The weekday Mass schedule:
Monday, Wednesday, Friday at 12:05 p.m. in the church
 
 The weekend Mass schedule:
Saturday evening (vigil Mass) at 5:30 p.m.
Sunday Masses at 8:30am & 11:00am

CONFESSIONS
Saturdays 4:00—5:00pm in the church confessionals beginning      

The parish office hours of M-F 10:00am-3:00pm.

Do not come to Mass is you are particularly vulnerable! There is only so much we can do to alleviate the risk. Please wear a mask if you are coming. You may be the one who is asymptomatic!

PUBLIC MASSES RETURN TO SAINT BENEDICT PARISH

Thursday of the First Week of Advent

(Is. 26:1-6; Mt. 7:21, 24-27)
The passage from today’s Gospel is taken from the conclusion of the Sermon on the Mount, one of the longest teaching passages in Matthew’s gospel.  Wrapping things up Jesus points out the important of “doing the Word,” as the eminent moral theologian Enda McDonough put it, and not just listening to Jesus’ words.  That is the basic challenge of the moral life, isn’t it?

It’s a challenge because there is always going to be a gap between theory and practice.  We know a lot already and if we were practicing all we know there wouldn’t be any time for sleep, or even for rest and recuperation.  No one can go 24/7.  That’s just a fact of life.

But it’s a challenge also because of the bias, in American society at least, of favoring the doing over the listening, as counter-intuitive to the point of today’s gospel as that might seem.  It sometimes happens that a person will take advantage of the added confession times in the seasons leading up to the Church’s major feasts, only to arrive at confession and conclude that they “really haven’t done anything that bad.”  And that could be true.  The actions that they have engaged in might really not have included anything momentously wrong.  But “doing the Word” entails asking oneself not only the question “What have I done?” when examining one’s conscience, but also “What have I failed to do?”  We could make a long list of follow-up questions that would flesh out that basic query:

Have I given God time and listened to his Word?
Have I honored him by showing my love and devotion in how I treat others and the world he has created?
Have I been attentive to the promises he has made by trusting in them and letting them guide my decision-making? 

And so on.

Read the sermon on the Mount (Chapters 5-7 in Matthew’s Gospel)—maybe even out loud so that you “hear” what is being said.  Then, check your conscience.  What emerged as something you need to attend to?  Something, maybe that you have been failing to do.  And then make the change.  Do the Word.
 

The St. Benedict Soup Kitchen is in operation Monday through Friday 11:30am-12:30pm at the corner of 9th & Walnut Streets. All are welcome!
 To inquire about voluteering in the Soup Kitchen please call            812-232-8421. 

Masses for St. Benedict Church are on the YouTube Channel (search St Benedict Catholic Church Terre Haute, IN OR click on the YouTube icon below.

        Weekly Announcements for             
Nov. 28-Dec. 4

The Advent Prayer & Penance Series begins this Thursday, December 2^nd in Hellmann Hall at 6:00 p.m. and continues for two additional Thursdays.  We hope you will join this prayerful discussion of the Advent Scripture readings.  Please know it’s not too late to register.  See the bulletin for details.


Pictures from the ofrenda are on the northside bookshelf at the main doors of the church.  Thank you for picking them up after Masses.

A reminder that a Fair Trade Sale to support Catholic Relief Services and particularly the Afghan Resettlement effort will be held after all the Masses next weekend.  Please stop by the tables in the back of church and see if there isn’t something there that you could make good use of.