“They will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. He will send out the Angels, and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.” Mk 13

Dear parishioners,

As we approach the end of the liturgical year, the readings evoke “the last day”, the day of the Son of Man, the day when he will return to draw us all up to himself. The language of the Scriptures that refer to this day is admittedly troubling. The passages that evoke the Lord’s coming  speak of terror and destruction of the world as we know it, and of anguish. But it will be like the pain of childbirth. There will be much more happiness than pain.   It will be a happy day. We will be awakened. We will see God, and Jesus, and all those we have known and loved, alive, restored, ever so well, still very much themselves, yet transfigured, transformed into a likeness of Jesus. It will be a most happy day.

In the meantime, we have a few things to report.

This Saturday, November 20th, Archbishop Miller will be with us to preside the 9:00 a.m. mass and the inaugural blessing of our Columbus Plaza. This event will be live streamed.  Thereafter, the gates of the plaza will be opened to correspond with Sunday mass times, so basically Saturday, 4:00 p.m. till roughly 6:30 p.m. and Sundays from 7:30 a.m. till 8:30 p.m. By the grace of God, may this plaza be a holy place, a source of inspiration and hope, a place of remembrance and contrition and reconciliation and healing, a place where serenity is restored, for many, many people, for many, many years.

Effective today, “The Little Blue Book”, an Advent/Christmas reflexion booklet, is available at the exits as you leave the church. Hopefully the other one we have ordered, the “Magnificat” booklet, will also be available next Sunday. Help yourself to a copy for yourself, and even better yet, for someone you know who isn’t attending mass for the time being, and of whom you know they would like to have a copy.

Ave Maria Gardens is holding a flower arrangement workshop next Saturday, November 20th, from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., and again from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. To sign up for one of these workshops, call Jane at 778-683-1396 or email her at [email protected] 

Last week, we spoke to you about the “Friday Report” that you can receive weekly as an email. Here is the link to subscribe to this weekly email: https://rcav.org/friday-report You will also find this link on a permanent basis on our parish bulletin and on our parish website. 

The first of our four “Seasons of Hope” has wrapped up. This is our faith-based, Scripture-based grief support group. The participants are very happy with it. The next season will begin at a date to be determined in January. Each season stands on it’s own, so you can sign up for any of the seasons, even if you haven’t participated in the previous one. If you are struggling with a grieving process that is painful, or if you know someone who is, the person to contact is Marianne at 604-435-9611 ext 0.

For those of you who are curious, our count of people in attendance at all masses in October revealed that we are at close to 50% of pre-pandemic attendance. Also, in terms of income, we are at 72% of pre-pandemic income. Thanks again to all of you whose continued donations during our lockdowns enabled us to keep on going.

A reminder: those of you who are uncomfortable touching the baskets that pass through so many hands during offertory can just let the basket pass by you, and deposit your offering in the wooden box that is fastened to the last pew in the centre aisle.

Finally, I will be away for Clergy Study Days all of this week, so if you leave me a phone message or send me an email, I won’t be able to respond until the end of the week. If it is a matter requiring my immediate attention or if you are calling for a funeral, speak to Lorna at the parish office number, extension 6.

God bless, and have a safe week.

Fr. Guy