“Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets, and that the Lord would put his spirit on them all!” from today’s first reading from the Book of Numbers

Dear parishioners,

Moses’ wish that the Lord would put his spirit on all the Lord’s people has been met, at least with respect to Christians, who have all received the Spirit of the Lord in baptism. The challenge is to release the Spirit that is in us, that we might produce in our lives the gifts of the Spirit. This is happening all the time in our local Church. I refer you to the BC Catholic, where every week, I read Spirit-inspired writings, or I read of Spirit-driven accomplishments. It is very, very edifying. 

A number of things to announce this week.

Last Sunday, we ran out of copies of the “Seasons of Hope” brochures that we mentioned in the pastor’s corner and at the end of mass. We have made more copies. They are available at the exits as you leave today.

The parish office will be closed on Thursday September 30th. This is our way of marking the National Day For Truth and Reconciliation between indigenous and non-indigenous Canadians. This gesture, together with the beautiful orange ribbons we have hung in the trees in front of the church and rectory, is our way of affirming that at St. Mary’s, we are on the side of truth and reconciliation.

Next Sunday, October 3rd, will be “Safe Haven Sunday”, as decided by the archdiocese. “Safe Haven” is a movement in the Church which strives to confront head-on among Catholics the issue of online pornography and to enable individuals and families to effectively protect themselves and their children against pornography and other online threats. On that Sunday, we will provide you with a resource for combatting pornography in your home and on your children’s devices, as well as with a prayer that you can take with you and pray together at home, as a family. We will also share with you a few convictions on this topic, and we will pray together for families and for a society buoyed up by Christian values. This is a very delicate topic. On the one hand, there is little point in talking about pornography unless we talk about it frankly, and on the other hand, I’m sure there are at least some among you who are not comfortable with your children being exposed to a frank discussion of pornography. For this reason, we will address this issue in an end-of-mass message, such that those who are not comfortable exposing their children to this talk will be able to leave before the talk begins, or one of the parents can leave with the children and the other remain for the talk.  

Effective this coming Friday, October 1st, we will resume our practice of all-day adoration on First Fridays of the month. The Blessed Sacrament will be exposed from after the 8:00 a.m. mass until 9:00 p.m. In order to be able to do this, we need to be sure that there will always be someone in the church. To this end, we will have a sign-up sheet on the table in the foyer, starting the preceding Friday, on which you will be invited to sign up for an hour of adoration. This means that today, after mass, you can sign up for an hour of adoration on October 1st. If some hours are left without sign-ups, we will be sure to fill them in before the day begins.

Enough, I think, for this week. More to come next week. In the meantime, enjoy as much as possible the fine autumn weather that comes our way, keep safe, and God bless. Fr. Guy