Safari # 2

Day 2 of our safaris: Each day we are on Safari - we are awoken at 5:00 and meet in the Dining Area for biscuts and tea or coffee. By 5:45 we are loading into our Safari Vehicle, and have an early start. We are at the main entrance of the Park by 6:00 AM. 

Mom and Baby Rhino!

A Nyala Antelope - 

This was from the Poarch of our Tree House Lodge!

A Mom And Baby Zebra. 

Each Zebra's markings are as unique as our fingerprints!

There was still little rain so the Water Buffalo liked the Mud!

 This is from a Cheetah refuge - 

and these cheetah have been exposed to humans.

This is a Serval Cat - who has also been exposed to humans!

Peace

Feast of the Holy Family 2015

We are pleased to Welcom Bishop Boissonneau to our parish for our Feast Day. Grateful for his reflection - Jesus was born into a Family - and how as members of a family we can use 3 phrases that Pope Francis suggests as an aid to grow in Holiness:

• May I?
• Thank You
• Pardon Me

We keep all the Families in our Parish in prayer, in a special way those who are hurt and wounded, those who are suffering and ill, and those who have had events of great Joy recently.

Peace

Christmas Greetings!

Christmas Greetings - to eveyone in your Family from Holy Family! 

The Drakensberg Mountains

This is the third area we visited in South Africa - The Drakensberg Mountains. They are actually more of an ecarpment - but are quite a dramtic range that is 250km long - and includes the mountain kingdom of Lesotho. 
While here we went on a trip up the Sani-Pass to Lesotho (another stamp in the Passport!)

See that road up the centre of the picture - heck yes we took that one!

Beautiful Scenery

From the top of the pass!

At the Border

Beautiful Scenery again!
Peace

Finally - Safari Photos

Some may be thinking - Finally - Safari Photos. 
We were in the North East part of South Africa - Hluhluwe Imfalozi Game reserve - one of the oldest iparks in the National Park system. This park has been working on rehabilitating Rhino's, which are often killed by poachers for their horn.

Water buffalo - man does he look ugly!

A Pride of Lions on the hunt.

Papa Lion! This was the first time I saw a Male Lion - with the full MANE

 You can see that other Safari Vehicles came watching the hunt! 

This is what was the target of the hunt.

Here was a Mother Rhino and her Baby!

This was another rhino - just before we left the park.

So this was day 1 of the Safari's incredible to see 3 of the big 5!

Peace

Cathedral

This past Tuesday and Wednesday there was an open house at St. Michael's Cathedral, which has been closed for the past 6 months for the restoration work that has been ongoing. There is literally no part of the Cathedral which is being left untouched! 

The Nave has all of the pews removed at this time and there different "boths" with the artisans talking about the various aspects of the restoration project.

The Ceiling now has many "Stars" and is reflective of the original Gothic Architecture.  All of the work is quite impressive.

A significant part of the Family of Faith campaign monies are helping to support this work of restoration.

Peace

St. Michael's Altar

Urszula Cybolko and myself traveled to the School Board Contruction offices to see the new Chapel furnishings that are under construction for St. Michael's Secondary School.
We were both excited to see the work that has been done and look forward to receiving these items in the new year!

The cross will hang on the back wall of the Chapel

The Altar and the stand for the Tabernacle

The Ambo and 2 storage units for the entrance area of the Chapel.  The neat part is that the Ambo has a pivoting slanted top, which allows it to be a free standing Ambo, or to be a place where the word of God is entroned outside of a liturgy.

All of the pieces have a consistent element of 4 pillars - representing the 4 Gospels and a central column - representing the unified Magisterium - the teaching arm of the Church. Our Sacraments  rest upon Scripture and Tradition!

Peace.

Second Stop - Durban

The city of Durban is on the South-East coast of South Africa, and is its 3rd largest city! This was supposed to be our warm weather "beach" stop on the holiday... Well it rained 3 out of 4 days along the coast - be we did have some time to tour... 

We went for dinner in a seafood restaraunt which is attached to a big fish tank at the Auarium. Incredible sharks swimming!

Some Beach Art!

The Soccor Stadium in Durban - Moses Mabhida Stadium

The Catholic Cathedral in Durban - Emmanuel Cathedral

This is the medicine market - with dried Animal parts for mixing into potions!

Some neat artwork on the support pillars...

Lunch involved a deluxe Milkshake! $5.00!

Happy to be Home!

November has been an eventful Month!
On Nov. 3 I went on holidays. My second time to South Africa in as many years! Flying on Aeroplan Points Myself and another priest travelled to Cape Town via Washington D.C., and Johannesburg on United Airlines and South African Airlines. The SAA plane stopped in Accra to change crew, refuel, and take on some passengers. We were joined in Cape Town by some other travelling companions who took different airlines. There were 9 of in total.
We visited 4 different areas - all within South Africa: 
Cape Town, Durban, Drakensburg Mountains, and Hluhluwe-Imfalozi Game reserve & St. Lucia Estuary.
I will post Pictures in the order of the trip...
So first are Cape Town - a wonderful and delightfully safe city to visit! There was bright Sunshine, but cooler temperatures - the low 20's for much of our time there.

Cape Town is famous for "Table Mountain" and here we can see the "Table Cloth" - the white cloud - beginning to form. 

Capetown is also famous for its big Bay - and the beautiful Waterfront area - Some pictures from our walks around the waterfront:

They were already getting primed for Christmas decorations.

These Statues are in an area called Nobel Square - where the 4 Nobel Peace Prize winners from South Africa are represented:

Nkosi Albert Luthuli, Archbishop Desmund Tutu, F.W. De Klerk, and Nelson Mandela.

This is a Dassie - a small rodent like creature which has similar DNA to an Elephant! This guy was on Table Mountain - near the food shop!

This is a delightful street in the area just south of the Bay - a colourful community!

We went on a wine tour to the Constancia Region - very close to Capetown - think Oakville to Toronto! We had lunch at The Steenberg winery. Outside one of the wineries was a field with Poppies - and it was just before Remembrance Day.

 Sorry for the delay in posting these!
Peace

Off on Holidays

I am headed off on Holidays - to South Africa (Cape Town / Durban/ and the Hluhluwe-Imfazoli Game reserve). 
I will be posting pictures along the way - I find it easy to do so on facebook.
Peace

Halloween - All Saints - All Souls

Halloween - All Saints - All Souls

Halloween is the eve of Hallowmass, better known to modern Christians as All Saints' Day. Hallowmass celebrates God's harvesting into heaven the faithful of every age, culture and walk of life. It is a day of glorious rejoicing.
Saints are people who, by their joyful service, have extended the love of God to others. The Roman martyrology--the list of the saints officially recognized as such by the church--contains over ten thousand names. And those are only the saints whose names we remember! All Saints' Day also remembers those holy people whom no one but God any longer knows. The reading for the day from the Book of Revelation describes "a great multitude that no one could count."
The abundance of the harvest of souls is perfectly suited to observance in the northern hemisphere in late autumn. That's why in North America All Saints' Day and Halloween are brightened with corn shocks, pumpkins, apples, nuts and other signs of nature's bounty.
The North American tradition of Halloween ghost-and-goblin madness comes from Celtic lands, where the spirits of the dead were thought to roam the earth for one night before winter began. To ward off their fear of the supernatural, people sat around huge bonfires, telling stories and sharing the fruits of the harvest. Children were sent round to beg for fuel for the fire. Although the practice of "trick-or-treating" has its roots in pre-Christian Celtic tradition, it would be a mistake to write off the practice as devil worship. In Christ, all things have been made new. And so we dress as ghosts and goblins to laugh at the devil, who has lost ultimate power over God's beloved children.
In Mexico, especially in the southern state of Oaxaca, families go and tend the graves of their loved ones at this time of year. In the middle of Halloween night, they have a fiesta with masks, food, sweets (like miniature skulls made of candy) and bunches upon bunches of marigolds--all by the light of candles in the cemetery! Those who have gone before us, marked with the sign of faith, are still members of the family!

All Saints' Day - November 1

"Today we keep the festival of your holy city, the heavenly Jerusalem, our mother. Around your throne the saints, our brothers and sisters, sing your praise for ever. Their glory fills us with joy, and their communion with us in your church gives us inspiration and strength as we hasten on our pilgrimage of faith, eager to meet them."

So we pray during the Mass of All Saints. We celebrate those who have made the long journey to the holy city, to Jerusalem, to the feast of heaven. The scriptures and prayers for the day tell us that we are part of that vast throng now standing before God's throne in ceaseless praise. From the second reading: "I saw before me a huge crowd which no one could count from every nation, race, people and tongue...dressed in long white robes." At our baptism, when we received our white robes, we became part of this great assembly. Indeed, every time we go to Mass, before we sing Holy, Holy, we recall that we sing God's praise with "angels and archangels and the whole company of heaven."
Who is this company and why is it so wonderful to be part of it? This is another way of asking, "What does the communion of saints mean?" It is not complicated. All the baptized, living and dead, across the generations, walk together, suffer together, sing together--not only those who have died, and not only those who lead heroic lives. Vincent Harding, writing in Sojourners magazine, put it this way: "What a wild company we belong to! These are wild people, persecuted people, going-out, not-knowing-where-they're-going people." For a picture of what the lives of saints look like, we read the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:1-12) at Mass today.

All Souls - November 2

Because we know that death is not the end of life, it is not morbid for us Christians to visit the graves of our loved ones who have died. It is good to visit the cemetery, especially on November 2 and then throughout the month of November, when the church celebrates the communion of saints and souls and looks forward to that harvest at the end of time when all will be gathered into the new Jerusalem.
We decorate the graves of our loved ones because we believe that in baptism they have died with Christ and thus Christ will raise them up. So we place on the grave an evergreen wreath--the ancient crown of victory over death and a reminder of the eternal life promised to us in the first sacrament. Or we light vigil candles on the grave, keeping one lit throughout November - a reflection of the light of Christ given to each one of us on our baptism day, and a reminder of the wise bridesmaids who kept their lamps lit while waiting for the groom to come so that the wedding could begin. We can pray at each grave:

Eternal rest grant unto __________, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them.May they rest in peace. Amen.  May their soul, and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.

Peace

And now for some Hockey news...

My Godson - Thomas Schemitsch - was named to the OHL Team for the Canada Russia series that will happen in November. 

The Press Release:

Toronto, ON – The Ontario Hockey League in association with the Canadian Hockey League, the Owen Sound Attack, and the Windsor Spitfires hockey clubs today announced the Team OHL rosters for the 2015 CHL Canada Russia Series.

Team OHL will compete against the Russian National Junior Team in Game 3 of the series in Owen Sound on Thursday November 12, with Game 4 to be played in Windsor on Monday November 16.  The series also includes two games in the Western Hockey League prior to both OHL games, and ends with two games hosted by the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.

36 players will represent the OHL in the 2015 CHL Canada Russia Series including 13 players who received invites to Canada’s National Junior Team Summer Showcase.  Headlining that group is Florida Panthers prospect Lawson Crouse of the Kingston Frontenacs who won gold as a member of Team Canada at the 2015 IIHF World Junior Championship.  Summer Showcase invites on Team OHL also include goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood of the Barrie Colts, defencemen Travis Dermott of the Erie Otters, Vince Dunn of the Niagara IceDogs, Roland McKeown of the Frontenacs, and Mitchell Vande Sompel of the Oshawa Generals.  The forward group includes New York Islanders 2014 first round pick Michael Dal Colle of the Generals, Philadelphia Flyers first round pick Travis Konecny of the Ottawa 67’s, Toronto Maple Leafs first round pick Mitch Marner of the London Knights, Arizona Coyotes first round prospects Brendan Perlini of the IceDogs and Dylan Strome of the Otters, Dylan Sadowy of the Saginaw Spirit, and the Frontenacs’ Spencer Watson.

Both 2015 CHL Canada Russia Series hosts will be represented by a pair of hometown players.  In Owen Sound, Montreal Canadiens prospect Michael McNiven and Florida Panthers prospect Thomas Schemitsch of the Attack will dress for Team OHL on November 12, while the Spitfires’ Logan Brown and Tampa Bay Lightning prospect Cristiano DiGiacinto will play before the Windsor crowd on November 16.