I have often recounted at New Year that one of the things about being here at St. Peter’s Parish that I find a little funny at times, is that often I will be walking along Bathurst, in front of the Church, and as I do so someone will roll down their car window, and stop me on Bathurst Street, to demand that I give them a blessing as they are driving by on the street. My first inclination is to try to have a conversation with them to find out what they think that a blessing signifies. However, as the traffic is often heavy and they are in a hurry, they frequently get a little angry with me and demand that I stop my small talk and quickly give them the blessing that they are seeking before they drive off. These experiences have helped me to realize that many people may not even know what a “blessing” signifies or be aware of what is required for a blessing to really be of any value. Continue reading →

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 →

“Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests” (Luke 2:14)

There is a beautiful tension that exists in the readings that we hear proclaimed at the various Christmas Masses that are celebrated at different times during the day. On the one hand, at the Masses celebrated in the evening, we hear the Gospel of Luke proclaimed and of the birth of the child Jesus into the poverty of a manger in Bethlehem. On the other hand, at Mass during the day, we listen to the Gospel of John and are told that the eternal Word who has existed for all time, and was with the Father at the creation of the world, became man. This tension is best expressed by the beautiful proclamation of the angels to the shepherds in a nearby field to whom they announced the Good News of the Savior’s birth, with the words: “Glory to God in the highest (heaven) and on earth peace to those on whom his favour rests” (Luke 2:14).  Because this tension continues to be a reality in our own faith lives today, it is worth reflecting upon it this Christmas. Continue reading →