“Does not the human being have a hard service on earth, … I am allotted months of emptiness, and nights of misery are apportioned to me. My days come to their end without hope… My eyes will never again see good.” Job 7,1…7

Dear parishioners,

We have in today’s first reading a very eloquent expression of the reality of the human condition, at its worst. Frankly, the fact that our Judeo-Christian Scriptures look reality in the face, and acknowledge the harsh, dark, dreary, drudgery side of our human condition is a big part of what gives them credibility in our eyes. Since they acknowledge our reality, it is easier to place hope in the gospel that they propose in the face of the reality of the human condition. What this gospel proposes of course, is that since the Incarnation of Jesus, we are no longer alone, not ever, in our experiences of all that is harsh in human life. Jesus entered into our human condition, right down to its harshest potential: vexation, little hope, on a human level, and ultimately, torture and death. Whenever we encounter hardship of any kind, we need only remind ourselves that we have been preceded in it, by none other than Jesus himself. Such that we are never alone in suffering. He is in it with us. This is no small consolation. He is not with us from a safe distance. He is with us in the suffering. He lived it. And we also know how the story ends, thanks to his experience. The story always ends in deliverance, healing, and life in abundance. The story always ends in resurrection. By the grace of God, may we live our lives in an abiding and vivid awareness of this all important gospel.

As was widely expected, Dr. Bonnie Henry announced on Friday that the current restrictions on in-person church gatherings are prolonged, roughly, until the end of February. This means of course, that our current schedule of live streamed masses and opening hours for prayer, confession, and communion is also extended until further notice. Our liturgy team met this morning, Saturday, and made the following determinations: on Ash Wednesday, we will have the live streamed mass at 9:00 a.m., as usual. This will be followed by the live streamed St. Mary’s school mass, at 10:30. In the afternoon and evening, you will be able to pre-register to come to church for a walk-through during which you will be able to receive ashes and communion. The schedule for these walk-throughs will appear closer to Ash Wednesday, on all our platforms. On the Fridays of Lent, we will have live streamed stations of the Cross at 6:30 p.m., followed by the live streamed mass, which will replace the live streamed mass. The programme for Holy Week will have to wait until we know what is allowed by Public Health.

Please note that effective Monday, the Sunday offering envelopes will no longer be available for pick-up in the church foyer. They will be at the parish office, where you can come to get them during office hours, Monday to Friday, 9:00-5:00. Marianne, or one of her helpers will be calling all those for whom we have boxes of envelopes, to determine whether they still want envelopes, and to inform them that they can be picked up at the parish office. There will also be a delivery service for those who want their envelopes, but who are unable to come to get them.

Our live streaming team has taken a wonderful initiative. They will be airing short, 5-10 minute catechetical videos for children aged 4 to 7, prior to our Ash Wednesday mass, and just prior to our Sunday 11:15 a.m. masses during Lent. So effective Ash Wednesday, and every Sunday in Lent up to Palm Sunday, have your children with you in front of the screen for them to view these great little videos! More information on this on all our platforms. Look for “Lent with Paula”.

What better time than during a pandemic to remind you all that we have a parish library! It isn’t accessible for in-person browsing for the time being, but I’m working on having the link to our online library catalogue available on all our venues, so that you will be able to browse the holdings of our library online. And if you wish to borrow a book or other material, you will be able to contact Lorna at the parish office, who will pass your request on to Bill Murphy, our librarian. Bill will make the item available for you at the parish office, where you can come to get it. More on this later.

Two reminders. First, you can access the pastor’s corner on the parish website, and on our Instagram and Facebook pages weekly, usually in an expanded version.

Secondly, you can also receive it weekly by email, by registering as a parishioner on our parish website, even though you are already registered. By registering on the parish website, you are automatically placed on our email list. Here’s how you do it. On the main page of the parish website, click on “sign in” in the top right-hand corner of the page. The “Create Account” page will appear. Enter your email address, first and last names, and provide and confirm a password. Click on “Get started”. On the page that appears, click on “next”. On the next page that appears, enter your name again. If you’re not already registered as a parishioner, it would be very helpful to us if you provided us with contact information and a street address where they are asked for. But if you’re already registered as a parishioner and our information for you is up to date, you can click on “skip this step” for every page of questions that follows. At the very end, click on “Register Now”, and you will be taken back to the main page of the website. This should get you onto our parish email list.

A third reminder: We have online Exposition, Adoration, and Benediction on the first Friday of every month, starting at 7:45 p.m. This is on our Youtube channel. I suggest that you check this out for two reasons. The first is that the musical animation is really, really beautiful. Trish and McGill sing with beautiful soft voices. It’s extremely prayerful. The second reason I suggest you try this out is that I find that in this pandemic time, it brings peace. I get it, you’re not going to spend an hour and fifteen minutes staring at a consecrated host on a screen. But even if you just join us shortly before 9:00 p.m. for Benediction, you would derive benefit from this very fine prayer time.

May God’s Providence, and our prudence, keep us all safe and well until we are delivered from this pandemic.

Fr. Guy