TOP 14 THINGS OF 2014

As I look back upon 2014, I stand humbled at the breadth and depth of God’s blessings on our parish family. Together we have done many wonderful things in service to the Lord and to help all the members of our parish family grow in the ways of the Lord. Thank you! May God bless you for all you do to help our parish be a “light on the hill” – a strong community of faith, centered on Christ - who truly is everything for us.

TOP 14 THINGS OF 2014

1.  Dedication and Opening of our fourth parish school – St Gabriel Catholic Elementary School.

2.  Children’s Ministry launch of Kids Zone and Atrium of the Visitation. Reaching the milestone of over 100 children weekly in our programs. Expansion in 2015 to 11:30am Mass and recruitment of 20 new catechists to allow this expansion to occur.

3.  Homes for Haiti Campaign began. Funds raised for 5 of the 10 homes – and the building has begun.

4.  Our Local Outreach Efforts: Two “Service Saturday” events were held this year providing assistance to Carmelite Sisters in St Agatha, meals at Bridges Shelter, Blankets for Out of the Cold Program, “Green Bag” items for St Vincent de Paul Store, New born items during “Baby Shower” for Michael House.

5.  “Ready Day One” Back Pack appeal (140 collected), “Kindness Counts” Toy Drive (170 collected) and Red Stocking Campaign (512 collected). Plus over 30 new Haiti Sleep Mats made this year alone.

6.  Welcomed 14 adults, who received Sacraments and became part of the Catholic faith and 5 young adults who participated in Catholic Update series and received the Sacrament of Confirmation at the Easter Vigil.

7. Tuesday Night Together in February and October – over 100 people weekly during those months.

8. Vocation weekend in February with displays by religious communities and Serra Club. Three young men and one young women from our parish in religious discernment.

9. VBS (27 children) and Summer Camp programs record amazing numbers. A total of 183 children and teens were prepared for Confirmation and Holy Communion this year.

10.  Steubenville Conference with 15 young people participating and the resulting launch of our Youth Choir.

11. Expansion of Small Group ministry to include “Iron Men” and “Mother’s Group” and our new “Starting Point” group for Catholics seeking to “Come Home”.

12. Technology enhancements in our Parish Centre, new welcome desk and parking lot ministry started, Expansion of parish library to include new children’s section, enhancements to Website to include Podcasts of Homilies and Talks. Increase in weekly Sursum Corda, Facebook and Twitter subscribers. 

13. Chris Bray “Night of Worship” and Black Family “Evening of Seasonal Song”, Parish Spaghetti Supper, Visit of the Icon of the Immaculate Conception, Parish Picnic, Catholic Café, Devotions to St Anne in July, Pilgrimage to the “Cathedrals” of Hamilton, Advent Day of Mercy.

14.  Welcomed 111 new families into our parish community. Finished the year with 253 individuals involved in Liturgical Ministries alone.

Without you, none of these great things would have been accomplished in 2014. May God Bless YOU in this New Year. May Our Lady of the Visitation continue to be our inspiration, model and guide. 

How Brightly Is Your Star Shining?

Most often we think of the Feast of the Holy Family as being about Jesus, Mary and Joseph. Let’s expand our thinking today to a much broader concept of family.

In today’s first reading the Lord takes Abraham outside to see the countless stars in the sky and tells him his descendants will number like these. Abraham trusted God and believed When Anna and Simeon first saw the Christ child, they were in awe. They knew what they had heard about this Savior of the world and they trusted and believed. But they saw Jesus as Savior not just for them but also for the entire universe. They got it! Now think about Mary. From the Day the Angel Gabriel appeared to her she trusted and believed even knowing the responsibility she assumed in giving birth to this child--not only within her small town of Nazareth but also in “big picture” salvation of the world.

Yes, when we think of family we need to go beyond the small circle of believers we’ve created and see the world as our family. If the rest of the world is falling apart and we do nothing about it, are we really doing justice to our “small” family? Are we teaching them to see the bigger picture? Do you see your star as one of many in God’s world or do you see it as the only star?

This is really what the Feast of the Holy Family is all about—seeing that we are just a small part of a much larger family and then trust and believe.

What does our “Yes” look like? - Week # 4

The last candle on the Advent Wreath is lit. For 3 weeks we have heard about the signs God gives us, the people he puts in our lives pointing us to those signs, and the call to do something. There’s one piece missing and that piece is our response to the call. That piece is our “Yes.”

Perhaps the first thing to come to mind is, “I don’t have time to respond. I don’t have time for one more thing.” It’s easy for us to justify the tasks we fill our lives with. Most of them are good, necessary to satisfy our family, friends and co-workers. But at the end of the day, or in this case at the end of Advent, what have we accomplished? What amount of that time was given to God? Did we hear that small, quiet voice in our hearts? Did we answer?

We hear two stories today about David and Mary—both very uncomfortable with the call they received. The message, though, is in spite of their discomfort, their response was, “Yes.” A total leap of faith! No map and no set of instructions! Their “Yes” was placing their trust in God and His plan. God has a plan for us as well. There may not be a prophet to tell the story or an apostle to narrate the call, but the call is real nonetheless and it takes only two things to answer: be quiet enough to hear it and then say “Yes.” God will take care of the rest.

It’s time to do something! - Week # 3

We begin the 3rd week of Advent with the word, “Rejoice”. Rejoice for the coming of the Lord is near. However, the tone of the readings changes somewhat this weekend. The First Two Sundays of Advent we focused on signs— signs we are given and signs we follow, and heard we must not be so inwardly focused to miss the signs. We also reminded ourselves that God always allows U-turns and that’s what Advent is all about.

This week we hear that we have been “clothed in a robe of salvation and wrapped in a mantle of justice…” We’re told, “Do not quench the Spirit” and retain the good and refrain from evil. What in the world does that mean? To follow a sign usually leads us to an action or a destination. The message this week is—Jesus is coming. His whole life is an example for us to follow. Following is not watching. Following is doing. Doing what? Evangelizing. Reconciling both with God and with others. Showing others the face of Christ that we should be seeing in everyone. As Pope Francis said, “an evangelizer must never look like someone who has just come back from a funeral!” There’s a real challenge here and a message we should carry not only through the rest of Advent but the rest of our lives: it’s time to do something!

Pace of Peace - Week # 2

"Knowing Jesus is the best gift anyone can ever receive, that we have encountered Him is the best thing that has ever happened in our lives, and that making Him known by our deeds and words is our greatest joy."  Pope Francis

Our parish prepares this week for our Day of Mercy – a moment to receive and experience the forgiveness of God. In the Gospel we are told to prepare the way for the Lord. We are introduced to John the Baptist – the forerunner of the Messiah. In our pace of preparation we can at times be moving in such a way that we wonder if any of our tasks will ever be done. We can get so rolled up in the duties of the day that the sense of the season is lost on us. Thus our mission must be mercy. For in mercy we not only recall that which must be done at a pace of peace in our own lives (keeping sane), but we also ensure that we are aware of others in our life that still need us, depend on us, require us in their circle during this time.

Our Advent hopes remains that we live knowing Kindness Counts - being grateful is essential to happiness - complaining has no place. Yet we know moments come when we forget this; therefore Mercy must be present. This is where the Sacrament of Reconciliation has a power of preparation to bring peace. It has the ability to permit us to encounter Christ, receive His finest gift of forgiveness. So much can keep us from the Sacrament; and yet so much can enrich us by the Sacrament.

Remember last week’s reflection on the Password of God? Gratefulness was key. It is an ingredient of Mercy. If we have forgotten the password – Mercy is the hint to get us in. To unlock the frantic pace of preparation and open the pace of peace that brings the Season into perspective and allows us as the Gospel instructs – to prepare the way of the Lord.  To live in a season of gratefulness at a pace of peace.