Pastor's Messages from March 2023

Years ago, a friend of mine with whom I had my Formation in the Franciscan house took a picture by his window. From one angle, he appeared to be looking into the vastness of creation; from another angle, he seemed to be looking into the sky – bright, blue sky. He titled it: ‘Looking Beyond.’ As I write this message, I’m looking beyond to Easter when we will hear these words: ‘He is not here; He is risen.’ He has…

Parish Lenten/Easter Reconciliation Service/Confessions – Friday, March 30, 2023 You are not defined by your sins, mistakes and failures but by the love of God. I was away in Castlegar Monday to Wednesday for a Parish Lenten Mission. It concluded with their Parish Reconciliation Service. At the Christmas Reconciliation Service, they had 15 penitents with 5 priests. So each priest had 3 penitents. Judging by the number of people at the Christmas confessions, we printed 17 Reconciliation Program sheets. We…

Rachel’s Vineyard Thank you for lifting me, our team and the candidates in prayer. I’m always amazed to witness and experience the healing power of God in these retreats. His love heals and restores all things. Parish Mission I’m away Monday and Tuesday to preach a parish mission at St. Rita’s Parish. Please pray for me and for the parishioners that the retreat may be spirit-filled and lead us all to rediscover anew the riches hidden in Christ. The Scrutinies…

Dear Parishioners, Rachel’s Vineyard: This weekend, I’m away for Rachel’s Vineyard Retreat. It is a retreat for healing the pain of abortion. In past years, these are some testimonies we received: “No words can explain the healing that I experienced on this weekend retreat. It was conducted with love and gentleness in an area of my life that was torn, raw, and bleeding. God’s mercy and love was behind this retreat. It was so important fir me to dig deep…

My trip to Surrey and Ottawa for my passport – the drama, the adventure, the miracles. Finally, I’ll have my new passport. But it was not without an adventure, a story. As I shared in some of the Masses I celebrated last weekend, first I went to Surrey to get my National Identity Number (NIN). Though it has never happened before that an applicant gets the NIN immediately, through the intercession of St. Jude, I was able to get it…