“Preparing Hearts for Christmas” is the theme for a five-evening parish renewal beginning on Sunday, Dec. 13, at St. Pius X Church. Services in English and Spanish will begin at 7 p.m. each evening through Thursday, Dec.17, at the parish church, 2621 Ga. Highway 20. A morning service will be at 8:30 a.m. Refreshments and social time will follow each evening session. All are invited to attend.

Redemptorist Fathers Gan Nguyen and Tony Judge, from Chicago, will lead sessions designed to help participants experience the saving presence of God in a special way. Themes for each evening will include: God’s plan for salvation; who is Jesus?; sin, reconciliation and healing; Jesus as nourishment on the faith journey; and our mission to share in the work of Jesus. The priests will also be available for counseling and reconciliation as needed.

Father Gan was born in Vung Tau, Vietnam, and raised in Biloxi, Miss. After ordination, he worked as a parish priest, retreat master, and youth and young adults director. When asked “who are you?”, he will grin and answer, “My name is Father Gan Nguyen—my friends call me, ‘Father Gone with the Wind’ so it’s easy to remember. I am fisherman by trade, electrical engineer by profession, and Redemptorist missionary priest by choice.”

Father Tony was born and raised in St. Louis, Mo. He was professed as a Redemptorist in 1973 and ordained a priest in 1979. He worked as a missionary in Brazil for almost 10 years. The next 10 years were spent in Colorado as an associate pastor and then pastor of an inner-city largely Hispanic parish in Denver. He then spent two years preaching missions in bilingual, English and Spanish, parishes. Father Tony has been the coordinator of the Redemptorist Hispanic Missionary Project in the Diocese of Dodge City, Kan., for the past seven years.

All are invited to come to the St. Pius X Advent mission, take a break from the usual holiday stress, and find peace and joy in preparing hearts for Christmas.