“I waited patiently for the Lord; he inclined to me and heard my cry. He drew me up from the desolate pit, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure….He put a new song into my mouth…As for me, I am poor and needy, but the Lord takes thought for me. You are my help and my deliverer; do not delay, O my God.” Ps 40

Dear parishioners,

Two things are revealed to us in today’s readings, both bad and good. First the bad: like Jeremiah, like Jesus, to the extent that you stand up for and are faithful to the gospel of God, expect trouble. Big trouble. Including from people as close to you as immediate family. Persecution is an integral part of Christian life. We need to acknowledge it. Thank God, not persecution for all Christians, all the time, but certainly for some Christians, all of the time. Now for the good news. Expect persecution, but expect also redemption from unexpected quarters. Expect unhoped-for redemption. Who could have predicted that an Ethiopean would intercede for Jeremiah in the cistern, and have him pulled back out to safety. Such is the experience of Christians. Many many Christians could testify to this pattern of unhoped for, undreamed of redemption coming from unexpected quarters. This is a constant aspect of God’s Providence. He is the help and the deliverer of his people. If not in this life, then certainly in the next. By the grace of God, may our hope for redemption be firmly and permanently fastened on God’s Providence.

Speaking of Providence, we have a golden opportunity to be God’s Providence for one of our families who have lost everything in a house fire. They are Mcdel Disamsurun and Roma Argame, together with Roma’s parents and their two children, one aged six, the other just five months old. They have no insurance. Next Sunday, August 21,  we will have a special collection to come to their aid.

I hope and pray that your summer thus far has been restful and restorative. I can’t say as much for myself. After a month-long provincial chapter in Ottawa, I just returned from a month-long general chapter of the Dominican Order in Mexico. It was life-giving in the sense that I was with Dominicans from all over the world, but it was a grueling exercise in producing rapidly lengthy documents which we can only hope that Dominicans worldwide will read. Hopefully the coming weeks will be restorative for me as well. In any case, it’s great to be back!

Remember our Refood Filipino Festival to be held on the Clive Street parking lot next Sunday, 11 am to 6 pm. And remember that if you usually park there for mass, you’ll need to arrive a bit early to find alternate parking!

Keep safe, God bless,

Fr. Guy