Dear Parishioners:
Thank you for your patience during these difficult times, and for your support of your Pastors and Parishes. The Premier of Ontario recently announced that all churches in the Province of Ontario are permitted to open for prayer and worship, effective June 12, 2020. In order to ensure that our churches are prepared to open for personal prayer and for Mass, according to the requirements of the government and health authorities, churches in the Diocese of Hamilton, who are prepared, will be opened on June 16th for weekday Mass and for prayer, and beginning on Saturday, June 20th for the celebration of Sunday Mass. For those who are elderly or whose immune system is compromised, and those who are hesitant to return to church at this time, please know that the obligation to participate at Sunday Mass is suspended until further notice. It is important to remember that the COVID-19 Pandemic is not over, and that everyone must continue to pay attention to the measures being put in place to limit the spread of the COVID-19 virus. Therefore, please note the following requirements for entry into the church:
During the celebration of Mass, you will notice a few changes based on the recommendation of health authorities to ensure everyone’s safety as much as possible:
If you are visiting the church for personal prayer or adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, you will be required to observe all the health directives as for Mass. At this time, the Sacrament of Reconciliation cannot be celebrated in the usual Confessional or Reconciliation Chapel. Another suitable location which provides physical distancing as well as privacy will be designated in your church. As we welcome this first stage of returning to our Parish churches and resuming our public worship, let us continue to be united in prayer for one another and especially for those who, for whatever reason, are not able to join us at the Table of God’s Word and the Table of Christ’s Body and Blood. Sincerely in Christ and Mary Immaculate, +Douglas Crosby, OMI (Most Rev.) Douglas Crosby, OMI Bishop of Hamilton
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We are the Body of Christ. We are his body and blood. We are his hands, his feet, his eyes and ears, his limbs, and his lips. We are his Body on earth. But, sadly, the Body of Christ is hurting right now. A global pandemic is creating human carnage, and economic havoc across the nations of the world. Demonstrations flood our streets seeking equality for our neighbours of different colour. Unfair judgement, not justice, has sadly often defined society’s response. An opioid crisis haunts our urban centres. Drugs and alcohol dependency is ravaging the promise of untold lives, young and old, from coast to coast. Many yearn for what we had, to go back to normal when it was easier. But was it? Weren’t there complaints about not enough time for family; working long, arduous hours, and never realizing the dreams we had when we were young? There are also those who desire what society tells us will bring true happiness: good health, wealth, good looks, education, prestige, unbridled pleasure, and popularity. In 1897, the American writer, Edwin Arlington Robinson, wrote a narrative poem about a man named, ‘Richard Cory’, who was and had all of these things: Whenever Richard Cory went down town, We people on the pavement looked at him: He was a gentleman from sole to crown, Clean favored, and imperially slim. And he was always quietly arrayed, And he was always human when he talked; But still he fluttered pulses when he said, "Good-morning," and he glittered when he walked. And he was rich—yes, richer than a king-- And admirably schooled in every grace: In fine, we thought that he was everything To make us wish that we were in his place. So on we worked, and waited for the light, And went without the meat, and cursed the bread; And Richard Cory, one calm summer night, Went home and put a bullet through his head.” – Richard Cory, E. A. Robinson The timeless story is still so alive in public consciousness, that in 1966, Simon and Garfunkel set the theme to music on their album, ‘Sounds of Silence’: “But I work in his factory, and I curse my poverty, and I wish that I could be, Richard Cory.” Drugs and alcohol will not solve our depressions, anxiety, nor urgent need for love. Nor will a vaccine ultimately restore us to perfect health, security, and safety. Something else will be needed as well as sincere will and desire for racial justice. And all the normalcy we may desire will Not bring us peace and happiness. So, what is the true ‘Bridge Over our Troubled Water’? It is something found in the ‘Sounds of Silence’. There is a light in us which pierces the darkness around us. It stills fear and panic, it abates anger, and quiets the mind: meditation with God. It was while sitting in meditative silence that Albert Einstein said he was given the formula, E=mc2; in silence the iPhone was revealed to Steve Jobs; Richard Tesla said all the secrets of the universe were accessible from the “one source” in silent contemplation. Who is this ‘One Source’? The Sisters of the Carmel will tell you, “Of course, it is God … within us.” How do they pray? A sister once told Jean Vanier who asked her that it is so simple: “I sit and I wait.” Seek relationship thru silent meditation with God. When the thoughts come, don’t push them away; simply acknowledge them, and then say, “Peace be with you” or “Maranatha”. There is no effort on our part except to “sit and wait”. Then, with a nourished inner self, go forth, and love, support, help our neighbour. That was Christ’s call to us. It is so simple – challenging, yes, but it is simply love. Paul tells us, “We, who are many, are one body.” But if we don’t ask for God’s help and build relationship with him, if we don’t love and care for the eyes and ears, hands and feet, hearts and minds of each other, without judgement or demands, we, the Body of Christ on earth, will be lost in a wilderness we’ve created for ourselves. “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” [Jesus] said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and mind.’ This is the greatest and 1st commandment. A second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the law and prophets.” – Matt 22.36-40. There is so much we do not, or cannot, understand in this world. Christ’s two simple commandments are the ultimate answer to all of our problems. Rev Fr Christopher Tracey, Pastor Saint Joseph Roman Catholic Parish Saugeen Shores, Ontario “And when Jesus had been baptized, and just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and hovering over him. … And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.” – Matt 3.16-17. Once, at a Knights’ potluck event, I asked people how they might define the Trinity. One person at my table said, “Well the best thing to do is to pray to the Holy Spirit, because he has all the energy and power and ‘know-how’ to get things done.” The person next to them said, “Well, I don’t know about that! I pray to Jesus, because he has always answered my prayers without fail. After all, he was human just like us. He knows the trouble we get into.” A third said, “Well, that’s all fine and good, but I just pray to God, himself, nothing fancy, in the same old way my parents and grandparents have for years!” Well, the discussion soon wrapped up, … because it was time to grab ‘seconds’! There’s nothing quite like a breakfast buffet hosted by our Knights of Columbus! Of course, the Trinity is one of the greatest mysteries of our faith, debated from the earliest days of the Church. The word, Trinity, itself, is not even in the bible, but was first spoken by 3rd C church father, Tertullian, who used the term, derived from the Latin word, Trinitas, to define the Father, the Son, and Holy Spirit as the Trinity in his theological doctrine, though not completely accepted even in his own time. Meantime, like the poor, mystified disciples we, too, must mainly rely on the words of Christ himself who tried perhaps desperately to explain how God the Father is in him, he is in the Father, and the Holy Spirit is one with both of them. Still, the responses of my friends at the table are remarkable, because they support the belief of most theological scholarship today: that the three persons of the Trinity, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, are in ‘relationship’ with each other, and in relationship with each one of us in a very personal way. Maybe we do encounter God as our true Father who loves us as any loving father does, the parent from whom we came; or maybe we treasure Jesus, the Son, as our true brother, companion, and friend. It is he who gave us the life-giving principals which enrich our lives, who leads us to the Father; or maybe we lean on the Holy Spirit who sustains us and protects us, igniting spiritual fire in our hearts, while binding us together as brothers and sisters in his loving embrace. Whatever relationship we have with God, what I like to call “a divine friendship” we have with God, it has never been more important to pour our hearts into it, to cultivate it, to feed that joyful connection with him whom the psalmists call their rock, their refuge. … Because we may have never needed our father, our brother, our loving spirit, … our divine friend, so much as we need them now. It isn’t easy to bear the grim complexity and dark unknown of a global pandemic; to stand up to the perpetrators of violence and racial injustice which have injured either ourselves or the neighbours we love from different worlds and cultures; or to remain calm, resilient, and steadfast in the face of an economic crisis. But you and I have a friend, a divine friend, one with immeasurable power beyond our understanding. And he will take care of us, … because he loves us! “When Israel sought rest, the Lord appeared from afar. ‘I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore, I continue my faithfulness to you.’” – Jer 31.2-3. But God will be bending his ear to hear if we are calling him. Are we seeking his help in silence, prayer, and meditation, asking him to quell our anger, to calm the waves of our impatience, to give rest to our panick-stricken hearts? Ps 37.4: “Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” Friends, the Trinity is about relationship. And so, the Trinity is Friendship. Especially now, in the mystical rooms of your vibrant, pulsating inner hearts, reach out to your Divine Friend who is love itself, and he will refresh you. Rev Fr Christopher Tracey, Pastor Saint Joseph Roman Catholic Parish Saugeen Shores, Ontario On Dec. 11, 1959, an episode from the first season of ‘The Twilight Zone’ aired on the relatively new CBS TV network: “And When The Sky Opened Up”. After 31 hours of flight into outer-space, and having disappeared from radar at NASA, three astronauts return to earth, crash-landing in the Mojave desert. After recovering in hospital, two of them leave their third companion behind, to re-enter the world by grabbing a drink at a local bar. ‘A beer was 30c then!’ But something goes wrong.
Harrington suddenly becomes extremely ill-at-ease, feeling overcome by a strange sense of displacement. Calling home, his parents don’t know him; they’ve never had a child. He tells Forbes, “It’s as if I don’t belong here anymore.” Forbes turns for help from the patrons, but then finds Harrington gone. A newspaper shows only two astronauts surviving the crash, not three as reported. Forbes soon enters a world of unreality as his wife and even Gart, the third astronaut, attest they have never heard of Harrington. It is like he never existed. Forbes realizes that, “Someone, or something, made a mistake. Someone let us get through, when we shouldn’t have, and now they’re coming for us.” Fearful, he dashes down a hallway, only to disappear. Gart then sees the newspaper headline now identifies only ‘one’ astronaut survived. Soon, his life, too, will also be erased. The Twilight Zone, a very popular, landmark TV series for its time, was essentially a response to the sense of paranoia which much of the world was feeling as it entered the Cold War, after WWII and the release of the atomic bomb. The question was, ‘What will our future look like?’ For many the answer then was: oblivion. And at this difficult time, we might be feeling the same kind of angst about our future. Rod Serling, the man behind the Twilight Zone, further explains that, “the [astronauts] used to exist, but don’t any longer. Someone or something took them somewhere. All we know is that they are no longer a part of the memory of man.” Yet, is this as strange as it sounds? We might remember our grandparents, even our great grandparents, but do we remember our great-great-great-great grandparents? Great figures are remembered in history: great leaders, writers, thinkers, scientists like Edward Jenner (who invented vaccines), humanists like St Francis of Assisi, and St Teresa of Calcutta. We know their achievements, but do we know them? Our key instructor at Western’s Faculty of Music said it was well worth imitating the great performers we idolize, but we may not care for them, if ever we met them in person. Still, we should remember the good work they leave behind. Like the 3 astronauts, we, too, will be forgotten, but we hope that our work is remembered, because it was God’s work. Fame means nothing. Psalm 103 tells us, “As for mortals, their days are like grass; they flourish like flowers of the field; [but] the wind passes over [them], and [they are soon] gone, and [those in their] place know [them] no more.” The clue is in what we have done to satisfy God’s will and work for us in this life, for it impacts what we build in heaven after we are gone and forgotten. What chapters are we writing in the ‘Book of Life’? Where will God put his bookmark in the pages of our personal screen plays? Joan Levy Earle, an author and artist in Cornwall, ON, once Assoc Editor of the Canadian Messenger of the Sacred Heart, has lost two husbands and a 43 year old son. In an article for Jesuit blog, “igNation”, she shared thoughts about attending her first ‘healing’ mass. It was there she recalled the gifts of the Holy Spirit received in Confirmation so many years before. Calling the Holy Spirit to enter, restore, and heal her, she was ‘slain in the spirit’, a term the Apostle Paul would understand. “When I returned to my church pew, I knew I was different. There were many gifts given that evening. For me, being introduced to the real person of Spirit, and the new joy of loving the Lord with all my heart and soul, continues to provide the comfort and security I need to embrace God’s will [and work] for my life.” As Evelyn Underhill tells us, first, invest in building that internal communication with God through meditative prayer, inviting the Holy Spirit into your inner being. Then, with the gifts and charisms you have been given, go forth, as the angels told the apostles after Christ’s ascension, and do God’s work. For it is doing God’s work with these mystical, powerful gifts of the Holy Spirit, that we will write the chapters of our lives in the Book of Life. Rev 3.4-6: “You have still persons in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes; they will walk with me, for they are worthy. I will not blot your name out of the Book of Life; I will confess your name before my Father and before his angels. Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches.” Our existence will fade away in time and space, but in heaven, we may live either an eternity of joy or sorrow; we will not know until we see God face to face. But meanwhile, remember, before the sky opens up to us as it did for the astronauts, the Holy Spirit is with us, here and now, always available at our request to guide, protect, nourish, and enable us to do the will and work of God. And in each other’s eyes, we are already seeing our Saviour, Jesus, face to face. It’s perhaps significant to note that the characters in this Twilight Zone episode were to experience fear and terror at being called back from wherever they came. But behind the scenes, the director and the actors themselves actually determined that it was more a feeling of ‘euphoria’ which they were experiencing in their parts; to be called back to whomever or whatever it was, to wherever they were to return, was an utter joy, something like being called home to heaven. Let us do the work and will of God, now, with the help of the Holy Spirit, so that our call to return home is also one of “euphoria”, of complete and utter joy, to rest in the Lord our God. Rev Fr Christopher Tracey, Pastor Saint Joseph Roman Catholic Parish Saugeen Shores, Ontario |
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Rev. Fr. Christopher Tracey
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