Saint Peter and Saint Paul

June 29 is the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul. It honours the martyrdom in Rome of Saint Peter and Saint Paul. The celebration is of ancient origin, the date selected being the anniversary either of their death or of the translation (movement) of their relics. 

Each year on this day in Rome - Archbishops who have been named in the preceeding year receive a Pallium from the Pope.  The Pallium is a sign of the responsibility and Archbishop has for the Metropolitan See with which he has been entrusted. When this feast falls on a Sunday - it supplants the usual Sunday in Ordinary Time  (13th Sunday this Year). The vestments are Red for this feast because both Peter and Paul were Martyred.  St. Peter was crucified, like Jesus - except that he was upside down, while St. Paul was killed by the sword - that is why he is often depicted holding a sword.

Sacred Heart of Jesus

Here is a reflection on the Sacred Heart of Jesus - whose feast we celebrate on the 2nd Friday after Pentecost - which a parishioner shared with me today.

Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus 

is an act of love. 

It is a love that we express through our thoughts, words, or actions to our good God, Who makes His divine love known to us through His Son and through the presence of the Holy Spirit in the Church.

The Sacred Heart of Jesus reveals the depths of God’s love for us.
When we speak of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, we are reflecting and discussing fundamentally this: the love of and mercy of God in Jesus Christ. “The heart” is the inner-most life of any man, woman, or child. “The heart of Jesus” is his inner life, which always radiated truth, goodness, and beauty. “The Sacred Heart of Jesus” is both this heart of flesh, but also his mercy and love—both in nthe flesh and as God.
Such love surpasses human understanding.  Such love led God to become man and face the agonizing death of the Cross—this love demonstrates God’s desire for our redemption and our love.

Through the devotion of the Sacred Heart, the Church reminds us that love is not something soft, occasional, and sentimental, but strong, enduring and sacrificial.  This understanding of love is the basis for true friendship—human and divine.
Love for the Sacred Heart is love shown back for love—

• The love of God the Creator, who brought into existence the world and the human race out of sheer love and goodness.
• The love of God for having chosen to live among men and women and be their God.
• The love and mercy of God the Son, who took on our humanity so that he might freely suffer, die, and rise for our redemption.
• The love of Christ the Teacher who calls us to imitate him and follow this command: “Love one another as I have loved you.”
• The love of God the Holy Spirit, who makes Christ known to us and through whom the love of God is poured into our hearts.

If only we make a beginning to our learning about the Sacred Heart of Jesus, with his grace we will fall deeply into divine love.
The Heart of Jesus calls.  Know Him.  Love Him.  Serve Him.
You have already started the journey.  Continue in His love.

Solemnity of St. John the Baptist

"I must decrease - so that He might increase."

Today is the Solemnity of St. John the Baptist.  Tonight the Students from St. John's will have their graduation Ceremony.  It only makes sense in our parish that this school - which has its feast at this time of year - also has its graduation on this day.

One of the interesting things to notice on a calendar is that birth of St. John is exactly opposite the birth of Jesus - 183 days different.
The other thing to notice - for us in the Northern Hemisphere - That the days get brighter and "Longer" with more Sun following the birth of the Son of God in December. And there is decreasing daylight from the day of the Birth of St. John the Baptist. John said of his relationship to Jesus - "He must increase - and I must decrease." (John 3:30)

Peace

The Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi)

This solemnity was first called Corpus Christi, yet is now called The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ to better signify the fuller meaning we see in bothe the Body and the Blood. In the celebration of the Eucharist God d provides for us today, as he provided "manna" in the desert for the people of Israel during the Exodus.
God chooses to remain with the Church in the Eucharist not because God needs us - 
but rather it is we who have need of God!


Here are some thoughts from the Catechism of the Catholic Church on the Eucharist: 

1324 The Eucharist is "the source and summit of the Christian life." "The other sacraments, and indeed all ecclesiastical ministries and works of the apostolate, are bound up with the Eucharist and are oriented toward it. For in the blessed Eucharist is contained the whole spiritual good of the Church, namely Christ himself, our Pasch."

1325 "The Eucharist is the efficacious sign and sublime cause of that communion in the divine life and that unity of the People of God by which the Church is kept in being. It is the culmination both of God's action sanctifying the world in Christ and of the worship men offer to Christ and through him to the Father in the Holy Spirit."

1326 Finally, by the Eucharistic celebration we already unite ourselves with the heavenly liturgy and anticipate eternal life, when God will be all in all.

1327 In brief, the Eucharist is the sum and summary of our faith: "Our way of thinking is attuned to the Eucharist, and the Eucharist in turn confirms our way of thinking."

1382 The Mass is at the same time, and inseparably, the sacrificial memorial in which the sacrifice of the cross is perpetuated and the sacred banquet of communion with the Lord's body and blood. But the celebration of the Eucharistic sacrifice is wholly directed toward the intimate union of the faithful with Christ through communion. To receive communion is to receive Christ himself who has offered himself for us.

See you at the Picnic!
Peace 

R.I.P. Clara

Perhaps our oldest parishioner, Clara, died this morning. Clara would have been 102 in August! She is pictured here in 2012 when she received a Papal Blessing on her 100th birthday.
Clara was a faithful member of the parish and would often be at Mass with her daughter, grand daughter and great grand daughters!  To see 4 generations of women from the same family at mass together was always a treat.
Eternal rest grant unto her O, Lord;
and let perpetual light shine on her. May she rest in peace. Amen.

CCS AGM

Caledon Community Services' 

Annual General Meeting

Tuesday, June 17th

at 6:30 pm

Royal Ambassador, 15430 Innis Lake Road, Caledon

Caledon Community Services (CCS) is a multi-service, community-impact organization. The vision, "Healthy, Engaged, Compassionate Community for all" is as relevant today as it was over 40 years ago when they opened our doors to our community.

CCS supports residents in the Municipality of Caledon and surrounding communities. "Helping people help themselves by working creatively and responding to community needs" is the way they put the vision in play and the results speak for themselves.  

CCS programs help young and old pursue their growth, health and independence. They work hard at addressing people’s well-being, and their success is based upon client-focused services, innovation in all that they do, community leadership through voluntarism and a myriad of partnerships with all sectors of our community.

Holy Family Parish works closely with CCS throughout the year, and all of our parishioners are welcome to attend the Annual General Meeting at the Royal Ambassador Facility.

Trinity Sunday 2014

The effort made by theologians over the centuries to explain the mystery of the Trinity with human concepts hardly helps Christians today reawaken their trust in God the Father, reaffirm their allegiance to Jesus, the incarnate Son of God, and accept with living faith the presence of the Spirit of God within us. So it might be good for us to make an effort to approach the mystery of God with simple words and humble hearts by closely following the message, actions, and whole life of Jesus -- mystery of the Son of God incarnate. 

The mystery of the Father is tender love and constant forgiveness. No one is excluded from His love; no one is denied His forgiveness. The Father loves us and seeks every one of us, His sons and daughters, through paths He alone knows. He looks on every human being with infinite tenderness and deep compassion. That's why Jesus always invoked him with one word: "Father."

Our first attitude before this Father must be trust. The ultimate mystery of reality, which we believers call "God", must not cause us any fear or anxiety -- God can only love us. He understands our small and wavering faith. We are not to feel sad for our lives which are almost always so mediocre, nor be discouraged when we discover that we have lived for years separated from this Father. We can simply abandon ourselves to Him. Our little faith is enough.

Jesus also invites us to trust. These are his words: "Do not let your hearts be troubled. You have faith in God; have faith also in me." Jesus is the living portrait of the Father. In his words, we are hearing what the Father is saying to us. In his gestures and his way of acting -- totally committed to making life more humane -- he shows us how God wants us to be.

So through Jesus we can meet a concrete, warm and friendly God in any situation. He puts peace in our lives. He makes us go from fear to trust, from suspicion to simple faith in the ultimate mystery of life that is only Love.

Receiving the Spirit that animates the Father and His Son Jesus is welcoming within ourselves the invisible, quiet but real presence of the mystery of God. When we become aware of this constant presence, a new trust in God begins to awaken in us.

Our lives are fragile, filled with contradictions and uncertainty. Believers or non-believers, we are surrounded by mystery. But the presence, also mysterious, of the Spirit within us, although weak, is enough to sustain our confidence in the ultimate mystery of life that is only Love.

St. Anthony's Feast

Catholic Feast days are days set aside to remember important people who lived extrodinary lives. Feast day were celebrated through the course of our faith. Most saints and holy people have specially designated feast days - usually the day of their death. On those days we remember these holy men and women in a special way. Saint Anthony of Padua died on June 13th, 1231, which is his feast day. Anthony was Born in Lisbon, Portugal, and died in Padua, so he is remembered fondly by both Italians and Portuguese.

One of the customs on this day is known as "St. Anthony's Bread" and goes back to A.D. 1263 when a child drowned near the Basilica of St. Anthony in Padua as it was still being built. The mother prayed to St. Anthony and promised that if her child were restored to life, she would give to the poor an amount of wheat equal to the weight of her child. Of course her son was saved, and her promise was kept. "St. Anthony's Bread," then, is the promise of giving alms in return for a favor asked of God through St. Anthony's intercession (the custom also takes place throughout the year when parents give alms after placing their baby under the patronage of St. Anthony). In some places, the custom has a literal parallel in that loaves of bread might be blessed and given away at church or, generally, to the poor. 
We are blessing bread today - after the morning Mass!
Peace!

Busy Week

It was certainly a busy week here in Bolton!

We continued with the celebration of Confirmation each evening Monday - Thursday.  I noticed this year that Bishop Boissonneau used more oil in the anointing of each candidate for confirmation in comparison to 2010 which was the last time he was here.  
I wonder if this is because one element in the Archdiocesan Pastoral Plan invites parishes to "Fuller and Abundant" sacramental signs.  
It is this thinking of "abundant signs" that is behind our practice of sprinkling the assembly throughout the Easter season with lots of water. 

I attended the All Candidates forum on Health and Social Services issues hosted by Caledon Community Services at the Exchange. It went very well, close to 75-80 in attendance, and I think it achieved its purpose of giving the community services sector a big platform to share its inherent value to the quality of life in the Caledon community. 
I think this was an important initiative for CCS to take in support of all of the community services agencies at work in Caledon. All of them were able to get their message to the candidates very well. 

Urszula Cybolko - Fr. Christopher Hartley - and myself

I also was profoundly moved by the words and witness of Fr. Christopher Hartley - who continues to advocate for those who often have no voice - The Haitians who work on the Sugar Cane Fields in the Dominican Republic. He was on CTV's Canada AM on Wednesday Morning. Thursday he was here in Bolton - at St. Michael's Secondary School. Fr. Christopher shared powerful stories including his call to work with those who live in extreme poverty in the Bateyes. (A batey is a company town where sugar workers live.) I hope to be able to post a video of his talk in the near future.

Friday Evening we had the Edgers go to the Blue Jay's Game. There were 60 of us there - and my Brother in Law thought I was quite brave!  It was a great evening - and the Blue Jays co-operated - winning the game 3-1 over the St. Louis Cardinals. (Don't tell Cardinal Collins that I was cheering against some cardinals!)

This week I also was able to drop by St. John Paul II School this week and saw that the new signage was installed on the building (I think they are still waiting for the sign that you can see on the road to be re-done). Here we have a n enduring physical reality of this event we celebrated this year.

Saturday morning it was the Knights of Columbus Soccer Challenge which was held at the Caledon East Soccer fields.  The Knights of Columbus have had a long tradition of a Basketball Free-Throw competition - but this was something new!
There was a great turn out of Knights Saturday Morning even tough this was the first time that our Bolton council has run this Soccer Challenge.  Looking forward to future years with many more participants!

Don't Forget to wear Red this Sunday for Pentecost!
Peace