Holy Longing - In a Secular World

This past week has been full of meetings.  Not really meetings in the parish, or with parishioners, but rather meetings outside the parish, with both "Catholic" and non Catholic organizations.  Sometimes I feel like my brain is just mush after such a week.  I wonder if that is why I have not made a Blog update in a week!?



One of the life giving opportunities I had this week was to attend part of the Catholic School Chaplains of Ontario (CSCO) annual conference - being held at Queen of Apostles retreat centre in Mississauga.  The keynote speaker this year is Fr. Ronald Rolheiser - a Missionary Oblate of Mary Immaculate, and a well known author and speaker.  At this year's CSCO meeting Fr. Ron is speaking on "Holy Longing in a Secular world".  

Years ago Fr. Ron wrote a book: "The Holy Longing" where he talks about the deep longing within us that is both directed to God - and is part of the image of God in us. His plan at the Conference is to speak 3 times on this topic:     "The Holy Longing -

• Carrying the image of God within us;
• Our struggles to contain this great energy within ourselves;
• Its ultimate challenge - to Bless others.

I was only able to attend the first session on Wednesday afternoon, and was reminded why I have enjoyed listening to Fr. Ron in the past.  He speaks with both depth and clarity. An Example:

We have a restlessness in ourselves, much as St. Augustine said: You have made us for yourself O God, and our hearts  are restless until they rest in you.  So this "Holy Longing" in each of us is our default position. We are not people who are at rest and sometimes restless - we are restless people who are sometimes at rest.

Or insatiability is not going away, and it is not meant to go away, for that is the fire of God's image that is within us:  What would satisfy us - everything in its totality. So in a sense we have souls "programmed" for the infinite, and yet we have bodies that can only experience the finite.


From that - to a meeting about funding for homelessness Partnership Strategies in Peel Region! No wonder my brain feel like mush sometimes!


Peace

Busted!

Monday Morning - after sleeping in - I was on the phone with my Brother in Law - who is my Tech Guru - trying to set up new security for our WIFI at the rectory.  Eventually we were able to set up a new password - but not at the highest priority - so I have to make another phone call later this week... 
Any how - I was planning that evening to go to the Movies with a priest friend - but knew he was not going to be home before 3:30 - so I had a late lunch/snack at McDonalds - and was in the parking lot - parked - playing Scrabble on my new iPad. A police van parked next to me and chirped the Siren.  Even before I looked up - I was thinking: "Hey I am parked - I can use my electronic device!"  Well I didn't have to be defensive after all - it was Chris, our catechumen. A Catechumen is anyone seeking Baptism in the Catholic Church as an Adult, or as a child of a teachable age (seven or so). 

Chris is an OPP Officer, and he was returning from a meeting in Toronto and was picking up Coffee's for his friends in the office... Chris and my Dad agree that the McDonald's Coffee is better than Tim's.  Me - I am a loyal Timmy's fan (even though the cup size names are changing!)  
Chris and I had a delightful conversation for about 20 minutes - then he headed into the "McCafe" and I went down the road to Tim's, got my oil changed in town, and then went to my friend (Fr. Scott's) place, and we headed out to the movies.  We saw Iron Lady.  It was a terrific way of doing a retrospective on the Margaret Thatcher years.   Scott lived in England for a year - working as a bartender in a pub during her first term in office, and was also there for a holiday in the midst of the elections when the Union unrest was happening.  He thought it was a good movie too... We both agreed that Meryl Streep was terrific and earned the Golden Globe Award.


Busy week otherwise with Funerals here and of a friend in my previous parish.  
Peace.

Every now and then

Daily I get all kinds of emails, and messages with links and stories.  Some are of the "don't break this chain" variety - and I inevitably do.  I do not think God blesses us because we forward emails.  Some are of the interesting but "Quirky" variety and they get deleted as quickly as they were downloaded!  and some are of the "Wow - that's neat" variety.  Here is a You Tube video that I liked.  (The first song is actually from Andy Kim - a Canadian musician!)  Enjoy.

Peace

Welcome Fr. Damian

Two blog posts in one day!!!  Fr. Damian landed in the parish around 11:00 this morning and has already spent some time with the Mom's and Tots in the parish hall.  Fr. Damian comes to us with a wealth of experience in the Vocations office for the Archdiocese of Toronto, as well as 2 years as Associate Pastor in Our Lady of Grace parish in Aurora.

The Personnel Office of the Archdiocese choose a good day for the moves... On Wednesdays the Moms & Tots have quite a nice spread of snacks - even some healthy ones!  Welcome Fr. Damian - we pray you will enjoy your time in our midst!
Peace

Farewell Fr. Sherwin

Tuesday marked Fr. Sherwin's departure from Holy Family - and his arrival in Sutton and Keswick as Pastor.  Tuesday morning we had 2 School Masses at St. Michael's - and Fr. Sherwin Preached and Presided at these - so that they could bid him farewell. 
Last Sunday we were able to enjoy a reception to thank Fr. Sherwin for his ministry among us in Holy Family.  The staff were pleased to be able to prepare and serve this reception. 

On Saturday night we gathered as a staff and had our Christmas Party, and this was our opportunity as a staff to say farewell to Fr. Sherwin.
Pictured to the Right is one of the many cakes that he had over these days of celebration.  
Fr. Sherwin is truly a gentle man, and was always willing to go the extra mile for the people of God here at Holy Family!
God Bless you Fr. Sherwin!

Moving East - Fr. Sherwin and my Godson Geoffrey

Well it has been a crazy kind of weekend!  While we are saying good bye to Father Sherwin, and preparing to welcome Fr. Damian here in Bolton, my Godson Geoffrey - who has played for the Owen Sound Attack for the past 2 1/2 years, has been traded to the Oshawa Generals.  I was with Maureen & Emil - Geoffrey's Parents at the game last night against the Niagara Ice Dogs (A tight 4-3 loss in an overtime shoot out), so I happened to be privy to a few of the conversations... While things were held up this morning, this afternoon the trade all went through - and this was posted on the Attack Website around 5:00pm :

The Owen Sound Attack is pleased to announce that they have acquired defenseman Kyle Hope and two Second Round draft picks from the Oshawa Generals (Sault Ste. Marie 2nd in 2012 and Oshawa 2nd in 2015) in exchange for defensemen Geoffrey Schemitsch and Matt Petgrave. “Firstly, we wish to thank both Geoffrey and Matt for their contributions to our organization during their time here.”, stated Attack General Manager Dale DeGray. “They were both large pieces to our Championship puzzle last season and we wish them both the nothing but the best in their future endeavours.”

 When Geoffrey heard about this - he was indeed saddened - but he waived the "no trade clause" he has, in order that he might be able to make a contribution to the Oshawa Team.  What is uncertain is whether he will be in the line up for the Sunday afternoon game the Generals are playing in Brampton...
So New Year - New Diet - New Associate - New team to cheer for! (I'll probably continue to cheer for Owen Sound - as long as they are not playing against Oshawa!)
Peace

Cardinal Collins

In Canada and many parts of the United States - the feast of the  Epiphany of our Lord is always celebrated on the Sunday after New Years (the feast of Mary - Mother of God).  In most parts of Europe - including Vatican City - Epiphany  is celebrated on the 12th day of the Christmas season - January 6th.  This morning in Rome, after the usual celebration of Mass on the Feast of the Epiphany of our Lord, Pope Benedict announced that there would be a Consistory of the College of Cardinals on February 18-19, 2012 and that there would be 22 new cardinals.  One of those 22 men is our own Archbishop of Toronto - Thomas Collins.
Archbishop Collins responded to the news: 

“I am deeply honoured that the Holy Father has called me to be a member of the College of Cardinals. I am grateful for the trust he has placed in me, and recognize this honour as a sign of his esteem for the role of Canada and of the Archdiocese of Toronto in the universal Church. I ask the people of the Archdiocese, whom I am privileged to serve as bishop, and all people in the community, to pray for me and for all who serve Our Lord through ministry in the Church."

The Archdiocese of Toronto has a great "mini-site" that talks about the duties of a Cardinal, the process of "making" a Cardinal, and the biographical detail on Cardinal - Elect Collins.  

This appointment will not change his responsibilities within the Archdiocese, and he will continue as the - now Cardinal - Archbishop of Toronto.  

I have to say that while I was not at all surprised that Archbishop Collins was named as a Cardinal, the announcement of Cardinals after this morning's Epiphany Mass was a surprise.  I had not heard any rumors about this announcement.  Maybe I was just not "connected" these past few days!

Here is the full list of the 18 new Cardinals under 80..

1. Fernando Filoni (Italian), Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples
2. Manuel Monteiro de Castro (Portuguese), Major Penitentiary of the Apostolic Penitentiary
3. Santos Abril y Castelló (Spanish) , Archpriest of the Basilica of St. Mary Major
4. Antonio Maria Vegliò (Italian), President of the Pontifical Council for Migrants and Refugees
5. Giuseppe Bertello (Italian), President of the Government of the Vatican City State
6. Francesco Coccopalmerio (Italian), President of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts
7. João Bráz de Aviz (Brazilian), Prefect of the Congregation for Religious
8. Edwin O’Brien (American), Grand Master of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre
9. Domenico Calcagno (Italian), President of the Apostolic Patrimony of the Holy See
10. Giuseppe Versaldi (Italian), President of the Prefecture for the Economic Affairs of the Holy See
11. George Alencherry (Indian), Major Archbishop of the Syro-Malabar Church in India
12. Thomas Collins (Canadian), Archbishop of Toronto
13. Dominik Duka (Czech), Archbishop of Prague
14. Wim Eijk (Dutch), Archbishop of Utrecht
15. Giuseppe Bettori (Italian), Archbishop of Florence
16. Timothy Dolan (American), Archbishop of New York
17. Rainer Maria Woelki (German), Archbishop of Berlin
18. John Tong Hon (Chinese), Bishop of Hong Kong

And there are 4 "honourary - or non- electing" Cardinals:

1. Archbishop Lucian Mureşan, Major Archbishop of Făgăraş şi Alba Iulia (Romanian)
2. Monsignor Julien Ries (Belgian)
3. Augustinian Fr. Prosper Grech (Maltese)
4. Jesuit Fr. Karl Becker (German)

Congratulations Cardinal-Elect Collins!

Peace

A New Calendar Year

It has been over a week since I posted on the Blog! 
(I got heck from Stephanie!)  
I would describe this past week or 10 days in terms of a traffic report: Stop and Go!
There have been quiet times - and relaxing moments, and at the same time there have been hectic times.  We have had 3 funerals in the past 2 weeks - and I know that while it is hard to experience loss at any time, it seems particularly hard around this time of year because so many people are celebrating the festivities!  I was also very pleased with our celebration of Holy Family Feast Day Mass, and the individual blessing of families.  I think that the morning time for Mass was perfect - and that the fellowship in the parish hall afterwards was also great.

I was able to spend some time with my Family.  I traveled to Kingston (where my Dad lives) on Christmas afternoon with my sister, brother in Law, and nephew. There we met up with my brother and his wife and their son.  We had a wonderful meal, and exchanged presents, and my brother and I stayed up late,  catching up and simply talking (and drinking some of Dad's wine!).
Boxing Day - I purchased a Flat Screen TV (Finally!) but it was too big to fit in the car with my Sister and Family - so I left it in Kingston and my Dad brought it down when he came to Toronto on Friday... Friday evening (coincidentally on the feast of the Holy Family!) I cooked dinner for Dad, Julie, Ian, Gabriel and a friend. Ian helped with the TV set-up and now I am living in a flat screen world! 
New Years Eve saw me with my friend Maureen and her family - instead of driving with Operation Red Nose.  I thought that since January 1st was on a Sunday this year - that we should have the full mass schedule - and I could not stay out to 4:00 am like I did last year with Operation Red Nose.  I don't think we needed that 8:30 am mass after all... Oh Well..


Peace