“God the Father has set his seal on the Son of Man. He will give you food that endures for eternal life. The work of God is that you believe in him whom he has sent. The bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” Jn 6

Dear parishioners,

More on these beautiful words in Sunday’s homily.

For now, very little to report. This is summer after all, and we’re pretty well settled into our parish parameters for stage 3 of our gradual re-opening, which, in principle ends on September 7. Given the current uptick in cases, here and around the world, I suspect that stage 3 might be extended in some way, but we’ll find out soon enough…

Last Sunday, on the occasion of the World Day for grandparents and the elderly, we put out 400 lovely prayer cards containing a prayer formulated not for the elderly, but to be prayed by the elderly. We ran out at the 9:30 a.m. mass! So we are putting out another 500 copies this Sunday. We are inviting you to take one for yourselves, but also, that you take one for a senior who you know would like to have one. The prayer is very nice. They are available at the exits, alongside the parish bulletins, and a very limited number of leaflets inviting us to participate in the Jubilee year celebrating the 200th anniversary of the birth St. Andrew Kim, first Korean priest in the Catholic Church. 

There are few more striking examples of the truth of the saying, “the blood of martyrs is the seed of Christians” than the story of the Catholic Church in Korea, and among Koreans around the world, in particular, here in the Lower Mainland. The Korean Church in our midst is thriving and gaining converts all the time. If you’re looking for a destination for a road trip, a good one would be the parish of St. Andrew Kim, at 10222 161 St., Surrey. They have a lovely church, and if you’re lucky, there’ll be people having a Korean drum rehearsal in the hall adjacent to the church. There is also a lovely regional park, Serpentine Hollow, just down 161st street, where you can take a walk in the woods surrounding the Serpentine River.

This last week, I celebrated the funerals of two people who died in the first heatwave we experienced at the beginning of this month. In this second wave, let’s all be mindful of those we may know who are vulnerable because of old age and who live alone. There may be someone out there who could use our help.

I take this opportunity to point out that thanks to a benefactor, we have acquired touchless holy water dispensers. They are intended to replace the fonts at the entrance to the church. They provide you with just a few drops of water to sign yourselves as you enter and exit the church. They are on either side of the main entrance doors.

From the beginning of this pandemic, to justify the strict measures that we have consistently adhered to, I have said repeatedly that I don’t want St. Mary’s to be the place where you caught Covid. I now realize that if indeed no one catches Covid at St. Mary’s, it will be thanks to you all. Nowhere, in the churches that I visit, have I seen the level of caution and prudence that I see exercised by simply everyone at St. Mary’s. I’m so very proud of us, and I take this opportunity to say thanks and God bless you all for our consistent, collective prudence. 

Till next Sunday, enjoy the lovely weather, especially in the shade, keep safe, keep cool, get vaccinated, and God bless, Fr. Guy