Thursday - Full Schedule!

Its summer time "...and the living is easy..." - at least that is what the song says. The reality at Holy Family these days is quite the opposite! If we dial back to Thursday of this week, there were 3 things I wanted to talk about:

- We were in the midst of our 4th week of Holydays camp, and on Thursdays they have a trip day - This time it was the Blue Jays Game;
- The new Auxiliary Bishop for the Archdiocese of Toronto - His Excellency Wayne Kirkpatrick - was welcomed to Toronto to begin his apostolic Ministry;
- And it was July 26 - the feast of St. Ann & St. Joachim - the parents of Mary.Ann & Joachim - as the parents of Mary - the Mother of Jesus - The Mother of God - were the Grandparents of Jesus. 

At the International Eucharistic Congress in Dublin - NeilMcCarthy from the Archdiocese of Toronto reported about an organization called the Catholic Grandparents Association:

Catherine Wiley shared her personal story of writing to Pope Benedict XVI asking for a universal prayer for Grandparents. An excerpt from her presentation:
"Seven years ago, I wrote to our Holy Father in desperation and begged him to write a universal prayer for Grandparents because as a Grandmother, even though I was a practising Catholic, I felt I was failing my family. I felt unable to pass on my faith, because some members of my family were scorning and rejecting it. I felt hurt and excluded. Nobody believed that the Pope would ever write the prayer. I never doubted it. My mission was to ensure that he saw the request (not an easy task as you can imagine). I knew, absolutely, that once he did, he would not hesitate, and when he did, he summed it up perfectly."

Lord Jesus, you were born of the Virgin Mary,

the daughter of Saints Joachim and Anne.
Look with love on Grandparents the world over.
Protect them! They are a source of enrichment
for families, for the Church and for all of society.
Support them! As they grow older,
may they continue to be for their families
strong pillars of Gospel faith,
guardians of noble domestic ideals,
living treasuries of sound religious traditions.
Make them teachers of wisdom and courage,
that they may pass on to future generations the fruits
of their mature human and spiritual experience.

Lord Jesus,
help families and society
to value the presence and roles of Grandparents.
May they never be ignored or excluded,
but always encounter respect and love.
Help them to live serenely and to feel welcomed
in all the years of life which you give them.
Mary, Mother of all the living,
keep Grandparents constantly in your care,
accompany them on their earthly Pilgrimage,
and by your prayers, grant that all families
may one day be reunited in our heavenly homeland,
where you await all humanity
for the great embrace of live without end. Amen

"You can see why our Holy Father has become known as the champion of Grandparents – the Grandparents’ Pope. He understands. Grandparents desperately needed this prayer to help restore their confidence and strengthen their faith. They need to be reassured that the Church is aware of their plight and is there to help them. And they need to be given the courage and support to proclaim their faith, to fulfill their sacred obligation of passing on the faith. Grandparents are the natural Evangelizers embedded in the heart of the family. After receiving the Holy Father’s Prayer for Grandparents, we founded the Catholic Grandparents Association to fulfill the great need that the people of Ireland themselves said they needed."

Bishop Wayne Kirkpatrick Was Ordained on Wednesday July 25th - the feast of St. James the Apostle - and was formally welcomed in a celebration at St. Michael's Cathedral on Thursday Morning. This Mass was followed by a Lunch, and a short number of speeches: on behalf of the Religious Sisters and Brothers of the Archdiocese, the Lay Staff of the Archdiocese, and the Clergy and Pastoral workers in the Norhtern Pastoral Region where Bishop Kirkpatrick will serve. 

Then Deacon Robert and his wife Gabrielle drove me over to the Rogers centre - and I joined the Holidays Camp for the 8th Inning of the Ball Game (Yeah Jays: 10-4 win) and I rode back on the Bus with the campers. Then after 2 wedding rehearsals and a house blessing I plopped into bed! "Summer time - and the living is (not) easy!"

Peace!