Advent is upon us and with fellow Catholics around the world, we anticipate the coming of the Saviour. The friars of the Central Province offer insights and reflections on the season in parishes and ministries throughout the Midwest and in Puerto Rico. For daily reflections on your computer, watch (and subscribe to) our series A Word of Hope. 

As always, our Shrine of St. Jude Thaddeus, located in St. Pius V Church in Pilsen, is available throughout Advent for personal prayer and reflection. Each Thursday at 12:00 noon and 6:30 p.m., we also offer a Dominican rosary and St. Jude Mass. All are invited to attend.

To learn more about the works of the great Dominican theologian and doctor of the Church St. Thomas Aquinas, read Advent and Christmas: Wisdom from St. Thomas Aquinas by Fr. Andrew Carl Wisdom, OP, which offers insight on St. Thomas as well as ways we as Catholics can prepare for the birth of Christ. Among these are daily prayers, such as this one: 

Loving Father, with the gift of your only Son, eternal charity was born into the world. Your divine mercy became incarnate in the hungry, the thirsty, the naked, and the stranger among us. This Advent help me to be free from all that drives me in the opposite direction of charity to my neighbor, so that I may be free for the claims of charity to which the most vulnerable invite us.

We look forward to journeying with you toward the birth of Our Lord.