“For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him might not perish but might have eternal life” (John 3:16).

During Holy Week, you and I hear two different versions of the Passion of Christ. On Palm Sunday, the Passion is read from one of the Synoptic Gospels—either Matthew, Mark or Luke. In these versions, Christ’s death on the cross is always seen as something shameful and all of the apostles run away. It is this version that is the source of the tradition in the Latin Church of covering the Cross on Good Friday. On Good Friday, we always read the Passion from the Gospel of John and the emphasis in this Gospel is very different from the Synoptic Gospels. In John’s Gospel, the Cross is presented as the throne on which Jesus saved the world. Throughout the Passion narrative in John, Jesus is in charge and is freely giving himself to save humanity. The big difference from these Gospels is that John stayed at the Cross to see Jesus save humanity through His gift of self. It was because John saw Christ save humanity on the Cross that he writes: “And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of God be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in Him may have eternal life.”  In the Eastern Churches, because they follow more closely the tradition expressed in the Gospel of John, on Good Friday they do not cover the cross, but adore it with flowers. Continue reading →

Shortly after I was ordained, now more than thirty-three years ago, I was invited to a home where I celebrated the last rites with a wonderful parishioner who was almost 100 years old. Now to protect the innocent, I will change the names of those involved (I have just always wanted to say that).

This parishioner, whom I will call Hilda, was almost 100 years old and had lived a wonderful life. She had thirteen children and all of them had grown up and were healthy with their own families. Because they had all grown up and had their own families, she also had innumerable grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Many of these children and grandchildren had located in the neighbourhood and were also parishioners. Because Hilda’s family all lived in Toronto, many of them nearby, although her husband had died fifteen years earlier after more than 60 years of marriage, she always had family to look after her. Her children and grandchildren were always coming and going from her home; doing her shopping and bringing her to church. It was because of the care of her family that she was able to stay in her home until the end. Continue reading →

Visitation, by Domenico Ghirlandaio (1491), depicts Mary visiting her elderly cousin Elizabeth.

There is a beautiful hymn, or prayer, which the Gospel of Luke reports to be the words of Mary in response to Elizabeth’s greeting to her when she had come to visit her after giving her “yes” to be the Mother of the Lord. This hymn is known as the Magnificat. It is prayed every evening by those who recite the Liturgy of the Hours as part of evening prayer. This hymn states the following:

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed:
the Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his Name.
He has mercy on those who fear him
in every generation.
He has shown the strength of his arm,
he has scattered the proud in their conceit.
He has cast down the mighty from their thrones,
and has lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has come to the help of his servant Israel
for he has remembered his promise of mercy,
the promise he made to our fathers,
to Abraham and his children forever.
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.

Continue reading →

Part One

This Sunday, the Psalm proclaims, “In every age, O Lord, you have been our refuge (Ps 90).. In the Gospel, Jesus speaks about the importance of realizing what our true treasures are and letting them be built up in Heaven. When you and I come to Mass, we have an encounter with God’s Word and receive the gift of Christ’s Body and Blood—the food intended to strengthen us on our journey to Heaven. Often, as we come to Mass, we may miss the deeper significance of what we are hearing and who we are encountering at the celebration. For this reason, over the next few weeks, I would like to repeat a series of sermons on the Mass that I gave here one summer a few years ago. Continue reading →