New Format for the Blog

St Mary of the Visitation Parish began in 2013 a campaign called "Generations". It is a three year focus to help us to expand upon the tremendous blessing of growth we are experiencing as a Parish Family. As a parish we are committing ourselves to greater faithfulness to our Core Vales:

• Eucharistic Spirituality
• Hospitality and Welcome
• Evangelization
• Faithfulness to Who God Made Us To Be

and to increased commitment to our parish mission statement :

"We are connected to our past, committed to our future and compassionately focussed on being a Family of Faith with something for everyone."  

One of the Generations goals is to continue to “Make Sunday Matter.” We began to do that some time back through this Blog and giving everyone a chance to re-read the homily as part of continued reflection. But now, well technology is offering us some further opportunities. You will find some enhancements to our parish website begun this week which include links to our weekly Heart to Home series which, is a small group reflection guide, that leads to further reflection on the Lord’s Day readings. You will also find our website now offers a new opportunity to hear or download the audio of the weekly homilies directly from our website. I believe these two new enhancements will compliment our Twitter and Facebook presence. Therefore, instead of giving you a full transcript of the homily - well - we will just link you to the audio and the reflection guides. We will continue to keep this blog active and offer other reflections and new “tid bits” as time goes on.

Also, some people have been asking how to get a copy of my book - “Are We There Yet?”. Well just call into the parish office - 519 658 4443 or drop by our religious articles counter after any Lord’s Day Mass - they are still available but numbers are dwindling. 

One last item. We are very excited about our Tuesday Night Together series. It will be on going during the entire month of February and what an amazing family based opportunity it is. We begin with a meal at 6:00pm (family style), and then move on I invite you to check out this video in order to find out more about TNT; and to make sure to SIGN UP HERE  today to be a part of it.

Remember there is a place for you at St Mary of the Visitation Parish!

“It Starts With Me”: How will you live your life ?

A story is told about Sir John A MacDonald - Canada’s First Prime Minister - who was out with a few of his friends a little bit away from Kingston. He was riding horseback with some of his friends and they came to a swollen stream. There by the river was a man who couldn’t cross and was looking for someone to give him a lift. So very quickly, when MacDonald and his party rode up, he went right up to the Prime Minister and asked for a ride across the stream. Without hesitating, MacDonald reached down, grabbed the fellow by the arm, and pulled him up on the horse with him. The two of them forded the stream together, and MacDonald let him off on the other side.

There was an onlooker who said to the fellow, “Out of all those men in that group, why did you ask the Prime Minister to bring you across?” The man said, “The Prime Minister? The onlooker said, “Yes it was. Why did you ask him to bring you across?” The man replied, “I didn’t know he was the Prime Minister. All I knew was that he had a ‘yes’ face.” Have you ever met someone who had a “yes” face, a face that sparkled, that glowed, a face that made you feel welcomed?

People are attracted to a “yes” face. A “yes” face is a face filled with joy, encouragement, and hope. We begin a small series of homilies entitled “It Starts With Me”. It is our desire in 2014 for St Mary of the Visitation Parish to become a catalyst for spiritual awakening in Hespeler and beyond, and we will see how that catalyst starts in me and in you.

In this series, our focus over the next three weeks, is to see how our Parish Statement (2007) along with our four values as a parish (2012):  Eucharistic Spirituality,  Hospitality and Welcome, Evangelization, Faithfulness to Who God Made Us to Be,  lead us to Encounter, Engage and Express who we are as a parish family.  Not only will we be using our scripture to help us to do so, but also Pope Francis’ recently written letter “Evangelii Gaudium," (The Joy of the Gospel).  I’m looking forward to these next 3 weekends!

So here is question for you - In 2014 - Are you going to follow Jesus or are you going to ask Jesus to follow you ? Now you might be shocked by that question - like why would anyone do that?

We do it all the time - we set out plans and ask God to bless it. We have a choice everyday - am I going to follow Jesus or will He follow me. Now the Baptism of Jesus was when Christ - the Son of God - comes before the Father and says - I will follow you - Christ humbles Himself - lowers in the water - is baptized by John the Baptist - and the Father blesses Him - “this is my Son the beloved” - the Father acknowledges Him. (c.f. Acts 10:34-38, Matthew 3:13-17)

The first thing we can do if we are not careful is that we can end up Doing Life Without God. We make plans, we mark places, we manufacture purposes, we measure profit - all without ever involving God. Now don’t get me wrong there is nothing wrong with making plans - I do it all the time - but do we include God in the plan making or do we just ask Him at the tail end to approve what we have put together?  Do we turn and say to the Lord “Show me God what you want?” Or do we tell God our plan? God’s plan for you is above what you want- don’t diminish His impact in your life by telling Him, implore God's blessing by asking Him.

Vince Poscente: wrote a book called “The Age of Speed”. He writes about  how fast life has gotten in our generation. Our culture has been changed by the boom in technology - email, downloadable music, 24 hour news, instant Google access to any bit of information you want - technology has driven - and is driving so much of what we do in life! The ceiling has been lifted and our options for going fast are unlimited.

As I read the book - I asked myself - how do I put God in the plan when our plans are changing at lightning speed. Its not like we can just sit down for hours and plan and lay out the day or seeking His input on every fast choice we need to make. But here is the thing - in the world we live in - we can’t be people who just have a yearly plan with God or a monthly plan - we can’t be people who say I get what I need on Sunday; then do what we want during the week. If life is that fast - and we all know it is - then we must be a people who have a sense of God present in our life so intense that it is almost as if God is at the desk beside at work/school, on the chair near us at the lunch or supper table, the car next to us (or even in front of us), even looking over our shoulder as we type or view things on our computer or tablet.

Because without that sense of His presence in your life - you will end up doing your own thing. It may not be the wrong thing, it might lead you to do something,.....but it will keep us from the thing God wants us to do with our life. That is why the Baptism of the Lord teaches us the first step in becoming truly spiritually awaken, truly rooted Disciples of Jesus - firm lights who help others to be followers of God.

The First Step:  Encounter - Jesus did not get started on His life without encountering the Father - going to the water! He first "heard" from God. He first humbled Himself so that He would know from God "what are YOUR PLANS for my life?" Then He did them and the Father acknowledged Him and showed Him plans way beyond what He could have imagined!

Pope Francis, Evangelii Gaudium, 127 “Being a disciple means being constantly ready to bring the love of Jesus to others, and this can happen unexpectedly and in any place: on the street, in a city square, during work, on a journey."

If we do not daily encounter God then we will live our days - not appreciated for the moment but presumed that another will come. If we do not daily encounter God then we will do life without God, determine life without God, describe life without God - we plan, we procrastinate, but we do not prosper all that we could. Don’t diminish His impact in your life - submit your life to God and you will end up doing what we are suppose to be doing.

Every minute, every choice, every plan say gently to Him - Show me God - what you want - His plan for you is above what you want - so go encounter Him! Make sure you encounter Him! It starts with me!

So are you going to follow Jesus or are you going to ask Jesus to follow you?

When Hope Turns to Sight

Ever heard of "Count Off."? Teachers often use to keep track of a classroom full of kids, especially during fire drills or field trips. The presence of every one of them is assured by reaching the proper total number. Besides learning to count off to get a total tally, sometimes the kids "count off" by two’s or four’s, a fast, easy way to divide up into teams. (Remember how you and your best friends would guess where to stand in the counting-off line so that you could end up on the same team?)

There is a lot of "counting off" that happens during the Christmas season. Retailers count off the all-important number of "shopping days" between "Black Friday" and Christmas Day. Party goers count off the number of seconds until the strike of midnight in Times Square. Then there is the traditional counting-off of the "Twelve Days of Christmas" — or its more recent counter-part, the "Twelve Days of Bad Christmas Sweaters."  Today marks the last official count off — as we celebrate Epiphany, the end of the twelve day Christmastide that bridges Christmas Eve and Epiphany.

Now I am counting off my 17th year as a priest and when I first became a priest I began writing out my homilies and so I started filing them away by date and year and then began giving them titles so that I could go back and reflect upon them. So when I was drafting this homily just before Christmas I gave it the title “When Hope Turns to Sight”.  I did so because I think that is what the Epiphany is all about.

Consider it for a minute - the wiseman set off from their homeland - probably somewhere around modern day Turkey began traveling from town to town, thru desert and desert toward modern day Israel in the Hope that they might see the Saviour of the World.

They had a hunch, they had a sense, they had a historical understanding - but until they saw that star - all they had was hope! Then - all of a sudden - they see the star - and Hope - which is the certain expectation that the future is in God’s hands - turned into Sight - the realization of something to be visualized.

Don’t know if you ever counted off the things you hope in or not? Just think about it - what do you hope in:
•    you might hope for success in your profession or job
•    you might hope for a good grade in a school project or a successful presentation
•    you might hope in victory for a sports team or winnings in a lottery
•    you might hope in personal health or that of a friend /family member
•    you might hope for peace, direction, success or even the arrival of a family member
•    you might hope that your children are successful, your parents in safety, your siblings in harmony

It is good to hope - in fact it is probably very healthy to hope for things. But hope is not the end. Hope is the beginning. Hope just like for the wiseman is where it all starts!

• Hope is what leads you to look for the star
• Hope is what purpells you to get thru the desert
• Hope is what brings you to ask for direction, to seek with determination, to walk with desire.

But Hope will not get you there....Sight will

The Wiseman were wise because they knew who they were looking for - the Saviour
The Wiseman were wise because they knew the signs they were seeking - the Star in the Sky
The Wiseman were wise because they knew the endless roads leads to endless life - True Sight

This is what gives hope - sight and sight is given by Faith - and ultimately the wiseman had that in abundance - and so they rejoiced and where able to see the King of Kings!

    So here is my question - are you still just hoping ?
        •    that you will find that right person
        •    that you will find that right path
        •    that you will find that right point of happiness in your life

If you are still just hoping - they I invite you to become - well - Wise in 2014 - and start having sight - a sight that comes from looking for the signs of faith - the signs of God in your life.

    Sight that comes from faith in the Saviour
    Sight that comes from true seeking for the star in the sky - the light of Christ in your life.
    Sight that comes from true endless perseverance to get thru the deserts of life and walk toward where the sight of the star of God in your life is leading you....toward the path of becoming who God wishes you to be.

God is so much greater than any darkness - He has a star waiting for you that will lead you to the savior. Will you seek it in faith? - or are you still just counting off the days - and well - just hoping?

Mary - the Model for the New Year

I don’t know if you know who John Chen is? But he is the newly appointed CEO for Blackberry. 2013 was not Blackberry’s year as you may know. Well he had an interview with Business Weekly recently and he made his New Year’s resolution very public - this is what he said “ I’m not focused on who BlackBerry used to be—I’m focused on what BlackBerry will be today and in the future”. While its not my place to give business advice I can say this about Mr Chen’s comment - it is very good spiritual advice. 

The beginning of a New Year is an opportunity for us to reflect but it is also an opportunity for us to move on..... move on from sadness, move on from set back, move on from those things that make us sorry, slow in spirit and take us away from spiritual success and to step up...... - step up toward greater serenity - step up toward greater security - step up toward great spiritual satisfaction We do this - not so much by a set of resolutions - although those are helpful at times to keep us track - but we do so with a simple determination to follow one example: The one we celebrate today - Mary the Mother of Jesus. Mary gives to us the example of how to move on and step up in three ways: Pondering, Focusing, Surrendering. 

A verse from scripture which comes out over and over in referencing to Mary (and it was in the Gospel of today (Luke 2:16-21) is where often it says that Mary pondered things in her heart. What if in 2014 - we built in a little time each day to just ponder a bit - to ask ourselves these two questions every day at some point? - Where Did I see God today ? - in the conversations, conduct, encounters that I had - Where Did I miss God today? - where was He calling me to patience, perseverance and I missed it? 

Secondly, Mary was very focused. The Gospel of Mark (1: 9-11), records and encounter between Mary and Her Son in which she instructs a steward to “ do what ever He tells you” - (referencing Her Son). Such importance - are we focused on Him? - His will? His Way? His wisdom for our life? In the big choices and the smaller ones - how often do we ask - what would God wish done here? Our lives take a new focus when they are off of us. We become less "introspective and judgmental" (both of self and others); when we focus upon Him.

Thirdly, Mary surrendered. I would say that probably the hardest scene for Mary in Her life was not the long trek to Bethlehem thru the desert on a cold night, it would not have been the realization of her child being born in the simplicity of manger; but the hardest scene would have been her simple encounter with Jesus on the way to cross (the 4th Stations of the Cross). As a mother, she did not understand why it had to be? As a gentle woman she would have chosen another way. As a caring person she wanted to say to Him - it will be ok - but knew the pain that was ahead. Yet she surrendered.

There are very few things which I can say to you I can predict about 2014 but here is one that is pretty safe: there will be at least one thing in 2014 - you will not understand, there will be at least one thing in 2014 that will challenge your faith, there will be at least one thing in 2014 that will make you pause and just wonder - why - if we are like Mary and ponder - if we are like Mary and we focus on Him - if we are like Mary and are able in faith to surrender to God’s will 2014 will be a year where God will have His way - and His way is so much greater in blessing and so much lighter in burden if we are willing to walk it in a spirit of ponder, focus and surrender.

 I pray that 2014 will be a year of great blessing for you! I intercede before God that 2014 will be a time of happiness, joy, contentment for you I implore that 2014 be a time in which - well - you are not focused on who you used to be—but are focused on what you will be today and in the future,” I pray that 2014 will be a Year where we will be so much more like Mary - pondering, focusing , surrendering. May we start today !