Dear parishioners and friends of St. Julia Parish,

This weekend we gather together as a parish family to celebrate the most important event in human history: the resurrection of the Son of God, Jesus Christ. 

What is interesting about this event is that it is recorded in history, verified by eyewitnesses, confirmed by revelation and testified to by God Himself.  It is a fact.  This is what we celebrate.

Prior to Jesus’ resurrection, death was final, it was the last word, and there was no hope.  That all changed on that first Easter morning.  This is what we celebrate.

We celebrate that Jesus Christ is risen from the dead, and that death no longer has the last and final words on our lives.  It is our Saviour who conquered death, having come back from the dead, and to never die again.  This is what we celebrate.

Jesus has also made a promise to us.  That what happened to him will also happen to us.  Like Jesus, we will rise to a new life, a journey from life here on earth to life in heaven.  This is what we celebrate.

We are here to help one another as a community of believers here at St. Julia.  We are on this journey together, united in prayer, serving and supporting one another, and helping one another as sisters and brothers to get to our ultimate home of heaven.  This is what we celebrate.

This is the promise God has made to us, made anew each Easter.  This is where we place our hope.  This is where we place our trust.  This is our source of joy.  Christ is truly risen from the dead.  This is what we celebrate.

I warmly welcome you and your family, friends and neighbours too, to join us for our Easter celebrations this weekend here at St. Julia.  Whether in person or virtually, just being able to gather is a reason to celebrate in itself.

On behalf of your parish family of St. Julia, I wish each one of you and those that you love a most blessed and grace-filled Easter.
 
Christ has truly risen from the dead.  Alleluia!

Fr. Greg

Dear parish family and friends of St. Julia,

On this Good Friday, we purposefully slow down as we relive the events leading up to Jesus' death and Resurrection. 
Today we will hear proclaimed the Passion narrative from John.  These are incredibly difficult passages to read, let alone to have been alive to witness these events.  So why would we call Good Friday “good” when Jesus experienced such horrible pain and agony?
According to Christianity.com, some Christians do call Good Friday "Sorrowful Friday" as a somber reminder of the events.  But what about the rest of the church?

BibleStudyTools.com teaches us that we call Good Friday good for a number of reasons.  First, we remember that Good Friday did not end on that Friday.  We had Resurrection Sunday a few days later to look forward to.  It is good in the sense that we anticipate what would come to pass days later.
Secondly, we call Good Friday good because we cannot have the Good News of the Gospel without the bad news of sin first.  Good Friday helps us to realize the gravity of our sinful nature and how much we need a Saviour.  People don’t need good news unless they’ve endured something bad before.

Slow down.  Bishop Robert Barron notes that this day is "Good" because Jesus completes his mission, atoning for the sin of the world and, in doing so, reforming our capacity for relationship with the Father. 

The earth sits in silence on Saturday for Jesus is dead.  There is a coldness, and emptiness in the church.  "He descended into hell," we recite in the Creed.  It is a day of mystery and fascination and unnerving stillness, for God, the second person of the trinity, is dead.

But, we know the end of the story.
Let us share in the story together as we gather this day as a parish family and community of believers.
Fr. Greg

Dear parish family and friends of St. Julia,

We are about to enter into the most beautiful and sacred weeks in the liturgical life of our church.  We begin this weekend with Palm Sunday.  We will encounter Jesus when we wave our palms as He descends from the Mount of Olives towards Jerusalem and we cry out “Hosanna.”  On Holy Thursday, we will gather around the table as He celebrates the Last Supper with his apostles and we listen to Jesus’ command to each of us to “take this all of you and eat of it” and to love one another.  On Good Friday we will stand at the foot of the cross as Jesus takes his last breath.  Then at our Easter Vigil and Easter Sunday, we will encounter the resurrected Jesus, having conquered sin and death.
 
This week, I invite you to listen to the words of Sacred Scripture as if you are hearing them for the very first time.  Be still.  Be in the moment.  Just be.  Immerse yourself in these liturgies and make the very most of this week as we journey with Jesus through His passion, death, and resurrection.
 
ONCE AGAIN THIS YEAR ON PALM SUNDAY
Join us this Palm Sunday, March 24 at 3:00 p.m. as we reflect on the "Seven Last Words of Jesus."  Sacred Scripture and music from our choir will make for what I pray will be a rich and meaningful experience for all present.  This will also be livestreamed.  I wish to sincerely thank our parishioner Alf McGrath for sharing this gift with our parish.

I look forward to us being united together this week as a parish family, and I wish you a truly blessed and grace-filled Holy Week.
God bless,
Fr. Greg 

Dear parish family and friends of St. Julia,

​Glimpses of the season spring are all around us.  Recently in the morning it has been so nice to wake up to hear the birds chirping.  The days are getting longer, with more daylight in the evening.  It is nice to be able to walk outside and to smell spring in the air with each deep breath taken.  Remarkably, the daffodils in the upper gardens are already in bloom!  This truly is a blessed time of the year because right before our eyes the world seems to come to life once again.

The same can be said about our spiritual lives.  The season of Lent presents us with the opportunity to freshen and awaken our lives and our relationship with Christ.  Prayer, fasting, and almsgiving directs our hearts and minds to God.  The Sacrament of Reconciliation during this season is spring cleaning for our souls, preparing ourselves for the great celebration of Easter.  Take the opportunity over this weekend and the coming weeks to encounter Christ in this beautiful sacrament.  No matter how long it has been, now is the time to take a deep breath, turn to or return to the sacrament, and experience the mercy and forgiveness that God wants to pour out upon you in abundance.  Leave with a sense of peace in your heart, washed and cleansed of sin, ready to embrace the season of Easter and Resurrection of our Lord.

Below you will find multiple opportunities to make this a reality in your life.

This weekend we celebrate the Third Scrutiny with our RCIA catechumens and candidates, now called the elect, at our 11:00 am Sunday Mass.
May God bless each of you and those that you love, and I look forward to seeing you at mass this weekend on the Fifth Sunday of Lent.  
God bless,
Fr. Greg

​Dear parish family and friends of St. Julia,
 
This Sunday at Mass we celebrate Laetare Sunday.  The Latin word Laetare means ‘rejoice’ and its origin is rooted in the Introit (opening chant) for the Fourth Sunday of Lent – Laetare Jerusalem: “Rejoice, O Jerusalem and come together all you that love her: rejoice with joy, you that have been in sorrow: that you may exult, and be filled from the breasts of your consolation.” 
 
Laetare Sunday marks the midpoint of Lent and the rose-coloured vestments that I will be wearing at Mass give us a glimpse at the light of the end of the 40-day tunnel of penance.  Yes, Lent is a penitential season.  It is a time that we allow the spot light to shine in on our hearts, looking at the nooks and crannies to see what needs to be pushed out, that is sin, in order to fully allow Christ to enter our hearts at Easter, with the new Easter light, the true light of Christ.  This is what this Sunday is all about.  Lent is not all about being somber.  This Sunday we are called to rejoice in the reality of Easter – the promise of Easter – the resurrection of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
 
At this midpoint I ask myself the question, “How has my season of Lent been going?”  I ask you the same question.  If you can say it has been a good season and that you have experienced God’s graces and blessings, that you feel closer to Christ, that you have experienced spiritual renewal, then thanks be to God!  If you say it has been a little rough, that your Lenten practices of prayer, fasting and almsgiving have fallen short of what you set out to embrace at the beginning of the journey, fear not.  We are at the midpoint.  Consider this a reboot, a new start.  Rejoice in the fact that our God is a God of second chances and fresh starts.  That is what the Sacrament of Reconciliation is all about.  Make the most of these next three weeks by striving to realign your heart with the heart of Christ, returning to Christ through prayer, and take the time for your spiritual renewal.  Remember that Christ fell three times carrying the cross.  Now we too get back up, as people of hope.
 
That is what we must remember at this moment.  Last year on this Sunday I wrote "We may think how can I even utter the words rejoice at this moment in time with all that is taking place in Ukraine?"  Now, over a year later, this war continues.    Once again I write that it is our faith that we turn to for strength.  We unite ourselves in prayer with our sisters and brothers of Ukraine.  We place our trust in God, for it was Christ who conquered sin and death by rising from the dead.  For that and so many more reasons, we remain people of hope.

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

Dear parish family and friends of St. Julia,

This Sunday’s Gospel from Matthew 2:13-25 recounts the “cleansing of the Jerusalem temple” by Jesus, as it is usually called.  When I am visiting our St. Peter Catholic Elementary school classrooms (now virtually), sometimes I will get the question “Did Jesus ever get angry?”  This is usually when I pray that the bell will ring.  And so, we begin to unpack the answer together.  Jesus was just like us, for he was fully human, (and as our faith teaches us, and fully divine).  Taking it one step further, he was like us in all things but sin.  This brings us to our Gospel, one of the best examples of Jesus getting angry. 
The temple-market in the court of the Gentiles, as well as the money exchange tables, were meant for the benefit of the many pilgrims who would come to Jerusalem for Passover.  Jesus, wishing to see the temple as something other than a market-place, sought to drive out the sellers and exchangers.  “Stop turning my Father’s house into a marketplace,” Jesus said.
 
So, is it a sin to get angry?  Jesus used his passions with zeal, with great energy or enthusiasm in pursuit of a cause or an objective.  He saw what was taking place in God’s house, His Father’s house, and spoke up.  This zeal could in fact have cost Jesus his life.  So, was this a sin, to speak with zeal, and what we may say get angry?  No.  We once again return to the commandments of “Love of God” and “Love of Neighbour.”  Jesus saw what was taking place in the temple and spoke up because of His love for God.  This was the use of passions for something good.
 
When we see offences taking place against our God and our neighbour, we too are called to use our passions, our emotions, given to us by God, to speak up.  An example of this is abortion and medically assisted suicide.  Every life, from conception to natural death, is a precious gift from God.  Treating our Church, the House of God, with respect, is another example.  Our belief in the Eucharist being the real presence of Christ is yet another.  Any offence is most troubling, and would cause us anger.
 
So how do we speak up?  This is done with the help of the Holy Spirit, and with a message delivered in love.  Taking the very best of our passions, our emotions, and setting out to change the hearts of those that believe likewise, can bring about change.  And as you know, we do not pray just for change, but transformation, so that there is no going back to former ways.  And all of this is done delivered in a message of love.
 
As I am writing this, other examples come to mind, and perhaps as you are reading this some examples are popping into your head.  Let us pray for transformation.  May we call upon the gifts of the Holy Spirit that we received at Confirmation, for the courage to speak up, by our words, deeds, and action.  All delivered in a message of love, using the very best of our passions and emotions.
 
Please know of my continued prayers for a grace-filled season of Lent and may God bless each of you and those that you love.
 
God bless,
Fr. Greg