“How will I thank the Lord for his goodness to me?” Ps 116

Dear parishioners,

As I sit down to write my last pastor’s corner, I find that my heart is full of thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving first to God. When we undertook measures to have Fr. Joseph come to join us, we thought we were bringing him over from India to Canada to be assistant pastor at St. Mary’s. What we didn’t know was that in and through our doings, it was God who, in a shining example of his providence, was bringing Fr. Joseph over to be the next pastor of St. Mary’s. Thank you God, for having provided St. Mary’s with yet another Dominican pastor.

Thanksgiving to Fr. Joseph. What we did to him was unfair, really. He came here on the understanding that he was to be assistant-pastor, only to be told upon arriving that it’s highly possible that he will be the next pastor. His reaction to this was one of slight shock, but mostly, of gracious and faith-filled acceptance and availability to the will of God. Thank you Fr. Joseph, for accepting to be the next pastor of St. Mary’s.

And finally, thanks to you all. In the twelve years that I have been here, I have received from God, through St. Mary’s parishioners, more than I can ever say. I have had a front-row seat at the spectacle of the grace of God in your lives. I have learned through your witness, your testimony, and the grace of God in your lives that I simply must and that I can trust in God, always. God bless you all, and thank you for having confirmed me in Christian faith and hope.

I leave you with one of the finest expressions I know of Christian faith and hope. It happens to be from the prophet Habakkuk, who appears in this Sunday’s first reading:

Though the fig tree fails to blossom,
Or the vine to yield its fruit;
Though the crop of the olive fails,
And the fields produce no grain,
Thought the flock is removed from the fold,
And there are no cattle in the stalls;
Yet will I rejoice in the Lord,
And rejoice in the God of my salvation.
The Lord, my Lord, is my strength;
He makes my feet like those of the deer,
And makes me tread upon the heights. Ha 3,17-19

God bless you all. Let us remain as one in faith and hope and prayer.
Fr. Guy

A post-script: Several have asked to have access to my homilies. Marianne has posted all those that I wrote digitally to Google Drive. If you wish to access them, just find out from Marianne how to go about it.

Again, God bless you all.

Fr. Guy