This coming Sunday we celebrate the Feast of Pentecost and the coming of the Holy Spirit into our lives. On Saturday May 15 we will post a Pentecost Vigil Liturgy here on our website that is being put together by our Ecumenical brothers and sisters from the Churches of Forest Hill and Area. It is particularly appropriate to pray ecumenically on the Feast of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit established the Church here on earth for all peoples.
Until the weekend we invite you to enjoy a collection of videos on Pentecost, for adults, young people, and music lovers alike!
Many of us have probably been asked by Protestant friends why we Catholics worship Mary, and although most of us likely know instinctively that the relationship we have with the Blessed Virgin Mary is not one of worship, it can be hard to articulate it to others. Today we invite you to read an article by Kimberley Hahn which recalls her journey to the Catholic faith, particularly her struggle to understand, appreciate and come to love Mary. Click the link below to read Mary, Our Mother.
POPE FRANCIS has launched a Marathon of Prayer for the month of May. “Guided by Shrines around the world during this month of May, we recite the Rosary to invoke an end to the pandemic and the resumption of social and work-related activities.” (Pope Francis, General Audience, 5 May 2021) Father Ian Duffy, Rector of our own Diocesan Shrine, the Basilica of Our Lady in Guelph, is joining the Pope’s prayer marathon by praying the Rosary at noon each day. You can participate in the daily prayer with the Pope by checking the Vatican website for a listing of Shrines, or pray the Rosary in union with Father Duffy at the Basilica in Guelph.
We also invite you to pray the Rosary (Joyful Mysteries) with Bishop Barron’s video below.
Over the past week there have been more violent clashes in Jerusalem and the surrounding area than there have been for many years. The Holy Land is a sacred space for many religions and as such has been a place of conflict, but it could be a place of dialogue and an example to the world of fraternal love. We invite you to learn more about the current situation by reading the articles available on the Vatican News website and elsewhere, and most importantly please pray for all those living in the Holy Land. May they find peace through justice, and understanding through respectful dialogue.
I am following with particular concern the events in Jerusalem. I pray that it may be a place of encounter and not of violent clashes, a place of prayer and peace. Violence begets only violence. Enough of these clashes.
St. Francis of Assisi Parish 