NEW APPOINTMENT IN THE ARCHDIOCESE OF MILWAUKEE

In June, Fr. Javier Guativa, from the CSP, became the new Administrator of two parishes in Racine, Wisconsin

After five years of pastoral work on the Southside of Milwaukee, Javier Guativa, a priest of the Community of St. Paul, was appointed by Archbishop Jerome E. Listecki as the Parish Administrator of Saint Lucy and Saint Sebastian parishes in Racine and nearby Sturtevant.

The parish of Saint Lucy, located in southeastern Racine, is the largest parish in Racine with 5,550 members and a school of 282 students. It has a variety of ministries for youth and adults as well women’s groups and a men’s Bible group that meets every Saturday to discuss the Sunday readings. Saint Sebastian parish is located to the west of Saint Lucy. It is a rural parish with 1,254 members, many of whom are local farmers.

The two parishes have been operating together as a cluster for the past two years, sharing the priest and the various ministries, which helps make the two communities grow together in faith.

We are pleased that Javier will now work pastorally in Racine, where Ricardo Martín and Antony Thomas, also priests of the CSP, are already pastors, and where our Community has its international headquarters.

REFLECTION

ADVENT: FOR WHAT ARE WE PREPARING?
Javier Guativa

We all know that the season of Advent, which means “coming,” tells us of the Incarnation, the worldly beginning of Jesus. But, often less recognized, is another meaning of Advent, which is the telling of the “coming” of the end, the “second coming” of the Lord, which will complete the history of salvation and be the beginning of the eternal season, beyond our measure of time, in which God will be all in all.  The Lord has come and will come. So, to cultivate vigilance and to embrace these occasions of encounter with Jesus, the Church has developed this rich liturgical season.

Although the liturgical texts of Advent express the season with a unified presentation, especially through the daily readings of the prophet Isaiah, Advent can be divided into two parts, each with a particular importance.