​Dear parishioners and friends of St. Julia Parish,

This Sunday, April 30, is known as Good Shepherd Sunday.  It is also the World Day of Prayer for Vocations.  The purpose of World Day of Prayer for Vocations is to publicly fulfill the Lord's instruction to, "Pray the Lord of the harvest to send labourers into His harvest" (Mt 9:38; Lk 10:2).  As a climax to a prayer that is continually offered throughout the Church, it affirms the primacy of faith and grace in all that concerns vocations to the priesthood and to the consecrated life.  While appreciating all vocations, the Church concentrates its attention this day on vocations to the ordained ministries of priesthood and the diaconate, consecrated life in all its forms, male and female religious life, societies of apostolic life, consecrated virginity, secular institutes in their diversity of services and membership, and to the missionary life. 
 
One may ask, “where are the vocations to the priesthood today?”  Well, they are in our classrooms, our places of work, and around our kitchen tables.  The challenge is how does one hear this calling when there is so much noise in the world.  It is in the quiet and stillness of the heart where the Lord speaks to us.  And the opportunity is for us to tap that young man on the shoulder and to plant the seed, saying “I see the qualities of a priest in you,” or “have you ever considered being a priest?”  If it were not for Bishop Wingle, I would not be here today.
 
On this Good Shepherd Sunday, let us unite our prayers together with those throughout the world as we pray to our Lord that hearts be open to a vocation, and may those discerning respond with a heartfelt and generous yes.

May God continue to bless each of you and those that you love.
 
Fr. Greg

Dear parishioners and friends of St. Julia Parish,
 
Jesus himself drew near and walked with them.

This weekend we will hear the Gospel from Luke 24:13-35, "The Road to Emmaus."  I came across this reflection from Patricia Russell a number of years ago for our reflection this weekend:

As the disciples walked from Jerusalem to Emmaus, Jesus quietly joined their company, casually listening, questioning, and even challenging their assumptions about what transpired over the previous three days.  It wasn’t until they invited him to stay with them and sat down at table together that they recognized him, yet they’d felt something profound throughout their entire encounter. 

The Lord wants to be near us. He walks beside us and participates in the mundane aspects of our living. We feel his influence even when we aren’t entirely aware of his presence.  Imagine how much more joy we can experience when we welcome him as our honored guest and put him at the center of our daily routine.

This is the opportunity and challenge for us today and everyday, to put Jesus at the center of our daily routine, and at the center of our lives.  The result has the power to transform your life.

May God bless each of you and those that you love,

Fr. Greg

Dear parishioners and friends of St. Julia Parish,
 
Easter blessings to each of you!  As an Easter people we continue to celebrate the resurrection of our Saviour Jesus Christ.  Our Paschal candle continues to burn brightly in our sanctuary and represents Christ, the Light of the World.  In fact, it will continue to burn for the entire fifty days of the Easter Season, concluding on Pentecost Sunday when the Holy Spirit descended upon the Apostles.  The candle is made of pure beeswax and represents the sinless Christ who was formed in the womb of this His Mother, Mary.  The wick signifies His humanity, and the flame His Divine nature, both soul and body.
 
At our Easter Vigil I had the honour of lighting this candle with the new Easter fire, symbolizing our eternal life in Christ.  We then processed into our dark church, and with tapers, that light spread throughout the congregation to those both in person and our virtual congregation.  That light was then given to seven new Catholics through the Sacrament of Baptism and six others who entered into full communion with the Catholic Church, with eleven confirmations.  It is that light that is so very special for this truly is the light of Christ – thanks be to God.
 
This weekend we celebrate Divine Mercy Sunday.  In the Divine Mercy image, we see the risen Christ whose hands and feet bear the marks of the crucifixion.  The two rays coming forth from Jesus signify the sacraments of mercy (Baptism and Penance), and the Eucharist.  For me, this is an invitation to encounter Christ and for us to place our complete trust in our Lord.
 
Jesus, I trust in you.

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