Immaculate Heart Church Crosslake, MN

Editor’s note: Bishop Paul Sirba wrote this column for the December issue of The Northern Cross shortly before his death on Dec. 1.

With the nights getting longer and the cold growing colder, it may seem counterintuitive to be thinking of new beginnings. But the expression “it is always darkest before the dawn” really comes into play — and maybe those who live in the Southern Hemisphere have a slight advantage this time of year. Our Church begins a new year with the first Sunday of Advent, Dec. 1.

Not long ago, I gave my weekday Mass crowd two theological statements and asked them to raise their hands if they thought the statement was correct. Here was the first one: “We can earn heaven by living a virtuous life, being faithful to the sacraments, and truly loving our neighbor as ourself.” About half the people raised their hand and nodded in agreement.

Father Richard

"When people met him, they felt accepted by him,” Father Joseph Sirba said in the funeral homily for his brother, our beloved Bishop Paul Sirba, who died unexpectedly Dec. 1. “To them he wasn’t just Bishop Paul, but my friend, Bishop Paul ….”

Or take it from a retired priest of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis: “I think the thing about Bishop Paul was, no matter who he was with, he was 100 percent himself and you felt like he was your best friend,” he told The Catholic Spirit. “He was so kind and loving and interested in your life.”