Focus on the Mass For Lent - “...And With Your Spirit!”

Over these past few weeks we've been taking some time to look at what we do and say at the Mass. Our hope is that, this Lent, we can become more conscious of what is happening every time we go to Mass so that it not only becomes a richer, more rewarding experience for us, but that we will be able to grow as Christians and be brighter lights of Christ's love for the world.

Last week we looked at the words “The Lord be with you!” and how God uses this greeting as an invitation to allow Him to do something great in our lives. This week we want to look at our response to this invitation. 

As Father says to us, “The Lord be with you” we respond to him with one voice, “And with your Spirit”. Why might we say this to Father Antony?

In the Mass everyone has different roles. As baptized priests, we have a role and Father Antony, our ordained priest, has a role. As the Mass begins Father reminds us that God has a great plan for us and we respond by reminding him that he, our ordained priest, also has a great role – God is about to ask him to take bread and wine and, through the Spirit, turn them into the Precious Body and Precious Blood of His Son, Jesus Christ.

This amazing action is something that no one else can do for us. It is something that no amount of seminary schooling, priestly formation or theological reading could possibly prepare Father Antony for. It is only in and through the Holy Spirit, and the unique gifts of the Spirit he received at his ordination, that ordinary bread and wine, in an extraordinary way, can become Christ for us.

As the Mass begins and we enter into this great exchange of “The Lord be with you/And with your Spirit” we are invited to remember that God has something great planned for us, and we must also remind Father that God has something great planned for him; making Jesus Christ, our Lord, our Savior, our eternally loving God, real and present in the Mass and in our lives so that we can transform the world.

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Give Your Child’s Lenten Sacrifice A Focus!

Sacrifice is never easy. It's even harder when you're a kid. Here are three ways you can help your child with this traditional Lenten practice;

+ Have your children draw a picture of their Lenten sacrifice or write it down. Post it beside their bed or place it on your table. As you tuck them into bed at night or sit down at the table for supper, take a few minutes to ask each child how they are doing. Ask them if their Lenten sacrifice was hard or easy today. Spend some time talking about Jesus’ passion, and how even though it was hard, painful and tiring, he never gave up because of His love for them.

+ Encourage your child to choose someone to offer up their Lenten sacrifice for (ie: their grandma who is sick, a friend, etc). To “offer up” something is a beautiful tradition in our Catholic faith where, rather than complaining of our struggles or sufferings, we turn them into a prayer for someone else. For example: “Jesus, I would really like to eat this chocolate right now, but I offer it up as a prayer for my grandma who is sick.”

+Make sure to write their sacrifice down or post a picture of the person they will be offering their Lenten sacrifice for somewhere visible. Whenever your children want to quit or cheat on their Lenten sacrifice, remind them of who they are offering their sacrifice for. This gives their lent a focus and can help them persevere when it gets tough!

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Countdown to Lent: Focus On the Mass - The Lord Be With You!

Gideon and the Angel - He Qi

As the Mass begins we make the sign of the Cross and then right away Father Antony says to us “the Lord be with you!” How often to we say this without giving much thought to where this comes from or why our Mass might begin with an exchange like this? Do we realize, for example, how much of our Mass - such as this phrase - comes to us from the Bible itself?

There are a number of stories in the Bible where this phrase is used. In most of those situations a messenger of God is speaking to someone who is about to be invited to take part in God's plan in some amazing way. People like Gideon in the book of Judges who didn't think he had anything special to offer to God. When he was visited by an angel of God and told he, as humble as he was, would save his people from their enemies the angel began by saying “The Lord be with you!”

God has a plan for all of us and He has a plan for you in your life. When you come to Mass God has big plans for you in your family, in your marriage, where you work, with your neighbours and he wants you to be an active part of those plans.

When we hear those words God wants us to take heart and know that He is with us in His Word, He is with us in our struggles, He is with us in our joys and, most importantly He is with us in the Mass.

As Mass begins Father Antony, a messenger of God, says to us “The Lord be with you” and as we receive the Eucharist, the Precious Body and Precious Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, he is with us. Like he was with Gideon, like he was with Abraham, and with Moses, and like he was with Mary, our Blessed Mother.

When we hear those words “the Lord be with you” we should recall all of those who have gone before us and know with certainty that, yes, the Lord is with me and there is nothing I cannot do with him at my side.

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Lent in the Home: Cards For Shut-Ins

Sometimes giving up something for the 40 days of lent is pretty challenging when you are 5 years old. Rather than lent being a painful experience, with a little creativity we can help our children love this special time in the church!

One idea is to encourage your children during this Lenten season to make cards for those of our parish who live in Extendicare facilities, Personal care homes or are sick and unable to leave their house.
Have your children make a card (or two or three. Or 40!!) and then together you can either write a little note or prayer in it, draw a picture, etc. Most importantly make sure this lent to pray for the person who will receive it!

We will have a basket at the back of the church to collect all the completed cards. Have fun sharing the love of Jesus with others this lent!

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Lent In The Home: A Lent Box

This Lent, try making a Lent Box for your family to help explain the images and symbols of Holy Week to your children!

Print off the template from Kids and Glitter, color the pictures, and glue the box together.

Place the box in a visible and accessible spot in your home and speak to your children about filling it with money to be given to  the Church or to the poor this lent.

Encourage them by placing donations of your own in the box. This is a great way to teach them generosity.

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Countdown to Lent: Focus on the Mass - The Sign of the Cross

At the start of Mass we all stand and Father Antony makes his entrance into the sanctuary. Once there He invites us to begin “In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit” and we all join him in making the sign of the Cross.

For most of us, the sign of the cross is something that comes very naturally, almost instinctively and we can do it and say the words often without even thinking about what we are doing and why.

When we call on the name of God on the name of Jesus and of the Holy Spirit we are becoming aware of God's presence. We are gathering in His name and reminding ourselves that He is with us. In the early Church this action and these words all on their own were considered a form of prayer.

When we make this sign and speak these words we are taking ourselves back to our own baptism, where we were first claimed by God in His name and marked forever by the sign of His Cross. As Mass begins, we are taken back to that singular moment in time when we were filled with God's grace and began a new kind of life in the Church, the Body of Christ.

We call God “Father, Son, and Holy Spirit”. God gives us His name and gives us permission as His sons and daughters to call on Him. God invites us into his home, saying “Come, be with me.” We are moved out of our regular lives and into a space prepared for us by our loving Father. It is a space where He invites us to be filled with the grace we will need for the week to come, a space where he invites us to be near, to gather at his table and be fed.

But we have to get to Mass on time so we do not miss it. If we come in 5 or 10 or 15 minutes late, we miss this invitation, we miss the joy of calling on our Heavenly Father, and being present as He replies.

What things are keeping you and your family from getting to Mass on time and missing this important start to the celebration? What changes might you make, what help might you ask from God so that you can be more involved and engaged, and take in this grace-filled moment “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit”?

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The Feast of the Chair of Saint Peter

From a sermon by Saint Leo the Great, pope
The Church of Christ rises on the firm foundation of Peter’s faith

Out of the whole world one man, Peter, is chosen to preside at the calling of all nations, and to be set over all the apostles and all the fathers of the Church. Though there are in God’s people many shepherds, Peter is thus appointed to rule in his own person those whom Christ also rules as the original ruler. Beloved, how great and wonderful is this sharing of his power that God in his goodness has given to this man. Whatever Christ has willed to be shared in common by Peter and the other leaders of the Church, it is only through Peter that he has given to others what he has not refused to bestow on them.

The Lord now asks the apostles as a whole what men think of him. As long as they are recounting the uncertainty born of human ignorance, their reply is always the same.

But when he presses the disciples to say what they think themselves, the first to confess his faith in the Lord is the one who is first in rank among the apostles.

Peter says: You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. Jesus replies: Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona, for flesh and blood has not revealed it to you, but my Father who is in heaven. You are blessed, he means, because my Father has taught you. You have not been deceived by earthly opinion, but have been enlightened by inspiration from heaven. It was not flesh and blood that pointed me out to you, but the one whose only-begotten Son I am.

He continues: And I say to you. In other words, as my Father has revealed to you my godhead, so I in my turn make known to you your pre-eminence. You are Peter: though I am the inviolable rock, the cornerstone that makes both one, the foundation apart from which no one can lay any other, yet you also are a rock, for you are given solidity by my strength, so that which is my very own because of my power is common between us through your participation.

And upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. On this strong foundation, he says, I will build an everlasting temple. The great height of my Church, which is to penetrate the heavens, shall rise on the firm foundation of this faith.

The gates of hell shall not silence this confession of faith; the chains of death shall not bind it. Its words are the words of life. As they lift up to heaven those who profess them, so they send down to hell those who contradict them.

Blessed Peter is therefore told: To you I will give the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth is also bound in heaven. Whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed also in heaven.

The authority vested in this power passed also to the other apostles, and the institution established by this decree has been continued in all the leaders of the Church. But it is not without good reason that what is bestowed on all is entrusted to one. For Peter received it separately in trust because he is the prototype set before all the rulers of the Church.

Grant, we pray, almighty God,
that no tempests may disturb us,
for you have set us fast on the rock
of the Apostle Peter’s confession of faith.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
– Amen.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

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Lent in the Home - A Lenten Skittles Jar!

This is a simple Lenten activity that your kids will love to do through lent! On Ash Wednesday set out a small mason jar for each child with their name taped to it and a big bowl of skittles (or you can use jellybeans). Identify one action to go with each color. As they complete the action they can put a skittle in their jar and are not allowed to eat them till Easter Sunday!

You can make your own actions based on the ages and needs of your children. Here is an example of what some of the colors could represent:

Red is for the blood Jesus gave for us. Each morning choose something that can be sacrificed (given up) to earn the red Skittle. It must be something that the child would have had the opportunity to have or do that day.

Green is for the palm’s cool shade. Green Skittles can be earned for good deeds.

Yellow is for God’s light so bright! Yellow Skittles can be earned by sharing God’s light through showing kindness to others.

Orange is for prayers at twilight or bedtime. Orange Skittles can be earned for attentive behavior during bedtime prayers / Bible reading.

Blue is for sweet rest at night. Blue Skittles can be earned for going to bed without fuss.

Purple is for Jesus’ days of sorrow (or His Passion). Purple Skittles can be earned by apologizing to anyone we hurt with our words or actions.

Pink is for forgiveness and each new tomorrow. Pink Skittles can be earned when we forgive those who hurt us, whether or not they apologize to us.

Lent is a great time for moms, dads and kids to discuss all the wonderful ways Jesus invites us to be more loving, and practice showing his love to others. Throughout the coming weeks we will be sharing a host of ideas to make Lent a time for growth in faith and love for you whole family.

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Countdown to Lent : Focus on the Mass

Only two weeks to go before the start of Lent (Ash Wednesday - March 5). Have you made any plans? Thought about what you might focus on? What about the Mass?

Lent is traditionally a time for spiritual reflection. It is an invitation to enter more deeply into our relationship with Christ. We do this through three particular Lenten practices; prayer, fasting and alms-giving, all of which help us to re-order our lives and center them on Christ, drawing us closer to his heart.

This Lent, we invite you to focus your attention on the most important prayer of our Church, that singular, prayerful work we call the Mass. Pope Francis, in his most recent general audience emphasized that “At Mass, Christ gathers people around him "to nourish us with his word and his life. This means that the mission and identity of the church begin and take form there.” Everything else that we do this Lent, and throughout the year, flows from our celebration of the Mass; our personal time of prayer, our individual discipline of fasting, our reaching out to others through charitable giving.

It's easy for us to forget just how important this celebration is to our lives. If you've been going to Mass regularly for most of your life, it can seem pretty routine. We can find the prayers, the readings, the psalms and the music happening around us without much need for our own participation. We can find ourselves simply going through the motions, missing the very graces we will need to be Christ for others in the rest of our week.

The simplest way to focus on the Mass is to begin keeping a “Mass Journal”. This could be a small notebook, it might be a section of your own, prayer journal, it could even be the 'notes' app on your smartphone. In the coming weeks we will be providing small notebooks for you to use but whatever method you choose this Lent, the most important thing will be to use it at every Mass you attend.

Once you have it, the following simple steps will help you to use it;

1.Before Mass begins, ask God to help draw your attention to one thing, just one, about the Mass that day. It might be something in the opening prayer, it might be a line from scripture or the psalm, it could be something Father mentioned in his homily or even the chorus from one of the hymns that keeps running in your head.

2.Pray the Mass. Participate as fully as you can in the prayers, the responses and the times of silence throughout the Mass. Engage your senses; watch what is going on, listen to what is being proclaimed, use your voice to join in the prayers and hymns.

3.Write it down. Before you leave the pew, take out your notebook, your journal or open your app and simply jot down one thing. Just one. Is there a word from scripture or a line from the psalm that has stuck in your head? Did something Father said get you thinking? Is there a hymn or a prayer that your mind keeps wandering back to? Don't be concerned with elegant prose and wise words, a word or two, one sentence at the most is all you need.

4.Say thank-you. You began by asking God to help draw your attention to some part of the Mass, and he has answered your prayer! Take just a few moments to thank your heavenly Father for giving you just one thing to take home with you today.

This week Pope Francis asked “Do you go to Mass because it's a habit or a time to see your friends...Or is it something more?" This Lent, take up the challenge, focus on the Mass and let God help you make it “something more”.

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The Feast Of The Presentation Of The Lord

“And his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him; and Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, ‘Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is spoken against (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), and thoughts out of many hearts may be revealed’” (Luke 2:33-35).

Today marks the Feast of the Presentation of Our Lord. It celebrates the holy convergence of Jesus the Messiah with His people who faithfully waited for His coming. Traditionally, the feast is celebrated with the greatest of joys and thanksgivings. Forty days after the solemnity of Christmas, Mary and Joseph consecrated Jesus in the Temple of Jerusalem, showing their obedience to God and fulfilling the Mosaic Law. Simeon, a just and devout man, utters a prophecy that Jesus will be the light of the Gentiles and the glory of Israel. Anna thanks God for the child and talks about him to all who looked to God for the deliverance of Jerusalem. Amid their joy looms the shadow of the cross, the opposition Jesus will face and the sword of suffering Mary, too, will experience. (from www.divineoffice.org)

From a sermon by Saint Sophronius, bishop
Let us receive the light whose brilliance is eternal

In honor of the divine mystery that we celebrate today, let us all hasten to meet Christ. Everyone should be eager to join the procession and to carry a light.

Our lighted candles are a sign of the divine splendor of the one who comes to expel the dark shadows of evil and to make the whole universe radiant with the brilliance of his eternal light. Our candles also show how bright our souls should be when we go to meet Christ.

The Mother of God, the most pure Virgin, carried the true light in her arms and brought him to those who lay in darkness. We too should carry a light for all to see and reflect the radiance of the true light as we hasten to meet him.

The light has come and has shone upon a world enveloped in shadows; the Dayspring from on high has visited us and given light to those who lived in darkness. This, then, is our feast, and we join in procession with lighted candles to reveal the light that has shone upon us and the glory that is yet to come to us through him. So let us hasten all together to meet our God.

The true light has come, the light that enlightens every man who is born into this world. Let all of us, my brethren, be enlightened and made radiant by this light. Let all of us share in its splendor, and be so filled with it that no one remains in the darkness. Let us be shining ourselves as we go together to meet and to receive with the aged Simeon the light whose brilliance is eternal. Rejoicing with Simeon, let us sing a hymn of thanksgiving to God, the Father of the light, who sent the true light to dispel the darkness and to give us all a share in his splendor.

Through Simeon’s eyes we too have seen the salvation of God which he prepared for all the nations and revealed as the glory of the new Israel, which is ourselves. As Simeon was released from the bonds of this life when he had seen Christ, so we too were at once freed from our old state of sinfulness.

By faith we too embraced Christ, the salvation of God the Father, as he came to us from Bethlehem. Gentiles before, we have now become the people of God. Our eyes have seen God incarnate, and because we have seen him present among us and have mentally received him into our arms, we are called the new Israel. Never shall we forget this presence; every year we keep a feast in his honor.

Almighty ever-living God,
we humbly implore your majesty that,
just as your Only Begotten Son was presented
on this day in the Temple in the substance of our flesh,
so, by your grace, we may be presented to you with minds made pure.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
– Amen.

Peace and God Bless

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The Feast of The Baptism Of Our Lord

The season is ended, the final feast is done, the Lord has made himself known to his beloved and we are beckoned to come, follow, and share in His light, and his life!

The Feast of The Baptism of Our Lord wraps up the season of Christmas with another, wondrous Epiphany or 'manifestation of God'. We have seen the face of God revealed in the face of the infant Jesus, we have seen the face of God revealed to the nations who do not know him in the persons of the Magi, and now we see our Lord, our God, our Savior, revealed as the Father's beloved Son.

We might ask, as John does, why should Jesus, the Christ, the sinless one, be baptized in water as a sinner? It doesn't seem to make a lot of sense. Jesus' own answer is cryptic "to fulfill all righteousness", but what can he mean?

Saint Maximus of Turin gives us part of the answer, "Christ is baptized, not to be made holy by the water, but to make the water holy, and by his cleansing to purify the waters which he touched. For the consecration of Christ involves a more significant consecration of the water.

For when the Savior is washed, all water for our baptism is made clean, purified at its source for the dispensing of baptismal grace to the people of future ages. Christ is the first to be baptized, then, so that Christians will follow after him with confidence."

This mysterious baptism does for us what we cannot do for ourselves, fulfilling all righteousness not for the Beloved Son who is the embodiment of righteousness, but for us, his beloved brothers and sisters, who are now able to "share in the divinity of Christ, who humbled himself to share our humanity"

Another great Father of the Faith, Gregory of Nazianus draws us even deeper into this great mystery with his own reflections on this great, life-saving event;

From a Sermon by Saint Gregory of Nazianzus, bishop - The baptism of Christ

Christ is bathed in light; let us also be bathed in light. Christ is baptized; let us also go down with him, and rise with him.

John is baptizing when Jesus draws near. Perhaps he comes to sanctify his baptizer; certainly he comes to bury sinful humanity in the waters. He comes to sanctify the Jordan for our sake and in readiness for us; he who is spirit and flesh comes to begin a new creation through the Spirit and water.

The Baptist protests; Jesus insists. Then John says: I ought to be baptized by you. He is the lamp in the presence of the sun, the voice in the presence of the Word, the friend in the presence of the Bridegroom, the greatest of all born of woman in the presence of the firstborn of all creation, the one who leapt in his mother’s womb in the presence of him who was adored in the womb, the forerunner and future forerunner in the presence of him who has already come and is to come again. I ought to be baptized by you: we should also add, “and for you,” for John is to be baptized in blood, washed clean like Peter, not only by the washing of his feet.

Jesus rises from the waters; the world rises with him. The heavens like Paradise with its flaming sword, closed by Adam for himself and his descendants, are rent open. The Spirit comes to him as to an equal, bearing witness to his Godhead. A voice bears witness to him from heaven, his place of origin. The Spirit descends in bodily form like the dove that so long ago announced the ending of the flood and so gives honor to the body that is one with God.

Today let us do honor to Christ’s baptism and celebrate this feast in holiness. Be cleansed entirely and continue to be cleansed. Nothing gives such pleasure to God as the conversion and salvation of men, for whom his every word and every revelation exist. He wants you to become a living force for all mankind, lights shining in the world. You are to be radiant lights as you stand beside Christ, the great light, bathed in the glory of him who is the light of heaven. You are to enjoy more and more the pure and dazzling light of the Trinity, as now you have received – though not in its fullness – a ray of its splendor, proceeding from the one God, in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory and power for ever and ever. Amen.

Almighty ever-living God,
who, when Christ had been baptized in the River Jordan
and as the Holy Spirit descended upon him,
solemnly declared him your beloved Son,
grant that your children by adoption,
reborn of water and the Holy Spirit,
may always be well pleasing to you.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
– Amen.

Peace and God Bless

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The Solemnity of The Epiphany of The Lord: The Lord has made his salvation known to the whole world!

The word 'Epiphany' means 'appearance' or 'manifestation' of God connoting the breaking in of the divine to our material world. Throughout the scriptures there are a number of 'types' of epiphanies; God speaking directly to people like Adam and Eve, Noah, and Abraham. God's appearance to Moses in the burning bush and face to face on mount Sinai, God's leading of Israel out of Egypt as pillars of fire and smoke. All of these very awesome and awe-inspiring. But no appearances in all of scripture and all of human history were more profound, awe-inspiring and deeply sublime, as those we find in the New Testament in the flesh and blood of Jesus.

Since the 3rd Century three have stood out and been the heart and soul of this most solemn of feasts that, for many hundreds of years, superseded Christmas in importance; the Wedding feast at Cana, the Baptism of The Lord (which we will celebrate next week) and, of course, the Feast of the Epiphany - that sublime revelation of the Maker of the moon and the stars and all that is, to impoverished shepherds and foreign Kings in the flesh and blood of the tiny babe, Jesus, our 'God who saves'.

This is the feast that highlights our own place in the story of salvation, that draws us into the Jewish family of Christ and shows that the long-awaited fulfillment of all of God's promises, has begun! Today we give thanks and offer praise to God for brining us, the Gentiles, into His family and we bend our knees in awe and wonder at the remarkable, surprising way in which He chose to reveal Himself to the world!


From a sermon by Saint Leo the Great, pope


The loving providence of God determined that in the last days he would aid the world, set on its course to destruction. He decreed that all nations should be saved in Christ.

A promise had been made to the holy patriarch Abraham in regard to these nations. He was to have a countless progeny, born not from his body but from the seed of faith. His descendants are therefore compared with the array of the stars. The father of all nations was to hope not in an earthly progeny but in a progeny from above.

Let the full number of the nations now take their place in the family of the patriarchs. Let the children of the promise now receive the blessing in the seed of Abraham, the blessing renounced by the children of his flesh. In the persons of the Magi let all people adore the Creator of the universe; let God be known, not in Judea only, but in the whole world, so that his name may be great in all Israel.

Dear friends, now that we have received instruction in this revelation of God’s grace, let us celebrate with spiritual joy the day of our first harvesting, of the first calling of the Gentiles. Let us give thanks to the merciful God, who has made us worthy, in the words of the Apostle, to share the position of the saints in light; who has rescued us from the power of darkness, and brought us into the kingdom of his beloved Son. As Isaiah prophesied: the people of the Gentiles, who sat in darkness, have seen a great light, and for those who dwelt in the region of the shadow of death a light has dawned. He spoke of them to the Lord: The Gentiles, who do not know you, will invoke you, and the peoples, who knew you not, will take refuge in you.

This is the day that Abraham saw, and rejoiced to see, when he knew that the sons born of his faith would be blessed in his seed, that is, in Christ. Believing that he would be the father of the nations, he looked into the future, giving glory to God, in full awareness that God is able to do what he has promised.

This is the day that David prophesied in the psalms, when he said: All the nations that you have brought into being will come and fall down in adoration in your presence, Lord, and glorify your name. Again, the Lord has made known his salvation; in the sight of the nations he has revealed his justice.

This came to be fulfilled, as we know, from the time when the star beckoned the three wise men out of their distant country and led them to recognize and adore the King of heaven and earth. The obedience of the star calls us to imitate its humble service: to be servants, as best we can, of the grace that invites all men to find Christ.

Dear friends, you must have the same zeal to be of help to one another; then, in the kingdom of God, to which faith and good works are the way, you will shine as children of the light: through our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with God the Father and the Holy Spirit for ever and ever. Amen.

O God, who on this day
revealed your Only Begotten Son to the nations
by the guidance of a star,
grant in your mercy
that we, who know you already by faith,
may be brought to behold the beauty of your sublime glory.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
– Amen.

Peace and God Bless

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Feast of Mary Mother of God - The Word took our nature from Mary

I've always thought it so wonderfully grace-filled that our Church begins new calendar year with this special solemnity (the highest order of Church Feasts) to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the mother of God (Theotokos in Greek). The following reflection by St. Athanasius tells us why this action of God, in creating a body for His Son, the Word, was so very remarkable and necessary for our salvation. Mary's was the single 'Yes' that saved the world. What a wonderful and blessed Mother we have!

From a letter by Saint Athanasius, bishop


The Apostle tells us: The Word took to himself the sons of Abraham, and so had to be like his brothers in all things. He had then to take a body like ours. This explains the fact of Mary’s presence: she is to provide him with a body of his own, to be offered for our sake. Scripture records her giving birth, and says: She wrapped him in swaddling clothes. Her breasts, which fed him, were called blessed. Sacrifice was offered because the child was her firstborn. Gabriel used careful and prudent language when he announced his birth. He did not speak of “what will be born in you” to avoid the impression that a body would be introduced into her womb from outside; he spoke of “what will be born from you” so that we might know by faith that her child originated within her and from her.

By taking our nature and offering it in sacrifice, the Word was to destroy it completely and then invest it with his own nature, and so prompt the Apostle to say: This corruptible body must put on incorruption; this mortal body must put on immortality. This was not done in outward show only, as some have imagined. This is not so. Our Savior truly became man, and from this has followed the salvation of man as a whole. Our salvation is in no way fictitious, nor does it apply only to the body. The salvation of the whole man, that is, of soul and body, has really been achieved in the Word himself.

What was born of Mary was therefore human by nature, in accordance with the inspired Scriptures, and the body of the Lord was a true body: It was a true body because it was the same as ours. Mary, you see, is our sister, for we are all born from Adam.

The words of Saint John: the Word was made flesh, bear the same meaning, as we may see from a similar turn of phrase in Saint Paul: Christ was made a curse for our sake. Man’s body has acquired something great through its communion and union with the Word. From being mortal it has been made immortal; though it was a living body it has become a spiritual one; though it was made from the earth it has passed through the gates of heaven.

Even when the Word takes a body from Mary, the Trinity remains a Trinity, with neither increase nor decrease. It is for ever perfect. In the Trinity we acknowledge one Godhead, and thus one God, the Father of the Word, is proclaimed in the Church.

O God,
who through the fruitful virginity of Blessed Mary
bestowed on the human race the grace of eternal salvation,
grant, we pray, that we may experience the intercession of her,
through whom we were found worthy to receive the author of life,
our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son.
Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
– Amen.

From your CTK Parish family, we would like to wish all of you a blessed and Happy NewYear!

Peace and God Bless.

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Feast Of The Holy Innocents - They Cannot Speak, Yet They Bear Witness To Christ

It's easy to forget during all of our modern festivities, and maybe especially within the context of more recent tragedies, that the very first Christmas was itself heralded by deep and senseless tragedy. Today's feast reminds us that Christ came to free us from fear...and that, in spite of how it may seem and feel at the time, our King, our Saviour, our God, is never closer than in the midst of our pain, suffering and confusion. Today let us pray for all of the Holy Innocents, martyred by fear, by hate, and by the darkness and sickness of sin.

On this day, let the words of this reflection, written as a letter to Herod, a letter that could be written to all those who lash out at the innocent of the world, resonate as a prayer in our hearts;

From a sermon by Saint Quodvultdeus, bishop

A tiny child is born, who is a great king. Wise men are led to him from afar. They come to adore one who lies in a manger and yet reigns in heaven and on earth. When they tell of one who is born a king, Herod is disturbed. To save his kingdom he resolves to kill him, though if he would have faith in the child, he himself would reign in peace in this life and for ever in the life to come.

Why are you afraid, Herod, when you hear of the birth of a king? He does not come to drive you out, but to conquer the devil. But because you do not understand this you are disturbed and in a rage, and to destroy one child whom you seek, you show your cruelty in the death of so many children.

You are not restrained by the love of weeping mothers or fathers mourning the deaths of their sons, nor by the cries and sobs of the children. You destroy those who are tiny in body because fear is destroying your heart. You imagine that if you accomplish your desire you can prolong your own life, though you are seeking to kill Life himself.

Yet your throne is threatened by the source of grace – so small, yet so great – who is lying in the manger. He is using you, all unaware of it, to work out his own purposes freeing souls from captivity to the devil. He has taken up the sons of the enemy into the ranks of God’s adopted children.

The children die for Christ, though they do not know it. The parents mourn for the death of martyrs. The child makes of those as yet unable to speak fit witnesses to himself. See the kind of kingdom that is his, coming as he did in order to be this kind of king. See how the deliverer is already working deliverance, the savior already working salvation.

But you, Herod, do not know this and are disturbed and furious. While you vent your fury against the child, you are already paying him homage, and do not know it.

How great a gift of grace is here! To what merits of their own do the children owe this kind of victory? They cannot speak, yet they bear witness to Christ. They cannot use their limbs to engage in battle, yet already they bear off the palm of victory.

O God,
whom the Holy Innocents confessed
and proclaimed on this day,
not by speaking but by dying,
grant, we pray,
that the faith in you
which we confess with our lips
may also speak through our manner of life.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
– Amen.

Peace and God Bless

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"For A Child Has Been Born For Us, A Son Given To Us!"

From a sermon by Saint Leo the Great, pope
Christian, remember your dignity

Dearly beloved, today our Savior is born; let us rejoice. Sadness should have no place on the birthday of life. The fear of death has been swallowed up; life brings us joy with the promise of eternal happiness.

No one is shut out from this joy; all share the same reason for rejoicing. Our Lord, victor over sin and death, finding no man free from sin, came to free us all. Let the saint rejoice as he sees the palm of victory at hand. Let the sinner be glad as he receives the offer of forgiveness. Let the pagan take courage as he is summoned to life.

In the fullness of time, chosen in the unfathomable depths of God’s wisdom, the Son of God took for himself our common humanity in order to reconcile it with its creator. He came to overthrow the devil, the origin of death, in that very nature by which he had overthrown mankind.

And so at the birth of our Lord the angels sing in joy: Glory to God in the highest, and they proclaim peace to his people on earth as they see the heavenly Jerusalem being built from all the nations of the world. When the angels on high are so exultant at this marvelous work of God’s goodness, what joy should it not bring to the lowly hearts of men?

Beloved, let us give thanks to God the Father, through his Son, in the Holy Spirit, because in his great love for us he took pity on us, and when we were dead in our sins he brought us to life with Christ, so that in him we might be a new creation. Let us throw off our old nature and all its ways and, as we have come to birth in Christ, let us renounce the works of the flesh.

Christian, remember your dignity, and now that you share in God’s own nature, do not return by sin to your former base condition. Bear in mind who is your head and of whose body you are a member. Do not forget that you have been rescued from the power of darkness and brought into the light of God’s kingdom.

Through the sacrament of baptism you have become a temple of the Holy Spirit. Do not drive away so great a guest by evil conduct and become again a slave to the devil, for your liberty was bought by the blood of Christ.


O God,
who wonderfully created the dignity of human nature
and still more wonderfully restored it,
grant, we pray,
that we may share in the divinity of Christ,
who humbled himself to share in our humanity.
Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
– Amen.

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Guadete Sunday - The voice is John, the Word is Christ

I woke up to this wonderful reflection by St. Augustine on the relationship between Jesus and John the Baptist, the voice and the Word. I love how Augustine moves his reflections from what we experience and know of our own world, lives and physical being, and shows what they can teach us about the things of God;

From a sermon by Saint Augustine, bishop

The voice is John, the Word is Christ

John is the voice, but the Lord is the Word who was in the beginning. John is the voice that lasts for a time; from the beginning Christ is the Word who lives for ever.

Take away the word, the meaning, and what is the voice? Where there is no understanding, there is only a meaningless sound. The voice without the word strikes the ear but does not build up the heart.
However, let us observe what happens when we first seek to build up our hearts. When I think about what I am going to say, the word or message is already in my heart. When I want to speak to you, I look for a way to share with your heart what is already in mine.

In my search for a way to let this message reach you, so that the word already in my heart may find place also in yours, I use my voice to speak to you. The sound of my voice brings the meaning of the word to you and then passes away. The word which the sound has brought to you is now in your heart, and yet it is still also in mine.

When the word has been conveyed to you, does not the sound seem to say: The word ought to grow, and I should diminish? The sound of the voice has made itself heard in the service of the word, and has gone away, as though it were saying: My joy is complete. Let us hold on to the word; we must not lose the word conceived inwardly in our hearts.

Do you need proof that the voice passes away but the divine Word remains? Where is John’s baptism today? It served its purpose, and it went away. Now it is Christ’s baptism that we celebrate. It is in Christ that we all believe; we hope for salvation in him. This is the message the voice cried out.

Because it is hard to distinguish word from voice, even John himself was thought to be the Christ. The voice was thought to be the word. But the voice acknowledged what it was, anxious not to give offense to the word. I am not the Christ, he said, nor Elijah, nor the prophet. And the question came: Who are you, then? He replied: I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way for the Lord.

The voice of one crying in the wilderness is the voice of one breaking the silence. Prepare the way for the Lord, he says, as though he were saying: “I speak out in order to lead him into your hearts, but he does not choose to come where I lead him unless you prepare the way for him.”

To prepare the way means to pray well; it means thinking humbly of oneself. We should take our lesson from John the Baptist. He is thought to be the Christ; he declares he is not what they think. He does not take advantage of their mistake to further his own glory.

If he had said, “I am the Christ,” you can imagine how readily he would have been believed, since they believed he was the Christ even before he spoke. But he did not say it; he acknowledged what he was. He pointed out clearly who he was; he humbled himself.

He saw where his salvation lay. He understood that he was a lamp, and his fear was that it might be blown out by the wind of pride.

O God, who see how your people

faithfully await the feast of the Lord’s Nativity,

enable us, we pray,

to attain the joys of so great a salvation,

and to celebrate them always

with solemn worship and glad rejoicing.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,

who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God, for ever and ever.

– Amen.

Peace and God Bless

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Mary - Mother of The Church

I was really quite moved by the dual imagery Blessed Isaac uses as he speaks about Mary and the Church in the second reading of today's Office of Readings. I especially loved the intimate connections he makes between Mary, the Church, and ourselves as individuals, all playing our own particular, complimentary, and essential roles in the birthing of Christ in the world;

"Christ dwelt for nine months in the tabernacle of Mary’s womb. He dwells until the end of the ages in the tabernacle of the Church’s faith. He will dwell for ever in the knowledge and love of each faithful soul."

Perhaps it inspires you, as with myself, to cry out all the louder as these Advent weeks continue, "Come Lord Jesus! Come!"

You can find the full office at www.divineoffice.org. The complete text of Blessed Isaac's reflection is offered here for your inspiration;

From a sermon by Blessed Isaac of Stella, abbot - Mary and the Church

The Son of God is the first-born of many brothers. Although by nature he is the only-begotten, by grace he has joined many to himself and made them one with him. For to those who receive him he has given the power to become the sons of God.

He became the Son of man and made many men sons of God, uniting them to himself by his love and power, so that they became as one. In themselves they are many by reason of their human descent, but in him they are one by divine rebirth. The whole Christ and the unique Christ—the body and the head—are one: one because born of the same God in heaven, and of the same mother on earth. They are many sons, yet one son. Head and members are one son, yet, many sons; in the same way, Mary and the Church are one mother, yet more than one mother; one virgin, yet more than one virgin.

Both are mothers, both are virgins. Each conceives of the same Spirit, without concupiscence. Each gives birth to a child of God the Father, without sin. Without any sin, Mary gave birth to Christ the head for the sake of his body. By the forgiveness of every sin, the Church gave birth to the body, for the sake of its head. Each is Christ’s mother, but neither gives birth to the whole Christ without the cooperation of the other.

In the inspired Scriptures, what is said in a universal sense of the virgin mother, the Church, is understood in an individual sense of the Virgin Mary, and what is said in a particular sense of the virgin mother Mary is rightly understood in a general sense of the virgin mother, the Church. When either is spoken of, the meaning can be understood of both, almost without qualification.

In a way, every Christian is also believed to be a bride of God’s Word, a mother of Christ, his daughter and sister, at once virginal and fruitful. These words are used in a universal sense of the Church, in a special sense of Mary, in a particular sense of the individual Christian. They are used by God’s Wisdom in person, the Word of the Father.

This is why Scripture says: I will dwell in the inheritance of the Lord. The Lord’s inheritance is, in a general sense, the Church; in a special sense, Mary; in an individual sense, the Christian. Christ dwelt for nine months in the tabernacle of Mary’s womb. He dwells until the end of the ages in the tabernacle of the Church’s faith. He will dwell for ever in the knowledge and love of each faithful soul.

Peace and God Bless

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Year of Faith: The Church - Contending With The Chaos Of Sin

We had an interesting Bible Study on the book of Acts last night which brought up, among many other topics, the unique purpose and character of the Church as it began to form in the earliest days of humanity's creation. Often we only think of the Church as having come about through the work of Jesus. In reality, as the Catechism of the Catholic Church  tells us, the Church began to come together as God's response to the reality of sin that had come into the world through the first act of disobedience by Adam and Eve in the Garden;

761 The gathering together of the People of God began at the moment when sin destroyed the communion of men with God, and that of men among themselves. The gathering together of the Church is, as it were, God's reaction to the chaos provoked by sin. This reunification is achieved secretly in the heart of all peoples: "In every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable" to God.

While this 'reunification' is remains incomplete we remain a 'pilgrim people' drawing ever closer to our God in eager anticipation of that day when all relationships, both among ourselves and between us and God, are healed and restored. Such a profound and inspiring theme to carry with us during this season of eager and excited anticipation. During Advent we not only recall the coming of Jesus into the world 2000 years ago, but we prepare our own hearts for his on-going 'birthing' in our daily lives, and look forward to his returning in glory to bring us all home where our collective story began.

As Advent continues, and in keeping with our Year of Faith, take some time to reflect on this unique and exciting nature of the Church and how, through our willingness to continue this journey together and how,  by the generous grace and mercy of our Heavenly Father we may work together to overcome 'the chaos provoked by sin'.

To help in your reflections, the Church's own examination on the subject in its Dogmatic Constitution on The Church in the Modern World may be of help;

From the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church of the Second Vatican Council

The eschatological character of the pilgrim Church

The Church, to which we are all called in Christ Jesus and in which we acquire holiness through the grace of God, will reach its perfection only in the glory of heaven, when the time comes for the renewal of all things, and the whole world, which is intimately bound up with man and reaches its perfection through him, will, along with the human race, be perfectly restored in Christ.

Lifted above the earth, Christ drew all things to himself. Rising from the dead, he sent his life-giving Spirit upon his disciples, and through the Spirit established his Body, which is the Church, as the universal sacrament of salvation. Seated at the right hand of the Father, he works unceasingly in the world, to draw men into the Church and through it to join them more closely to himself, nourishing them with his own body and blood, and so making them share in his life of glory.

The promised renewal that we look for has already begun in Christ. It is continued in the mission of the Holy Spirit. Through the Spirit it goes on developing in the Church: there we are taught by faith about the meaning also of our life on earth as we bring to fulfillment – with hope in the blessings that are to come – the work that has been entrusted to us in the world by the Father, and so work out our salvation.

The end of the ages is already with us. The renewal of the world has been established, and cannot be revoked. In our era it is in a true sense anticipated: the Church on earth is already sealed by genuine, if imperfect, holiness. Yet, until a new heaven and a new earth are built as the dwelling place of justice, the pilgrim Church, in its sacraments and institutions belonging to this world of time, bears the likeness of this passing world. It lives in the midst of a creation still groaning and in travail as it waits for the sons of God to be revealed in glory.

Peace and God Bless

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Second Sunday of Advent - The voice in the wilderness

From a commentary on Isaiah by Eusebius of Caesarea, bishop

The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight the paths of our God. The prophecy makes clear that it is to be fulfilled, not in Jerusalem but in the wilderness: it is there that the glory of the Lord is to appear, and God’s salvation is to be made known to all mankind.

It was in the wilderness that God’s saving presence was proclaimed by John the Baptist, and there that God’s salvation was seen. The words of this prophecy were fulfilled when Christ and his glory were made manifest to all: after his baptism the heavens opened, and the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove rested on him, and the Father’s voice was heard, bearing witness to the Son: This is my beloved Son, listen to him.Prepare the way of the Lord: the way is the preaching of the Gospel, the new message of consolation, ready to bring to all mankind the knowledge of God’s saving power.

Climb on a high mountain, bearer of good news to Zion. Lift up your voice in strength, bearer of good news to Jerusalem. These words harmonize very well with the meaning of what has gone before. They refer opportunely to the evangelists and proclaim the coming of God to men, after speaking of the voice crying in the wilderness. Mention of the evangelists suitably follows the prophecy on John the Baptist.

What does Zion mean if not the city previously called Jerusalem? This is the mountain referred to in that passage from Scripture: Here is mount Zion, where you dwelt. The Apostle says: You have come to mount Zion. Does not this refer to the company of the apostles, chosen from the former people of the circumcision?

This is the Zion, the Jerusalem, that received God’s salvation. It stands aloft on the mountain of God, that is, it is raised high on the only-begotten Word of God. It is commanded to climb the high mountain and announce the word of salvation. Who is the bearer of the good news but the company of the evangelists? What does it mean to bear the good news but to preach to all nations, but first of all to the cities of Judah, the coming of Christ on earth?

Almighty and merciful God,
may no earthly undertaking hinder those
who set out in haste to meet your Son,
but may our learning of heavenly wisdom
gain us admittance to his company.
Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
– Amen.

Peace and God Bless

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Feast Of The Immaculate Conception - Virgin Mary, all nature is blessed in you!

From a sermon by Saint Anselm, bishop

Blessed Lady, sky and stars, earth and rivers, day and night—everything that is subject to the power or use of man—rejoice that through you they are in some sense restored to their lost beauty and are endowed with inexpressible new grace. All creatures were dead, as it were, useless for men or for the praise of God, who made them. The world, contrary to its true destiny, was corrupted and tainted by the acts of men who served idols. Now all creation has been restored to life and rejoices that it is controlled and given splendor by men who believe in God.

The universe rejoices with new and indefinable loveliness. Not only does it feel the unseen presence of God himself, its Creator, it sees him openly, working and making it holy. These great blessings spring from the blessed fruit of Mary’s womb.

Through the fullness of the grace that was given you, dead things rejoice in their freedom, and those in heaven are glad to be made new. Through the Son who was the glorious fruit of your virgin womb, just souls who died before his life-giving death rejoice as they are freed from captivity, and the angels are glad at the restoration of their shattered domain.

Lady, full and overflowing with grace, all creation receives new life from your abundance. Virgin, blessed above all creatures, through your blessing all creation is blessed, not only creation from its Creator, but the Creator himself has been blessed by creation.

To Mary God gave his only-begotten Son, whom he loved as himself. Through Mary God made himself a Son, not different but the same, by nature Son of God and Son of Mary. The whole universe was created by God, and God was born of Mary. God created all things, and Mary gave birth to God. The God who made all things gave himself form through Mary, and thus he made his own creation. He who could create all things from nothing would not remake his ruined creation without Mary.

God, then, is the Father of the created world and Mary the mother of the re-created world. God is the Father by whom all things were given life, and Mary the mother through whom all things were given new life. For God begot the Son, through whom all things were made, and Mary gave birth to him as the Savior of the world. Without God’s Son, nothing could exist; without Mary’s Son, nothing could be redeemed.

Truly the Lord is with you, to whom the Lord granted that all nature should owe as much to you as to himself.

O God,
who by the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin
prepared a worthy dwelling for your Son,
grant, we pray, that, as you preserved her
from every stain by virtue of the Death of your Son,
which you foresaw, so, through her intercession,
we, too, may be cleansed and admitted to your presence.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
– Amen.

Peace and God Bless

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