Free Community Meals - Newmarket

Here are all the free community meals that take place in Newmarket throughout the week, all thanks to volunteers who care about the people in their community:

• Sundays: Valley View Alliance Church hosts a community dinner every Sunday of the year between 4 and 5:30 p.m. at 800 Davis Dr. in Newmarket. 
• Mondays: St. John Chrysostom Catholic Church serves a free hot meal to anyone who needs it out of their parish centre at 432 Ontario St. The program is called Community Bread and runs from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. every Monday. 
• Tuesdays: Trinity United Church hosts its Lunch At My Place (LAMP) Supper Program on Tuesdays at the church, which is located at 461 Park Ave. It serves beverages at 4 p.m. and a hot meal from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. 
• Wednesdays: The Annex Cafe at Christian Baptist Church runs every Wednesday from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Guests can enjoy a hotdog or burger out on the church lawn. There is also coffee and light breakfast foods. 
• Fridays: Inn From The Cold's community meal takes place weekly on Fridays from 4:30 to 6 p.m. in the community hall of their Penrose Street location. Different groups of volunteers sign up each week, whether they are corporations, religious groups, families, or friends. 
• Saturdays: Crosslands Church at 47 Millard Ave. West hosts a free dinner every Saturday starting at 4:30 p.m. 

Advent Reflection: Two gifts that are needed

 After telling us how King Ahaz, St. Paul. and St. Joseph received the gift of divine grace which they in turn passed on to bless and strengthen others, Claretian Fr. Ferdinand Okorie CMF, writing for the Catholic Theological Union, concludes a reflection for the 4th Sunday of Advent as follows:

"Next Sunday, we celebrate and renew our faith in the gift of God’s presence in the incarnation of Jesus Christ, and in doing so, we share in the spirit of the season by giving and receiving gifts with our loved ones, and with one another. But I invite you to think beyond the traditional routine of wrapped gifts under the Christmas tree, but rather to discern the impactful gift that your loved ones and the world are in dire need from you today. For our loved ones, trust is ebbing dangerous in our homes and society, affecting our respect and dignity for one another. Rebuilding a culture of trust can go a long way to repair fragile and damaged relationships. For our world, let us remember that every region has experienced a record climate disaster or the other. Time has come to give our world the gift of doing whatever we can to contribute to cutting down our carbon footprints. During this season of giving and receiving gifts, give the gift that is impactful and transformational to one another and to the world." https://learn.ctu.edu/fourth-sunday-of-advent-3/

Rebuilding a culture of trust: Instead of being negative and critical, can I be more positive, affirming and upbuilding? Pray the Prayer of Saint Francis

Cutting down our carbon footprints: Food waste? Plastic? Recycling? Unnecessary travel? Explore Laudato Si' - the encyclical by Pope Francis on the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor

Resources:
Laudato Si' Movement - https://laudatosimovement.org/
Laudato Si' - News and Resources - https://www.laudatosi.org/
Laudato Si' Action Platform - https://laudatosiactionplatform.org/

Image credit: https://cdn3.volusion.com/yhebw.jkdkr/v/vspfiles/photos/10501-2.jpg

Reflection: The Manger of Our Hearts

Image: https://i.ytimg.com/vi/nBdZ_W-lWPQ/hqdefault.jpg

Conference Reflection by Catherine Doherty, selected by Deacon Steve.

Christ desires to be born in the manger of our hearts. Are the doors of our hearts wide open to receive the shepherds, the Magi, the stray visitors – in a word, humanity? Are they open to receive every person as Christ would receive each one of us? Are they open to receive those around us in our daily life?

Or do we think it enough to make a manger of our hearts so that we might hold Christ unto ourselves exclusively? If so, that was not what He was born for, and He might bypass the manger of our hearts.

Christ told us that, unless we become like a child, we would not enter the kingdom of heaven. We tend to associate children and Christmas in a very sentimental fashion: a newborn baby is “cute”; children are “lovable” creatures. So they are, but that is not what Christ meant. I think he wanted us to have the heart of a child.

What does it mean to have the heart of a child? A child is utterly trusting. A child is totally open, uninhibited, simple, direct, and unafraid. A child believes without reservation.

I pray that this coming New Year will be a year in which we will empty our inner “self” so as to carry the Christ Child comfortably and warmly in our heart. You know, the Child will be comfortable and warm only if we love and trust one another.

Catherine Doherty, “Donkey Bells: Advent and Christmas” p 42 – 43, Madonna House Publications, Combermere, 2000

Joy, Hope and Love - A Spiritual Reflection

 

Image credit: https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov

Spiritual reflection by Catherine Doherty, selected by Deacon Steve.

Joy is very quiet and full of wonder. It is like a light that shines in the darkness and is connected with hope and with love.

To give you an idea of my joyous moments, the first occurs when I wake up every morning with the incredible thought that here God has granted me another day to love him and to serve him.

Simultaneously, other thoughts come to me from my own humanity and emotions. They creep in like shadows over the shining light of my joy.

They whisper, “Look, you are going to have a whole day full of problems. You are going to have to be in four places at once,” and so on. Through these whispers, the whole weight of the day and of my duties creep in.

But joy smiles. I know that I do not have to face all those things at once, that these too are works of love for Christ’s sake, that all I have to worry about is doing the duty of the moment as it comes to me with love and enthusiasm for Love’s sake- for Christ’s sake.

- Catherine Doherty, “Grace in Every Season”, November 26th, p.311,2001, Madonna House Publications

As we come to the end of the Liturgical Season and the beginning of Advent, with all the busy-ness of the Season, I pray we will all grow in that deeper joy, which keeps all of our “doings” in perspective.

God bless. Deacon Steve

World Day of the Poor 2022

 

Next week Sunday, being the 33rd Sunday of the year, is designated "World Day of the Poor". Consider being a little more mindful than usual of those in need - far, near, and very close.

Our Newmarket Conference has two programs in need of donations:

- Our Christmas Program for families in Newmarket and East Gwillimbury

- Our North of 60 program for food for the Sanirajak community in Nunavut.

Click on these links to make a donation.

2022 Parish Giving Tree and St. Vincent de Paul Christmas Program

 

- St. John Chrysostom and St. Elizabeth Seton combined parishes

We are happy to announce that the Society of St. Vincent de Paul Christmas Program and the Giving Tree will be running as they did before the pandemic.

For the Christmas Program that serves our St. Vincent de Paul families, your donation will continue to go towards the purchase of grocery gift cards for parents and gift cards from a local store so that parents can purchase a gift for the children in their family.

For the Giving Tree Program, we will resume having the Giving Tree at the back of both churches decorated with stars for gifts for those in long-term care facilities, seniors and others in need living in our community.  Although backed and supported by your Society of St Vincent de Paul, this program is primarily the organizational initiative of the two parishes in Newmarket, working together with the Society of St Vincent de Paul.

For more information or to donate to the Christmas program click here

Our Father - the Just Judge

 

In the gospel reading from Luke for the 29th Sunday in Ordinary time, Jesus finishes his parable about the unjust judge by comparing him with God and asking, "Will not God see justice done to his chosen who cry to him day and night even when he delays? I promise you, he will see justice done to them and done speedily." In the plays of Ancient Greece, someone playing the part of a god would be let down in a basket by ropes, a "Deus ex machina (god in a machine,)" to resolve a hopeless knot of problems that humans had gotten themselves into in the plot of the play. But the God of Jesus and his disciples, our Heavenly Father, is not a "Deus ex machina." Our God works through ordinary people who seek out and follow God's will. People like you and me, and the politicians we elect when we vote wisely and compassionately with an eye to justice and the common good, rather than what is simply going to be best for me without regard to others and their just demands.

Here in Ontario we are in the midst of election campaigning. Although these are 'only' municipal elections, not Federal or Provincial, it behooves us as Christians, Catholics and Vincentians to exercise our civic privilege, and to do so responsibly as a duty, identifying and voting for those candidates whom we believe will best serve the interests of the common good. 

The cry of the poor for food and affordable housing is coming to the ears of our Heavenly Father who wants to see justice done for them. 

The cry of the earth for sustainable development and resource usage in the face of land exploitation by unscrupulous property developers is also going up to the ears of our God along with the cry of the poor.

As Vincentians, our mission is to live the Gospel message by serving Christ in the poor with love, respect, justice and joy. We are called to be disciples of Jesus, and Vincentians, 24/7 - not just when delivering food cards.

Happy voting.

Do not let us turn into “broken cisterns” - St John XXIII

 Undated photo released by the Vatican in December 2010. (CNS photo/Vatican)

“O Lord, do not let us turn into “broken cisterns” that can hold no water… do not let us be so blinded by the enjoyment of the good things of earth that our hearts become insensible to the cry of the poor, of the sick, of orphaned children and of those innumerable brothers and sisters of ours who lack the necessary minimum to eat, to clothe their nakedness, and to gather their family together in one roof.”

― Saint John XXIII - Pope

Serving the poor is to be our first preference - St Vincent de Paul

Christ begging from Fr Vincent

From the writing of Saint Vincent de Paul, priest,
taken from the Office of Readings for September 27th.

Even though the poor are often rough and unrefined, we must not judge them from external appearances nor from the mental gifts they seem to have received. On the contrary, if you consider the poor in the light of faith, then you will observe that they are taking the place of the Son of God who chose to be poor. Although in his passion he almost lost the appearance of a man and was considered a fool... and a stumbling block..., he showed them that his mission was to preach to the poor: He sent me to preach the good news to the poor. We also ought to have this same spirit and imitate Christ’s actions, that is, we must take care of the poor, console them, help them, support their cause.

Since Christ willed to be born poor, he chose for himself disciples who were poor. He made himself the servant of the poor and shared their poverty. He went so far as to say that he would consider every deed which either helps or harms the poor as done for or against himself. Since God surely loves the poor, he also loves those who love the poor. For when one person holds another dear, he also includes in his affection anyone who loves or serves the one he loves. That is why we hope that God will love us for the sake of the poor. So when we visit the poor and needy, we try to understand the poor and weak. We sympathize with them so fully that we can echo Paul’s words: I have become all things to all men. Therefore, we must try to be stirred by our neighbors’ worries and distress. We must beg God to pour into our hearts sentiments of pity and compassion and to fill them again and again with these dispositions.

It is our duty to prefer the service of the poor to everything else and to offer such service as quickly as possible. If a needy person requires medicine or other help during prayer time, do whatever has to be done with peace of mind. Offer the deed to God as your prayer. Do not become upset or feel guilty because you interrupted your prayer to serve the poor. God is not neglected if you leave him for such service. One of God’s works is merely interrupted so that another can be carried out. So when you leave prayer to serve some poor person, remember that this very service is performed for God. Charity is certainly greater than any rule. Moreover, all rules must lead to charity. Since she is a noble mistress, we must do whatever she commands. With renewed devotion, then, we must serve the poor, especially outcasts and beggars. They have been given to us as our masters and patrons.

Prayer

O God,
who for the relief of the poor
and the formation of the clergy
endowed the Priest Saint Vincent de Paul
with apostolic virtues,
grant, we pray, that,
afire with that same spirit,
we may love what he loved and
put into practice what he taught.

Can Neutral Be Truly Neutral?

 

Coats For Kids

 

Hope: A spiritual reflection

 

Spiritual Reflection selected by Deacon Steve

“… I have experienced the Cross to mean mercy and not cruelty, truth and not deception: that the news of the truth and love of Jesus is indeed the true good news, but in our time it speaks out in strange places. And perhaps it speaks out in you more than it does in me: perhaps Christ is nearer to you than He is to me: this I say without shame or guilt because I have learned to rejoice that Jesus is in the world in people who know Him not, that He is at work in them when they think themselves far from Him, and it is my joy to tell you to hope even though you think that for you all hope is impossible.

Hope not because you think you can be good, but because God loves us irrespective of our merits and whatever is good in us comes from His love, not from our own doing. Hope because Jesus is with those who are poor and outcasts and perhaps despised even by those who should seek them and care for them most lovingly because they act in God’s name. No one on earth has reason to despair of Jesus because Jesus loves all humanity, loves them in their sin and we too must love all humanity in their sin.”

“Thomas Merton: A Book of Hours”, Kathleen Deignan, Sorin Books, Notre Dame, Indiana, p. 129

Working for Social Justice

 

Does the society of St Vincent de Paul only try to alleviate immediate needs, such as feed the hungry in the spirit of Matthew's Gospel, chapter 25?

The following is from clause 3.20 of The Canadian Rule and Statutes of the Society of St Vincent de Paul.

The Society is concerned not only with alleviating need but also with identifying injustices that cause it. Therefore, it is committed to identifying the root causes of poverty and contributing to their elimination. In all its charitable actions, there should be a search for justice.

Affirming the dignity of each human being as created in God’s image, Vincentians envision a just society in which the rights, responsibilities and development of all people are promoted. The distinctive approach of Vincentians to issues of social justice is to see them from the perspective of those in need who are suffering from injustice. The Society helps those in need to speak for themselves. When they cannot, the Society must speak on their behalf so that they will not be ignored.

The Society opposes discrimination of all kind and strives, through charity, to foster new attitudes of respect and empathy for the weak, for people of different cultures, religions and ethnic origins, thus contributing to the peace and unity of all the people of the world.

The Society’s vision goes beyond the immediate future and looks towards sustainable development and protection of the environment for the benefit of future generations.

If charity facilitates maintaining an unjust status quo, then it is not true charity but a sop, which is an insult to Christ who lives in the poor.

Watchful Servants - Reflection by Deacon Steve

Image: nhla.com

In our lives today there is no limit to the worries we face. Whether economic or financial matters, worries about our families, or our health.  Sometimes, no matter how much we try to remain focused on the important things in our life, remaining positive in our outlook and perspectives, these worries can cause us to be doubtful and maybe even negative about what lies ahead for us in life.

In the Gospel for the 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time our Lord suggests that we, “Be dressed for action… be like those who are waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet, so that they may open the door for him as soon as he comes and knocks…”

The parable about the watchful servant tells us that our Lord will show up at times we do not expect him to. It is a reminder that the Master will surprise us “ordinary servants” while just doing the best we can. For some spiritual writers surprise is another name for grace.

And so with God’s grace opening our hearts
there will occur from time to time special moments
where we will experience the divine, albeit in small bits.

Our Lord knocks on our door in the ordinary course of our lives when we are simply fulfilling our family or job responsibilities, but especially when presented with the opportunity to serve others, including notably, the poor and the suffering.

If we are alert and open the door when our Lord knocks, we will recognize the master arriving from the wedding feast. More importantly, the Master will bring the wedding feast to us, serving us and allowing his abundant life and our life to flow into each other. 

“Blessed are those… whom the master finds alert when he comes… he will come and serve them.”

Anxious and Troubled?

This Sunday's gospel reading about the visit of Jesus to the home of Martha and Mary generates more than its fair share of popular opinions from people who hear it. Understandably, many people empathise with Martha, feeling that she unfairly got the short end of the stick from Jesus and that Mary got off like a Goody Two-shoes.

To be clear: Jesus did NOT pass judgement on Martha's acts of service themselves. That would not be consistent with Jesus' description of himself as having come to serve, not to be served, and his mandate to the apostles in the Gospel of John when he washed their feet at the Last Supper. 

Listen again to what Jesus actually said: "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled..." Other English translations use words like: worried, bothered, upset, distracted, fretting, fussing. In a nutshell, Martha's preoccupation with fulfilling society's expectations of the perfect hostess, and her resentment at Mary's disregard for these expectations, meant that Martha didn't hear a word that Jesus was saying. Houses in Jewish Palestine of the day were not large. Jesus, who could teach thousands, would have been audible anywhere in the house and Martha would have been able to hear Jesus if she had only chosen to listen. 

We have a soft spot for Martha because each of us can so easily identify with her resentment, a resentment that must have built up so much that she actually interrupted Jesus with an accusing question: "Master, do you not care that my sister has left me to do the serving alone?" Martha wasn't only resentful towards Mary, but even towards Jesus himself whom she saw aiding and abetting Mary's 'laziness'. If her brother Lazarus was present with the men that day she was probably resentful towards him too. But instead of going quietly to Mary and whispering in her ear for some help, she brashly 'goes to the top', interrupting Jesus while he is teaching. That made such an impression that the story made its way into the gospel tradition. What Jesus taught there that day did not even get recorded.

Resentment is probably an 'under-confessed' and under-repented 'sin'. The reason for that is that it is almost always fully justified in our minds. "Darn right I'm upset! Didn't you see what he got away with? Didn't you read what she said? Why don't more people step up and (... fill in your hobby horse here)?"

This Sunday's gospel is an opportunity for a mini examination of conscience. What resentments have I been carrying? In the home, with my spouse, my children, my neighbours, my work colleagues, my Vincentian confreres? A good place to do this exercise is setting aside 15 or 20 minutes and sitting at the feet of Jesus.

The Good Samaritan - a Vincentian Take

For a good part of my life, Jesus' parable of the Good Samaritan left me feeling very conflicted and burdened with guilt. On the one hand, I obviously did not want to be identified with the priest and the scribe. On the other hand, imitating the good Samaritan presented itself as involving heroic sacrifice that I doubted I am capable of. It was only relatively recently that I started gaining a certain insight into the words of Jesus: "Go and do likewise."

Clearly, Jesus cannot be asking us to slavishly look on the road for victims of robbers, and take them to a motel or hospital. What we are called to imitate is not the precise actions that the Samaritan did, but what he felt in his heart that energised him to take appropriate action: he was moved with compassion, literally, filled with pity, and then he just knew what he had to do, not because of a law or prescription, but because of his heart. Interestingly, this is exactly the same Greek word used to describe what Jesus felt when he looked at the crowds and was "moved with compassion" because they were like sheep without a shepherd.

Sheep without a shepherd

Saint Mother Teresa of Kolkata presents a wonderful modern day example of someone whose life was driven by her compassion. A very different take on where compassion can lead you can be found with Saint Dorothy Day whose heart was filled with compassion for workers and their families who were at the mercy of ruthless employers, and corporations who were out to maximise profits for shareholders no matter the cost to their workers. As Vincentians we can find great inspiration in the model of compassion offered to us in Blessed Frederick Ozanam, our founder. He manages to blend the best of both Mother Teresa and Dorothy Day by his example, firstly, of direct care and compassion for the poor, but also in educating the society of his day regarding the root causes of poverty, and the unjust circumstances keeping the poor in their poverty, and making them ever poorer.

Like the Good Samaritan, and Jesus himself, Mother Teresa, Dorothy Day and Frederick Ozanam did not approach their life's work as a burden demanded by any law or prescription, but as the natural outflow of hearts filled with compassion. Now Jesus tells us: "Go and do likewise."

A Prayer of Oscar Romero

 

Curated from Bread for the World

This poem was composed by Bishop Ken Untener of Saginaw in November, 1979.
It draws inspiration from St Oscar Romero and now known as A Prayer of Oscar Romero.

A PRAYER OF OSCAR ROMERO

It helps, now and then, to step back and take a long view.
The Kingdom is not only beyond our efforts,
it is even beyond our vision.
We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction
of the magnificent enterprise that is God's work.
Nothing we do is complete,
which is a way of saying that the Kingdom always lies beyond us.
No statement says all that could be said.
No prayer fully expresses our faith.
No confession brings perfection.
No pastoral visit brings wholeness.
No program accomplishes the Church's mission.
No set of goals and objectives includes everything.

This is what we are about.
We plant the seeds that one day will grow.
We water seeds already planted,
knowing that they hold future promise.
We lay foundations that will need further development.
We provide yeast that produces effects far beyond our capabilities.

We cannot do everything,
and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that.

This enables us to do something,
and to do it very well.
It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way,
an opportunity for the Lord's grace to enter and do the rest.
We may never see the end results,
but that is the difference between the master builder and the worker.
We are workers, not master builders;
ministers, not messiahs.
We are prophets of a future that is not our own.

Amen.

Campfire Bread Twists - Happy Feast Day

 

As a boy, when I was a scout, we enjoyed a very simple bread by making a dough from flour and water which we twisted around a stick and baked over the embers of our campfire. The important thing about bread, any bread, is not that you spend hours contemplating it, analysing it, trying to understand it, but that we eat it. It's a comfort food that relieves our hunger pangs and nourishes us, giving us strength to carry on our day or enjoy a night's sleep. This experience is always made so much more enjoyable when we eat as a family or group of friends.

Just as our camp fare has three elements, wheat, water and fire, together making one bread, so the Blessed Trinity has three Persons, together making one God; but the important thing about our God is not that we spend hours analysing and contemplating how the Blessed Trinity is constituted, but that we be nourished by the empowering love of our Father and the Christ-Son poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit.

On this Feast of the Most Holy Trinity may we all be so nourished among our families and friends.

Terry

Launching our North of 60 Project

Our Newmarket Conference is excited to tell you that we are launching a new project that will provide assistance to our neighbours in need in Sanirajak, Nunavut. To find out more, please watch this seven minute video.

The Feast of Feasts

 

Spiritual Reading selected by Deacon Steve

The Feast of Feasts!

“Easter – the resurrection of Christ! The feast of feasts! The final proof of Christ’s divinity! Easter – the first feast of the early Church, around which all the other feasts grew like stars around the sun.

We celebrate Christ’s Resurrection as something absolutely, fantastically beautiful that has happened, and is still happening. The fact that there is an Easter is something to be grateful for. It is such a happy feast. What can be more beautiful than this passage from death to life, real life? Now death has become a passage. A passage to what, to where, to whom? It is the passage of you to God and me to God. You walk into it and there at the end is Christ and Our Lady, the life that lasts forever and that is lived with God and his blessed Mother. Christ’s resurrection is the most joyous feast in the calendar of the Church, the one in which everything comes together. It is the greatest feast…

Christ’s Resurrection is the earth in which the seed of faith can grow. His Resurrection, when we look at it, opens the tombs of our hearts. Can you hear the stone of doubts, of fears, of expectation, of loneliness, roll away from his tomb? You and I are transfigured and resurrected, too, in an inner resurrection that is like a fire, like an exploding sunrise.”

“Season of Mercy: Lent and Easter – Meditations and Traditions from Catherine Doherty”, Marian Heilberger, ed., Madonna House Publications, Combermere, p 92 & 99

Follow Christ to where we are not yet

 

Image: crosswalk.com

Reflection by Deacon Steve selected from Thomas Merton

“The cult of the Holy Sepulchre is Christian only in so far as it is the cult of the place where Christ is no longer found. But such a cult can be valid only on one condition: that we are willing to move on, to follow Christ to where we are not yet, to seek Christ where he goes before us - “to Galilee.”

So we are called not only to believe that Christ once rose from the dead, thereby proving that he was God; we are called to experience the Resurrection in our own lives by entering into this dynamic movement, by following Christ who lives in us.

This life, this dynamism, is expressed by the power of love and of encounter: Christ lives in us if we love one another. And our love for one another means involvement in one another’s history.”

(Merton, Thomas, “He is Risen.” p. 7-8, Argus Communications, 1975)

As we make our visits to the people who request our services we become involved in another person’s history, thus we enter the dynamism of the Resurrection and thus we follow Christ who lives in us, bringing the experience of the Resurrection to all we meet.

May you and your families and loved ones be transformed by the grace and mercy of our Lord as you celebrate the Easter mysteries. May Christ‘s Easter hope, peace and joy fill your hearts.

Let God do the Rest

 

Our presence is the real evangelization and we need to let God do the rest.
By Deacon Steve

“Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian; he led his flock beyond the wilderness, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of a bush; he looked, and the bush was blazing, yet it was not consumed.

Then Moses said, “I must turn aside and look at this great sight, and see why the bush is not burned up.” When the Lord saw that he had turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am,” Then he said, “Come no closer! Remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” He said further, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Exodus 3:1-6

“Remove your sandals from your feet, for the ground on which you are standing is holy ground.” Every encounter with every person is an encounter with “holy ground” for every person is made in the image and likeness of our God. In every person is the “burning bush” that never consumes but remains as a light in each person, whether they choose to reveal it or not.

And so we need to remove “our sandals”, the “sandals” of our ego, our status, our agenda, and our solutions. We are called to be humble and to walk with people, especially those people who are poor, suffering and marginalized, experiencing who they are as a person and thus experience the person of Christ in each of them and so allow God’s grace to begin to restore their sense of dignity as persons.

We ourselves need to acknowledge that we are in need of God’s love, mercy and compassion, so that by God’s grace we can be the loving presence of Christ to each person. In each person we meet, especially those who are poor, if we listen, we can experience the merciful love of Christ.

St. Francis of Assisi is thought to have said, “Preach the Gospel…if necessary use words.” It is our loving, non-judgemental presence that is the real evangelization. When people start thinking of evangelizing the poor, it almost feels like they are looking for a way to solve the person’s problems rather than just walking with them and being a friend. We also have to remember we are not qualified counsellors and while trying to be helpful we could create other problems or extend them.

In the stories of Jesus healing miracles, Christ is totally present to the person first, looking at them directly, with a loving presence that gives them a wonderful sense of their humanity and dignity in the eyes of God. Any teaching moment only happens when the person is fully healed and their dignity restored.

In being Christ’s presence to the poor and suffering, we have no idea of the grace God makes available to all people. In faith we believe our Lord has a plan and it will be by God’s will that God’s grace will do what is needed. All we have to do is be fully present to the people as equals and as brothers and sisters.

The Importance of doing Tax Returns

 

If your tax returns are not current you will be unable to access government assistance such as the Canada Child Benefit (CCB).

Poverty of Spirit

 

Spiritual Reading selected by Deacon Steve from
Metz, Johannes B., “Poverty of Spirit”, Paulist Press, New York, 1968, p. 25-26

“God has come to us in grace. Our Lord has endowed us with God’s life, and made our life God’s. In doing this the Lord did not mitigate or eliminate our innate poverty; God actually intensified it and outdid it. God’s grace does not cause estrangement and excess as sin does. It reveals the full depths of our destiny (resulting from God’s salvific initiative in history), which we could not have imagined by ourselves.

A person with grace is a person who has been emptied, who stands impoverished before God, who has nothing of which they can boast…Grace does not erase our poverty; it transforms it totally, allowing it to share in the poverty of Jesus’ own immolated heart.

This poverty, then, is not just another virtue – one among many. It is a necessary ingredient in any authentic Christian attitude toward life. Without it there can be no Christianity and no imitation of Christ. It is no accident that “poverty of spirit” is the first of the beatitudes. What is the sorrow of those who mourn, the suffering of the persecuted, the self-forgetfulness of the merciful, or the humility of the peacemakers- what are these if not variations of spiritual poverty? This spirit is the mother of the threefold mystery of faith, hope and charity. It is the doorway through which people must pass to become authentic human beings.

Only through poverty of spirit do people draw near to God; only through it does God draw near to people. Poverty of spirit is the meeting point of heaven and earth, the mysterious place where God and humanity encounter each other, the point where infinite mystery meets concrete existence.”

Metz, Johannes B., “Poverty of Spirit”, Paulist Press, New York, 1968, p. 25-26

Transforming a Social Narrative By Listening

Archbishop Emeritus Sylvain Lavoie OMI

Someone once said, “Being listened to is so close to being loved, most people can’t tell the difference.”

The outrage across the nation and the church around the issue of Indian Residential Schools and unmarked graves, has become a heavy social narrative that has in some ways, taken on a life of its own beyond anyone’s power to manage. This very painful situation leaves many of us wondering what we can do, how can we best respond to the anger, lashing out, blaming, and sometimes acts of violence?

As simple as it may seem, I believe listening from the heart to the voices of those hurting the most, until we “get it,” is the best response.

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Do Vincentians care about Social Justice?

 A brief introduction to the Vincentian perspective on social justice by looking at what the Rule and Statutes has to say.

Be Kind - Blessed Rosalie Rendu

 

Reflection submitted by Deacon Steve for the feast day of Blessed Rosalie Rendu - February 7, 2022

This Monday February 7th, is the feast of Blessed Rosalie Rendu, who was a member of the Daughters of Charity, an order cofounded by St. Vincent de Paul and Louise de Marillac. They were founded in 1633, when Louise de Marillac began a systematic training of the women, particularly for the care of the sick. The sisters lived in community in order to better develop the spiritual life so as to more effectively carry out their mission of service. The Daughters of Charity differed from other religious congregations of that time in that they were not cloistered. They maintained the necessary mobility and availability, and lived among those whom they served.

It was this order that Jeanne Marie joined at the age of 16, and a few years later received the habit, taking on the name of Sr. Rosalie. Over the years Sr. Rosalie became known for her creative, relentless and effective work in some of the worst conditions such as revolutions and epidemics, not to mention the horrible poverty and destitution in which the people whom they served were living.

But it was Bl. Sr. Rosalie’s guidance combined with the dedication of the students of the History Conference formed by Bl. Frederic Ozanam that led to the creation of the Conference of Charity, which eventually became the St. Vincent de Paul Society.

Bl. Sr. Rosalie was constantly guiding young women and young men in works of charity. In the work titled “Life of the Souer Rosalie” speaking of some of Sr. Rosalie’s instruction, the author wrote,

“Then, teaching her pupils what she so admirably practiced herself, she cast the light of her experience on their first footsteps in the career of good. 

She recommended a patience which never counts time lost which is spent in listening to the poor, because they are comforted by the very good-will which stays to hear the tale of their sorrows; an indulgence ready to pity than to condemn the faults which arise from a wretched education; and lastly a courtesy most sweet to those who have been used to only slights and contempt.”

“Remember” added she, “that the poor are still more grateful for kindness than for alms. The surest way to gain their confidence is to show them consideration. Even if you have serious fault to find with them, always carefully avoid any harsh or contemptuous word.””

From the book, “Life of the Souer Rosalie: Jean Marie Rendu” p. 29 -30, published by Burns and Lambert, London, 1858 and reproduced in the same format as the original work. No attempt was made to update the language.

While the language is a little antiquated it does help us as we reflect on her life and allow ourselves to remember our beginnings.

As we celebrate Bl. Sr. Rosalie Rendu’s feast, let us reflect on her instruction and pray to her for an increase in kindness and our ability to spend time listening. By drawing ever closer to the poor may we be drawn closer to our Lord, whom we serve and who gives us the grace to do the work of the St. Vincent de Paul Society. 

Blessed Rosalie Rendu pray for us. As I said last year, may she say of us, “How good these young people are! Oh, how good they are.”  Enjoy the day all you “young people”!!!!

- Deacon Steve

Two Feet of Love in Action

 

Click on each picture to enlarge it for easier reading. 

Give yourself time - 15 or 30 minutes - to read, ponder, reflect, pray.

Image credit: US Conference of Catholic Bishops

Image credit: US Conference of Catholic Bishops

The Wedding at Cana – From a Sermon by Faustus of Riez, bishop

 

Stone water jars. Image credit: Jerusalem Perspective

“To those who only see with the outward eye, all these events at Cana are strange and wonderful; to those who understand, they are also signs. For, if we look closely, the very water tells us of our rebirth in Baptism. One thing is turned into another from within, and in a hidden way a lesser creature is changed into a greater. All this points to a hidden reality of our second birth. There water was suddenly changed; later it will cause a change in all people.”

The water in the jars is not less than it was before, but now begins to be what it had not been; so too the law is not destroyed by Christ’s coming, but is made better than it was.

When the wine fails, new wine is served: The wine of the old covenant was good, but the wine of the new is better.”

From a Sermon by Faustus of Riez, bishop - from the Office of Readings for Saturday before the Baptism of the Lord. Selected by Deacon Steve