Prepare

Together

Advent at the St. John Paul II Parish Family

Live Nativity & Songs of the Season

Saturday, December 6th | 5:30 - 7:00 PM | Our Lady of Good Hope

Join us for a live Nativity, hot cocoa bar and music from musicians in our parish family on Saturday, December 6th at Our Lady of Good Hope from 5:30 - 7:00 PM

To sign up to be in the live Nativity, to donate supplies, or to set up, click the link below!

SIGN UP TODAY!

Has the Gospel story ever overwhelmed you—not just informed you, but
moved you to surrender your entire life to Jesus? St. John Paul II taught that
an ardent proclamation of Christ’s message should do just that.

This Advent we will be preparing our hearts for the Nativity by reclaiming
this remarkable story of hope. We’ll focus on four “big questions” to help us
understand the profound reason why the eternal Son of God became man.
The mission of Jesus was nothing less than to rescue us.

Join us!

Sign up to receive our Advent reflection emails throughout the season of Advent.
Journey through Advent using The Advent of Rescue devotional. This daily guide is designed to help you prayerfully explore the season and find Christ-centered answers to life's deepest questions. Download information is below. Weekly reflection questions will be posted below.

Prepare Together this Advent

Connect with us
during Advent

Sign Up for Advent Prepare Together

Free Download

DOWNLOAD NOW

Download The Advent of Rescue, 2025 Advent Reflections based on The Rescue Project. You will need a password to download the book. This password will be published in the Advent brochure given out at Masses on November 22 and 23. If you did not get one, please call the parish office or email info@stjohnpaulii.org.

There will also be a few printed copies in the back of each church for parishioners who have limited accessibility to technology.

A note about digital downloads: The system will only allow one download per email account. Please make sure you are using your preferred device when downloading. All popular e-reader formats are supported (Apple Books, BookFunnel, Google Play Books, Kindle, Kobo, Nook, along with EPUB and PDF).

Proclaiming an Advent of Hope & Rescue

Rediscover the story we’re presenting (or more accurately, re-presenting) this Advent. It’s the story of who Jesus is, what he has done, and what he’s asking of me. This story can be understood by answering four “big questions” about life, about human existence:

Why is there something rather than nothing?
Why is everything so obviously messed up?
What, if anything, has God done about it?
If God has done something, how should I respond?

This year, to go along with our Advent devotional, each priest will be addressing the above questions in a homily series on the four Sundays of Advent. These homilies and our Advent of Hope and Rescue is based on the book Rescued* by Fr. John Riccardo. If you would like to purchase that book, you can do so here.

*Riccardo, Fr. John. Rescued. The Word Among Us Press, 2020

Created

1

2

Captured

Rescued

3

4

Response

Created

Week 1 - Why is there something rather than nothing?

Why am I here?

Now there’s a question for you. And it’s not the same as, “How did I get here?” The origin of the universe is something science can try to address, but it’s not equipped to answer why. And until you know the meaning and purpose of your life, you will not experience lasting peace and happiness.

1