December 24, 2011
Posted in pastor
at 2:03 pm
“And the Word became flesh and lived among us…”
At Christmas we celebrate the birth of Christ. It is a time we set our minds and hearts to Bethlehem to behold and adore the new born king! Today, we call to mind God’s immense love for us. The reason that Christ took flesh in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary is to establish us in friendship and intimacy with God. God wants to enter into a life-giving and personally relationship with us that he sent us his son to be our brother and our saviour.
Jesus came to set us free
What happened at Christmas is a powerful reminder that we are very important to God, each and every one of us. By sending his son, God reaches out to our helpless and broken world. The best way to celebrate Christmas, therefore, far from over indulging in excessive eating and drinking, is to accept this super precious gift! It is only by accepting this little child lying in a manger that we can be healed of our misery and brokenness; that we can be completely happy and indeed be free from the shackles of sin and death.
Thank you
Thank you to everyone who in one way or the other helped the parish this Christmas. A special thanks to all our sacristans, altar servers, choirs, decorating committee, our office volunteers, ushers, indeed everyone! Your hard work and dedication is quite appreciated and will never go unrewarded by God. Trust me!
On a personal note, I will be going home (Nigeria) to visit with my family from Jan. 2nd through to the first week of Feb. (At least to shorten my winter). Please say a little prayer for me that I may go in peace and come back in safety and in good health. And please welcome Fr. Gordon Maclean!
Wishing everyone a merry Christmas and a fantastic 2012.
Fr. Paul
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December 18, 2011
Posted in posts
at 7:52 am
Wednesday, December 14 – Advent Penitential Service – 7:00 p.m.
Saturday, December 24 – Christmas Eve:
St. Thomas Aquinas School Gym – 5:00 p.m.
Our Lady’s Church – 8:00 p.m. 10:00 p.m.
Sunday, December 25 – Christmas day:
Our Lady’s Church – 10:00 a.m.
Saturday, December 31 – Solemnity of Mary Mother of God:
Our Lady’s Church – 4:30 p.m.
Sunday, January 1 – Solemnity of Mary Mother of God
Our Lady’s Church – 9:00 a.m. 10:45 a.m.
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Posted in pastor
at 7:49 am
“Hail, Full of Grace”
Today’s liturgy invites us to reflect on Mary, the woman of advent, our mother and our model!
God’s Choice
God freely chose Mary to be the mother of his only son. It was God’s choice that made her “Full of Grace”. If grace was God’s gift, Mary was full of God’s gift! And we do not have to ask what she did to deserve that: she didn’t do anything to deserve it, because it was sheer gift, as someone rightly put it, “gifts and favours reflect the generosity of the giver and not the worthiness of the receiver.” Therefore, today, what we are celebrating is the extravagant love of God who freely chose Mary to be the mother of Jesus.
Saying “Yes” Like Mary
The beautiful story of the Annunciation, the Angel Gabriel bringing to Mary the Good News that she will be the mother of his son, is a great reminder of the magnificent things that God can do with each one of us if we give him the permission, if we give him the opportunity, if we like Mary, say: “Here I am, the servant of the Lord, let it be done to me according to your word”, and mean it. Like Mary, God has chosen each and every one of us; he has a role for each of us and now he waits for our response.
Christmas Carolling
All are welcome to the last lap of our parish Advent events this Wednesday at our parish church, starting at 6 PM.
May the Blessed Mary intercede for us always so that we might be full of grace and do the will of God.
Fr. Paul
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December 11, 2011
Posted in Homilies
at 9:00 am
Third Sunday of Advent, December 11, 2011 – By Deacon Thomas Stephenson
Is everyone awake? As Father Paul has been reminding us for the past couple of weeks, during Advent we need to be awake, spiritually awake, so that we are ready for the coming of Jesus. And today, we are not just awake; we are rejoicing! Traditionally, we call this Sunday Gaudete Sunday, which comes from the Entrance Antiphon for today’s Mass, and is also found in the opening line of today’s second reading from the First Letter of Saint Paul to the Thessalonians. The Latin is Gaudete in Domino Semper – Rejoice in the Lord always! Even though it’s not yet Christmas, we rejoice in anticipation, with the knowledge that it will only be another two weeks until Christ comes.
Now, John the Baptist doesn’t usually strike us as a rejoicing type of guy. Living out in the desert, clothed in camel hair with a leather belt, eating locusts and wild honey – he sounds a little severe. Of course, all we have to go on is what we’re told in the Gospels, so our impressions may not be entirely accurate. And, even for us, rejoicing is not always expressed in ways that are easily seen, but that is still in our hearts. But the message John has for us gives us good reason to rejoice. Quoting Isaiah, he says that he is the voice crying out in the wilderness, “make straight the way of the Lord.” He tells the people sent by the Pharisees that there is one coming after him, and that One is coming so soon that He already stands among them. If they had been able to understand what he was telling them, they would have started rejoicing right then and there.
During this season, in Advent and over Christmas and New Year’s, we tend to have a lot of parties, perhaps at work, or with friends and family. This celebrating often takes on a more secular tone – our gatherings, while joyful, are not usually focused on the coming of Our Lord. And that’s okay, but we need to keep in mind why we’re doing all this, and make sure that our celebrations don’t end up leading us away from God. Whether religious or secular, these festivities require a lot of preparation. We don’t have to look too far to realize just how much we all put into getting ready for Christmas parties, and Christmas itself – the decorating, the cooking and baking; for some of us, the plans to travel, or to receive visitors. However, the real preparation for us, the preparation that John the Baptist is telling us about, is the preparation of our souls.
In addition to being awake, do we remember what else Father Paul told us about Advent? This is a penitential season, a time for us to examine ourselves in the light of our faith. This coming Wednesday evening, we will be having our Advent penitential service at 7:00. Although Father Paul is regularly available for confessions before both the 4:30 Mass on Saturday and the 9:00 Mass on Sunday, there will be at least three priests here for confessions on Wednesday. For those who haven’t been to confession for a while, or for that matter, even those who have been recently, this is our chance to make straight the way of the Lord in our hearts. With all of the activity that requires our attention this time of year, we need to make room in our schedule for this, the most important of our preparations. By doing so, we not only make ourselves ready for the coming of our Lord and Saviour, we also renew our enthusiasm for our faith and our desire for holiness.
Every Advent Season that we celebrate should be a reminder to us that our entire lives are a kind of Advent, a time of preparation as we joyfully wait for that time when we will rejoice in seeing Our Lord face to face. May God continue to grant us a holy advent, and make our hearts ready for the glory of Christ’s birth. (1)
(1) Adapted from letter from Archbishop Chaput to the faithful of Philadelphia, December 08, 2011
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December 10, 2011
Posted in pastor
at 5:30 pm
Advent is a time we anticipate the coming of Christ our redeemer whose presence gives us joy every day.
“Rejoice Always”
On this Gaudate Sunday, we are called to rejoice, to be joyful for the Lord our God will come to save us, bind our wounds, heal our brokenness, release us from the snares of sin and darkness, wipe away every tear from our eyes. St. Paul in our second reading today invites us to always be joyful! We are joyful when we live in peace and harmony with one another. We are joyful when we allow justice to flourish in the land. We are joyful when we share our bread with the hungry and clothe the naked.
A Question
In what way or ways have you experienced the joy of the Lord in your life? What was the experience like for you?
Advent Penance Service
Advent is a time to “make straight the way of the Lord.” John the Baptist was the one sent by God to prepare His people for the coming of His son. And so the people went to him to be baptized after confessing their sins. The best way of preparing the way of the Lord, therefore, is to rid our hearts, through the sacrament of reconciliation, of those clutters that may impede Christ from coming into our hearts, so as to make room for Him. So please join us next Wednesday, December 14 at 7 pm for our Parish Advent Penance Service.
Maranatha, Come Lord Jesus and fill us with your life and your joy!
Fr. Paul
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December 3, 2011
Posted in pastor
at 5:30 pm
Advent is a time we anticipate the coming of Christ our redeemer who comfort his people and bless them with peace.
The Lord is Near
John the Baptist announcing the Lord’s coming said: “The one who is more powerful than I is coming…” John was a prophet, the last of them. The one who is to come is Jesus Christ, not just another prophet, but the saviour of the world, who came to right the wrongs of the world and firmly re-establish a relationship of love and friendship between God and the human race. Through his birth, death and resurrection, Jesus bridged the gap separating humanity from God.
Keep Christ in Christmas
I appeal to you brothers and sisters to remember the reason for this season. This appeal is not heeded merely by making sure that our Christmas cards and stamps depict a nativity scene or even by placing a crib next to the tree. These things are fine and we should do, but they have meaning only if we do them with the realization of why God the father gave us the first Christmas gift, his own son, wrapped in the womb of Mary. As we wait for the Lord in joy and hope, may we always have faith in what he came to accomplish.
Thank You
Thanks to our Knights of Columbus council 12401, for purchasing and donating the New Translation of the Roman Missal to our Parish. And thanks also to everyone for a good start which wasn’t bad at all. Please let us continue to be patient with one another as we go through this phase.
May the Lord Jesus fill our hearts with his peace and love.
Maranatha, Come Lord Jesus!
Fr Paul
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