Pastor's Corner

A King ... Crucified?

Last year, at the celebration of the Eucharist on the feast day of Christ the King, Archbishop Christian Lépine in his homily issued a challenge to the members of the congregation: “Do you have a crucifix at home?  Do you take the time to ponder its meaning?”  Our Archbishop led the faithful into the profound significance of the feast day, through these provocative questions about a king who brings the promise of a reign and a kingdom that are not of this world.

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Religious Obligations, Challenges and Privileges

Ask any Christian to name some religious obligations, and you will likely hear “going to church on Sunday” high on the list. Beyond that fundamental “duty,” many people will speak of the important duties to pray regularly; to receive the sacraments appropriate to each person’s state of life; to keep and to respect the Ten Commandments and the disciplinary traditions of the Church; to offer appropriate financial support to the ministries of the Church.

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Preparing for Death and Resurrection!

Hallowe’en.  All Saints Day.  All Souls Day.  Remembrance Day. November comes upon us, and we see the signs of death in nature: falling leaves; wet windy days; long chilly nights; the first snowfall. Inevitably – and even more so in this pandemic year – November invites us to ponder our mortality, finitude, and vulnerability.  Our faith takes death seriously. But it also teaches us that death is not the final answer. “Death, where is your victory?

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Live with a Clean Heart before God

What does it take to make a saint in this world? Two miracles and much publicity? Martyrdom for the right cause? Canonization can be achieved on these terms, but it takes a bit more to be actually counted among the blessed. Scripture goes on at length about the holy ones, but their identification always seems to boil down to a curious factor rarely considered: the condition of the human heart.

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Essential Words about Love

Pope Francis’ New Encyclical, Fratelli Tutti    

In Jewish traditions . . . we encounter the command not to do to others what you would not want them to do to you . . .  In the first century before Christ, Rabbi Hillel states: “This is the entire Torah. Everything else is commentary.”  The desire to imitate God’s own way of acting gradually replaces the tendency to think only of those nearest us: “The compassion of human beings is for their neighbour, but the compassion of the Lord is for all living beings.”

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