3 Cathedral Road
Brampton
Ontario
L6W 2P1
The Privilege of Ministry
Mon, 14 Feb 2011 22:27:00 +0000
Christmas Reflections
Fri, 17 Dec 2010 00:15:00 +0000
And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so? It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn’t come from a store. What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.
Dr. Seuss, in describing the challenge to the Grinch, also challenges us to pause and reflect on what Christmas means to each of us. As Christians a major part of that answer has to include the impact on us of the birth of the Christ child, his life, death and resurrection and sometimes we have to struggle to keep that perspective in the ‘busyness’ of the season. We range from eager anticipation to wanting it to be over. There are times we identify with the ‘bah humbug’ of Scrooge and times we identify with Tiny Tim’s “God bless us everyone.” We at times feel the presence of the angels and feel to the depths of our being their message of peace on earth and goodwill toward all and yet line-ups in the mall and struggles to find parking places can often crowd out those feelings. We can feel the incredible blessings of being with those we love and yet we can feel the pain of not being with those who are absent through death or break down of relationship. It can be a season where we experience the heights but also the valleys. It can, indeed, be a time of incredible contrast.
Yet even that first Christmas had its’ contrasts. The King of kings born in a stable. The love of God made manifest – the hatred of Herod wrecking havoc. People looking for the birth of the Messiah – those who should see being blind to what was happening in their midst. And those contrasts would continue throughout the life of Jesus and on into the life of the Church. As we celebrate Christmas there will be a lot of hustle and bustle but in the midst of that may each of us create times of quietness to discern how the gift of the Christ child enriches our lives and how that can enable us to enrich the lives of others. In that quietness may we hear the songs of the angels and discern the gifts that God gives us. May each of us find our ways to give back to God through worship, spiritual care of our souls and how we impact on others. Roy L. Smith once said “He who has not Christmas in his heart will never find it under a tree.”
May we all, growing in our understanding and experience of Christmas, keep it in our hearts. May it be a blessing to you and may you be a blessing to others.
With thankfulness for the gift that is you and the gift that is this Parish please accept my best wishes that you may have a blessed Christmas and a New Year filled with love and faith.
Father Ron+
PS By the way, Grinch, it does mean a whole lot more.
Choir of Hexham Abbey - Here I am Lord
Tue, 15 Jun 2010 15:58:00 +0000
Is it I Lord?.
Tue, 15 Jun 2010 15:51:00 +0000
It has been said of some Christians that they are so heavenly minded they are no earthly use to anyone. Unfortunately, that is sometimes a very accurate statement. Just as we are called to remember that we don't live in isolation and that sometimes our spiritual/life journeys may take us to someplaces we would rather not be, we need to remember that is a common reality of our lives. Boney M, using the words of Psalm 137, reminds us of the exile of the children of Israel in Babylon. While the context may be different for us, and even different for each of us at various times in our lives, the question "How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land?" is one that reverberates throughout our lives and one that each of us must strive to answer. In the song "I the Lord of wind and sky.." we hear the question God puts to the young Isaiah "Whom shall I send?" His response, "Here am I, send me." should be ours as well when we encounter the demands of God in our daily lives because just as it has been for so many others, the answer may be "Yes!" This is the response of faith even if it takes us into a strange land. Open to the gifts of the Holy Spirit we will discern how to sing the Lord's song in that strange land and we may suddenly realize it is the right place to be.
Boney M - Rivers of Babylon 1978
Tue, 15 Jun 2010 15:17:00 +0000
Tue, 18 May 2010 17:31:00 +0000
WELCOME TO MY RAMBLINGS AND I HOPE THESE CONTENTS WILL CHALLENGE YOU NOT ONLY TO LOOK FOR GOD AT WORK IN PEOPLES' LIVES INCLUDING YOUR OWN BUT TO ALSO DISCERN HIS PRESENCE IN WAYS THAT MAY SURPRISE YOU. WE DO NOT WALK ALONE. WE DO NOT FIND OURSELVES IN ISOLATION. "IT IS NOT GOOD THAT MAN SHOULD BE ALONE..." (GEN. 2:18)
Joan Osborne - One of Us
Tue, 18 May 2010 16:55:00 +0000
Be Not Afraid, I go before you always
Tue, 18 May 2010 16:53:00 +0000