St. Lawrence the Martyr Parish – Hamilton

Where faith builds community | 125 Picton St. E., Hamilton, ON L8L 0C5

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From the Pastor’s Desk:

Published December 17, 2018 / by St. Lawrence Hamilton

Rejoice in the Lord always; I say, rejoice. Indeed, the Lord is near – this entrance antiphon embodies the Third Sunday of Advent. We are called to the joy that flows from the Lord. Having passed the midpoint of Advent the Church encourages us to continue our spiritual preparation for the second coming of Christ and obviously for the feast of His Nativity. Today during the Mass a priest can wear rose vestments instead of purple ones that are normally used in the season of Advent.

In today’s Gospel we find St. John the Baptist in the centre of all the events. He was not only a good and radical preacher, but also his teaching was very practical. When various groups of people came to him asking what they should do, he told each of them what to do in order to live a life pleasing the Lord. He told them a general rule how to truly love their neighbour and gave them specific pieces of advice accordingly to their professions.
Today, we are also called to live a holy life dedicated to the Lord despite of our occupation, social status or position. The call to holiness binds every authentic follower of Jesus.

This Monday, December 17th, we begin the second part of Advent that is directly dedicated to the mystery of the Nativity of the Lord. Therefore, during the 8 last days before Christmas in the liturgical calendar there is no special feast or memorial of saints.


The Filipino Community continues the Novena to Baby Jesus with a Mass and special prayers in our church. On Thursday, December 20th, we are going to have a common Mass with them at 7 pm and an Advent Celebration in the church hall to follow. Everybody is welcome!
The final days of Advent are a good opportunity to prepare not only our church and homes for the upcoming feasts but our hearts as well through the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

Saint John the Baptist, direct our hearts to the right desires, so that we may truly rejoice at the Lord!

God bless,
Fr. Peter

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National Day of Prayer in Solidarity with Indigenous Peoples December 12, 2018 Young People, the Faith and Vocational Discernment

Published December 12, 2018 / by St. Lawrence Hamilton

National Day of Prayer in Solidarity with Indigenous Peoples December 12, 2018 Young People, the Faith and Vocational Discernment

The National Day of Prayer in Solidarity with Indigenous People is celebrated by the Catholic Church in Canada every year on December 12, the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe, patroness of the Americas. This year the Canadian Catholic Aboriginal Council has chosen the theme Young People, the Faith and Vocational Discernment, the theme of the 15th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops which took place this year in Rome, October 3 to 28.

In addressing the young people at the beginning of the pre-synodal meeting with youth in Rome on March 19 of this year, Pope Francis quoted the Prophet Joel, saying: “For me this is today’s prophecy: ‘Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams’ (Joel 2:28).” He then went on to say: “We need young prophets but take care: you will never be prophets if you do not seize the dreams of the elderly. … Make the elderly dream and these dreams will help you to go onward; …. ”

The Pope’s comment speaks beautifully to the interconnectedness of generations — that for young people to achieve their potential, to become the prophets of the future that God has made them to be, they are in need of the dreams of their Elders, of the prophets who have gone before them.

There is a story told among the Indigenous people of an Elder explaining to a youth that in each person there are two wolves that are constantly at war, a Good Wolf fighting to make us strong and noble and wise, and a Bad Wolf fighting to make us weak and evil and foolish. The youth asked the Elder which Wolf wins this war taking place within us and the Elder replied: “the Wolf that we feed.”

To grow strong and noble and wise, young people need to be nourished by the dreams, wisdom and love of their Elders. Pope Francis’ prayer for this year’s Synod captures well the dream and hope of the Prophets of today for our Young People, the Prophets of tomorrow:

Lord Jesus, your Church turns her attention to all the young people of the world. We pray that they might boldly take charge of their lives, aim for the most beautiful and profound things of life and always keep their hearts unencumbered.

Accompanied by wise and generous guides, help them to respond to the call you make to each of them, to realize a proper plan of life and achieve happiness. Keep their hearts open to dreaming great dreams and make them concerned for the good of others.

Like the Beloved Disciple, may they stand at the foot of the Cross, to receive your Mother as a gift from you. May they be witnesses to your Resurrection and be aware that you are at their side as they joyously proclaim you as Lord. Amen.

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From the Pastor’s Desk, November 25th – Christ the King

Published November 27, 2018 / by St. Lawrence Hamilton

Today we celebrate the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe that was established in 1921 by Pope Pius XI in his encyclical letter Quas Primas. The Pope connected the increasing denial of Christ as king to the rise of secularism throughout Europe. At that time many Christians began doubting Christ’s existence and authority as well as the Church’s power to continue Christ’s authority.

In the present, we face very similar problems with Christ’s and the Church’s authority. Individualism has reached such an extreme that for numerous people the only authority is the individual self. Many people do not acknowledge that rejecting Christ they reject themselves too because by His incarnation Christ has been united with every human being.

In today’s Gospel Jesus reminds us that His kingdom is not from this world. This means that we ought to fix our eyes more upon heaven that here below, so that walking on earth we may see this celestial horizon of everlasting life in the kingdom of God.

This week concludes the liturgical year. Next Sunday we begin the new liturgical year with the 1st Sunday of Advent.

This Friday, November 30th, we observe the Feast of Saint Andrew, Apostle. He was a brother of St. Peter. In the Gospel of St. John, we read that Andrew first recognized Jesus as the Messiah and then brought his brother Simon Peter to Jesus. Tradition says that Andrew preached the Gospel along the Black Sea and the Dnieper river as far as Kiev. Hence, he became a patron saint of Ukraine, Romania and Russia. Andrew is as well said to found the episcopal see of Byzantium (Constantinople, Istanbul), so he is also recognized as the patron saint of the Patriarchate of Constantinople. The iconography pictures St. Andrew crucified on a x-shaped cross, now commonly known as St. Andrew’s Cross.

Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, rule over us!

God bless,

Fr. Peter

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