When I was a child our Christmas tree went up either on or just before December 24th, and came down January 6th, a day referred to by my parents as Old Christmas Day. Likely unbeknownst to them, my parents were in sync with the rhythm of the Church in their preparation for, and celebration of, Christmas. Despite the fact that the coloured lights that have graced our communities for most of December (or longer) have, mainly, been extinguished, for …
by admin 
The rhythm of the Church is one which is all her own. We are invited to enter into that rhythm, but often find it hard to do so, influenced as we are by the secular world in which we live. This Sunday, the 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, is the second last of this liturgical year. Soon, very soon, we will begin preparations to welcome the Babe. Some may have already begun them. 🙂
The readings give a feeling …
by admin 
“Homeless often ‘treated like dirt’” ran a headline in the September 8th edition of the Times & Transcript. It grabbed my attention, and I felt a pang of guilt.
The increasing number of homeless people appearing in our communities, particularly over the past few years, is disconcerting to see. Recently, returning to my car with women friends, parked a couple of blocks north of Main Street, following a performance at the Capitol Theatre, as we left …
by admin 
On Mother’s Day, 2003, I attended mass at the Shrine of the Most Holy Redeemer, a church, but not a parish, strategically located amid casinos and hotels on The Strip in Las Vegas. 19 years later, I can still remember the homily from the presiding priest, who shared the story of the very first Liturgy he had ever presided on Mother’s Day in his home parish, parents and siblings proudly sitting in the front pew. “Now,” he said, “I …
by admin 
On January 19th, a family of four were found frozen to death on the Canada-US border in Manitoba. It was a shocking and startling headline I spotted when perusing the CBC app on my cell phone. I felt sick. How could such a thing possibly happen in this land of opportunity? A land which had called the Patel family to immigrate, just as it had called my ancestors and the ancestors of any of us not of Indigenous descent in this country. Since then, …
by admin 
What do we believe? If we allow the words we effortlessly recite at every Sunday Eucharist during the Creed to resonate within us, we should know. In this Sunday’s Gospel for the 4th Sunday of Advent, Elizabeth says of Mary, “Blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.” Blessed is she who believed. That resonates with me this week.
It has been a tough …
by admin 
Be careful what you wish for. That’s what popped into my head on reading the Gospel this week.
It’s a little startling to hear the request James and John make of Jesus – this apparent grab for power. Even more startling if you read the verses prior to the ones we hear proclaimed from Mark’s Gospel.
“You do not know what you are asking,” Jesus says. But in fact, they SHOULD know what they are asking, …
by admin 
Bridging us from the great 50-day season of Easter to Ordinary Time, are a couple of significant feast days in the Church’s liturgical calendar. One of these is the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity or Trinity Sunday, which we celebrate today. In the eyes of the Church, “a solemnity is a feast day of the highest rank, celebrating a mystery of faith.” In other words, a solemnity is kind of a big deal.
The Trinity …
by admin 
Today we begin the holiest week in the Church’s calendar, aptly entitled Holy Week. Despite being seen by many Christians as such, it is not Christmas but Easter, which is the highpoint of the Church’s liturgical year. In a few days we will celebrate Triduum – Three Days that commemorate the Paschal Mystery of Jesus Christ and move us from Lent to this great season of Easter. Triduum is a three-part continuous liturgy – Holy Thursday, Good Friday and …
by admin 
Jonah was a reluctant prophet to put it mildly. In that short book of the bible, a mere four chapters, we read his story. In the proclaimed excerpt, we do not hear of his initial reluctance to take on the task which God calls him to. Jonah was the guy who ended up in the belly of the big fish, traditionally a whale, when he is thrown overboard by the sailors of the ship he has taken to elude …
by admin