Parish Life Continues

All kinds of efforts were made to get to the Hershey Centre in Mississauga for game 5 of the OHL Championships - and despite arriving at the beginning of the second period, the Owen Sound Attack lost the game 7-3.  It was 4 - 0 for Mississauga when I got in the car, and was able to find the Owen Sound radio station - fuzzy but audible, as they cover all the "away" games for the Owen Sound home crowd.  The Attack scored 2 goals in the last 4 minutes of Period 1 and went to the dressing room down 4-2.  There was no scoring in the second period. A tight game - and even in shots on goal.  At the beginning of the third, Owen Sound scored another to close within 1 goal... hope was blooming in section 4 - where I was sitting with Geoffrey's parents, his brother Thomas, and many of the other Attack parents. 
Then things came off the rails, and Mississauga's excellent fore checking paid off - and there were 3 more goals.  And a slew of penalties, as the guys seemed to get frustrated... 
It was interesting to hear how many Owen Sound fans there were in the Hershey Centre - and to see how many empty seats there were on Tuesday Night. The tale of these 2 towns and their hockey teams is told here in the Toronto Star article yesterday.
I am hoping for a home town win tonight - so I get to see another game on Sunday in Mississauga. Regardless I will be seeing a couple of games when they play in the Memorial Cup...

On Monday I was at St. Paul's Basilica in Downtown Toronto as our Catechist  - Catherine Ecker - was honoured with other parish and Diocesan employees for 20+ and 25 years of service.  Catherine has been with the Archdiocese of Toronto for 23 years and has also worked in different parishes over those years.  It was a wonderful opportunity for the people from different offices and parishes to gather for this celebration of service to God's people.  Archbishop Collins presided and preached about service as the mark or trail we leave behind us. (I even picked up a couple of images I will use in the future.)  Wednesday afternoon - and again tonight we have our final 2 Confirmation retreats.
Peace

Awesome Thursday

We had an awesome Thursday in the parish :  In the afternoon I went up to St. Michael's Secondary School for the Walk for the Kids Help Phone.  After the walk - the participants - which was really everyone in the school - had a BBQ Hamburger, Pasta Salad, and a drink.  Later on Thursday afternoon  we had our final Confirmation retreat, and in my own little world Thursday night - my Godson's team won their game in Owen Sound Details here and now there is a game 7 in Mississauga on Sunday... Any guesses as to where I will be Sunday at 2:00???  In fact it was Geoffrey who scored the third goal of the night for the Attack, and it ended up being the game winner!

Monday after the night before!

Well it was quite an afternoon / evening in Owen Sound!  The arena was packed - there over 3,200 fans - including a Bus from Mississauga that the Major's fans rode on to the game.
The first period was cluttered with penalties, and from a biased supporter (ME!) it seemed as if the refs were calling stuff against Owen Sound and not against St. Mikes... But at the end of the first it was end to end hockey - and scoreless.  In the second period - there were lots of chances on each side, and the refs let up and the guys could play some hockey.  Yet at the end of 2 it was still scoreless.
Now I can tell you I take a pill for blood pressure (its dosage has reduced as I have lost some weight) but I think I should have taken two pills yesterday!  It might be a great game to watch as a fan of hockey - but it sure is hard to watch when you are so emotionally invested as a parent (or Godparent) of a player. 
When the 3rd period was half over - and it was still scoreless - we could see that this game could turn on one great goal or one hard mistake! St. Mike's scored with about 5 minutes left in the game, and the arena fell next to silent for the first time in 2 hours!  Then there was a penalty call against St. Mike's and the Attack, with a man advantage, scored within a minute.  

To overtime it went - and while St. Mikes did a good job of killing a delay of game penalty - in the end it was a great  break away pass to Cameron Brace that resulted in the sudden death game winner at the 16 minute mark! 
We went to dinner after the game - with Cameron, Jordan Binnington (one of the highest ranked goaltenders in the upcoming NHL draft) and Geoffrey.  It was a pretty satisfying meal... and a great Mother's day present for Maureen to receive. Even the coach (Mark Reeds) served the meals to the guys!
At dinner and on the ride home I was pressured to get to the game on Tuesday night in Mississauga.  I had a Finance council meeting - which I asked the members to change (maybe - told - not asked!) and I'll make it for the second period tonight...
One of the finance council members said:

I know our national pastime can alter newscasts and even delay election debates but I had no idea it has enough power to postpone the work of the Lord. Awesome. 

Peace

OHL Hockey - A Godfather's Duty!

I have known the Rankin family since 1979, when my family moved into Blessed Trinity Parish.  Bill Rankin was the Permanent Deacon there, his wife Yvette was on the Liturgy Committee, and I came to know their daughter Maureen when she and I were youth representatives on the Parish Council. Maureen and I have remained great friends ever since, and in 1990 Maureen married Emil Schemitsch. Over the years they have had 4 children: Laura, Geoffrey, Christine, and Thomas.  I am the Godfather to both Geoffrey and Thomas, and I celebrated the Baptism of Christine!

Both Geoffrey and Thomas are hockey players - while the girls dance. Geoffrey has been playing defense with the Owen Sound Attack of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) since last season.  A year ago April he was selected to be part of the Canada under 18 team that played in the IIHF Championship in Belarus (in part of the former Soviet Union!)  It was in the 2010 NHL Draft that Geoffrey was drafted by the Tampa Bay Lightning.  On my desk in the office, I still have the team hat Geoffrey received from Tampa Bay last year.
This year the Attack are doing quite well, and are the OHL Western Conference Champions.  They are playing the Mississauga St. Mikes Majors for the OHL crown.  
The Memorial Cup (which is the Canadian Junior Hockey Championship)  has the lst place teams from each of the 3 Junior hockey leagues in Canada: the Western Hockey League, the Quebec Hockey League, and the OHL) An interesting thing is that since Mississauga is the host for this year's Memorial Cup - they are also invited - so it means that automatically the second place team in the OHL finals also goes to the Memorial Cup.  So both Mississauga and Owen Sound are going to the Memorial Cup this May 19-29.
Friday Night I was able to go to game 3 of the OHL finals held in Mississauga.  John Castellucci from the parish heard that my Godson was playing in the OHL Finals and went and got tickets for the two of us.  While there I met a priest who used to live in Blessed Trinity Parish years ago - when I was in High School.  The Attack defeated the St. Mikes Majors 6-5 in overtime.  I tell you it was a terrific game, exciting and nail biting at the same time! 
Today I am off to meet Maureen and Emil and drive up with them to Owen Sound to see game 4 at 4:30 this afternoon.  It will be on TV - on Sports Net Ontario!  I'll be wearing my white clerical shirt!
Go Attack Go!!!
I know this is not so religious a post - maybe simply personal - but it is my Godfatherly duty!  O, the burdens of office!
Peace.

Confirmation Retreats

     As we prepare to celebrate Confirmation with 270 or so young people at the end of May and the first 2 weeks of June - we gather this week and next for Retreats with these Confirmandi (those to be confirmed). We are blessed in Holy Family Parish to have developed a team of young adults (and some of us older adults too!) to plan, prepare, facilitate and lead the teens of our Parish who seek to celebrate this sacrament. These youth leaders have been terrific examples of faith being alive and real for young people today!
     Often times in our own history, we were told that Confirmation is all about the young person "confirming their faith", the Church teaches us that actually the Church is Confirming their Baptism! One of the goals of this retreat is to allow the Teens to know the Power and Primacy of the Eucharist - in particular the Sunday Eucharist (that means Saturday Evening as well!)  In witness talks and skits, in prayer and celebration we try to lead these teens closer to Christ - who brings us home to the Father.  We also spent some times talking with the teens about some different methods of prayer. By reflecting on prayer through Music, with Scripture, and with the Saints, we hope to equip the teens with ways to deepen their relationship with God as they prepare to be Confirmed.

Two retreats worth of pizza boxes!

     We have had 2 retreats so far - and at the retreats we serve Pizza - a favourite food group amongst Teens! This is what 2 retreats worth of flattened pizza boxes looks like! (We flatten them to get them ready for recycling.)
Let us pray for the young people:
Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful, and kindle in them the fire of your love!
Peace.

Osama Bin Laden's Death

As I was sitting in Marguerite D'Youville Parish on Monday Evening, before seeing the One Man Play "Vianney" which is being performed across the Archdiocese of Toronto this week, I was speaking with a parishioner about the capture / death / assassination of Osama bin Laden.  She was quite concerned about the reactions of many - and the sense of joy and jubilation some people felt. "It just doesn't sit well within me - in my gut" she said.  I agreed.

Today I saw the quote from the Vatican News service that I feel puts this kind of uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach into accurate words:

"Osama bin Laden, as we all know, bore the most serious responsibility for spreading divisions and hatred among populations, causing the deaths of innumerable people, and manipulating religions for this purpose. 

In the face of a man’s death, a Christian never rejoices, but reflects on the serious responsibilities of each person before God and before men, and hopes and works so that every event may be the occasion for the further growth of peace and not of hatred."

While we may rightly feel that Osama bin Laden has been Monstrous in his actions, it would not be right to call him a monster. And while we might be relieved that he has been found, our goals must always be the growth of peace and not of hatred... 


Just some thoughts in the middle of a very full week, where some of our LifeTeen CORE have spent time at St. Michael's Secondary School as part of the healthy living fair, and are getting ready for 2 Liturgies at Pope John Paul II Elementary School to celebrate the former Pope's Beatification this past Sunday, as well as preparing for Confirmation retreats on Thursday afternoon and Saturday morning!


Peace

The History of the Mass

I was most struck by a recent letter to the Editor of The Catholic Register - where the writer suggested that Jesus and the apostles spoke Latin, that the Bible was originally written in Latin and not Greek and Aramaic, and that Mass was always celebrated as it was before Vatican II - wow! Was this an exercise in irony or what!? I am still not sure. Yet I do know one thing - we can all learn more about the history of what we call "The Mass" this evening at Vitamin F - Faith Nourishment. We gather at 7:15 for refreshments - and then begin at 7:30.  We conclude with Night Prayer by 9:00 - I Hope to see you here...
Peace