Every year, on the first Sunday following Christmas, the Church celebrates the beautiful feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. The purpose of this beautiful feast is to remind each and every one of us that the most important place where we are to encounter God’s love for us is within the family. Like all of us, Jesus was born into a human family so that we might all be reminded that it is first and foremost within the family that we are to make Christ’s love present to our brothers and sisters and where we are to encounter the love and acceptance that we all desire and long to know. This beautiful feast is to remind all of us that every family—mine and yours—is a sacred place where God’s love is to be encountered. Continue reading →

“Though He was in the form of God, Jesus did not regard equality with God as something to be grasped at, rather He made Himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness”  Philippians 2:6-7

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Powerful rulers brought chaos and darkness to the earth. The times were very uncertain. Human life seemed of little value. The Holy Family had arrived in a place where they were not wanted and there was no place for the child to be born. King Herod, the local ruler at the time, was an arrogant, narcissistic man, who seemed to change his mind at every turn. He was so unstable, everyone feared him. Herod was so paranoid, that shortly after the birth of the child, Joseph and Mary had to flee their native country as refugees, afraid that the child would be put to death. At the time of the child’s birth, the country was inhabited by a foreign power. The Roman Emperor, living so far away, ordered a census that made the family homeless and sent them off on a journey that was beyond their control. Continue reading →

This past week, as part of my preparations for Advent, I re-watched a movie that came out a few years ago called The Star. In a way that is strangely accurate for a Hollywood movie, it tells the story of the first coming of Christ. The movie begins with the Annunciation by the Angel Gabriel to Mary, when she receives the news that she will be the Virgin Mother of the Christ child. It presents how difficult it was for Mary and Joseph to understand the task that had been entrusted to them to be mother and guardian of the Messiah and the extremely difficult circumstances that they undergo as the Christ child is born. As Mary and Joseph are forced to leave their home of Nazareth and go to Bethlehem to register for the census that has been called for by Caesar Augustus, we see that even for the Holy Family, life at times was very difficult. The movie also presents the story of the three Magi and the jealousy that King Herod had when he heard that a new king was to be born in his territory. He sent out soldiers to destroy the child and prevent him from reigning within his kingdom. The movie tells of the many shepherds and animals that are led to the simple birth place of the Messiah by a great star that lights up the skies and a heavenly choir. Continue reading →

“The Father has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:13).

On the last Sunday of every liturgical year, which this Sunday is, the Church celebrates the Solemnity of Christ the King—King of the Universe. Next Sunday, we will begin a new liturgical year as we celebrate the First Sunday of Advent.

The Solemnity of Christ the King takes place on the last Sunday of the liturgical year to remind us that at the end of time, Christ will come to judge the living and the dead. The solemnity is intended to remind us that we are to be ready to meet Christ when He comes by being ready to meet Him today and always. While Christians have always believed that Jesus was their king, this liturgical feast was established in 1925 by Pope Pius XI. He instituted it in troubled times to remind Catholics that the worldly powers that were causing such political turmoil at the time were only temporary and passing. The true Kingship over humanity belonged to Christ and Christians ought to be more concerned with following Christ than those passing worldly powers. At the same time that Pius XI instituted the feast, he suggested that as it was celebrated all Catholics ought to renew their consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Pius XI’s motto as Pope was: “Christ’s Peace through Christ’s reign.” Continue reading →

“Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?” (Luke 17:18)

Thanksgiving is a North American holiday. If I remember my school lessons correctly, it derives from the experience of the first European settlers here in North America and their experience of their first few years here on this continent. The way we were taught about this holiday when I was in elementary school recalled how difficult these first Europeans found the bitter winters to survive on their own and how unprepared they were to make it through this difficult climate. They were so unprepared for the conditions they found on this continent that it was only with the help of the Indigenous People, who knew the land and the ways of growing here, that they were able to make it through those initial days. Once they had learned to grow crops in this territory and figure out how to survive the conditions on this continent, they were so grateful that they began to have a special feast called “Thanksgiving” at the end of the growing season to celebrate the goods of this land and the great opportunities that they had discovered here. From my school days, I recall a part of those initial Thanksgiving celebrations involved celebrations with the Indigenous People who had helped these first settlers to make their lives possible here. That is why so many of our celebrations still highlight the many vegetables and local products that were handed over to the Europeans by the Indigenous People to help them survive. Continue reading →

“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 →