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 : Annunciation

Published March 25, 2019 / by St. Lawrence Hamilton
Photo of one of the windows of St. Lawrence the Martyr Parish – Hamilton ON, showing The Annunciation. Photo by Karl Vanderwouden and used with permission

On the 3rd Sunday of Lent we have the option to read the readings prescribed to the liturgical year ‘A’ regardless of what liturgical year we have. This set ‘A’ is highly recommended if in the parish there are electi (adult candidates for the Sacraments of Christian Initiation). Since we indeed have electi, I have chosen to read these readings. In the Gospel we read about Jesus’ encounter with a Samaritan woman. Jesus gently revealing the whole truth of the woman’s life led her to profess the faith that He was the expected Messiah foretold by the prophets.

This Sunday the elect (electi) solemnly profess their faith along with the entire congregation and in that way, they receive and accept the “Creed”. This is the next step on their way to becoming Catholic. On the 1st Sunday of Lent they attended the Rite of Election in our Cathedral Basilica of Christ the King. This rite closed the Period of the Catechumenate. At this rite, upon the testimony of sponsors and their affirmation of their intention to join the Catholic Church, the Church made her election of these catechumens to receive the Sacraments of Initiation. In the presence of the Bishop they inscribed their names in the Book of the Elect as a pledge of fidelity. They have begun a Period of Purification and Enlightenment that is the final intense preparation for the reception of the Sacraments of Initiation on Paschal Vigil. Please, let us keep them in our prayers!

This Monday, March 25th, we observe the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord. Again, Lent’s austerity is interrupted as we hold a solemnity in honour of the Annunciation (previously we observed the Solemnity of St. Joseph). This solemnity commemorates the most sublime moment in the history of time, the moment when the Second Divine Person of the most Holy Trinity assumed human nature in the womb of the Virgin Mary. Thus, it is a feast of our Lord, even as it is of Mary, although the liturgy centres wholly around the Mother of God. This is also a Day of the Unborn Children when the faithful throughout the world pray for respect for every human life from its very beginning to its natural end. St. Pope John Paul II on March 25th, 2001 during his general audience at St. Peter’s said: “Today we want to thank God in a special way for the gift of salvation, which Christ brought to the world by his Incarnation: “Et Verbum caro factum est — The Word became flesh”. From contemplation of this mystery all believers can draw renewed spiritual energy for proclaiming and constantly bearing witness to Christ, our only salvation, and for faithfully serving the “Gospel of life” that he entrusts to us. Faced with the culture of death and attacks against human life that, unfortunately, are increasing, may we never fail to defend it at every stage, from the first moment of conception to its natural end. May humanity experience a new springtime of life, with respect and acceptance for every human being, in whose face shines the image of Christ!” Let us respond generously to this appeal drawing this renewed spiritual energy from participating in Mass on March 25th!

God bless,
Father Peter

Posted In From the Pastor's Desk | Pastoral Notes

From the Pastor’s Desk

Published March 18, 2019 / by St. Lawrence Hamilton

On March 17th celebrated the 2nd Sunday of Lent. Every year this Sunday’s Gospel takes us along with Jesus and the three Apostles to the Mountain of the Transfiguration of the Lord. This spiritual mountain trip gives us strength to undertake and continue our Lenten observances because it foretells the future glory of faithful disciples of Jesus. When Jesus shows Peter, James and John His celestial glory they are bestowed with the strength and hope they will need at the time of trial. We also need that grace not to get discouraged among our Lenten struggles. Every Lent should be, for the faithful, a time of spiritual transfiguration that leads us closer to the Lord. This transfiguration is done first of all by the Sacraments. Let us approach especially the Sacrament of Reconciliation with the faith and hope that flow from the Gospel.

According to tradition, the transfiguration took place on Mount Tabor in Galilee. This location was confirmed by Origen, a Christian writer, in the 3rd century. Mount Tabor is 575 meters high. On its summit there is a beautiful Franciscan church dedicated to The Transfiguration of the Lord.
This Tuesday, March 19th, we observe the Solemnity of Saint Joseph, Husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Principal Patron of Canada and Patron of the Universal Church.

This Saturday, March 23rd, the Grade 2 students from St. Lawrence School will celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation for the very first time. Let us keep them in our prayers, so that they may worthily receive this Sacrament and be prepared for their First Communion.

Next Sunday, March 24th, we will have a Lenten retreat day in our Parish. We will begin with the 11 o’clock Mass and continue with the reflection, discussion, Adoration of the Most Blessed Sacrament and an opportunity for Confession and conclude with the Eucharistic Benediction. We will also have a common meal so please let the Parish Office know if you are attending. The topic is: “How should we celebrate the Lord’s Day?” Our reflection will be based on the Sacred Scripture and ecclesiastical documents especially “Dies Domini” (The Lord’s Day) – an apostolic letter promulgated by St. John Paul II in 1998.

Saint Joseph – pray for us!

God bless,
Father Peter

Posted In From the Pastor's Desk | Pastoral Notes

From the Pastor’s Desk : Forty Days

Published March 12, 2019 / by St. Lawrence Hamilton

Today we observe the 1st Sunday of Lent. Annually, the Liturgy of the Word at the beginning of the first week of Lent tells us about Jesus’ fasting in the desert. He spent there 40 days being tempted by the devil. In St. Luke’s account, which we read this year, Jesus reminds us: “Do not put the Lord your God to the test”. The number of 40 is a symbolic number in Scripture and due to its biblical meaning the Church has chosen to observe the Lenten season for 40 days. In the Bible the flood at the time of Noah lasted 40 days, Moses remained 40 days on the Mount of Sinai before he received the Ten Commandments (Decalogue), and the Prophet Elijah made a trip to the Mount of Horeb through 40 days. All of those biblical episodes were of great importance and served the people as a preparation time for the mission given them by God. The chosen people by prayer, fasting, and sacrifice became capable of fulfilling the will of God. Yet, when we look carefully at the calendar we may say that Lent does not last precisely 40 days because from March 6th (Ash Wednesday) to Easter Sunday (April 21st) there are 46 days. That mathematics is correct but according to the ancient Christian tradition the Church does not fast on Sundays because each Sunday is a feast of the Resurrection of the Lord. During Lent we have 6 Sundays, so deducting 6 from 46 gives us exactly 40.

This Sunday is also a day of celebrating the Rite of Election of Catechumens (adult candidates for the Sacraments of Christian Initiation). We are happy that in our Parish community we have 5 catechumens who will receive the Sacraments of Christian Initiation during the Paschal Vigil on April 20th. Please, keep them in your prayers so that they may be well prepared for this important point in their lives.

We are encouraged to perform Lenten observances. Some propositions you may find in this bulletin. I would like to invite you to attend the Stations of the Cross on Fridays and a Lenten Retreat Day on Sunday, March 24th in our church.

This Wednesday, March 13th, there will be the 6th anniversary of the Election of Pope Francis. Let us pray for the Holy Father and all the intentions he holds in his heart!

God bless,
Father Peter

Posted In From the Pastor's Desk | Pastoral Notes

From the Pastor’s Desk : The Chair of St. Peter

Published February 19, 2019 / by St. Lawrence Hamilton

Today we celebrate the 6th Sunday in Ordinary Time. Saint Paul in his First Letter to the Corinthians tells us that if we do not believe in the resurrection of Christ and consequently of the dead our faith is pointless: “For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised. If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins”. This fundamental truth of our faith should be always proclaimed and taken seriously. In Christ we are born, in Christ we live and in Christ we die and have life eternal and the forgiveness of sins.

This Friday, February 22nd we observe the Feast of The Chair of Saint Peter. This feast has an interesting history and a valuable meaning. Early martyrologies (accounts of lives of martyrs) indicate that in Rome two liturgical feasts were celebrated in honour of the chairs associated with St. Peter, the Apostle. One of them was kept at the baptismal chapel of St. Peter’s Basilica and the other one at the catacomb of Pricilla. The feasts were held in January and February to honour two places associated with St. Peter’s stay: Antioch and Rome. Today no surviving chair has been identified with either of these chairs. Obviously, the Church did not honour a piece of wood. The chair of St. Peter signifies the episcopal office of the Pope as Bishop of Rome. In the present we observe one feast of The Chair. In 2012 Pope Benedict XVI described the chair as a symbol of the special mission of Peter and his successors to tend Christ’s flock keeping it united in faith and charity. On that day let us pray for Pope Francis as the 266th successor of St. Peter!

This Friday at 7 pm in the church hall there will be the next part of the series ‘Let’s Talk About Our Faith’. This time we will be reflecting on the Sacrament of Baptism. Everyone is welcome.

This Saturday at 7 pm we are invited to watch a movie about Saint Peter, the Apostle on the occasion of the Fest of The Chair of St. Peter that falls on Friday. Everyone is welcome.

The lights on the both sides of the main altar (the angels’ lights) are again lit! We are happy to have them back working.

St. Peter – pray for us!

God bless,

Father Peter

Posted In From the Pastor's Desk

From the Pastor’s Desk : Our Lady of Lourdes

Published February 10, 2019 / by St. Lawrence Hamilton

Today we celebrate the 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time. Saint Paul the Apostle in his First Letter to the Corinthians witnesses to the principal belief of Christian faith, the resurrection of the Lord. His duty is to proclaim not his own ideas but the good news that he has received from the Lord Jesus Christ. St. Paul emphasizes that this faith in the good news revealed by Jesus and proclaimed by the Apostles saves the believers: “This is the good news through which also you are being saved, if you stand firmly to the message that I proclaimed to you – unless you have come to believe in vain”.

This Monday, February 11th, we observe a memorial of Our Lady of Lourdes. Saint Bernadette Soubirous claimed to have had 18 private apparitions of the Blessed Virgin in the Grotto of Massabielle in Lourdes, France. They took place from February to July, 1858. During the 16th appearance on March 25th the Blessed Virgin said about herself: “I am the Immaculate Conception”. According to St. Bernadette, the Blessed Virgin ordered her to find a spring of water near the grotto and to tell people to drink at the spring and wash in it. Thousands of pilgrims to Lourdes claimed to have been cured by drinking that water or bathing in the spring.

In 1993 Pope St. John Paul II established a World Day of the Sick that falls on the Feast Day of Our Lady of Lourdes. Every year the pope publishes his message for the World Day of the Sick and a different city is chosen to host it. This Year Pope Francis in his message for the 27th World Day of the Sick urges the faithful to promote a culture of generosity focussing on Jesus’ words: “You received without payment; give without payment” (Mt 10:8). This year, the city of Calcutta in India was chosen to host the World Day of the Sick. Pope Francis has highlighted the figure of Saint Teresa of Calcutta as a model of charity who made God’s love for the poor and the sick visible.

In our church on Monday, February 11th, there will be an additional Mass at 9 am with an opportunity for receiving the Sacrament of the Sick. In a special way we will pray for the sick and those who take care of them.

Our Lady of Lourdes pray for us!

God bless,
Father Peter

Posted In From the Pastor's Desk | Pastoral Notes

From the Pastor’s Desk : Jeremiah and St. Agatha

Published February 03, 2019 / by St. Lawrence Hamilton

Today we observe the 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time. From the first reading we can hear the account of the Prophet Jeremiah’s vocation. The Lord wants him first to trust in God’s Word and to be His ambassador to foreign nations. The Lord promises to be with him. There is only one condition: being faithful to the Lord and the calling from the Lord. When we examine Jeremiah’s life it is clear that his adversities mirror our own. Rejection, misunderstanding, false accusations, unfounded opinions are all challenges we can relate to. Especially at the time of trial we should remember to remain faithful to the Lord who has loved us since the very beginning. This faithfulness can make us a fortified city, an iron pillar and a bronze wall as the first reading declares.
Pope Francis encourages the faithful throughout the Universal Church to pray in the month of February for the following intention: For a generous welcome of the victims of human trafficking, of enforced prostitution, and of violence.

This Tuesday, February 5th, we celebrate a memorial of Saint Agatha, Virgin and Martyr. She lived in the 3rd century in Sicily and died probably in 251. She is one of the most highly venerated virgin martyrs of Christian antiquity and her name is mentioned in the Roman Canon of the Mass (The First Eucharistic Prayer) along with the Blessed Virgin and 6 other women. According to tradition, she was tortured severely and suffered the removal of her breasts by the Roman prefect Quintianus, whose amorous advances Agatha rejected. It is said that St. Peter the Apostle appeared to her in the prison and healed her wounds. In early artwork, St. Agatha is often depicted carrying her excised breasts on a platter. Later these depictions were mistaken by some to be bread and led to the practice of blessing bread on St. Agatha’s day. She is the patron saint of rape victims, breast cancer patients, wet nurses and bell makers. She is also considered to be a powerful intercessor when people suffer from fires. In some Churches on the day of St. Agatha loaves of bread are blessed and then people put pieces of them in various places in their houses to be protected from fire.

Recently we have exchanged the lights in our church. The new bulbs give more light and make our church much brighter especially during evening Masses. Upon some requests and due to the winter conditions, from this week our morning Masses will be celebrated at 9:00 am. I hope that this change will better serve the needs of our parishioners and visitors.

God bless,
Father Peter

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