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Weekly Bulletin December 6, 2020
by Terrie Evans
The theme for this 2nd Sunday of Advent is Peace as we are getting closer to the birth of Jesus and the celebration of Christmas. The peace we feel internally is the basis of all external peace within families, the community, society and the world and is a condition of the heart and mind of one who is renewed and justified in Christ. It is considered a quality that characterizes those who have received new life from God and have entered into an eternal relationship with him. Peace accompanies righteousness and comes to the soul through the cross of Christ that reconciles us to God and one another.
Next Sunday, we remember the tradition of Bambinelli Sunday when we bring in our baby Jesus’ from our home Creches for a blessing. During this week in 1940, 80 years ago, our church building that we worship in at present was formally dedicated. This was our 3rd church building since the start of San Antonio in 1922 that know would become the permanent home for our parishioners and their families to worship in. When the new building was in in the planning stages, all the families donated to the capital campaign to cover the many costs of a functional modern church. Many local businesses were very kind to our church community who worked with our tight budget to get the job done. On that Sunday in 1940, our new church held the formal dedication that renewed the faith of all those who were excited to be in attendance for the 1st Mass. They were finally home and were looking forward to the New Year of 1941, for future weddings, baptisms and parish functions.
As San Antonio celebrated its 1st Anniversary on December 7, 1941, the day went from a joyous milestone to a day of sadness with the news of the attack on Pearl Harbor. Our church community was changed forever on that morning as many of the neighborhood men enlisted in the many branches of our Armed Forces. These men from immigrant parents were proud to serve our country even though they would be sent away to participate in unknown battles and maybe never return.
We remember all of them and those from The Greatest Generation on Monday, December 7th, National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day. This day is set aside to honor the 2,403 United States citizens killed on that morning. We will never forget the sinking of USS Arizona with 1,177 crew lost, the USS Utah with 58 men lost, the USS Oklahoma with 429 lost, the 159 planes that were badly damaged and the 188 aircraft destroyed in the surprise attack that brought all our families into a war. We salute all our WWII Veterans on this 79th Anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor.