothers and sisters: Rejoice in the Lord always.
I shall say it again: rejoice!
from the second reading - Letter of Saint Paul to the Philippians 4:4
Advent
There are always four Sundays in Advent, though not necessarily four full weeks. The liturgical color of the season is violet or purple, except on the Third Sunday of Advent, called Gaudete or Rejoice Sunday, when optional rose vestments may be worn. While a month yet remains in the civil year, the Church is celebrating the beginning of a new Liturgical year with the First Sunday of Advent. Advent — from the Latin ad venio, “to come” — is the liturgical season anticipating the Adventus Domini, the "coming of the Lord.” While the days grow shorter and colder, we prepare for the “Sun of Justice” who comes to kindle our hearts with his light and his love. The Advent season is filled with preparation and expectation. The Word made flesh coming to dwell among us. Christians are urged to preserve the spiritual focus of Christmas amidst the prevailingly secular and consumer-driven society. (https://www.catholicculture.org/)
Welcome to St. Eugene’s
St. Eugene’s is the cathedral church for the Diocese of Santa Rosa, located in Santa Rosa, Sonoma County, California. Our parish community includes more than 1700 registered parishioner households and a school for preschool through eighth grade students. Our parish was founded in 1950 and became the cathedral when the Diocese of Santa Rosa was established in 1962.
Announcements
Please check this week’s bulletin for all current announcements. Only special announcements or ones that didn’t make it into the bulletin are listed here.
December 15, 2024 Third Sunday of Advent bulletin - Advent Joy + Preparation
Dear People of God,
Here we are starting the third week of Advent and lighting the rose colored candle on the wreathe. This candle signifies the joy that the Messiah has brought us and that joy is meant to be shared with others. Please find a way to share joy with others this week if possible. Advent feels like it's flying by us very fast and so it is. We really have to grab the season of Advent and make it a time of special grace and blessing. That means shutting out the surrounding noise of the culture which pulls us toward so many things, most especially the strange phenomenon of secular Christmas.
In so many ways, Christmas has become a time of celebrating for the sake of celebrating. Having parties for the fun of it and decorating because it looks nice. And yet, we know that there is a real meaning behind everything: God. We also know that we need to make Him the center of our life because that is His rightful place. As we move through Advent, we move toward the whole reason we do our preparation, we welcome Jesus, Who is Lord, at His birth. If you are reading through Isaiah, at this juncture you should be around chapter 50. I know that's a lot of reading, but we also know that God grants us many graces as we engage with Him and learn from His Holy Prophets.
On a different note, the silver maple is now gone. It was a long process to get to this point, but I'm very happy with how much more visible our church is. We will replace that maple with other smaller trees which will not threaten to fall into the road.
Sincerely, your pastor,
Fr. Samuel Moses Brown
December 8, 2024 Second Sunday of Advent bulletin - Advent - Loving Rescue
Dear People of God,
In the second week of Advent, we continue to celebrate the mysteries of the coming of Our Lord in the flesh. Though he was not in the form of the things of this world, He voluntarily entered into the created order for the purpose of saving us from our sins. Though we were dead in our sins, He came to our rescue. Though we do not merit so great a savior, He came to our aid even so, because of His great love for us. This is a perfect time for us to reflect on the depths of God's love for the human race and the reality of our need for a savior. Our Savior Jesus Christ has come to our aid and is still with us. The mystery of human salvation continues to play out in human history.
Also, if you are reading Isaiah for this Advent, you should be somewhere around chapter 15 to 18. If you aren't, this is a good time to catch up before the business of the "holiday" season takes everything over. Even in the midst of our busy preparations for Christmas and various parties, we know that we need to take time for prayer and reflection. Let us keep Advent as a holy and special time of grace and communion with our God.
Bless you all,
Fr. Samuel Moses Brown
December 1, 2024 First Sunday of Advent bulletin - New Liturgical Year C - Advent Practices
Happy Advent to You All,
We have now come to a new liturgical year. This year will be Year C in which we will go through the Gospel of Luke which contains various themes that are different from the Gospel of Mark. In Luke, we find a somewhat different layout of the events of Jesus' life and certain things highlighted by Luke such as food, women, and travel. Some people view Luke as the most "merciful" gospel because of the three parables of Luke 15 (the Lost Sheep, the Lost Coin, and the Lost Son). Additionally, Luke 10 is where we find the Good Samaritan Parable.
As we begin Advent, it's a great time to think about how we have lived this past year and how we can make improvements in the new year. In particular, we should think about patterns of sin or other behaviors that did not advance our relationship with God and how we can repair that relationship. Also, it's a great time to break out the Advent wreath and begin adventine devotions. There are many from which you can choose available at the bookstore. Traditionally, the Advent wreath candles represent hope, peace, joy, and love. There is not one official system of themes for the candles, though the third candle is the rose colored candle.
I strongly recommend some kind of spiritual program for Advent which should involve increased prayer, some kind of discipline (like mild fasting, committing to a holy hour, or a charitable work) and reading of Scripture. I always like to say that nothing says Advent like Isaiah. If you read 2-3 chapters of Isaiah a day, you will be at the end of Isaiah by Christmas. In Isaiah we see some of the most famous prophecies about Jesus (chapters 7, 11) and God's triumph in the final ten chapters of Isaiah.
God bless you all,
Very Rev. Samuel Moses Brown
November 24, 2024 Christ the King bulletin - Give Thanks to God
Dear People of God,
Here we are in the midst of the busy "holiday" season of our society. We easily get caught up with all the different things that we have to do. We buy this, make lists of that, and find that we deplete our energy and neglect things that are very important to us. Let us remember God and our relationship with Him. Let us remember to give Him thanks for all of the wonderful and good blessings that He has bestowed upon us. We should celebrate this day of Thanksgiving, which is fairly unique to this country, with a spirit of gratitude toward God who is the author of life and all that is good. The Thanksgiving Day table is a great time to spend a moment reflecting upon all that has been given to us, the things for which we are especially thankful, and to remember all of those who lack the basic necessities of life.
The historiography of Thanksgiving is rather puzzling. Some say that there really was an original event of a shared meal between the Native peoples of the New England area and English colonists, while others believe that that story was later invented to give Thanksgiving Day more caché as a holiday. Other sources state that there could have been multiple events in which people from the different cultures had collaborative meals. What we do know is that Thanksgiving as a day became more and more common in the 19th Century and by the end of the century, it became an established holiday. It was commonly celebrated on the final Thursday of the month, though some preferred the second to last Thursday of the month. Eventually, it was settled by making it the fourth Thursday which might be the last or the second to last Thursday of November.
Give thanks to God!
Fr. Samuel Moses Brown
November 17, 2024 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time bulletin - Prayer + Sacrifice
November 10, 2024 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time bulletin - Penitential Rite
November 3, 2024 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time bulletin - Eucharistic Prayers (cont.)
October 27, 2024 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time bulletin - Eucharistic Prayers
October 20, 2024 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time bulletin - Do you believe? & Eucharistic Prayers
October 13, 2024 28th Sunday of Ordinary Time bulletin - All Saints’ Day & All Souls’ Day coming
October 6, 2024 27th Sunday of Ordinary Time bulletin - Prepare!
September 29, 2024 26th Sunday of Ordinary Time bulletin - Receiving Holy Communion
September 22, 2024 25th Sunday of Ordinary Time bulletin - Humility & Helping Hand
September 15, 2024 24th Sunday of Ordinary Time bulletin - Penitential Rite
September 8, 2024 23rd Sunday of Ordinary Time bulletin - Renew our faith
September 1, 2024 22nd Sunday of Ordinary Time bulletin - Kneeling during Mass
Special Feature in the bulletin for August 25, 2024 - Why Do We Venerate Relics?
August 18, 2024 20th Sunday of Ordinary Time Bulletin - Sunday is special
August 11, 2024 19th Sunday of Ordinary Time Bulletin - Holy Eucharist => Eternal Life
August 4, 2024 18th Sunday of Ordinary Time - Signs and Miracles
July 21, 2024 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time Bulletin - Ordinary Time
July 14, 2024 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time Bulletin - Seek God’s presence
July 7, 2024 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time Bulletin - Embrace Jesus
June 30, 2024 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time Bulletin - Jesus heals
June 23, 2024 Bulletin 12th Sunday of Ordinary Time Bulletin - Stewardship
June16, 2024 Bulletin - Father’s Day - Special Message: The Head of the Family
May 26, 2024 Trinity Sunday Bulletin - The Mystery of the Trinity
May 19, 2024 Pentecost Bulletin - Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Thy faithful
Del Pastor: Domingo de Pentecostés
May 12, 2024 Seventh Sunday of Easter - Ascension Bulletin - Follow Him to Eternity
May 5, 2024 Sixth Sunday of Easter Bulletin - Our Relationship with God
April 28, 2024 Fifth Sunday of Easter Bulletin - We are the branches
April 21, 2024 Fourth Sunday of Easter Bulletin - Jesus is Our Shepherd
April 14, 2024 Third Sunday of Easter Bulletin - Resurrection: nice idea or truth?
April 7, 2024 Second Sunday of Easter - Divine Mercy Sunday - Bulletin - Several titles - 2nd Sunday of Easter
March 31, 2024 Easter Sunday Bulletin - Christ the Lord is Risen!
March 24, 2024 Bulletin - Welcome the Lord… at all times
March 17, 2024 Bulletin - Countdown to the Passion
March 10, 2024 Bulletin - The Light of God
March 3, 2024 Bulletin - Spiritual & Physical maintenance
February 25, 2024 Bulletin - Transfiguration - God’s Ways
February 18, 2024 Bulletin - All About Lent
February 11, 2024 Bulletin - Jesus Heals a leper - Thanking God
February 4, 2024 Bulletin - Jesus is the Messiah - the Healer
January 28, 2024 Bulletin - The Word of God
January 21, 2024 Bulletin — Time of Fulfillment in the Gospel of Mark
January 14, 2024 Bulletin - Ordinary Time/Gospel of Mark
January 7, 2024 Bulletin — Epiphany
Pastor’s Desk
Mass, Confession, & Adoration Schedule
Weekly Mass Schedule
Weekday Mass
Mon-Fri — 6:45 a.m. & 8 a.m.
Tues — 5:30 p.m.
Saturday — 8 a.m.
Saturday Evening Vigil:
4:30 p.m. (English)
6:30 p.m. (Spanish)
Sunday Mass:
7:30 a.m.
9 a.m.
10:30 a.m. *
12 noon
5:30 p.m.
Only the Sunday, 10:30 a.m. Mass (*) will continue to be live-streamed on St. Eugene Cathedral YouTube Channel. An outdoor speaker and/or monitor will only be placed outside for special Masses/events that would require outside overflow seating.
Holy Day Mass Schedule
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Advent - Christmas Schedule 2024
Masses & Confession
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6:45 a.m., 8 a.m., 5:30 p.m. and
7 p.m. (Spanish)9:20 a.m. school Mass during the school year
Adoration Times
24 hours a day. Passcode required.º
º The Adoration Chapel is open for Perpetual Adoration. See the announcement above, the latest bulletin, or the Adoration web page for more information.
Confession
Saturday 3:00-4:30 p.m. or by appointment
First Saturday of every month prior to and during the 8 a.m. Mass
Sunday Masses Confession:
No regular schedule - dependent on priests’ availability.