Scrutinies – Examining Our Lives

The primary way that the Church assists the catechumens (now called the elect after the celebration of the Rite of Election last Sunday) in their conversion process during Lent, is through the celebration of rites called Scrutinies. These ritual celebrations on the Third, Fourth and Fifth Sundays of Lent are communal prayers celebrated around ...

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Mark Mahoney

Observing Lent

The readings today mark the first Sunday of Lent. Every lent is a new beginning; sometimes beginnings are welcomed, other times half and half.  We welcome Lent as a time to make our faith fresh, a preparation for and a reinforcement of our ongoing struggles to resist the temptations we face in our lives. We know from other Lents that it’s hard to keep going, and it’s for a long ...

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Cathy Keirstead

Will you kiss the leper clean?

Many years ago I entered the hospital room of an elderly lady who greeted me with the words, “you shouldn’t have gone to all that trouble for me. I’m so ashamed. I was always been a clean person.” It took me a moment to realize that she was embarrassed because I had to put on a mask, gown and gloves before ...

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Pam Driedger

Write! Be part of the change!

This is a follow-up to the Federal Liberal’s letter of attestation I mentioned at the end of last weekend’s liturgies. As you know, the Canadian Government will no longer give grants through the Canada Summer Job program unless the group applying for the grant attests to being pro-choice. Pro-choice is the ideology that professes that there is parity between life and ...

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Fr Phil

Your Properly Formed Conscience

In the second reading we hear St. Paul say to the Corinthians, if I proclaim the Gospel, this gives me no ground for boasting, for an obligation is laid on me, and woe to me if I do not proclaim the Gospel!

During these past few days there has been much discussion about the government’s regulations regarding the hiring of summer students ...

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Fr Charlie

I will raise up for them a Prophet…

“I will raise up for them a Prophet like you from among their own kin; I will put my words in [their] mouth”

As I had grown up in the 70’s and 80’s, when someone was described as “a prophet,” I usually pictured a cartoon-like hippie with a robe and long beard carrying a sign stating, “The end is near!” Prophets had ...

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Mary Joshi

Good News

Wouldn’t we all want to know the future?  Let me rephrase that …wouldn’t we all want to know the future if everything in the future were going to be okay!  The psalmist sings, “Lord, make me know your ways.”  It’s a little like asking, ‘Let me know the future.’  Maybe … but not if it’s bad news.  Good news is what Jesus is speaking when he arrives in Galilee.  ...

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Ellen Bennett

Who Do You Think You Are?

“Oh, those shoes are calling my name.”

“My name has been called for jury duty.”

 “That piece of cheesecake has my name on it.”

“I swear on my name, I will poke you in the eye!”

“I want to make a name for myself.”

“His name is mud.”

What calls your name? Like many, many people on the planet, in recent ...

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Trevor Droesbeck

Epiphany of the Lord

Today’s celebration, the Epiphany of the Lord, I believe has much to offer us in our faith journeys. As I read today’s gospel, I am struck by the depth of the word epiphany. Epiphany means “manifestation” or “showing forth”. I think of the amount of faith manifested by the wise men to follow a star upon its rising, ...

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Katy Mahoney

Christmas Message from Fr. Phil

Welcoming the Stranger

When I can still myself long enough during the Christmas season, questions like the following always seem to surface: Who is this One laying in a manger? Who was Jesus? What difference did his coming make in my life and the life of the world? Questions about Jesus inevitably lead me to God. There will always be a ...

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Fr Phil

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