Dear parish family and friends of St. Julia,

The rich fool’s greatest undoing is his failure to acknowledge, according to Martin Luther King Jr., that wealth always comes as a result of the commonwealth.  He was a fool because he completely failed to realize his dependence on God and on others. In contrast to the rich fool, Jesus was, and still is, a man for others; He lived and died for others and hopes that His own disciples would follow in His footsteps. Like Jesus, what we own, we owe. The joy of having is in sharing! God is good … All the time!

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

Dear parish family and friends of St. Julia,

Pope Francis will make his pastoral visit to Canada beginning this weekend, from July 24 to 29, 2022.  The Pope’s visit will provide a unique opportunity for him, once again, to listen and dialogue with Indigenous Peoples, to express his heartfelt closeness and to address the impact of colonization and the participation of the Catholic Church in the operation of residential schools throughout Canada.  

We are all invited to join the Bishops of Canada as we reflect, pray and prepare to welcome the Holy Father for these days among us.

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

Dear parish family and friends of St. Julia,
 
Both Abraham and the two sisters, Mary and Martha, opened their homes in hospitality to others: Abraham welcomed strangers, Martha and Mary welcomed a family friend, Jesus.  They were hospitable.  They loved God very much.  Mary, however, understood that true hospitality is receiving more than giving or doing. When we open ourselves to God’s self-giving, and allow ourselves to be loved by Him, as Mary did, it is only then that we can truly be called His disciples.
 
When you join us for mass this weekend, and perhaps you see an unfamiliar face, I invite you to put this message of hospitality into action.  Extend a greeting, a friendly hello, receiving that fellow disciple into our midst.  Help that someone find a seat, or welcome them into your pew.  We are blessed to welcome visitors and new faces each weekend, and as we prepare for the Niagara 2022 Canada Summer Games this August 6-21, may St. Julia be a welcoming spiritual home to those attending from both near and far.
 
May God bless each of you and those that you love.
 
Fr. Greg

Dear parish family and friends of St. Julia,

During our June retreat for the priests of our diocese led by Dr. Josephine Lombardi, we were introduced to Akiane Kramarik, an American poet and painter.  She began drawing at the age of four.  Kramarik's best-known painting is Prince of Peace, which she completed at the age of eight. 

As you enjoy these summer days, remember to count your blessings.

I look forward to you joining me and our parish family this weekend for mass, and may God bless you and those that you love.

Fr. Greg

Dear parish family and friends of St. Julia,

Pope Francis will make a pastoral visit to Canada from July 24 to 29, 2022.  The Pope’s visit will provide a unique opportunity for him, once again, to listen and dialogue with Indigenous Peoples, to express his heartfelt closeness and to address the impact of colonization and the participation of the Catholic Church in the operation of residential schools throughout Canada.  The papal visit will also provide an opportunity for the shepherd of the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics to connect with the Catholic community in Canada.

The Catholic Church has a responsibility to take genuine and meaningful steps to journey with Indigenous Peoples of this land on the lengthy path to healing and reconciliation.  Papalvisit.ca will provide information on the historic journey of Pope Francis to Canada, a significant step on the road to truth, understanding and healing.  

Catholic Bishops Welcome Announcement of Program of Papal Visit to Canada July 24-29 2022
 
We are all invited to join the Bishops of Canada as we reflect, pray and prepare to welcome the Holy Father for these special days among us.
 
I wish each of you a blessed and safe long weekend, and I look forward to welcoming you to our spiritual home of St. Julia as we gather for Mass this weekend.
 
May God bless each of you and those that you love.
 
Fr. Greg

 
Dear parish family and friends of St. Julia,

This weekend our readings shine a spotlight on discipleship and what it means to follow someone else, to follow the Lord Jesus.  This all began at our baptism.  Our parents, grandparents, godparents, teachers, priests, and many others helped us, guided us, and taught us what it means to be a disciple, a follower of Jesus Christ.  This all takes place by word, deed, and example.  Then there comes the day.  The day we were given the freedom.  I often reflect upon this when I am preparing for grade eight and high school masses and graduation.

If we reflect a little deeper, the freedom goes right back to our baptism.  We are free to choose, for Jesus never forces us.  There are invitations along the way, gentle tugs and pulls at our hearts.  Some are subtle, some can be strong and we can be taken back by them and left in awe.  At all times there is that call to "Follow Me."

I invite you to reflect upon your journey.  What does it mean to be a disciple of Jesus Christ to you?  Do you feel that tug, that pull?  It is easy to be a disciple of Jesus Christ in 2022?  How can this community help you?  How can I personally help you?

I look forward to gathering together this weekend for Mass as a family of disciples here at St. Julia.  Don't forget our Parish Family BBQ this weekend.  Consider this your invitation!
May God bless each of you and those that you love.
 
Fr. Greg

Dear parish family and friends of St. Julia,
  
The Mass is the “source and summit” of our faith.  It is what makes us who we are as Catholics and to receive the Eucharist.  The Eucharist – the Body and Blood of Christ.  No where else can we find this.  We gather as a parish family, a community of believers, not to be seen, but to be fed by the Word of God and the Body and Blood of Christ.  This is what our sisters and brothers, children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews, students and teachers, neighbours, colleagues, friends – everyone needs to hear.
 
In 2009, Pope Benedict XVI remarked at Mass for the Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ that “the Eucharist has the power to unite people, strengthen them and remind them that only God is worthy of worship.”  He would go on to say "to adore the body of Christ means to believe that there, in that piece of bread, there really is Christ who gives meaning to our lives, to the immense universe as well as to the smallest creature and to all of human history as well as to the briefest existence."
 
The power to unite and strengthen. 
 
What is it that brings us together?  That is what this Sunday is all about.  The Eucharist.  It is what unites us.  It is the spiritual food that we need.  With all that is going on around us, and what appears to be pulling us apart, what we need is that which unites and strengthens us all the more.  And that is the Eucharist.  To be present and still in a sacred place.  To come together, and know from the very depths of our soul that we are all loved by our creator and God.
 
I encourage you to invite someone to join us for mass this weekend at St. Julia.  That personal invitation or welcome back just might be what they need to hear and what they have been waiting for.
 
May God bless each of you and those that you love.
 
Fr. Greg

 
Dear parish family and friends of St. Julia,
 
What does it mean to love, to share love, and to be loved?  In his letter to the Romans, St. Paul told the early church and each of us today that: “The love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.”  Love.  The gift of love that Paul described was “poured” into our hearts.  It is like an endless stream.  It is plentiful and life enhancing.  From eternity, God must be self-communicating love.  This in turn means that God possesses his identity only in a distinction within himself between lover and beloved, who are both one in love.  It is here that we have a starting point for the understanding of the Trinity, and one that proceeds not from knowledge in the word but from self-communicating love.
 
The Catechism of the Catholic Church tells us: “The mystery of the Most Holy Trinity is the central mystery of Christian faith and life.  It is the mystery of God in Himself.  It is, therefore, the source of all the other mysteries of faith, the light that enlightens them.  It is the most fundamental and essential teaching in the ‘hierarchy of the truths of faith.”’ (CCC No. 234) This means that the love that exists among the Three Persons in One God should also be present in us.
 
So, what is this love that is shared among the Three Persons of the Trinity?  This love is a movement of giving and receiving, and in this movement there are three distinct relations.  The Father is purely a giver and sender of love; the Son receives life, glory, and power from the Father, which he receives to pass on; in the Spirit the faithful receive the gift of the Father through the Son, so that we may share in this gift.  Thus, in the Father, loves exists as pure source, that pours itself out.
 
Though the three Persons of the Trinity have different roles in the salvation history of humankind, they are equally one and are bound by love.  We may not be able to understand the mystery of the Blessed Trinity, but we can feel the love that is a fruit of their oneness.  The Trinity is the best example of a perfect and loving community.
 
So how do we bring the love of the trinity into our world?  The love of the Trinity must be felt in our families, in our communities, in our country, and in fact the whole world.  The Trinity reveals to us that love is at the essence of each person’s calling and our vocations, whether that is to marriage, the single life or to the priesthood and religious life.  These are the deepest ways of living out that love.  Therefore, we must ask if we are imaging the Trinity in our loves: in our marriages and families; in our places of work; in our schools, in our communities.  Are we becoming persons of communion?  This notion of communion is integral to the Trinity.  If this happens, then the world that the Father has created, and the Son has redeemed, and the Spirit has guided, will be very similar to the Trinity who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
               
Where there is love there is community; there is connectedness.  That’s what Trinity Sunday is all about.  And once again, that is where we fit in.  We can recognize that we are designed for those things, because we are made in the image and likeness of God.  Trinity Sunday reminds us that image, that likeness, finds it’s oneness, it’s wholeness, it’s completeness in the revelation that our God is one God in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
All too often we come to Trinity Sunday looking for an answer to a mystery, as if we are looking for the answer to a riddle.  We come looking for an explanation on how this one God in three persons is possible.  As finite, human beings, we will never arrive at that answer.  We can turn to analogies, such as St. Patrick and the clover, and yet every analogy falls short.
 
Trinity Sunday calls us not to focus on the “how” but rather on the “who” that is revealed today.  Our God, this one God in three persons, tells us their existence is based on being in relationship to one another.  The depth of love uniting Father, Son and Spirit makes it impossible to consider each person independently.
 
We find then that every striving of our souls for union, every reaching for companionship, every urge for a hug and embrace, every act of love gives testimony to the Trinity.  In our world of smart phones, emails, tweeting, and texting, we are still looking for connection and companionship.  We who are made in the image and likeness of God find a need within ourselves to mirror our origins.
               
On this Trinity Sunday, the Church calls us to meditate on the mystery of the Most Holy Trinity.  At the same time, it presents us with an opportunity to gain insight into ourselves, to see what motivates us, and how we were created to live and love.
 
May God continue to bless each of you and those that you love.

 
Fr. Greg

Dear parish family and friends of St. Julia,
 
This Sunday we celebrate the great Solemnity of Pentecost and our Easter season of 50 days will draw to a close.  “Come Holy Spirit” is the theme of our celebrations and a reminder to each of us that we need to call upon the Holy Spirit every day.  How very true this is.  These gifts that we received at our confirmation are precious.  The question is, do I call upon these gifts?  Really and truly?  Do I call upon the gift of wisdom, and value spiritual things over worldly ones?  Do I contemplate the things of God?  Do I call upon the gift of courage, and stand up for God and His truths?  There is no doubt that this is what the world needs, and it starts in my own home.  Do I pray for the gift of knowledge?  This is the awareness of God’s plan.  This can be a challenge at this time and living through a pandemic.  Yet this is what we must pray for.  Do I pray for the gift of wonder and awe that increases my desire to draw closer to God and depart from sin?  The list goes on.  Here we have yet another challenge, but opportunity too.  When we call upon these gifts it has the power to change – wait – transform our lives, and live a rich and full life in communion with God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
 
May we call upon the Holy Spirit, the advocate, to make a home in our hearts, and to be an instrument of peace, love, and hope.
 
I look forward to you joining me for Mass this Pentecost Sunday.
 
May God continue to bless and keep safe each of you and those that you love.
 
Fr. Greg

 
Dear parish family and friends of St. Julia,
 
This Sunday we celebrate the Ascension of the Lord – the entry of Jesus’ humanity into divine glory in God’s heavenly domain, forty days after his Resurrection.
 
Immediately after Christ’s ascension to heaven, the first church in Jerusalem was under intense pressure.  Their first task was to find a replacement for Judas Iscariot.  They prayed that God would guide the casting of lots.  There were two candidates, and Matthias was chosen, whose Feast Day we celebrated on Friday.  
Many times, when we are under pressure or facing a difficult time, we can push others away.  Such was not the case with the first church and the apostles.  Instead, they let the pressure drive them closer together instead of breaking them apart.  As we continue to “welcome home” our parish family, may all feel the magnetic pull of Christ drawing us to our spiritual home of St. Julia.
As our Easter season quickly comes to a close, we prepare for the celebration of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit came down upon the apostles.  Interesting to note, lots are not mentioned again in the New Testament once the Holy Spirit came as the Church’s guide.  Below you will find not one, not two, but three prayers to prepare for Pentecost.  May we be reminded of the spiritual gifts that we received at our Confirmation, and may we pray to the Holy Spirit to give us the courage we need to navigate these times together as a community of believers, united in prayer.
 
May God continue to bless and keep safe each of you and those that you love.
 
Fr. Greg