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We welcome Fr.  Sam  Samuel  V.C., a Vincentian Missionary Priest from India, to our parish this weekend to participate in our Annual Missionary Cooperation Plan. He will share his missionary experience at all the Masses this weekend and will make an appeal on behalf of the Vincentian Missions. The Vincentian Missionaries need our help to carry out their many missionary, educational and charitable activities in their missions. They also request our special financial support for the training of young men studying for priesthood. There will be special collection this weekend to help the Missionary work of the Vincentian Missionaries. We urge you to be very generous in your mission offering since these Missionaries need our help.
 
If you did not have an opportunity to make an offering this weekend or would like to make an additional offering, you may make your offering through the general parish collection next weekend in a specially marked envelope. Thank you very much for your prayers and generous financial support .The Vincentian Missionaries keep you and our parish in their prayers and Masses.

May God continue to bless each of you and those that you love, and I look forward to you joining me for the celebration of Mass this weekend.

Fr. Greg                                

 
Dear parish family and friends of St. Julia,

​This Sunday we celebrate the Third World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly.  Pope Francis’ chosen theme for this year’s World Day is “His mercy is from age to age” (Lk 1:50).
 
This World Day that we are celebrating today can help us to understand that all of us, young and old, grandparents and grandchildren, whether or not we belong to the same family, are “one body and one Spirit, as you were also called to the one hope of your call”.  This awareness comforts us and shapes us as a people as we gather around the altar on which the Lord multiplies the bread of life and the Word of our salvation.  The elderly (or the young at heart) − like the young − are important.  Without them the body of the Church lacks something.  That is why it is necessary for them to have their rightful place within each of our communities.  It is crucial that we share in the lives of older people in the same way that the Lord, in giving us his Body and Blood, has made us sharers in his own.

To showcase this theme, the CCCB Standing Committee for Family and Life, in tandem with its Office, produced a 30 second video which captures a group of high school students visiting the elderly at a retirement home. The heartwarming interaction of old and young wonderfully represents this year’s World Day theme and inspires us to find concrete and creative ways to draw near to the elderly. 
 
As the themes of “Love of God” and “Love of Neighbour” continue to resonate in the back of our minds, consider calling that grandparent or “young at heart” person in your life, to let them know that they are loved.  Reassure them that we are united together at the celebration of the Mass, and that in a special way they will be prayed for at our Masses this weekend at St. Julia.  And if that someone special has gone before us, remember that they continue to hear our prayers, and that they are praying for us.
 
Click here to read Pope Francis’ Message
 
May God continue to bless each of you and those that you love, and I look forward to you joining me for the celebration of Mass this weekend.

Fr. Greg

Dear parish family and friends of St. Julia,
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The parable of the sower has been lived out many times over my years of involvement with the RCIA.  It is a rewarding and blessed experience.  We have had Mothers and Fathers wanting to journey with their children who are receiving the sacraments in the school.  Couples wanting to marry in the church.  Those wanting to complete the sacraments of initiation.  Yet many come seeking baptism and initiation into a life with Christ, but despite our efforts, not all stay connected to their newfound faith or our community.  Some become distracted once the newness wears off.  Some become discouraged when tragedy overwhelms them.  Yet many continue to be models of faith for the body of Christ.  As a priest, that is most rewarding to witness, all with the help of the Holy Spirit.  I will say, thanks be to God, the vast majority of our new Catholics here at St. Julia are rooted in this community.  Amen.

As a community, we are called to till the soil and to nurture the seeds of faith by our fellowship and example, and those seeking a life of faith must remain open to the light and life that Christ offers.

Our RCIA  journey will begin once again in October.  The time is now to plant those seeds, asking the question "Have you ever considered becoming Catholic?"

Read Matthew 13:1-23 before joining us for mass this weekend.  Let the seed be planted in your heart, and may that seed be nurtured by the Word of God and the Eucharist at mass as we continue to cultivate those seeds as a family of believers.

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

Dear parish family and friends of St. Julia,
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Are you tired, weary or perhaps carrying a burden?  During times of stress and conflict, God beckons us to take a time-out. 

To stop. 

To breathe. 

To pray.

During trying times and seasons, draw close to God and bask in His faithfulness and affection. Whether the stress of a situation remains or is removed, our souls can rest in Him.
As we gather for mass this weekend, listen closely and reflect upon our Gospel from Matthew 11:25-30.

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

 Dear parish family and friends of St. Julia,

This weekend we will hear Psalm 89 sung as part of our responsorial psalm:  "For ever I will sing the goodness of the Lord."

The Psalms, found in the Old Testament are a collection of prayers assembled over several centuries, composed of sacred songs, or sacred poems, meant to be sung.  The psalms have been used since Jesus' time as the public prayer of the Church.
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With the end of school year masses now complete, diplomas handed out at graduations, and teachers turning off the lights in their classrooms for another school year, we give thanks for the goodness that the Lord has  showered upon our children and their families, administrators, teachers, and support staff too.

As we begin this new month and enter into the summer months together as a parish family, my prayers of thanksgiving continue as I sing and give thanks for the goodness that the Lord has poured out upon our community.  I also pray that the goodness of the Lord will shower upon each of you and those that you love, not only this day, but always.

While many from our parish will travel over the summer months, please know of my prayers and be assured that we will be united in prayer at the celebration of the mass here at our spiritual home of St. Julia.

Enjoy the long weekend and see you at mass,
 
Fr. Greg