Dear parish family and friends of St. Julia,

We will hear Jesus proclaim in our Gospel from Matthew 22:34-40 this weekend the greatest of all the commandments: “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.”

This was first recorded in the Book of Deuteronomy (chapter 6, verse 5).  Long before the coming of Jesus Christ as man, taking on our human flesh, God gave this commandment to the people, through Moses.
 
Centuries later, when a scribe approached Jesus, asking him which is the first or greatest of all the commandments, Jesus answered with the very words from Deuteronomy, well known to the scribe, or any devout Jew for that matter.  Jesus would go on to add “You shall love your neighbour as yourself,” which Jesus would have known well as coming from the Book of Leviticus (chapter 19, verse 18).
 
Each Sunday when we gather for Mass, we are reminded of these two great commandments on our banners adorning our sanctuary here at St. Julia.  Love God.  Love people.   They truly are inseparable.  Each and every day we have numerous opportunities to show this love: in our homes, places of work, our schools, to the poor and marginalized  – everywhere. 
 
May we call upon the Holy Spirit to ignite that fire within each of us, that fire of love that can change our lives, our community, and our world.

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

Dear parish family and friends of St. Julia,

Every Sunday when we gather for Mass, we are reminded of the greatest of the commandments on our banners adorning our sanctuary here at St. Julia.  Love God.  Love people.   They truly are inseparable.  
 
These two commandments summarize all of the laws given to us in Sacred Scripture.  The commandments deal with our relationship with God and then our relationship with others.  The one flows out of the other.
 
We need a right relationship with our God.  Without this right relationship, our other relationships will not be right either.  The cause of so many of our problems, and perhaps even the world's problems, is that we need to be reconciled with God.  How can we love our neighbour as ourselves if we do not first love God, with all our heart, mind, and soul.  Our best efforts at peace will fail as long we are living in unrest against God.
 
So, where does it begin?  It begins with us.  Each and every day we have numerous opportunities to show this love: in our homes, places of work, our schools, to the poor and marginalized  – everywhere. From there it spreads.
 
May God bless each of you and those that you love,
 
Fr. Greg

Dear parish family and friends of St. Julia,

Having established the church in Philippi, the first European city to receive the gospel of Christ, Paul had a special fondness for this community.  He would move on to other communities, yet he would continue to pray for the church he had established there.

I've said it many times, yet it deserves repeating.  The letters of St. Paul are truly love letters as I was taught in the seminary, and his letter to the Philippians was perhaps his most intimate and personal letter he ever wrote.

This weekend in our second reading we will hear the words of St. Paul come alive as we will hear proclaimed "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

Once again, we are reminded that he wrote this as he was imprisioned in Rome.

What are you facing at this moment?  What is God asking of you?  What are you trying to work through?  What are you searching for?  Who is your source of strength?

As we bring our prayers and petitions to our mass this weekend, may our hearts and the very depths of our souls be pulled to the source - Jesus Christ.

May you leave the doors strengthed having been fed by the Word of God and the real presence of Christ.  A gift freely and lovingly given.

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

Fr. Greg

Dear parish family and friends of St. Julia,

Pleasant fall days and cool nights, and another Thanksgiving is upon us. 

As we gather this weekend for Mass at our parish of St. Julia, either in person or virtually, we are reminded of the tremendous blessings God continues to pour out upon our community.  And as we gather with our families this weekend, we thank God for the gift of our families, friends, loved ones, and perhaps most of all, the gift of faith.
 
May we be a sign of God’s goodness and hope for one another as we offer our prayers of thanks, not only on this Thanksgiving weekend, but each and every day.
 
May God bless each of you and those that you love, and I thank God for each of you, my spiritual family, and this community of St. Julia.

Fr. Greg