Breakfast with the little ones

Today was a special day of adventure and learning.

My weekly visit to St. David found me in a class of Kindergarten students this morning, just in time to join them for breakfast.  On the menu today was raisin toast and grapes.  As the teacher and her helper bustled around the room distributing the treats, one by one the students took their places.

Once they recognized me, it didn't take long for one little one to invite me to sit next to her (right between her place and the place reserved for her desk mate).  Together we began to discuss the food in front of us:  What's for breakfast, I asked.  One by one (and sometimes three or four at a time) students from the table where I was, or from one of the other tables in the room, answered: grapes ... toast.  A few of them were munching on both choices, but the majority of them were content to feast on a pile of grapes only.

We then took turns counting the number of grapes that each of us had (yes, I too had by now received my alotment).  Then it was a competition to see how long it would take to finish our breakfasts.  The ever-diminishing number of grapes was easily turned into a lesson in subtraction: six grapes became five, became four ... then there was nothing left but the paper towel.

Some of the grapes made their way into a variety of shapes.  Squares became triangles and smiley faces gradually became s-shaped lines.  Before I got to the next lesson: how the grapes became raisins and how the raisins found their way into the bread, breakfast was finished, and we had to move on to the next phase.  You see, in Kindergarten class we have to follow the schedule and bathroom breaks are next on the agenda.

Before the break though, we managed to gather all my new friends on the classroom carpet, just long enough to take the photo which the children knew would find its way onto the blog.  Thanks very much for a wonderful encounter.  I can't wait for our next visit.  I wonder what else we'll learn together.

Be thankful for thorns

It's perhaps no coincidence that at times when we need words to point out the obvious in our lives, they arrive ... sometimes in ways most unexpected.  The following 'arrived' today and it needs to be shared.

 Sandra felt as low as the heels of her crocks when she pulled open the florist shop door, against a November gust of wind. Her life had been as sweet as a spring breeze and then, in the fourth month of her second pregnancy, a "minor" automobile accident stole her joy. This was Thanksgiving week and the time she should have delivered their infant son. She grieved over their loss. Troubles had multiplied. Her husband's company "threatened" to transfer his job to a new location.

 
Her sister had called to say that she could not come for her long awaited holiday visit. What's worse, Sandra's friend suggested that Sandra's grief was a God-given path to maturity that would allow her to empathize with others who suffer. "She has no idea what I'm feeling," thought Sandra with a shudder. "Thanksgiving? Thankful for what?" she wondered. "For a careless driver whose truck was hardly scratched when he rear-ended her? For an airbag that saved her life, but took her child's?"

"Good afternoon, can I help you?" Sandra was startled by the approach of the shop clerk.

"I... I need an arrangement," stammered Sandra.

"For Thanksgiving? Do you want the beautiful, but ordinary, or would you like to challenge the day with a customer favorite I call the 'Thanksgiving Special'? I'm convinced that flowers tell stories," she continued. "Are you looking for something that conveys 'gratitude' this Thanksgiving?"

"Not exactly!" Sandra blurted out. "In the last five months, everything that could go wrong has gone wrong." Sandra regretted her outburst, and was surprised when the clerk said, "I have the perfect arrangement for you."

Then the bell on the door rang, and the clerk greeted the new customer, "Hi, Barbara... let me get your order." She excused herself and walked back to a small workroom, then quickly reappeared, carrying an arrangement of greenery, bows, and what appeared to be long-stemmed, thorny roses - except the ends of the rose stems were neatly snipped. There were no flowers.

"Do you want these in a box?" asked the clerk. Sandra watched for the customer's response. Was this a joke? Who would want rose stems with no flowers! She waited for laughter, but neither woman laughed. "Yes, please," Barbara replied with an appreciative smile. "You'd think after three years of getting the special, I wouldn't be so moved by its significance, but I can feel it right here, all over again.", she said, as she gently tapped her chest.

Sandra stammered, "Uh, that lady just left with, uh... she left with no flowers!"

"That's right," said the clerk. "I cut off the flowers. That's the 'Special'. I call it the Thanksgiving Thorns Bouquet."

"Oh, come on! You can't tell me someone is willing to pay for that!" exclaimed Sandra.

"Barbara came into the shop three years ago, feeling much as you do, today," explained the clerk. "She thought she had very little to be thankful for. She had just lost her father to cancer; the family business was failing; her son had gotten into drugs; and she was facing major surgery."

"That same year, I had lost my husband," continued the clerk. "For the first time in my life, I had to spend the holidays alone. I had no children, no husband, no family nearby, and too much debt to allow any travel."

"So what did you do?" asked Sandra. "I learned to be thankful for thorns," answered the clerk quietly. "I've always thanked God for the good things in my life and I NEVER questioned Him why those GOOD things happened to me. But when the bad stuff hit, I cried out, "WHY? WHY Me?" It took time for me to learn that the dark times are important to our faith! I have always enjoyed the 'flowers' of my life, but it took the thorns to show me the beauty of God's comfort! You know, the Bible says that God comforts us when we're afflicted, and from His consolation we learn to comfort others."

Sandra sucked in her breath, as she thought about the thought that her friend had tried to tell her. "I guess the truth is, I don't want comfort. I've lost a baby and I'm angry with God."

Just then someone else walked in the shop. "Hey, Phil!" the clerk greeted the balding, rotund man.
"My wife sent me in to get our usual Thanksgiving arrangement... twelve thorny, long-stemmed stems!" laughed Phil as the clerk handed him a tissue wrapped arrangement from the refrigerator.

"Those are for your wife?" asked Sandra incredulously. "Do you mind telling me why she wants a bouquet that looks like that?"

"No... I'm glad you asked," Phil replied. "Four years ago, my wife and I nearly divorced. After forty years, we were in a real mess, but with the Lord's grace and guidance, we trudged through problem after problem. The Lord rescued our marriage. Jenny, here (the clerk) told me she kept a vase of rose stems to remind her of what she had learned from "thorny" times. That was good enough for me. I took home some of those stems. My wife and I decided to label each one for a specific "problem" and give thanks for what that problem taught us." As Phil paid the clerk, he said to Sandra, "I highly recommend the Special!"

"I don't know if I can be thankful for the thorns in my life." Sandra said to the clerk. "It's all too... fresh."

"Well," the clerk replied carefully, "my experience has shown me that the thorns make the roses more precious. We treasure God's providential care more during trouble than at any other time. Remember that it was a crown of thorns that Jesus wore so we might know His love. Don't resent the thorns."

Tears rolled down Sandra's cheeks. For the first time since the accident, she loosened her grip on her resentment. "I'll take those twelve long-stemmed thorns, please," she managed to choke out.

"I hoped you would," said the clerk gently. "I'll have them ready in a minute."

"Thank you. What do I owe you?"

"Nothing. Nothing but a promise to allow God to heal your heart. The first year's arrangement is always on me." The clerk smiled and handed a card to Sandra. "I'll attach this card to your arrangement, but maybe you would like to read it first."

It read:  My God, I have never thanked You for my thorns. I have thanked You a thousand times for my roses, but never once for my thorns. Teach me the glory of the cross I bear; teach me the value of my thorns. Show me that I have climbed closer to You along the path of pain. Show me that, through my tears, the colors of Your rainbow look much more brilliant.

A shoot shall sprout

Today's first reading from the Book of Isaiah uses an interesting image:  A shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse, and from his roots a bud shall blossom (Isaiah 11:1).


Sometime last week, I planted some seeds.  I found some plant pots, carefully placed small rocks in the bottom of each pot (to allow for proper drainage), and then filled each pot about half way with some potting soil, the kind that has vermiculite and fertilizers mixed in.  I then placed a couple of seeds in each pot, and covered them with more soil.  After tapping the earth into place, I made sure to water them, and then place the pots in a winidow so that there would be enough light.  Each morning, I check the soil, water it if it's dry and wait.

It seems strange to be planting seeds as the winter months are just beginning.  In other parts of the world, where weather is much more forgiving, there are indeed growing seasons that allow for planting and germinating of seeds at this time of year, but ours is not one of them.  Yet, the scriptures for today speak of shoots sprouting from the stump of Jesse.  It's a curious image to think of new green growth sprouting while all else in the world of bottany seems to be lying fallow, yet all things are possible for God (even new life in the midst of ice and snow).

I wonder what surprises are being prepared for each of us during these days of Advent.  As we await the coming of Christmas, and the festival that celebrates the birth of Him who came to live among us, we too are being prepared.  We too should be on the lookout for tender green shoots, sometimes in the form of new discoveries of God's tenderness and mercy, sometimes in the form of new discoveries about ourselves and about the light of faith that has been kindled within.

A shoot shall sprout.  I wonder what form it will take.

A message for priests

In yesterday's list of publications from ZENIT, there appeared a message addressed to priests from the Prefect of the Congregation for Clergy.  For the sake of those of my brothers who may not yet have seen it, here it is in print.


ADVENT MESSAGE FOR PRIESTS FROM CLERGY CONGREGATION PREFECT
'Our Own Lives Become Transfigured Into Christ's Coming for Humanity'

VATICAN CITY, NOV. 28, 2011 (Zenit.org).- Here is a message from Cardinal Mauro Piacenza, prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy, on the occasion of the beginning of Advent.

Dear Priests,

in this special time of Grace the Most Holy Virgin Mary, Icon and Model of the Church, wants us to be introduced to that vigilance which is the constant attitude of Her Immaculate heart.

In fact, the Virgin lived constantly in prayerful vigilance. In vigilance, She received the announcement that changed the history of humanity. In vigilance, She kept and contemplated, more than any other, the Almighty who became her Son. In vigilance, filled with loving and grateful wonder, She gave birth to the Light Himself and, together with St Joseph, became a disciple of He to whom She had given birth. He was adored by the shepherds and the kings, welcomed in jubilation by Simeon and the prophetess Anna, feared by the doctors in the temple, loved and followed by the disciples and opposed and condemned by His people. In the vigilance of her maternal heart, Mary followed Christ right up to the foot of the cross where, in the immense sorrow of a pierced heart, She accepted us as her new sons. In vigilance, She waited with certainty for the Resurrection and was Assumed into Heaven.

Dearest friends, Christ constantly watches over His Church and over every one of us! We are all called to enter into that vigilance, that passionate observation of reality that moves us between two fundamental directions: the recollection of meeting Christ in our lives and the great mystery of being His priests and the openness to the 'category of possibility'.

The Virgin Mary, was in fact 'recollected', which means that in her heart She constantly relived what God had done for Her and, in the certainty of this reality, She lived the duty of being the Mother of the Almighty. The Immaculate Heart of the Virgin Mary, was then constantly willing and open to the 'possible', to that materialisation of God's Will in daily circumstances and also in those that are most unexpected.
Also today, from heaven, the Virgin keeps us in Christ's living memory and continually opens the possibility of Divine Mercy to us.

Dearest Brothers and Friends, let us ask Her for a heart that is able to relive Christ's  coming in our lives, a heart able to contemplate the way in which the Son of God, on the day of our Ordination, radically and definitely marked our entire existence immerging us in His priestly heart. He renews us daily in the Eucharistic Celebration so that our own lives become transfigured into Christ's coming for humanity.
Finally, let us ask for an attentive heart able to recognise the signs of Jesus' coming in the lives of every man, especially to the young who are entrusted to us, so that we are able to recognise the sign of that special coming which is the vocation to the Priesthood.

The Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Priests and Queen of the Apostles, always grants those humble requests for that priestly paternity which is the only thing able to "accompany" the youth on the joyful and enthusiastic journey to follow Christ.

In the “Yes” of the Annunciation, we are also encouraged to be coherent to the “Yes” of our ordination. In the Visitation to Saint Elisabeth, we are encouraged to live that divine intimacy in order to bring Christ's presence to the others and to translate it into joyful service without the limits of time and space. In the Holy Mother's act of wrapping the Baby Jesus in swaddling clothes and adoring Him, we learn to treat the Most Holy Eucharist with an ineffable love. By conserving every event within our own hearts, we learn from Mary how to gather around the Only Necessity.

With these sentiments I assure all the dear Priests around the world of a special remembrance in the Celebration of the Holy Mysteries.  I ask everyone for the prayerful support for the ministry that was entrusted to me and, before the crib, let us implore the ability to become that what we are every day.

What's up

This image was posted recently by Father Donald Calloway, along with the following words: “This is absolutely awesome! My brother in community from Argentina, Fr. Dante, sent it to me today. It was taken last month at a Eucharistic procession in the Dominican Republic. Powerful stuff! Praised be Jesus in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar!”

Your reaction

Now that the first celebrations of the Mass with the new translation of the Roman Missal are complete.  There is a buzz about people's reactions to hearing the new words, to experiencing the new-ness of it all ... and those who have been criss-crossing the country to provide formation workshops are probably breathing a sigh of relief.

Anyone else want to comment about your experience?  Was it a pleasant surprise?  Was it a smooth roll out?  Were there unexpected hicups?

New beginnings

Happy Advent!  As we begin a new liturgical year, there are lots of firsts happening around us today.  Advent marks the beginning of a new liturgical year, so today is New Year's Day in the Church.  The colour of vestments used for liturgical celebrations changes to violet for the next four weeks, and gradually the focus of our prayer and the scriptures provided prepare us for the coming festival of Christmas.

At long last (we've been waiting for forty years), the revised Roman Missal has arrived (in most of our parishes) and began being used today.  The language of this new translation necessitates a careful read, and will indeed sound strange for quite some time, but that's not a bad thing.  Proclaimers and listeners alike will notice a far more regal verbage, and dignified phrasing that allows mortals to speak with God.

Today's homily (available in podcast and text format) speaks to the fact that this change (like all change in our lives) is not easy.  It will take some time and lots of patience before we are familiar with it.  It's a good thing that God is infinitely patient with us too.

Be watchful, be alert

My earliest recollection of a home security system was not of the electronic variety.  Long before names such as ADT and others like them became well known to us, there was a man who used to be paid to sit outside the neighbour’s house and supposedly kept guard while we slept.  I say supposedly because even as a very young child, I was convinced that this man, who we referred to as a watchman, slept more during the quiet darkened hours than he actually was on the alert for possible robbers.  The reason for his apparent lack of vigilance might have had something to do with the fact that there was really not a high incidence of crime in the neighbourhood, but a more likely reason was that he may very well have been too assured of his position to really worry about whether he would lose his job for not doing it right.

Advent is upon us.  With the liturgies of this weekend, God’s people gather to begin a new liturgical year.  Today we also introduce the long awaited revised Roman Missal.  Over the past number of weeks, we in this parish have been introduced to some of these revisions.  In some parishes throughout our country, today is the first day that people are seeing any of these changes, so I wouldn’t be surprised at all to hear that over the next couple of weeks and months, visitors to this and other parishes might wonder about why the changes are taking place.  This is a time of change, and change is never easy.  It takes patience and dedication.  It also takes great understanding because for every person who might willingly accept the changes, there is another who will question them and even resist them.

Some people may find it difficult to pray during this time of change, because we are trying our best to follow new rules, to speak new words, to sing hymns and responses that are not yet second nature.  Even though we may at times feel like Isaiah who spoke of hardened hearts and wandering ways that separated his people from their God, we have a choice to make.  We can either react to the changes set out before us or we can see them as an invitation to understand and appreciate afresh, the fact that all liturgy, and in particular the Eucharist, is first and foremost the action of Christ, to which he associates his Body, the Church (cf SC7).

Forty years ago, when the first English translation of the Mass was published, many people resisted the change.  Then as now, words spoken and postures assumed had become habitual, and when things are done out of habit, we don’t have to pay any attention to them.  We say that they are second nature to us, but sometimes such familiarity is not good.  Remember the slumbering watchman?

At the beginning of this Advent season, the gospel challenges us: Be watchful! Be alert!  In a particular way, we are being invited this year to a wonderful opportunity to put this advice into practice.  New translations of the words spoken during the celebration of the Eucharist are cause for all of us to pay attention.  We need to slow down just a bit so that we can hear these words with new ears.  We need to pay attention in a way that perhaps we have not paid attention for quite some time.  The language of the liturgy is beautiful.  It is regal.  It is stately.  It is fitting of an action of praise and thanksgiving spoken by a people who know deep in our hearts that the grace of God has been bestowed upon us in Christ Jesus, and in him we have been enriched in every way.

In the pews today, there are copies of a new publication entitled Celebrate in Song! This little book contains the musical notation for three beautiful Mass settings based on the revised language of the liturgy, as well as music for various chants and even a number of new songs and hymns for use at the Mass.  All of these are opportunities for us to deepen our understanding that every time God’s people gather for the celebration of the Eucharist we should celebrate fervently, as though it were our first Eucharist.  Every time we celebrate the Eucharist, we should strive to be like vigilant watchmen, filled with gratitude to God for his goodness to us.

Blessing for the new Missal and the Advent wreath

At the beginning of today's liturgy, the newly revised Roman Missal was used for the very first time.  The book, larger and thicker than its immediate predecessor, was processed into the midst of the assembly and then the following blessing was pronounced:
 
Blessing for the New Missal and the Advent wreath

Dear friends in Christ: As we begin a new liturgical year, we bless our Advent wreath and at the same time we receive and put into service a new book to be used at our altar. Books called the Roman Missal has been in use since the year 1570, and many of the prayers contained in this book have been used since at least the fourth century, but while this is a book of tradition, it is also a book for our future, for celebrations that will be held in the Church for years to come. It is right that we should pause for a moment to mark these new beginnings: a new liturgical season, a new year of grace, and the first time that this edition of the Roman Missal is used.



Father of light and wisdom, We praise you for sending your Son to save us from our sins and to be light in our darkness. Bless us + as we gather in his name, bless this wreath as a sign of his light among us, and bless + this Roman Missal; grant that all who use it or hear its words may grow in wisdom and grace before you and all your people.

Father, we praise you through Jesus Christ your Son in the love of your Holy Spirit now and always and for ever. Amen.


The first candle in the Advent wreath was then lit and the Mass began in the usual way.

Whose calling

In our modern-day society, we have become somewhat over-vigilant about protectinig our privacy.  Alarm systems are rather common place in our homes, in our automobiles and in our places of work.  Because of the ever-present telemarketer, new features such as Call Display have been added to our phones, and even the world of instant messaging has added new realities to the way we interact with one another.

Invented in the name of protection and ease of communication, some of these methods have actually created a sub-culture all their own, but there is always and forever the tried and true custom of physically visiting with friends.  Sometimes these are planned, but at other times they are rather impromptu, and these often turn out to be the best encounters.

Friends who drop in, announced or otherwise, bring with them a wealth of stories and experiences.  The telling of stories and the creation of tales is the stuff of memories, the mortar that cements a friendship.

All of this is possible if we are willing to open the doors of our lives to one another, but none of it is happening if we don't answer the call.

In Thanksgiving

Citizens to the south of us are celebrating Thanksgiving this weekend.  Although yesterday was officially Thanksgiving day, the truth of the matter is that the celebration has been going on in some cases since the week began, and as of dawn this morning, the Christmas shopping season is in full swing.

While for some, Thanksgiving is the beginning of a holiday season filled with joy and happiness at the prospect of spending time with family, for others, it's a sadder time blemished by bad memories or dread. Some people see their lives filled with abundant blessings and find thankfulness easy and natural; others are so pre-occupied with tending to past wounds or current crises that they simply don't feel grateful.

Regardless of where you fit on this spectrum, I hope you will approach this occasion for Thanksgiving with a commitment to give yourself and others who deserve it the gift of gratitude.

Sincerely thanking others for something they did or for the role they play in your life is not merely good manners and good ethics. I think William James was right when he said, The deepest craving of human nature is the need to be appreciated. Fortunately, it's a need easily met. It costs so little and means so much. Just putting appreciation into words can make someone's day, or even change their life.

But there is another side of gratitude and it should play a much larger part in our lives. Expressing gratitude is what we do for others, but experiencing gratitude is what we must do for ourselves. Willie Nelson, after struggling with depression and addiction, said, When I started counting my blessings my whole life turned around.

Feeling gratitude is a potent tonic that can immeasurably improve our happiness and sense of well-being. Author Melodie Beatie tells us why. Gratitude, she says, unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more.

The platitudes are true. The key to happiness is deciding to be happy. It's not getting more than you have; it's appreciating what you have.

So, whether things are going well or poorly, this Thanksgiving, open up a new emotional bank account and start filling it with all the things that deserve your gratitude. If you do, you will have even more for which to be grateful.

48 hours to go

Within the next 48 hours or so, just as the sun is setting on Saturday evening, we will begin to celebrate the first of the vigil liturgies for the First Sunday of Advent.  This moment will also mark the beginning of a new liturgical year, and after more than 40 years of waiting, it will also mark the introduction of the long-awaited final English translation of the Roman Missal.

The hard copies arrived in house just about a week ago, barely enough time for us to see the print.  This means that all of us will be hearing new words as of Saturday night, and getting used to new verbages.  In general, the texts are very regal and speak of our worshipping action with a dignity that it deserves.

Get ready, it's on its way.

Visiting with the Grade 8 Class at St. David

I visited with the Grade 8 students at St. David's school this morning.  Since they are all hooked up to the net, I asked the teacher to nominate one of the students to take notes during my presentation, and we fired up the smart board (apparently we were lucky that it was working, since it's been known to develop some gremlins from time to time that even stump the tech wizards.

Tamera took notes during the presentation

Here then is a point-form précis of the converstion I had with the twenty-four students who were present.  Thanks to Tamera for her note taking.

•  We are trying to figure out where Father Tony is from.

• The class is guessing things like the Arctic, Holland, Brazil, but they are all wrong. Father Tony is pointing out our choices and giving clues so that we can hopefully solve the riddle.

• Riley found were he was from, he is from Guyana.

• The average temperature is about 25 degrees.

• Guyana is below sea level.

• The land is about 10 to 15 feet below the sea, which means we have lots of floods.

• The English built a wall around the country to stop the water.  Actually the British invited the Dutch to build the wall.  Since they were in Suriname, just next door, they could bring their expertise to bear in Guyana as well.

• The  had a man-made door (called a koka, built into the sea wall) so the water can get back out to sea, after a high tide.

• In the 1970's his parents and two brothers and he, immigrated from Guyana to Toronto then to the Sault.

• Father Tony had never seen snow, until he was 8. He saw his first snow fall in the Sault.

• When he went to school Father Tony, meet a lot of people with different names, and that different backgrounds. In grade 6 Father Tony started taking Core French. This was a whole other language for him, but he realized that he enjoys French. He has taken French all through elementary and High school, and even 2 years at University level. He also severed in a French church, for 2 years.

• A number of years later, he also learned Italian.

• Today, we learned that Father Tony's Father is Chinese, his mother is Portuguese. He was born in Guyana. Grew up in Sault Ste. Marie, and also speaks 3 different languages: Italian, English, and also French.

• Lunedi scorso ero in Italia dove ho passato 9 giorni means Last Monday, I was in Italy, where I had spent 9 days.

This last phrase was written on the blackboard so that I could encourage the students to try translating some Italian.  They were intrigued with the different languages, and I think they really enjoyed learning about a number of different cultures.  I wonder how their teacher will test this new knowledge.

Did you know that:

•  There are only 23 letters in the Italian alphabet.

• There are 27 letters in the Spanish alphabet.

• Written Chinese has more than 260 character equivalents to the letters of our alphabet.

Bar-b-ques and blocks

One third of Canada's homeless population is between the ages of 16 and 25 years.  That's a staggering figure, but the truth is that these youth are no different from you and me.  They just need a bit of guidance, a place to crash and a few adults they can trust to show them the way.

An annual fundraising campaign was begun yesterday.  One of the staff at the Sudbury Action Centre for Youth called it a BBQ and Block Heater party, but the truth is that the festivities are part of the annual Raising the Roof/Chez Toit campaign.  The campaign's local kick off took place at a youth drop-in centre with a bar-b-que which was held on the street.  Elm street is a very busy thoroughfare, so there's no better place to set up camp.  Some of the youth manned the bar-b-que, offering hot dogs and sausages to passers by (cost of $3 or $4 each), and if the passerby agreed to buy a touque (at a cost of $10), they were treated to a can of pop.

Most of the proceeds from the sale of touques stays in the community where it's sold.  Of the $10 earned, only two dollars are sent back to the national campaign office.  The rest stays in the community to help fund programs for needy youth.  Touques can be purchased either from local youth shelters or online at the website above.

For the past year (or is it two by now), some of these youth have been taking part in a community kitchen which is run in this parish.  It's been really great to get to know some of them, and to watch them learn some valuable life skills.  Each time we meet, there are stories to be told, adventures to be lived, and roles to be modeled.  You never know what lessons will be learned when, and when they will be needed most.

For his 25th

Today, a celebration was held in honour of the 25th anniversary of Ordination of Rev. Josef Niesyto.  Combined with a banquet to mark his anniversary, tonight was also about the launch of his seventh book.

Fr. Niesyto has most recently published a book outlining the Church's teaching on sexual morality, the importance of family life and the challenges posed by the modern-day consumerist society known so well in Western civilization.  Entitled Dieu au dortoir du couple (the English translation reads God in the bedroom, this newest publication has already stirred a bit of interest in the local media but this doesn't seem to worry him.

Some celebrate major anniversaries quietly.  Others do so with a certain flare. 
Félicitations pour cette bel oeuvre!

A bell re-dedicated

Far atop the tower of this church sits the bell that was installed more than eight decades ago.  It's difficult for anyone to see from afar, but the bell bears an inscription.  It reads:

Rt. Rev. D.J. Scollard, D.D.

Bishop of Sault Ste. Marie, Canada

Rev. Thomas H. Trainor, P.P.

St. Joseph's Church, Sudbury

Rev. J.A. Tourangeau, Asst.

Sept. 23, 1928

After more than twenty years of silence, the bell was rung again today, but only after the following prayer of re-dedication was proclaimed:

Prayer for rededication of the bell

Lord Jesus Christ, our brother and our saviour,

We praise you for your glory.

We thank you for calling us to be your Church,

And for sending us your Spirit

To guide us in our prayer and worship to the Father.

We thank you for the talent of craftsmen

Who have restored the towers of this church,

And who have made it possible for the bell in this tower

To once again sing your praises.

Bless them, and bless this bell, so that it may proclaim your praise.

Look on us with love as we gather in this place to praise you.

Teach us to recognize your presence among us,

And help us to work, suffer and pray with you.

Let our parish church be a sign of our faith and devotion,

A declaration that we are willing to serve you in others.

We praise you, Lord Jesus, and ask you to bless us,

For we are your beloved people,

One in the Holy Spirit, now and forever.  AMEN.

The last Mass of the day ended at noon.  As we had finished the closing prayer, the bell began to sing the Angelus, and so we recited the words:

The Angel of the Lord declared unto Mary, and she conceived of the Holy Spirit.  Hail Mary ...
I am the handmaiden of the Lord.  Be it done unto me according to your word.  Hail Mary ...
And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.  Hail Mary ...

Pour forth, we besech thee O Lord, thy grace into our hearts,
that we, to whom the incarnation of Christ thy Son was proclaimed by the message of an angel
may by his passion and cross be brought to the glory of the Resurrection
through the same Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Then came the final blessing and dismissal.
Many comments about the revival of the prayers of the church were made as people exited today.  There was joy in their voices too.

From Sicily with love

During the hiatus while there were no posts on this blog, the writer was away touring in Southern Italy and Sicily along with a group of friends and aquaintances.  Although I was not posting during this time, others were, so it is possible to see some of the sights via the pictures that were posted.

Have a look.  Postings for this adventure are dated November 4 through 13 inclusive.

A year in faith passed

After a couple of weekends away, I'm back to the routine of words which I hope may inspire.  This weekend, we celebrate the Solemnity of Christ the King, and as it so happens, we also are able to begin using the bell in this parish once again (after a silence which has lasted throughout the summer, but which has also lasted in some respects for the better part of twenty years).  What wonderful reasons for a celebration of our patronal feast.

Read on or listen in for more reasons for this celebration.

Happy Feast Day!

Can you believe that Advent begins next Sunday!  That means that today is a special day of celebration for all of us who are parishioners at Christ the King.  The Solemnity which we are celebrating today is observed all over the world, and that means that all Catholics are invited to this party.

Throughout the year, the scriptures remind us that in Jesus, God came to live among us.  In the person of Jesus, God came to show us his tender love for us.  In Jesus, God reminds us each time we pray that this tender love is gentle and kind.  Because God loves us, we too must return his love by loving others.  In fact, when the time for judgement comes, the criteria he will use depends on whether we have loved: whether we have recognized Him in the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger or the person in need, and responded to His need.

As we celebrate our Feast Day today, I for one am mindful of all those who have helped to build this parish into the place of welcome we have today.  Each act of kindness that has ever welcomed a stranger within these walls has helped us to grow.  Each word of comfort or encouragement that has ever been uttered to a nervous bride or groom waiting for their wedding to begin has expressed God’s loving welcome.  Each prayer uttered within these walls for the sake of someone who needed assistance in whatever way has brought some measure of comfort to someone who needed it most. 

The work of building a community of faith continues every day.  It can’t be done by one person, or even by a few.  Everyone who comes through our doors has a gift to offer.  A few years ago, we conducted a survey of our parishioners and invited them to tell us about the ways that they are involved in parish life, or how they would like to be involved.  We are ready to repeat this process within the coming two weeks.  In your bulletins this weekend, you will find copies of the parish survey.  We ask that you fill it in and return it to us within the next two weeks.  If there is some way that you would like to help, or something that we can do better, please let us know.

Our parish’s Feast Day also gives us the perfect occasion to thank God for the talents of those who have been working so diligently on the restoration of our bell towers.  Engineers had to plan the work, skilled labourers had to put hammers and chisels to the bricks and mortar, even the scaffolding was a work of art that demanded precision and planning to put in place.  The last bits of mortaring were completed at the end of October, and just this past week, the wiring was completed so that the bell can now be rung.

At the end of this reflection, we will rededicate the bell, and ask God to watch over us with the same tender love he speaks of in the first reading of this liturgy.  Beginning this evening at 6:00pm, the bell will chime for the Angelus once again: something it hasn’t done for far too long.  The Angelus bell will also ring at noon every day, beginning tomorrow.  In the coming weeks, other reasons for the bell to sing out will also be added, each with its own explanation provided so that children young and old may more deeply appreciate the rich history that bells have held in the practice of our faith.

Next week, we begin a new liturgical year.  This week, we give thanks for all that has been, even as we look forward in hope to all that is yet to come.

With the students

On Thursday morning of this week, I climbed the nearby stairs and found myself at the doors of Marymount Accademy.  As has become my routine in the past number of months, this was the day for my scheduled visit with the students and staff at that school.

The day begins with a meet and greet of sorts.  I stand in the foyer along with some of the teachers to greet the students as they arrive for the day of study.  This gives me a chance to say hello to them, but also to get a feel for the life of the school, and an overview of the activities that will characterize the day.  As it tuned out, Thursday was the day chosen by students for a voluntary 'vow of silence' day.  Students who wanted to participate paid $5 in order to remain silent for the hours during which the school day would unfold.  Funds raised from this effort would then be sent to Free the Children.

As it turned out, I was also scheduled to visit with two Grade 9 classes on this particualar morning.  At first the thought that some of the students would be partaking in a day of silence was somewhat intriguing, but as it turned out, the example they were setting for others of their friends actually added to the fact that these students had a priest visiting in their midst.

In both period 1 and 2 of that day, the schedule was left up to me.  This caused a bit of worry on the part of some of the teachers involved, but in the end it all worked out fine.  Considering that I had had very little time to interact with students in the school up until this time, I thought it might be interesting for them if I told them a bit about myself.  Turning this discourse into a bit of a geography lesson, a civics lesson and even an immersion in one or two different cultures kept them all intrigued and following along until before we knew it, the alotted time had elapsed.

Questions and answers provided another opportunity for interaction.  At times students tried to pose some controvercial querries, but this wasn't my first picnic, so I used even these opportunities to provide teaching for them about subjects such as priesthood, prayer and ordination.  Imagine their surprise when I turned such questions back upon them: Why are you really asking this question - because you want to know the answer or because you want to open a can of worms?

A learning opportunity for all of us.

As it happened, the staff was also having a luncheon so I had a chance to visit informally with a number of them as well.  Who knows where such exchanges will lead?  In truth, every opportunity for us to know one another better helps us to appreicate each others' strengths and gifts.

Just the push of a button

Installation complete.

All the wires are connected.  All the fuses are activated and the tests have been completed.  I can't imagine which of the neighbours must have wondered what was happening if they heard the bell ringing, tolling, pealing ... but not completing any one pattern ... at least for the moment.

As I watched the demo, I couldn't help thinking that the one who was conducting it is so familiar with the buttons and the sequences that he was keying that it made the process look simple.  Thankfully, there is a manual supplied which should make the process easier to learn.  With a few days' attention and perhaps a few hours of testing, others should be able to learn the key strokes ana newd become comfortable with them.

For the moment, the bell still sits silently, keeping vigil over the city.  In just a few days' time, the music will begin, the songs will be sung and a new era in the life of the church will begin ... all with the push of a button.

And the bells will ring

At long last, the representatives from the Verdin Bell Company are here today.  They arrived early this morning, and have spent the better part of the day installing the hammer and other hardware around the bell in the east tower.  At this writing, they are still high above the ground, in the tower, finishing the last details of the installation.  Once that's complete, they will have to complete the wiring before we can test the bells.

If all goes well, the installation should be all complete before the end of the day today, and within two weeks or so we'll be able to have an official re-dedication of the bell, and an official bell rining party.  In the meanwhile, I'm still undecided about whether we should allow the bells to ring before they ae officially re-christened, but I'm leaning toward silence for another ten days or so.

Lest someone ask the question, the Church recognizes only one official Baptism, and since even bells are officially christened when they begin to ring, I suppose that we can't technically re-baptise the bell, but we can hold a dedication ceremony of sorts to inaugurate the rejuvination of the bell that rang above the heads of our parents and grandparents.  With a bit of luck and good mainitenance, it will ring over the heads of our children and grandchildren too.

A visiting choir

It seems that the past few days have been filled with opportunities for music and adventure.  Tonight was no exception.  After the Vespers service had been concluded, and after the gathered community had disbursed, I found my way to the neighbouring church where there was a concert featuring the Canadian choir known as the Elmer Isler Singers.

They were in town today (and perhaps even yesterday) to conduct a number of workshops with students in schools and with adults who I believe are here in the city for a conference.  Tonight was their time to shine.  They shared the spotlight with a newly-formed local choir as well, and the result was some absolutely glorious music.

Having enjoyed a long history of involvement with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, they even sang Happy Birthday to the Corporation (which celebrates its 75th today).  This was certainly a treat for listeners in these parts, who don't often get the occasion to hear this choir live.  We all enjoyed it absolutely immensely, as was evidenced by the great number of us who stuck around afterward to speak with and to congratulate the choristers.

They're off to Timmins tomorrow for the next in their Northern Ontario series.

Prayer for the souls

For the past number of years, we have invited families of recently deceased parishioners to join us for Vespers on the evening of November 2nd.  Tonight was therefore the night.  Families of some 26 individuals were invited, but only a few of them could attend.

For those who were here, there was music, quiet, a candle lighting ceremony and a moment for reflection.  The quiet liturgy of Evening Prayer is very different from the celebration of the Eucharist but it is just as powerfully able to touch the heart strings and to help with the healing that is so necessary.

There's always time for socializing after the fact too, and this is very good.  It provides an occasion for people who may otherwise be living on their own to touch base with the community who continues to care for them.  At times it allows for the renewing of friendships, and certainly for a bit of feeding the body as well as the soul.

More new friends

My regular visit to St. David's school took me into a classroom of Grade 6-7 students today.  There was no smart board, and there were no iPads this week, but there was an artist's chair, so this is where I perched.

From this vantage point, it didn't take long to begin the conversation (they seem to come easier and easier each week).  Compared with some of the younger grades, this age group necessitate a slightly different style of presentation.  Thus I began asking the students what they remembered from the last time we encountered one another.  Details about my given name were freely given, but when we advanced into the territory of my family name, this was a different kind of challenge.  To be fair, these students had probably not heard my family name pronounced, so we were moving into uncharted territory for them.

Always looking for new angles, I began by writing the name (in Chinese characters) on the blackboard, and then asking them to pronounce it.  In the words of one of the students, there was dreaded silence  This too was a challenge, but it opened the door for me to present a lesson on the structure of Chinese names (monosylabic in nature and written in an order somewhat varied from that which we would be more accustomed to seeing).

The students seemed to soak up the information, until I asked them to consider preparing a fact sheet about me.  Their response: you've told us about the history of your name, but not much else.  We need to know something about your friends, your likes and dislikes etc.  Thus began the next phase of the presentation.  I launched into a geography lesson, wherein I spoke to them about the Christmas card list that I will soon have to prepare, and the different countries where I will have to send greetings to various friends and aquaintances.  Who knows whether I won't eventually assemble a complete list of the countries and then invite this class to do a project of some kind to study the location of each country, and some of its attributes.

As to my likes and dislikes, there has to be something left for a future visit.  From the sounds of it, that won't be long in coming.