September 22, 2011
Posted in pastor
at 1:10 pm
We are called to witness to God’s love in our world so as to enjoy the fullness of life which He alone can give.
To be God’s witness we must pay attention and be willing to obey as Christ did. He emptied Himself, as St. Paul reminds us, and accepted death on a cross. It is precisely because of His total obedience that God exalted him in the glory of his resurrection and made us His adopted children.
Our lives, therefore, as Christians are a constant search for God’s will. Each day we tell God, “I will obey your will”; “I will do your work.” Very easy to say. But sometimes to match our words with action is the problem! In times like this, we turn to Jesus for help. What really matters is our readiness to accept God’s will for us, whatever it may be. If we do that, then we can be sure that our reward will be like Christ’s too.
Life in the Spirit Seminar
A life in the Spirit Seminar is a retreat which centers on God the Holy Spirit and is for anyone who “desires a new awareness and a deeper relationship with God, especially through the working of the Holy Spirit, and to be more fully spiritually equipped in building the body of Christ, the Church.” These seminars will be going on in our parish for the next seven weeks (Sept. 21 – Nov. 2) every Wednesday, 7.30-9.00pm. I encourage you to avail yourself of this wonderful opportunity of experiencing a better personal relationship with Jesus and the father.
Life Chain
Please join us at the intersection of Castor and Concession streets today, Sunday Oct. 2 from 2.00-3.00pm for an hour of silent prayer and witness for the respect for life.
May God grant us His peace and love.
Fr. Paul
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September 16, 2011
Posted in pastor
at 8:48 pm
Jesus Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. All through his entire life and ministry, He showed us by word and deed who God is and what He is like: kind, loving, merciful, compassionate, and generous.
The landowner in today’s parable who decided to pay all the workers the same wage represents God whose grace and mercy are extravagantly poured out to those whom He calls not by any merit of theirs but only by his immense love! It doesn’t matter whether He calls someone early or later in life to share in His grace, the glory and praise of our salvation is His and His alone. Our duty is simply to respond and to follow Christ closely and imitate this great love and generosity of our Father in order to enjoy the fullness of life.
The New Roman Missal
On August 15, 2011, the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops issued a decree confirming that the revised English-language edition of the Roman Missal will come into effect on November 27, 2011, which is also the first Sunday of Advent. No doubt this will be an exciting time in the life of our Church. A lot has been going on in our archdiocese preparing the priests, deacons, religious and the laity in order to be ready for this remarkable change. You are encouraged to attend a six week course on what is changing in the Missal and why. The course is to be presented by Frs. Ingram and Donahue of the Companions of the Cross (see bulletin announcement for details).
Gifts and Services Campaign
The weekend of September 24/25th is our parish gift and services campaign. Volunteering is one of the great ways of getting involved in the life of your parish and more so a way of saying ‘thank you’ to God for the gifts he has given you – time, talents and abilities. There is need for volunteers in all areas of our parish life. Please consider signing up in one or more of the different ministries in our parish as a way of contributing to the growth of the body of Christ.
May we be filled with the goodness of the Lord!
Fr. Paul
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September 15, 2011
Posted in blog, posts
at 11:52 am
All people engaged in ministry are asked to read the following document.
Protocol Regarding Sexual Abuse of Minors
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September 8, 2011
Posted in pastor
at 12:22 pm
We are called to be witnesses of the love and compassion of Jesus Christ and to imitate our Heavenly Father whose mercy and forgiveness endures forever.
When we sin, we are in deep spiritual debt to God. Every sin, either by omission or commission, is a terrible evil because it offends God. And yet we know very well that when we have sinned we can go to confess our sins and receive absolution from the priest and our sins are forgiven it doesn’t matter how serious or frequent the sins might be. Like the king in today’s parable, God always gives us more than we bargain for, He writes off our debt of sin completely. What a forgiving and gracious God!
God is indeed willing and does wish to write off our debt of sin, but there is a catch: if God forgives, as Jesus taught and showed us in the gospel, then God’s disciples must be ready to forgive. In other words, if we want God’s forgiveness, which we all need badly, then we must forgive injuries done to us. This point is so very important to Jesus that when he taught us to pray he gave us these words: “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us” – words we pray every day!
When Jesus said to Peter: “Not seven times but seventy-seven times”, this is a great reminder that forgiveness has no limit, it is infinite; not a matter of how many times but a matter of love. To forgive is to love! The Lord Jesus, our great teacher, invites us today to make forgiveness a way of life – accepting people the way they are, being ready ALWAYS to pardon others for the little everyday hurts and annoyances. A question: How do I deal with the person who harms me or hurts my feelings?
May God be gracious to us and bless us and may His face shine upon us!
Have a great week!
Fr Paul
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September 5, 2011
Posted in Homilies
at 8:13 pm
Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time – By Deacon Thomas Stephenson
September 04, 2011
In today’s second reading, St. Paul says “Owe no one anything, except to love one another.” He then goes on to list some of the commandments, and says that they are “summed up in this word ‘Love your neighbour as yourself’”. We know that this is what Jesus taught us – “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbour as yourself.” If we truly love our neighbour, and if we truly love God, we will naturally keep the commandments. The commandments still apply, but it is out of love that we adhere to them, not just because we are obeying a set of rules.
So, loving one another is not an option; it is what we owe to each other. And part of this requirement to love one another is our obligation to correct our brothers and sisters when we are aware that they are in sin or error.
In the Gospel, Jesus tells us, “If your brother or sister sins against you, go and point out the fault when the two of you are alone.” This instruction from Jesus is easy to understand, but sometimes difficult to follow. Especially in issues of personal disagreement, one reason we may have difficulty is that most of us would prefer to avoid what we fear may end up becoming an argument. Our approach, though, should not be confrontational, or one of condemnation, but one of loving fraternal correction. To paraphrase a former pastor from my hometown, we are to challenge them, not crush them. It is in this way that we may, as Jesus says, regain our brother or sister.
At one time or another, perhaps many times over the course of our lives, we may end up travelling down the wrong path, or believing things that will take us away from the truth. We live in a world that often puts more emphasis on how we feel about certain behaviours, rather than on an objective moral truth. Many sinful actions are now considered simply matters of personal preference. The ones that seem to currently cause the most conflict between faithful Christians and the rest of the culture are abortion and homosexual activity. While there is no question that these are important topics to address, there are other issues that may strike a little closer to home, that are a little more widespread: artificial birth control, fornication, and adultery. Or maybe cheating, such as on taxes, or one St. Paul mentions – coveting, that inordinate desire for what belongs to someone else, which seems to be prevalent in our society. Now, it is not our place to judge people involved in any of these activities. And, it is never acceptable to discuss things of this nature behind someone’s back, or we may find ourselves guilty of the sin of detraction, which is when we tell others negative things about someone, even if what we say is true. There should be no place in our lives for gossip, whether or not it is true. When we pass along information that could injure someone’s reputation, some responsibility for that harm falls on us. But it is appropriate to recognize when someone is engaged in sinful behaviour. If we have first-hand knowledge of people in such situations and, after prayerful consideration, we can approach them based on a genuine loving concern for their eternal salvation, we are obligated to do so.
We also need to be aware of ideas in our culture that conflict with our faith. There are many concepts today that may sound very nice, that may be called spiritual, but that lead us into misunderstanding about God and our relationship with Him. From books that tell us about a “new earth”, or a “secret” to a better life, to the atheists that seem to be very popular these days, we must be able to intelligently and patiently offer correction to those of our brothers and sisters who may be seduced by some of these ideas.
Remember last week, when Jesus went so far as to tell Peter, “Get behind me, Satan!” Why did He say that? Peter wasn’t literally Satan; he wasn’t evil. Jesus admonished him because Peter was thinking not as God does, but as humans do. It’s obvious that, as humans, that is how we will naturally think. So, we may need someone’s help to adjust our thinking. And, as humans, we will naturally fall into sin. We may have sufficient understanding to recognize our sin and come to repentance, and go to confession. Then again, we may need someone’s help before we can see that.
Or, any one of us could find ourselves to be in a position at some point to be the one providing that help, that loving guidance. We need to treat everyone with kindness and respect. What greater kindness can we possibly show to someone than helping them on the road to salvation?
God loves each of us, whether we are saints or sinners, or as is more often the case, a mixture of both. We are called to love our brothers and sisters too, whether they are saints or sinners. In love, we may need to correct them when they behave like sinners, or we may need to support and sustain them when they are saints. Loving them in this way, we will not just have obeyed the law, but as St. Paul says, we will have fulfilled the law.
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September 2, 2011
Posted in pastor
at 9:54 am
A long time ago, there used to be a television commercial for a certain mouthwash. The scene opens with a young man trying to muster enough courage to tell his boss the terrible truth that he has bad breath! He rehearses the short speech he plans to give in which he will advice his boss to use this certain mouthwash. Then with fear and trembling he approaches his boss and begins his carefully prepared speech, with a bottle of the mouthwash in his hand. Before he can get to the point, the boss sees the bottle and with a burst of jubilant enthusiasm exclaims, “Ah yes, I use that every morning now.” Ends the scene, and no more problem about bad breath.
Perhaps the only realistic aspect of this commercial is that you would probably find it very difficult to come out and tell someone that he has bad breath. In today’s readings we are instructed by our Lord Jesus to correct a brother or sister who commits a wrong against another member of a community of believers.
But this has to be done with love, and with the mind of winning the brother or sister over for Christ. Fraternal correction is what we owe each member of our Christian Community. “Owe no one anything except to love one another”, says St. Paul. In the family, for example, husbands and wives have an obligation to correct each other’s faults not in a spirit of faultfinding but in a spirit of loving communication. The same applies to siblings, friends, neighbours and coworkers. When Jesus asks us to correct one who harms us, he wants reconciliation. He wants us to make a difference. He wants us to live in peace and harmony.
Thanks be to God we had a great summer this year at least weather wise. Thanks also to our many volunteers who organized our Vacation Bible School this summer. This year’s recorded a huge success as close to 60 kids took part. In the next couple of weeks, our parish will be embarking on volunteer recruitment drive. This is the time to consider getting involved and to contribute to the life of our parish, your parish. More on this will be coming your way shortly.
May the Lord bless us with His peace and love!
Fr. Paul
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Homilies