Category: 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

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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

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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

From the Pastor’s Desk : The Second Sunday of Advent

Published December 09, 2018 / by St. Lawrence Hamilton

The Liturgy of the Second Sunday of Advent introduces to us to Saint John the Baptist. He is identified as the “Voice in the wilderness” mentioned in the prophesies of Isaiah. Isaiah has been called the evangelist of The Old Testament because he wrote a lot about the coming Saviour. However it is only St. John the Baptist who points us to The Saviour. He was sent to prepare the way to the Lord, appearing in the wilderness proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins as the Prophet Isaiah had foretold. The prophecies of St. John the Baptist and of the Prophet Isaiah are not out-of-date but encourage us to come back to the Lord and make room for Him in our hearts.

Next Sunday, December 16th, there will be an Advent Retreat Day in our church. Its topic is ‘Friendship & Solitude’. We will begin with the 11 o’clock Mass, then there will be lunch, a reflection and discussion time, the Adoration of the Most Blessed Sacrament with an opportunity for Confession, the Eucharistic Benediction and a social time to follow. The retreat will be finished by 5 pm. Please, register with our parish office if you wish to attend. You may find the details on our website and Facebook page.

On Wednesday, December 12th we observe a feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. There is a beautiful story about Juan Diego to whom the Blessed Virgin appeared in 1531 in Mexico. He was a simple farmer and labourer. While he was making his way to Mass in the early morning of December 9th Our Lady became visible to him as a native princess and her words sounded more beautiful than the sweetest music ever made. She wanted him to bring a message to the local bishop, so that a church dedicated to her might be built. A miraculous sign was given to the bishop: on Juan Diego’s tilma (outer garment) was made an exquisite image of Our Lady. This picture is still venerated in the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City. The image to this date cannot be explained by science. It contains many miraculous details. According to Kodak of Mexico, the image is smooth and feels like a modern day photograph (produced 300 years before the invention of photography). The image shows no sign of deterioration after 450 years! In the eyes of the Blessed Virgin in this picture we can see with a zoom lens another image… I encourage everyone to read more about this miraculous picture of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Pope Pius XII in 1945 decreed Our Lady of Guadalupe to be the Patroness of the Americas.
Our Lady of Guadalupe pray for us!

God bless,
Fr. Peter

Posted In From the Pastor's Desk | Pastoral Notes | upcoming

From the Pastor’s Desk – First Week of Advent

Published December 02, 2018 / by St. Lawrence Hamilton

Today we begin a new liturgical year with the First Sunday of Advent. The season of Advent is significant in two ways: It prepares us for Christmas, as we recall Christ’s nativity in Bethlehem and it is also a time when we look forward to Christ’s second coming at the end of the ages that is called Parousia in Greek; a word that means presence (especially after absence) or arrival. We are frequently reminded of the first meaning of Advent because we are surrounded by Christmas decorations almost everywhere, even though we have just initiated Advent. But in fact, the majority of advent liturgies are dedicated to Christ’s second coming and only the last 8 days refer to the mystery of the Nativity. During each Mass just after the consecration we profess our faith and expectation of the second coming of the Lord saying: “We proclaim your Death, O Lord, and profess your Resurrection until you come again”. So too, Advent is a season of that joyful expectation.
In many churches and households throughout the world we keep the beautiful tradition of having an Advent wreath with 4 candles. The wreath is a part of our long-standing Catholic tradition; yet its origins are uncertain. It has an interesting and profound meaning. The wreath is made of various evergreens that depict the immortality of our soul and the new everlasting life promised to us through Christ, the eternal Word of the Father. The four candles represent the four weeks of Advent. Some tradition says that each candle stands for a thousand years to sum to four thousand years, which are said to pass from Adam and Eve to the Birth of the Saviour.

The Pope’s Prayer Intention for the Month

Pope Francis asks us to pray in the month of December for the elderly: “That people, who are involved in the service and transmission of faith, may find, in their dialogue with culture, a language suited to the conditions of the present time”.

Upcoming Observances

On December 6th there is an optional memorial of St. Nicholas. He was a historical Greek Bishop of Myra in Asia Minor, so he is called Nicholas of Myra too. Because of the many miracles attributed to his intercession he is also known as Nicholas the Wonderworker. There are numerous stories about St. Nicholas and many of them refer to his legendary habit of secret gift-giving. One of the stories says that he gave secretly two golden spheres not to good people, as we usually say about St. Nicholas, but to those who had led a sinful life, so that they might give up their wicked way and live a holy life.

On December 8th we observe the Solemnity of The Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. There will be an additional Mass at 10 am in our church. In 1854 Pope Pius IX pronounced and defined that the Blessed Virgin Mary “in the first instance of her conception, by a singular privilege and grace granted by God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the human race, was preserved exempt from all stain of original sin”. Only two people were without any sin: our Lord Jesus Christ and His Holy Mother. This feast refers to Mary’s sinlessness not to Jesus’ as some mistakenly think.

Immaculate Mary pray for us!

God bless,
Fr. Peter

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