St. Lawrence the Martyr Parish – Hamilton

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

Category: From the Pastor’s Desk

From the Pastor’s Desk : Do Something Greater

Published February 19, 2020 / by St. Lawrence Hamilton

For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven

Thus Jesus called upon His followers to be more righteous than the religious officials at that time. Jesus wanted His disciples to do something more than what was required by the Law. Similarly, Jesus encourages us to do something greater. The Lord in today’s passage of the Gospel explains the more profound meaning of God’s commandments. He wants us to go farther than the obligations flowing from our faith. Why? Because the true love which the Lord teaches us to have cannot be limited only to what is mandatory. This call is simple and practical; yet, on the other hand it is also difficult due to its simplicity. We are to attend Mass on Sunday; not only because it is our weekly duty of the faith, but first of all because we wish to encounter our Lord in His word and through the Eucharist. We are to go to Confession; not only to be cleansed from our sins, but also to live more eagerly a holy life. In other words, we are to make our commitment to the Lord and our faith more out of love than due to the obligations.

This Saturday, February 22nd we observe the Feast of the Chair of St. Peter. On that day, we are not celebrating a piece of furniture, but the role and office of Peter within the Church. That office, presently held by Pope Francis, has been around for over 2000 years and is a sign of authority of the Pope and of unity the followers of Jesus. Please, keep the Holy Father and his intentions in our prayers!

St. Peter, the Apostle – pray for us!

God bless,
Fr. Peter

Posted In From the Pastor's Desk

From the Pastor’s Desk : You are salt…You are light

Published February 09, 2020 / by St. Lawrence Hamilton

You are the salt of the earth. (…) You are the light of the world – in today’s passage of the Gospel, Jesus in a metaphorical way explains to His disciples their mission. He wants them to be good witnesses to the Gospel by what they say and what they do. Other people are to taste the Gospel through their teaching and actions. Simultaneously, the Lord tells them about the great responsibility that His disciples undertake. He warns them of the gravity of that obligation: they are not to fail – they are obliged to be faithful to the Lord at all times.


This Sunday Jesus calls us to be His authentic disciples too. He wants us to spread the Gospel in word and deed. By responding to this call we can truly show our love towards Him who loved us to the very end; laying down His life for us. Being His authentic disciples requires faithfulness to the Lord. Numerous Christians have taken this call seriously and many of them paid the highest price. Among them there was Saint Paul, the Apostle who, as we can read in today’s second reading, proclaimed Christ crucified regardless of the consequence.

Since we are approaching Ash Wednesday, that idea of authentic discipleship may become our first reflection in this season of Lent.
This Tuesday, February 11th we observe the memorial of Our Lady of Lourdes. It is also a World Day of the Sick which was instituted by Pope St. John Paul II in 1992. This year Pope Francis encourages health workers to bring human warmth and personalized approach of Christ, the Good Samaritan to their work. The theme of this World Day of the Sick is: “Come to me, all you who labour and are burdened”.

Our Lady of Lourdes – pray for the sick and for those who care for them!

God bless,
Fr. Peter

Posted In From the Pastor's Desk

From the Pastor’s Desk : The Kingdom of Heaven Has Come Near

Published January 28, 2020 / by St. Lawrence Hamilton

From that time Jesus began to proclaim,
“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near”


In this way, according to St. Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus began His public ministry. He started proclaiming the good news of salvation with a call to repentance. Later this very first appeal of the Lord became an essential part of His Church’s preaching. The Word of God always calls upon us to repent, which means, to tune our minds and hearts to the Lord’s voice. This happened to Simon, Andrew, James and John when Jesus invited them to follow Him. They at once left everything and followed the Lord. We, as Jesus’ disciples, ought to do the same. The Lord’s call is always urgent because it is inflamed by the fire of His love.

Pope Francis on the liturgical memorial of St. Jerome, which falls on September 30th, declared the third Sunday in Ordinary Time Sunday of the Word of God. Therefore, today we celebrate the Biblical Sunday for the very first time as the Universal Church. In his document “Aperuit illis”, the Pope emphasizes that salvation, faith, unity and mercy all depend on knowing Christ and sacred Scripture. In conclusion, the Holy Father expresses his desire for this Sunday: “May the Sunday of the Word of God help his people to grow in religious and intimate familiarity with the sacred Scriptures. For as the sacred author taught of old: “This word is very near to you: it is in your mouth and in your heart for your observance” (Dt 30:14).”

This liturgical year we read on Sundays the Gospel of St. Matthew (with some exceptions). Some copies of a study guide to that Gospel are available in the back of the church.

This Tuesday, January 28th, we celebrate the memorial of St. Thomas Aquinas, Priest and Doctor of the Church. St. Thomas lived in the 13th century. He was an Italian Dominican friar. He was an immensely influential philosopher, theologian and jurist in the tradition of scholasticism. He is also called the Doctor Angelicus. The Catholic Church honours Thomas as a saint and regards him as the model teacher for those studying for the priesthood, and indeed the highest expression of both natural reason and speculative theology.

St. John Bosco who’s memorial we celebrate on Friday lived in the 19th century. He was also an Italian priest. He was an outstanding confessor and educator of the youth. Following the examples of St. Francis de Sales, whose memorial we held last week, and the Blessed Virgin under the title of Mary Help of Christians, he developed the teaching methods based on love rather than punishment which was later named the Salesian Preventive System. He founded the Congregation of Salesians and together with Maria Domenica Mazzarello, the Institute of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians as a congregation of nuns dedicated to the care and education of poor girls. He taught Dominic Savio who’s biography he wrote. The biography eventually helped in Dominic’s canonization. In our church, in the sanctuary, there is a stained glass dedicated to St. Dominic Savio.

St. Thomas Aquinas and St. John Bosco – pray for us!

God bless,
Fr. Peter

Posted In From the Pastor's Desk | Liturgical Celebrations | Pastoral Notes

From the Pastor’s Desk : Baptism of The Lord

Published January 13, 2020 / by St. Lawrence Hamilton

This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased

Thus, according to the Gospel of St. Matthew, Jesus’ sonship was confirmed during His baptism in the River Jordan. The Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, which we celebrate today, reminds us of the great value of the Sacrament of Baptism: through Baptism we become the children of God! This feast also concludes the joyful season of Christmas. Beginning from Christmas Day up to now along with the Universal Church we have celebrated the Nativity of the Lord. Once again, we have been reminded of that unconditional love which God has towards us; that He sent His Beloved Son to share with us our humanity and to set us free from sin.

This Friday, January 17th, we observe the memorial of Saint Anthony the Abbot. He is also known as Anthony the Great, Anthony of Egypt, Anthony of the Desert, Anthony of Anchorite and Father of All Monks. He lived in the 3rd and 4th centuries. As a young man, Anthony was so moved with the Gospel message, “Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor” (Mark 10:21b), that he actually did just that with his large inheritance and he spent most of his life in solitude. He gave the Church and the world the witness of solitary asceticism, great personal sacrifice and prayer. But no saint is antisocial, and Anthony drew many people to himself for spiritual healing and guidance. He is well known for his arguments against the Arian heresy.  The Arian heresy questioned the relationship between Christ and God the Father. It was a heresy that brought a lot of trauma to the Church and which took centuries to recover from. Anthony died at the age of 105.

St. Anthony the Abbot – pray for us!

God bless,

Fr. Peter

Posted In From the Pastor's Desk

From the Pastor’s Desk : Epiphany

Published January 06, 2020 / by St. Lawrence Hamilton

We observed his star at its rising,
and have come to pay homage to the Lord

The Gospel Acclamation clearly explains why the magi wanted to come to Bethlehem. Their visit has become for the Church a sign of her missionary work. Although the Saviour was born among the people of Israel the good news of salvation was to be spread to all nations.

Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord. In the Liturgical Calendar of the Roman Catholic Church this feast is celebrated on January 6th and on the following Sunday the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord is observed. Yet, in some countries including Canada, the Epiphany is held on the first Sunday after January 1st. This solemnity had its origins in the Eastern Christian Tradition and was a celebration of the manifestation of the Incarnation of Jesus Christ. At the beginning, the birth of Christ, the story of the Magi, Christ’s baptism, His divine manifestation, the miracle at the wedding in Cana, and the feeding of the crowds were celebrated in the one festival of the Epiphany. The Epiphany was celebrated before the Church began celebrating the Nativity. Western Christians have traditionally emphasized the “Revelation to the Gentiles”. For us the main idea of the Epiphany is that Jesus came to our world to be our Redeemer and Saviour. We would like Him to be known by all people, because He is the Light of the world. Let us adore Him!

God bless,
Fr. Peter

Posted In Feasts and Celebrations | From the Pastor's Desk | Liturgical Celebrations

From the Pastor’s Desk : Christmas Greetings

Published December 31, 2019 / by St. Lawrence Hamilton

Venite, adoremus Dominum!

“And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host,
praising God and saying: “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favours!” When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us”

(Luke 2:13-15)

May the Newborn bestow upon you His gracious gifts of love, joy and
peace, and may the splendour of this holy night dispel any darkness of
sadness and sin, so that we may now sing along with Mary, Joseph, the
Angels and Shepherds: “Gloria in excelsis Deo et in terra pax hominibus
bonae voluntatis” ,

and in eternity: “Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus”!

With my best wishes,
Father Peter Jurzyk
Pastor of St. Lawrence the Martyr Parish

Posted In Feasts and Celebrations | From the Pastor's Desk | Liturgical Celebrations