Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ:

Our faith teaches us that all human life is a sacred gift that we receive from God and that God alone is to decide the beginning and the end of our life. For that reason, both the Scriptures and the Church have always taught that it is a grave sin to take a human life; either the life of another or our own.

While life is indeed a gift from God, there are many challenges and difficulties that we all encounter in life. It was to save us from these difficulties, and the sinful choices that they can cause us to make, that Christ came into the world. Confronted by the trials of life, and the suffering these can bring, Jesus speaks these comforting words to us:  “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30). It is not for nothing that this passage is used as one of the series of scripture passages for the celebration of the Sacrament of the Sick. Jesus has come to help us to do the Father’s will in our difficult and challenging situations in life. To show us how this is to be done, Jesus Himself took up His cross and was obedient to the will of God the Father. Jesus, the way, the truth and the life has given us the example by which we are to embrace God’s will for us, ask His grace to strengthen us, and follow His example in the words of the perfect prayer, the “Our Father.” In this prayer we ask for the strength to do God’s will for us each day of our lives. Continue reading →

I was born in 1964. One of my first memories that I have in life is of my parents and grandparents taking me to Montreal for Expo 67 and the Centennial Celebrations for Canada’ s 100^th birthday that year. I think one of the vague memories that I have of this experience is that it was the first time in my life that I recall having been exposed to persons from all of the different countries of the world. Expo 67 was a great moment of Canadian hospitality extended towards all of the people of the world who came to visit Canada for the Expo event. As it is one of my first memories of life, it has also become for me symbolic of what I believe this great country in which we live is all about.

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