Posted on December 21, 2015 by arisovalle

After celebrating the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe with morning prayer at 5:00 AM and a lively evening Mass at7:00 PM, accompanied by a traditional mariachi band, the parish community of Good Shepherd was ready to continue its preparations for the Christmas season!  Yesterday, on the Third Sunday of Advent the parish community gathered for a bi-lingual service of Lessons and Carols in the church.  Our combined choirs led the community in beautiful songs which accompanied readings from the Scriptures and prayers for Advent.  Following the service, the community gathered outside the church and was joined by other members of the parish and neighborhood for the annual blessing of our outdoor nativity scene, the lighting of the Christmas lights on the facade of the church, the Christmas lights in the 911 Memorial Garden and finally the Christmas tree in the backyard of the friary.  Many enjoyed the warm temperatures and continued singing bi-lingual Christmas carols in the yard.  Despite the spring-like temperatures, the crowd smiled in surprise and erupted in an applause as a snow-making machine, perched in a second-story friary window, was turned on and gently covered the participants below with “snow.”  It was another wonderful weekend at Good Shepherd!  Fr. Robert Abbatiello, Pastor