23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

 
Dear parish family and friends of St. Julia,
Here we are.  The beginning of the month of September.  Labour Day weekend.  School buses back out on Tuesday as the children begin a new school year.  The first day of kindergarten.  Teary eyed parents and grandparents.  Young adults off to university and college, some returning, some leaving home for the first time.  Cool nights, and shorter days of daylight.  The fall mums are out in the stores.  The list of changes goes on and on, and the cycle of life continues.

One thing that does not change is God.  God simply is.  God is unchanging.  And God's love for us does not change.  God's Love: Unconditional, unchanging, unending!  How comforting is that!  Seasons may come and go.  Chapters in our lives open and close.  Days, months, and years pass by at an unbelievable pace, and our God is with us every step along the way.  I'm writing this Thursday evening after a very pleasant day in Fort Erie with my family.  It was a beautiful day, and my youngest nephew and I went for a bike ride along the water.  The water was glistening, a perfect temperature and a nice breeze.  All God's creation, and what a gift it is.  And God was with us for the ride.

As we embark on this long weekend together and new month, that is what we must remember.  That God is always with us.  In our homes, in our places of work, in our schools, and in our community of St. Julia.  The list goes.  In a most profound way God is with us in the celebration of the mass, through the gift of His son, Jesus Christ in the Eucharist, and in Sacred Scripture.  What a gift this is - a gift that will never change.

Enjoy this beautiful weekend, and let's keep one another in prayer, the children and youth in our community, our educators, and the forgotten.

May God bless each of you and those that you love, and I look forward to seeing you at mass this weekend.
Fr. Greg