“The crucified Christ that we proclaim is a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are called, he is the power and the wisdom of God.” 1 Co 1,24

Dear parishioners,

If the gospel of Jesus is a stumbling block for the Jews and foolishness to the Gentiles, that is to say, all those who are not Jews, then who in the world is ever going to embrace the gospel? The answer is in this same verse: only those who are called. We are reminded once again of this stunning fact that if we are believers, it is because we have been chosen and called by God to be believers, and have received the gift of faith from the Holy Spirit. Jesus confirms this in the gospel of John: “No one comes to me unless the Father draws him to me.” It is a stunning, humbling affirmation. For reasons that we ignore, we have been chosen to live our lives in what can only be called the privilege of the Christian faith. Let us be vividly aware of this mystery, and give thanks to God for it every day.

Last Tuesday, we had the first Building Committee meeting in a very long time. Since there isn’t a lot else to report to you today, this is a nice opportunity to update you as to where we are at in terms of our building project. Firstly, we can say that the archdiocese is highly interested in our project, because it is a model of development that could eventually be applicable to other parishes and schools. For this reason, the archdiocese is striking an ad hoc working group to keep an eye on our project and any other similar projects that could arise in the future. Secondly, an analysis by a consultancy firm has established that our project is financially viable under several different scenarios. That’s a very significant development. Thirdly, our building fund is now standing at $2,372,000. As you can see, while we have incurred a few expenditures, we are putting more money into the fund than we are taking out of it, thanks to the generosity of parishioners who continue to contribute to it in these pandemic times. Thanks to all of you. And finally, even as we push on with the new building plan, the archbishop wants us to dot our I’s and cross our t’s. He has asked us to obtain a current demographic projection to ascertain that we will be able to keep a double-streamed school full since, if we can not, we will incur serious financial problems. This projection has been done. We have yet to forward its conclusion to the archbishop. The second thing he asked is that we determine again, using 2021 numbers, that a seismic upgrade, together with the building of an annex if need be, is not a viable option. This has yet to be done.

So as you can see, our project is not on pause, it’s just slow and steady. Keep it in your prayers please, that whatever comes, it will unfold according to God’s will.

Last week, I reminded you that we are subscribed as a parish to Formed.org, but I unfortunately misled you in terms of how to access the site. If you go to the parish bulletin, you will find very clear and detailed instructions as to how to get in.

Just a reminder of other things I spoke to you about last week: 40 Days for Life, Development and Peace’s Lenten programme, Archbishop Miller’s letter to Catholics on the topic of his appeal to the Public Health Officer to re-open the churches for in-person attendance, and our subscription to “Shalom World TV”. The latter is available as a small orange circle at the very bottom right-hand corner of the main page of the parish website. All the other things mentioned here are accessible on all our sites.

Finally, just hours before I wrote this, we learned that the Archbishop’s request for permission to re-open for church gatherings of 10% of church capacity has been turned down by the Public Health Officer, and that he intends to submit a counter-proposal of gatherings for 10% of capacity, to a maximum of 50, effective Holy Thursday, April 1. I am therefore in a position to be able to say that we will maintain our current schedule for masses and confession/communion/prayer times until Wednesday March 31. As for the Easter Triduum, we’ll have to wait and see.

God bless us and keep us all safe in this third week of Lent.

Fr. Guy