St. Michael the Archangel Feast Day

Friday greetings from Saskatoon.  I write this Blog entry while stopped on the way to Prince Albert, SK where I will be presenting on The Evangelizing Parish - Vision, Passion and Practice. This is part of my work with the North American Forum on the Catechumenate.  I flew to Saskatoon Thursday afternoon after a great morning at St. Michael Catholic Secondary School.  It was a year ago that Bishop Boissonneau came to Bolton to Bless this new Catholic Secondary School.  September 29th is the Feast of St. Michael the Archangel and our High School faculty have made a commitment to celebrate our faith as a Catholic Secondary School by keeping the Feast Day as a Fun Day for the students in Bolton. 
Our Feast Day celebrations began with Mass first thing in the morning during which we blessed:

• Those participating in extra curricular activities;
• A Chalice presented by the Knights of Columbus in memory of 4th degree member Felice Marignani, and
• The Students who are participating in the 2 Mission trips this semester to Manitoulin Island in Ontario, and the Dominican Republic, in the Caribbean.

Then Father Sherwin and I travelled around the Football Field on a Golf Cart (pictures to follow) and blessed the field and the Senior and Junior Football teams. After a BBQ lunch we were back out to the field to see the THUNDER  Seniors take on the Cardinal Ambrozic River Hawks.  Both schools have only grade 9-11 students.  I had to leave at 12:35 for the Airport, but learned that the Thunder won the first Game.  The Juniors took on the River Hawks at 2:00 and I am not sure how they fared.
It was a great feast day!  Keep the St. Michael School community in your prayers:

St. Michael School Prayer

Saint Michael the Archangel,

Defend us in our daily struggle to make wise decisions.

Protect us from the temptation

to hurt others, neglect ourselves, and deny our God.

Stand by each member of this community

as we grow in faith, discover our identity,

and develop our God given gifts.

Grant us the courage to face our challenges,

 learn from our mistakes,  celebrate our successes,

and to reach our fullest potential.

Guide us in our journey “to be with God”.  Amen.

Peace.

Live Sunday

I am not sure if it was us - or what - but the CCCB Publications website has exceeded its bandwidth because of all the people accessing the Music Downloads! Wow - this is a sign of how many parishes across this country are preparing for the implementation of the New Roman Missal and using "Celebrate in Song" from the Canadian Bishops.
This Sunday we went "LIVE" with our new translation sung parts of the Mass (Setting A).  Fr. Sherwin expressed his excitement - and I echo it! We have made a great beginning!  It was so great to hear the refrain in the Gloria sung so well at each Mass.  It will only get stronger!  I know it is a long Gloria - yet as you begin to feel comfortable - you are welcome to sing along with the part noted as being for the cantor/choir!


Thank you to our Musicians for all their hard work in preparing and rehearsing - and to you for "making a joyful noise unto the Lord!"
I think it will be a short time before we are used to the acclamations during the Eucharistic Prayer (Holy Holy, Memorial Acclamation, & Great Amen).  In short order these will be second nature to us...


Peace
P.S. Geoffrey is Assistant Captain for the entire year!

Retreats & A Return to Ontario

This week we began a series of retreats with the Grade 9 students of St. Michael Secondary School. Urzsula, Stephanie, and a parishioner who was a student Teacher last year - Peter - are running these retreats focused on the Theme of "Belonging".  
Take a moment and a piece of paper and write down different groups / communities / organizations you belong to.  OK you have 60 seconds.       Really - do it!

OK - how many groups did you name?  Now put them in order - number them or re-write them - so that #1 is the group that is the most important to you in your life right now.  

Why is that group the most important for you now in your life? 

Now you have an idea of the beginning of the retreat:  Belonging to Family, Friends and Faith.

The treat of these retreats is that we have one class at a time - so 25 to 30 students. That is a great number to work with...

On another note - The Owen Sound Attack began their Season last night with a 6-2 win over the Plymouth Whalers.  Don't worry - I won't be giving daily updates on the team - its just that Geoffrey came home to Ontario Tuesday and was named an Assistant Captain in yesterday's line up.  I am not sure if that is a permanent thing or only temporary.  Note to self ... text G.

Peace

Elections and Voting

The Bishops of Ontario have published documents over the years to help Catholics in their civil responsibility to be informed voters in provincial elections. "As far as possible citizens should take an active part in public life," says the most recent document Your Right to be Heard, which will be included in this Sunday's Bulletin.
In the document the Bishops speak of 5 Principles by which we should be guided:


1.   Governments must support life. The human dignity of every person, from conception to natural death, must be respected.


2.   Governments must balance the rights, obligations and opportunities of various segments of society by supporting:

• Publicly-funded education, including Catholic education
• The right of workers to organize
• The right to own property, but at the same time recognizing that such a right is not absolute

3.   Governments must demonstrate a commitment to the creation of a more just society by adopting tangible measures that address and include, among other initiatives:

• A poverty reduction strategy, inclusive of child poverty
• Homelessness
• Unemployment and under-employment
• Ensuring a basic income that is sufficient for food and housing
• A health system that supports and accompanies all individuals and especially those with disabilities, the elderly, and the sick

4.   Governments must demonstrate stewardship toward the environment through policies which:

• Develop natural resources with consideration of the impact on communities and on the natural environment
• Promote efficient production of renewable energy
• Control urban pollution

5.   Governments must encourage and facilitate the involvement of its citizens (especially those directly affected), other governments and non-governmental bodies, in the process of political 
decision-making.


These are some good principles to keep in mind as we listen to candidates who come knocking on our doors...


Peace

All Candidates Meeting

Tuesday September 20th, tonight at 7:00 PM, there will be an all Candidates meeting at the Caledon East community complex on Old Church Road. The focus of this debate will be Health and Social Services. Questions will address issues such as:

• Homelessness and Poverty
• Youth services and Mental Health
• Volunteerism
• Food Security
• Transportation Services
• Seniors housing and assisted living
• Peel's lack of a fair share of its taxpayer funded services

The candidates for our Caledon-Dufferin riding have been provided with 10 questions that have been prepared over the past 2 weeks by different Social Service and community groups.
I hope you will join me there.
Tomorrow - some information on the Ontario Bishops' thoughts on the upcoming Election.
Peace

Training Camp in Tampa Bay!

Many Toronto papers have devoted articles to the Leafs, and the start of Training camp.  One of the featured players this fall is Jessie Blacker - who played with My Godson - Geoffrey Schemitsch - on the Owen Sound Attack last season.  The Attack were the OHL Champions, defeating the St. Mike's Majors in the 7th game of the finals! My Godson continues to work hard and after his Rookie Camp ended last week - he has stayed in Tampa Bay for the main Training Camp for the Lightning.  He is getting some great exposure to the NHL level of hockey as the squad is divided into 2 teams for scrimmages and on ice practices.  Bolt Prospects is the place where draftees and camp participants are talked about and this is what they said about G:

Saturday September 17 - He's a lot bigger in person than he appears on video, if that makes sense. He had 40 points as an OHL rookie, but he wasn't too intent to jump into the rush or pinch today. He played a simple game and was decent positionally. He gave Blair Jones a nice cross-ice, high-low pass that should have been buried but Jones shot high from Garon’s right.

and 

Sunday September 18 - He didn’t play in the scrimmage. He impressed me in drills by breaking up rushes consistently and showing solid positioning. He calmly knocked the puck away from Malone on a drive, something Malone wasn’t too happy with himself about. I thought Schemitsch had a good practice.

Some More Pictures

On a somewhat unrelated note - my Dad is down for 2 days - we are having a meeting with other travelers for a big trip we are taking in November to Argentina and Chile.  It will be Dad's first time in South America!  I have been a few times - especially when Air Canada had some seat sales over the last few years!

The exciting news I learned this weekend is that Dad will also be down in Bolton on Thanksgiving Day - when he and I will hopefully travel up to Owen Sound to watch a game there - well that is only if Geoffrey does not stay in Tampa Bay!!!

Peace

Faith Day for Teachers

Yesterday the Teachers from all of our Elementary Schools in Bolton gathered for Mass as part of the Annual Professional Development / Faith Day held each September.  After Mass Catherine and Stephanie presented on the New Roman Missal, and the transition to the new Translation that are happening this Fall. Here is the LifeTeen / Edge resource that was part of the preparation:

Its a video aimed at Elementary School Students about the principles being used in the new translation.


Meanwhile - while all that was going on here in Bolton, I was in Mississauga at Queen of Apostles retreat centre leading a retreat for the staff of Ascension of our Lord Catholic Secondary School.
For the last 3 years I have been celebrating the School Masses at Ascension.  I went to school with the Chaplain - Colette Sicoli - who is the one who invited me to help there.  With the change of Pastors at the local Parish, the new Pastor is going to be celebrating Mass in the High School.  
I shared with them some thoughts about Stewardship, what it is, how they could see themselves as stewards of the students entrusted to them, and how as Catholic Teachers - they were also stewards of Sacramental Awareness. To be aware of the ways in which we can be aware of the simple pleasures in life, pleasures like reading, letter & card writing, cooking & building, and the ways in which these pleasures afford us sacramental moments.

I used the book, Morning Sun on a White Piano, which I have talked about here before, as the basis for this reflection.  These books had been given out to each teacher as part of the Administration's planning for the retreat - which was originally scheduled for last February.
Peace

Hockey - Rookie and Training Camps

Well my Godson Geoffrey Schemitsch has spent the last week at Rookie Camp in Tampa Bay with other 2009/2010/2011 Draft Picks that the Lightning have made over the last few years.  He was drafted by the Lightning in 2010, and will continue to play for the Owen Sound Attack this season, unless he makes the NHL Team this September! There is a chance he will stay for the main team training camp: he will learn about this in the next day or two.

New Owen Sound Logo - 2011

I started to get worried that I would not see him play for quite some time - since I seem to have messed up and scheduled Sacramental Meetings on Owen Sound game nights! Imagine that!
But it does look like I will be able to see the game on Thanksgiving Monday afternoon...
Meanwhile his parents this week are in Dublin at a Medical Conference - since Geoffrey's Dad is the head of the Canadian Orthopedic Surgeon's Association. They will be out of the country again in October Over Thanksgiving (when I can go to the game...) So it means I will probably be driving up on my own. 
A simple distraction for a proud Godfather...

Peace

Vengence and Remembrance

Yesterday marked the 10th Anniversary of the Terrorist attacks in the US on September 11, 2001. It is almost like the assassination of President Kennedy - people remember where they were on Sept. 11.  I was delivering Holy Martyrs of Japan Parish newsletter inserts to the schools in the parish that morning when news reports first indicated some sort of incident in New York. By the time I was back in the parish around 9:45 the 2nd plane had flown into the 2nd tower and all in the office were watching on the TV in the Rectory Living Room.  We then headed out to a Zone meeting for priests and pastoral workers.  At the end of that meeting, after lunch, we went to the high school and had a prayer service for the whole school.  That night we lit the Paschal Candle in the church and made up some prayer cards as people came in and prayed before the blessed sacrament.
It is, I think, no coincidence that the readings this Sunday - 10 years later - are about the futility of vengence and the necessity of forgiveness.  As someone often inconvenienced by the new security measures in airports over these last 10 years, I cannot at the same time say I feel safer.  I feel we have given up our freedom and personal privacey for the idea or image of saftey and security.
As the world remembered 9/11, Pope Benedict sent a note to the people of New York, and the entire United States (It makes it easier that at present, the Archbishop of New York is also the head of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops):

To my Venerable Brother

The Most Reverend Timothy M. Dolan

President

United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!

On this day my thoughts turn to the somber events of September 11, 2001, when so many innocent lives were lost in the brutal assault on the twin towers of the World Trade Center and the further attacks in Washington D.C. and Pennsylvania. I join you in commending the thousands of victims to the infinite mercy of Almighty God and in asking our heavenly Father to continue to console those who mourn the loss of loved ones.

The tragedy of that day is compounded by the perpetrators’ claim to be acting in God’s name. Once again, it must be unequivocally stated that no circumstances can ever justify acts of terrorism. Every human life is precious in God’s sight and no effort should be spared in the attempt to promote throughout the world a genuine respect for the inalienable rights and dignity of individuals and peoples everywhere.

The American people are to be commended for the courage and generosity that they showed in the rescue operations and for their resilience in moving forward with hope and confidence. It is my fervent prayer that a firm commitment to justice and a global culture of solidarity will help rid the world of the grievances that so often give rise to acts of violence and will create the conditions for greater peace and prosperity, offering a brighter and more secure future.

With these sentiments, I extend my most affectionate greetings to you, your brother Bishops and all those entrusted to your pastoral care, and I gladly impart my Apostolic Blessing as a pledge of peace and serenity in the Lord.

From the Vatican, September 11, 2011
BENEDICTUS PP. XVI

Some thoughts on this Day after.
Peace

A New School Year

There are Roman Calendars, Jullian Calendars, Gregorian Calendars, Civil Calendars, and Liturgical Calendarsbut the most powerful of all - it would seem - is the School Year Calendar!  So much of our life is geared to this rhythm and so many programs and events start up at this time.  Even organizations in the Church - like the Knights of Columbus - will call this the beginning of the "Fraternal Year". I have also heard priests talk of the "Pastoral Year" beginning with September!  For us at Holy Family - there is a marked increase in calls, and activities in September - yet I would also say that this year has not seen the "Quiet" summer months (Holydays, Refugee Resettlement, and Edge Summer camp!). 
Yesterday I was at St. Michael's Secondary School, and saw the Principal, and met the new Vice Principal - Derek Ramalho who I have known for over 18 years! Derek was a Teacher at St. Augustine's Secondary School and a Parishioner of St. Jerome's when I was there in my first years of priesthood...
Stephanie and I also had a meeting with Urszula - the School Chaplain, and began planning for the Mass on September 29th, as well as regular Homeroom Masses throughout the year...


Whatever Calendar we are on - September is Busy!
Peace  

Roman Missal Thursday

You have heard me talk about the new translation of the Sacramentary at Mass over the past 2 months.  The last 2 years the annual Priests' Seminar which is held in the Fall, has been addressing this Translation and its history, purpose, etc... Today the priests and Pastoral workers within the western region of the Archdiocese gathered at Queen of Apostles renewal centre in South Mississauga for a session of this New Roman Missal.  The first challenge was getting to the meeting! There was traffic chaos because of a fatal accident on the QEW very near to where the renewal centre is located.  After making a driving detour (or two) I finally got there, and met up with others who had seen way too many side streets!

We had a good session looking at the changes that are coming up, and getting a clearer understanding about some of the practical considerations leading up to the first Sunday in Advent. We walked through - or should I say sang through the preface dialogue and a few different prefaces, and realized we could sing these new translations!  We also got some clarity about the actual book that we can use (Canadian) vs. the US missal producers. 
One of the scary things we all realized is that the CCCB is promising a "Ship Date" of November 10th.  (Just 2 weeks before we are expected to implement the translation!)  Fortunately we received the "Text" of the Mass today, as well as many resources thatb we can use to help with the communication plan for our parishes.
Peace