Summer Fun

Our Holydays camp continues each week - and on Tuesdays I bake cookies with the campers (4 times actually & there are 5 batches in total!) 
Here is the first batch of cookies from this week.

This morning 40 Pilgrims from Holy Family, and St. Benedict's headed off to Franciscan University in Stuebenville, Ohio for the "Defending the faith Conference".  Many of them went to the Charismatic Retreat a year ago in June (2012), and participated in the Life in the Spirit Seminar last Fall.  We keep them in our prayers these days...

This week also marks World Youth Day in Brazil! Rio de Janeiro is hosting a series of important events in the next few years - World Youth Day, World Cup Soccer, and the Summer Olympics in 2016.  This week has already had a series of marvelous gatherings and for Pope Francis the trip so far has  has brought a little bit of everything: crowds so pumped up for the pope they created security nightmares, Francis at his pastoral best at the Marian shrine of Aparecida, and a powerful message of solidarity with the poor in a Rio slum.
All that would be enough to make the outing memorable, and yet the main event hasn't even happened. Pope Francis will participate in the traditional Via Crucis procession for World Youth Day on Friday night (from Copacabana Beach!).  He will also attend an evening vigil Saturday, and celebrate the open-air Mass for what's expected to be as many as 2 million people Sunday.  You can watch everything live on Salt and Light (Rogers cable 240 here in Bolton).

Busy Days

The past week has been full on! After a couple of days in the US doing some "retail therapy", I came back to see Holydays continuing strong, we had a Rooted session (for those in grades 3, 4, & 5) on Saturday Morning, and we had our Parish Picnic on Sunday afternoon.
Rooted was a great time - were we watched the Veggie Tales version of Jonah and the Whale.  I have to say that Veggie Tales does a great job of telling the Biblical story (with modern components) and at the same time helping the viewer - usually children - take home a lesson too!

I had heard that we were late in booking the traditional Parish Picnic site (in Palgrave) this year - and so we lost it...  but I think that might have been a great benefit ... because I heard lots of great things from everyone at the Picnic about what a great site Cold Creek Conservation Area was.  And I agreed!  It was a great afternoon, of fun, fellowship and food!

This week I celebrate my 50th natal Anniversary!  On August the 4th I will celebrate 50 years as a Catholic!  While my birth gave me life - the greatest gift I think my parents did for me - was to have me Baptised. That opened the doors to eternal life!
In the midst of the parish community I look forward to celebrating this anniversary - and invite you to ponder the gift of your own Baptism.  Who would have been there?  Are you the Oldest? The Youngest? Were there Aunts and Uncles present? Was your Mother there? (Sometimes Moms were still at home recovering, and that is why God Mothers often held the child for Baptism!)  Who are your Godparents?
What has been different for you because of Baptism?  What difference has Baptism made in your life?  
So instead of some candles on a cake - I invite us all to ponder Christ - the meaning behind all candles - the Light of the world!
LL

How did we get here?

How did we get here? 

How do we get back to the Table?
The question is not about a mode of transportation - Plane, Train, or Automobile... Rather it is a question about how we have come to the point where we are celebrating Sacraments with those who are unconnected, or only Tangentially connected ... coming maybe once a month. Sacraments are an outward sign of an interior reality - and yet these moments of conversion – interior change seem to be boiling down to outward experiences:  Dress/Suit, Gowns, parties & presents.

Archbishop Daniel Bohan was a priest of Moncton, New Brunswick, and was appointed an Auxilliary Bishop in Toronto (for the northern region) and then in 2005 named as the Archbishop of Regina.  At a meeting with Priests and Pastoral workers in Simcoe County he said on this matter: As long as we are Confirming those people without a connection to the Eucharist, we will always have listless parishes.
Why raise this issue now? Because those in the pews in the midst of Summer are connected…  and I want to start a conversation – Like Jesus sent people out in pairs, I want to challenge you to influence those back yard conversations around your summer BBQ’s and pools, at the tables & fire pits of our lives.
So that we can, so that you can ask: "What is going on here?"

When we wake up in the morning we do not ask the question:

"Will I eat today?"  NO - We ask the question: "When will I eat? What will we eat?"How can we invite people to look at Sunday and not ask IF we will go to church, but rather:  "When will we come to church? How will we get to church?
Ultimately its about how do we all get back to the Table?

I invite you to continue this conversation: 

send me an Email - Fr.Larry@holyfamilybolton.ca

or post a comment in this Blog.

Peace

Fantastic Friday

Friday was quite a busy day in the Church - both universal and local!  On the Local level we had the end of our first week of Holydays Camp.  Friday always has a Mass and then a talent show in the afternoon.  

Then Stephanie and I headed to COSTCO and we spent time getting supplies for the big Pure Praise concert and BBQ Saturday Night!  Then there was Adoration and after that - Checking out the Stage Set up for the concert!

In the Universal Church - Pope Francis was joined by Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI in the Vatican Gardens as they blessed a new Statue of St. Michael the Archangel. This was the same day that The Encyclical "Lumen Fidei" (Light of Faith) was released.  While it is officially considered the first encyclical of Pope Francis - in fact he acknowledges that this is the work of "4 hands" - meaning the hands of Benedict and Francis - since it was begun by Benedict XVI for the Year of Faith, and completed by Francis. You can get the download at www.vatican.va

Then the reporters at the vatican were called back into the press gallery in the afternoon to learn that Francis Pope Francis had approved the cause for canonization of two of his venerable and much loved predecessors Blessed Pope John XXIII & Blessed Pope John Paul II. (Both have been TIME Magazine's "Man of the Year"!)

John XXIII convoked the Second Vatican Council which had its first session on October 11, 1962, and we are approaching the 50th Anniversary of the first Document of the Council: Sacrosanctum Concilium (on the Sacred Liturgy) on December 4, 1963.  
Pope John Paul II was elected Pope on the 22 of October 1978 - so we are approaching the 35th anniversary of his election as Pope! The date(s) for the Canonizations have not been set, but there are rumors of December 8th - the Feast of the Immaculate Conception - while some are pushing for October to coincide with the Anniversaries of Vatican II and of JPII's election.

A Friday in July - Who would have thought it would be so busy!

Grateful for Air Conditioning these days!

In 1902, only one year after Willis Haviland Carrier graduated from Cornell University with a Masters in Engineering, the first air (temperature and humidity) conditioning was in operation, making one Brooklyn printing plant owner very happy. Fluctuations in heat and humidity in his plant had caused the dimensions of the printing paper to keep altering slightly, enough to ensure a misalignment of the coloured inks. The new air conditioning machine created a stable environment and aligned four-colour printing became possible. All thanks to the new employee at the Buffalo Forge Company...
Upon reflection - maybe its Willis Haviland Carrier that we should be grateful for!
Peace

Catholic Student of the Year - St. Nicholas

Last week we had graduations for St. Michael's Secondary School and our Elementary Schools.  Each Elementary School gives an Award sponsored by the Catholic Trustees Association to the "Catholic Student of the Year". The Winner for St. Nicholas this year was Sheena - who is an Altar Server at the 12 noon Mass!

3 of our Lifeteen Youth received awards rooted in Faith at St. Michael's Graduation: Talia Baldasara, Julia Coffa, and Alex D'Amico.  Congratulations!

Feast of St. Thomas the Apostle

Quite a mystogogical catechesis on Saint Thomas and the wounds of Christ:

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The only way to truly touch the living Christ is through the tender care of his wounds in the poor, sick and outcasts of today, Pope Francis said. Just as St. Thomas' life changed when he touched Jesus' wounds, people who lovingly care for the body and soul of those in need will see their lives transformed, too, the pope said July 3 during his morning Mass in the Domus Sanctae Marthae. In his homily on the feast of St. Thomas, the pope said people have tried a number of ways to experience the living Christ and none is as effective and direct as encountering him through "his wounds. There's no other way. A refresher course" is useless for learning how to encounter the living God; all it takes is "getting out onto the street," the pope said, according to a report by Vatican Radio. "In the history of the church, there have been some mistakes made on the path toward God," Pope Francis said. Some have believed God could be found through meditation alone or by trying to "reach higher through meditation. That's dangerous! How many are lost on that path and never get there."

Today, July 3, is the Feast of St. Thomas the Apostle - who tradition tells us travelled to the Indian Subcontinent and was martyred there! St. Thomas - Pray for us!

Evangelization Prayer

“ 'Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.'  
But how can they call on him in whom they have not believed? 
And how can they believe in him of whom they have not heard? 
And how can they hear without someone to preach? 
And how can people preach unless they are sent?”

Romans 10: 13-15

Heavenly Father,
Pour forth your Holy Spirit to inspire me with these words from Holy Scripture.
Stir in my soul the desire to renew my faith and deepen my relationship with your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ so that I might truly believe in and live the Good News.   
Open my heart to hear the Gospel and grant me the confidence to proclaim the Good News to others.
Pour out your Spirit, so that I might be strengthened to go forth and witness to the Gospel in my everyday life through my words and actions.  
In moments of hesitation, remind me:
If not me, then who will proclaim the Gospel?
If not now, then when will the Gospel be proclaimed?
If not the truth of the Gospel, then what shall I proclaim?
God, our Father, I pray that through the Holy Spirit I might hear the call of the New Evangelization to deepen my faith, grow in confidence to proclaim the Gospel and boldly witness to the saving grace of your Son, Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.