It’s coming
Post for June 30, 2008
Day off today. I spent it programming the project I once mentioned previously. Lots of work, and actually lots of progress.
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Mass at the Chinese mission
Post for June 29, 2008
I didn’t have any particular ministry assignment this weekend, so I decided to head over to Chinatown nearby and visit with Fr. John, the young pastor of the Chinese Catholic mission. He and I have become good friends, and we go for coffee often enough. This Sunday was a special commissioning service for the youth of his parish who were headed off to Sydney for the World Youth Day, and I was glad to be there.
Fr. John did pull a bit of a fast one on me, though: 5 minutes before the mass, he asked me to offer a few words at the homily! He smiled and explained that he always offers a few words in English at this mass in particular — why not have it be from someone new? (Naturally I agreed: I can’t resist a chance to open my mouth, after all.)
As an added bonus, Fr. John has offered to help with the Adventus site — by translating some of the articles into Chinese! He believes that new Chinese immigrants might benefit from our approach to presenting the faith. It is a very exciting prospect.
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Happy 25th anniversary to Father Robert Gendreau
Post for June 28, 2008
Tonight was a special celebration at Consolata parish for its pastor, Father Robert Gendreau. It began with a mass, followed by a sumptuous dinner in the parish basement. Unfortunately I got there late, as Father Ben and I were going by metro and it wound up being stopped for 20 minutes without power. Still, knowing Italian banquets as I do, I knew this would not be a problem — the main course could take 2 hours to get to the table after the dinner itself started!
Father Gendreau is quite a guy — a very faithful priest with a ton of energy. I was exhausted just watching him work the room! May the Lord grant him many more years.
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Congrats to Fathers Stéphane and Francesco
Post for June 27, 2008
We had a double ordination tonight.
The Cathedral was packed.
150 priests showed up. Five additional bishops were seated alongside the Cardinal.
I was one of the two masters of ceremonies.
It was one of the most beautiful ordinations I have ever been privileged to be a part of.
Congratulations, gentlemen!
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End of year team meeting
Post for June 26, 2008
Normally I dress in my best clerics when I go to work, but today I wore jeans, a t-shirt and sandals: it was our end of year team meeting at the Val-Marie diocesan centre north of Montreal. While I am not a fan of meetings, and certainly not all-day meetings, this one at least gave us a chance to evaluate what we accomplished during the year and where we now stand.
It has been a rock-and-roll year…again. With the departure of Bishop Tony Mancini to become Archbishop of Halifax, my own boss became the vicar general of the diocese, taking over that function around the end of November (Bishop Lionel Gendron became my new boss in January). My teaching schedule was particularly hectic, with two whole courses to develop (and which, happily, are now available on the web!) My work with foreign priests suffered somewhat, but the new inculturation program I’m getting in place is coming along super well. I’ve also been able to collaborate with the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops on a document on stewardship, and my work with the Canadian Center for Ecumenism has also taken off. Again, it has not been a perfect year, but I’ve actually started feeling like I know what I am doing (which is probably a dangerous feeling 
).
I mentioned back in April how my retreat this year was a real spiritual butt-kicking from the Lord. Without getting into the details, let’s just say that it truly was transformative. The hard part has been learning to be both a disciple and a leader at the same time. I’m far from getting that one right.
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Welcoming foreign priests (update)
Post for June 25, 2008
As regular readers of this blog might know, I set up a committee some time ago to develop a program to welcome foreign priests in this diocese, as well as help them to understand our local culture and way of doing things. We had our third meeting this morning, and I am really pleased. We get more things done in this committee in an hour than other committees accomplish in a month. My hat’s off to my members.
Word is getting around the province that this is getting organized. I’m told there are some bishops who would be interested in sending some of their priests on this session. My archbishop wants this to remain a Montreal project, but he’s open to this other possibility, as long as the budget is shared. Seems fair to me, so it looks like things are full speed ahead!
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Upcoming event: Alpha Canada bilingual conference
Post for June 24, 2008
Click here for the Adventus article with more info.
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Drugs are bad
Post for June 24, 2008
I am often asked by young people if taking drugs (usually a reference to smoking marijuana) is a sin. Because it is “natural”, they say, why not use it? After all, didn’t God put it there?
I am reminded of an old saying: there is no such thing as a poison, only a poisonous dose. Anything can be good, if used for its proper end and in moderation. An example of a good use for a a drug would be the use of cocaine in microsurgery: doctors will often swab a cocaine solution on the area to prevent bleeding, as one of the effects of cocaine is the constriction of blood vessels. That good use, however, does not mean that it is ok to shove it up your nose, or (worse) to smoke it in even more concentrated forms.
Maybe if Adam and Eve had not sinned, some sort of recreational drug use might have been ok, a bit like the way we use caffeine in the form of tea or coffee. After all, in a non-fallen world, there would have been no danger of misuse. On the other hand, maybe there would *not* have recreational drug use — because after all, for some drugs the recreational use may always be a misuse. Cocaine, for example, does exist in nature, but in a very diluted form in coca leaves. The powdered form, on the other hand, is an artificial concentrate of the natural active ingredient — and since it is the dose that makes the poison, this kind of drug is probably always poison.
With regards to marijuana, this “artificial” versus “natural” distinction also holds, even if the drug comes straight from a plant. This is because non-wild marijuana plants — the kind grown for drug use — are actually the result of artificial breeding efforts to try and produce more and more potent concentrations of the drug within the plant itself. Yeah, it grows in the dirt, but that doesn’t mean it is natural. We made it, and we made it to be something that nature never intended.
Perhaps there are medical uses for marijuana — it does seem to be an appetite stimulant (the famous “munchies”), and so some recommend it for patients who have otherwise lost the hunger reflex due to their illness. But it also carries its risks, risks that increase with its toxicity. What concerns me most is how the use of marijuana can be related to mental illness. Not everyone who smokes pot has a psychotic break, but a lot of people who suffer from psychotic episodes had them triggered by marijuana.
This is a serious problem. Imagine, for example, if coffee could be consumed normally by 99% of the population, but for 1% of the population it would cause the onset of serious mental illnesses like schizophrenia, paranoia or depression. Would it really be responsible to promote the consumption of coffee as though nothing was there, when in fact we knew that an important minority would fall seriously (and possibly irreversibly) ill because of it? At least we should be frank about the risks, and not be surprised if social controls were put in place around it.
Well, pot is like that. Apart from the fact that it is criminal to possess marijuana (and therefore should not be done, out of respect for the law), pot simply should not be smoked. It is not natural, and in its toxicity it can exacerbate (or even provoke) other conditions that have serious long-term consequences — for the user, and for those around him.
I will never support the legalization of marijuana. I have nothing against God for having thought up this particular plant, as I am sure it has its place in his original beautiful plan of creation. But the legalization of marijuana is basically the 99% saying they want their “freedom” to such an extent that they don’t give a damn about the 1% who will suffer. I expect better from people, and from the society in which I live.
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Agboton, Ehouzou, and Tumi
Post for June 23, 2008
Today I had the pleasure of meeting 3 different diocesan bishops:
- Bishop Ehouzou of the diocese of Porto-Novo, Benin
- Archbishop Agboton of the diocese of Cotonou, Benin
- Cardinal Tumi of Douala in Cameroon
All were in town for the Eucharistic Congress that took place last week in Quebec City, and they stopped by in Montreal to speak with me about the possibility of our diocese receiving addition priests from them for further university studies. It was a wide-ranging and frank discussion in each case, particularly with regards to the challenges we face here, and I was greatly encouraged by the realism of these men.
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The prison of secrets
Post for June 22, 2008
No, it isn’t the name of an 8th Harry Potter book: my latest homily, from the 12 Sunday in Ordinary Time.
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Working on Adventus stuff
Post for June 21, 2008
Today was spent working on a (not-so) small programming project: a multilingual content-management system based on the Atom specification. This was supposed to be one of the first steps in the triumphant arrival of Adventus to the wonderful world of Internet evangelization, but unfortunately it turned out to be more complicated to organize than expected.
*sigh* Welcome to the wonderful world of programming.
It’ll come, folks. It’ll come.
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The question of human origins
Post for June 20, 2008
I had a discussion today with a brother priest regarding the origins of humanity. A lot of Catholic theology depends on our theological anthropology, i.e. what we have to say about what it means to be human. My brother priest, in a gentle and respectful way, took issue with some of my own stated views on the subject, particularly those that I have articulated in my Four Basic Questions parish mission. I certainly do not mind having my own ideas tested, so I really enjoyed our discussion. And, as is often the case, this discussion has sparked additional reflection on my part. Tune in to Adventus.org to see an article series I will soon begin on the question of human origins, starting with the notion of evolution.
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Attention married couples!
Post for June 19, 2008
Some friends of mine, parishioners at my former parish of St. Thomas à Becket, will be hosting The Marriage Course in their home in the West Island (click on the link for more information). Every married couple I know of that has taken this course has found it very enriching. John and Natalie can only host 3 or 4 couples, so if anyone out there is interested I recommend they contact them as soon as possible. As for me, I intend to promote this course among those couples that I have married — anything I can do to promote their happiness I will do!
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Living conditions of priests
Post for June 18, 2008
I visited a parish today, one that I hadn’t seen for almost a year. When I first saw it, I knew I could never live there, as there was absolutely no separation between the living quarters of the rectory and the office portion — people were wandering in and out and all about at all hours, literally. And this type of situation is of great concern for me, actually, because I really feel that our priests deserve decent living conditions (and you should see some of the hellish rectory situations some have been in).
I am very happy to report, though, that this parish has really turned things around. I am sure the changes have ruffled some feathers, but now the second floor has been isolated from the rest of the house, giving the priests a private sleeping and living quarters. The kitchen is still Grand Central Station, mind you, but at least they’ve been able to take the padlocks off the refrigerator (no, I am not kidding on that one). One thing at a time, I guess.
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Incardination dossiers
Post for June 17, 2008
One of my responsibilities is to prepare dossiers regarding the incardination of priests. “Incardination” refers to the fact that there are no “freelance” priests in the Catholic Church — every priest (and deacon) is “incardinated” in a diocese or other religious structure of some kind, thereby making them accountable to some sort of superior. Priests who do not respect their incardination are known as “vagus” priests, a term that within ecclesiastical circles is a real slap in the face.
It is possible, however, to change your incardination, if the new diocese or religious order accepts you, and the old one accepts to let you go (something called “excardination”). While the transfer of priests does not happen every day, it does happen, and my job is to process the requests and, in particular, undertake some sort of evaluation process.
While an incardination can happen immediately, very often the receiving bishop accepts a candidate ad experimentum, i.e. for a trial period, to see how things work out. This trial period then serves as the basis for the evaluation. For example, today I spent a greater part of my day visiting parishes where a particular priest has served, as part of his incardination dossier. It would not be fair to him, nor to the Church, for us to accept him (or not) simply on the basis of hearsay. I believe firmly that justice requires an objective look — and not just justice, but the opportunity for self-growth.
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Fly in the ointment
Post for June 16, 2008
The title, by the way, refers to myself in this particular case.
Today was my day off, but the Vicar General asked me to come in for a group meeting with a lawyer to discuss the legal implications of some of our diocesan structures.
As it turns out, we have a certain amount of unnecessary legal exposure in our manner of hiring lay pastoral staff, and of giving them work assignments. The lawyer did not think so at first, but when I pushed him on it (giving additional details in the process) he actually changed his tune. (I hate to say this, but I have been underwhelmed by the competence of some of the lawyers I have met in my day, so I refuse to back down when I think a point has not been properly addressed.)
Our exposure comes from the fact that the diocese does not simply certify lay pastoral workers, but directly assigns them to parishes. This makes the diocese the legal employer, and not simply the parish. And to be honest, in some ways this is impossible to avoid, as lay pastoral workers now serve in multiple church capacities (e.g. multiple parishes, sharing the expense). Somebody needs to be the boss in such a case, so it tends to get kicked upstairs.
The proposed legal solution to this was the merger of these parishes into a single legal structure (basically one parish on paper but with more than one church). Again, however, I felt it important to be a fly in the ointment: if we start dissolving legal parishes to create “super-parishes”, we simply transfer the legal risk from the diocese to the “super-parish” — it does not get rid of it. The multiple parish structure has actually helped protect our local communities from predatory lawsuits. If we concentrate assets in larger corporations, the predators start to salivate.
It seems the only real solution is to actually do what a proper theology of the laity demands. The laity have their share in the mission of Christ thanks to their baptism and confirmation. The hierarchical church (i.e. bishops and priests) should respect that. The hierarchy does have the right and responsibility to make sure those who are working in the name of the Kingdom of God are doing so in a manner consistent with the Gospel — I certainly have no problem with that. But we can do this through a general certification process, without the bishop needing to directly assign this or that specific person to this or that specific parish.
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The analogy of the cheque
Post for June 15, 2008
My homily for today, on the occasion of Laura’s First Communion. Sorry for the occasional poor production quality.
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Annual jubilarian BBQ
Post for June 13, 2008
We had a special BBQ today especially for the English priests of the diocese, in order to honour those brother celebrating special jubilee anniversaries. Congrats to Fr. Jim MacDonald (50 years), Fr. Joe Sullivan (known as “junior”, 25 years) and Fr. Gilles Surprenant (my previous pastor, 25 years).
I was particularly delighted that our Vicar General, Msgr. Jean Fortier, was able to be present, along with his assistant, Fr. Alain Faubert. I live and work with both men, and I can confidently say they are fine chaps.
The weather was beautiful and the BBQ’d steak delicious. The best part, though, was seeing all these brothers. Hopefully I can get together with some of them (as we have said we would) for a beer or whatnot over the summer.
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Visiting Vietnam
Post for June 12, 2008
Well, ok, it wasn’t Vietnam. It was the Vietnamese mission here in Montreal. I was there this morning to meet a foreign priest who has just recently arrived for language lessons (he is here to learn French, in preparation for future graduate studies in French, and my job is to welcome him into the diocese). I was very warmly welcomed at the parish by the pastor, and given my first taste of Vietnamese-style coffee. WHOA, was it strong! But very tasty, I must admit.
There are a few communities in the city that celebrate mass in Vietnamese, but the Holy Martyrs of Vietnam mission is the only one with a full pastoral approach geared to that language and culture. This priest will be here to acquire greater learning and then return to teach others back in his home country. May his trip be a success!
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Coffee talk
Post for June 11, 2008
As many of the readers of this blog know, I was once a chaplain at the Lakeshore General Hospital. While I was there I got to know an Orthodox Jew named Sam, and his lovely wife Milly. Yes, I am a Catholic priest, but I was chaplain not just for the Catholics but for anyone in the hospital, and I always had a great time visiting Sam. He eventually did pass away from his illness, and then I was transferred from the hospital, and I thought things would simply end there (as they usually did).
What a delight it was for me, then, to go for coffee today with Milly and her daughter (who is up visiting from Florida). It turns out that Milly’s hairdresser is a parishioner at a parish I visited recently, and through this good Samaritan a connection was made. I was so happy to hear from Milly, and certainly delighted to be able to walk over to the local Second Cup and share some stories.
This is one of the great things about being a priest: you never know what kind of interesting people you might meet, and where that friendship might take you.
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Listen for my credit when she wins an Oscar
Post for June 10, 2008
I went for lunch today with an aspiring writer. She is doing a screenplay in which one of her major characters is a priest. As she explained to me, however, she does not actually know any priests, so she wanted to speak with one (i.e. me) to make sure her character “sounds right”.
Now I am not claiming that my personal experience as a priest is somehow normative, but at the same time the work I am doing now puts my in touch with LOTS of my brothers from all ages and backgrounds. I accepted because I felt I would be able to represent a broad spectrum of priestly life and experience.
Also, she was paying for the food.
Anyway, I hope the research will turn out to be worthwhile for her. She quoted me at one point to use as dialogue for her priest character. She said she’d give me credit in her acceptance speech the day she wins her Oscar. I’ll hold you to that!
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Colin is in da house!
Post for June 9, 2008
The little cutie you see on the left is the first child born to my good buddy Gordon and his wife Doris. Colin was born on May 21 at 10:46 pm, and weighed 6 lbs. 2 ounces. His full name is “Colin Ga Wai Yee Sexton”, thus including both Gord’s European heritage and Doris’ Chinese heritage. No, I have no idea how to properly pronouce those middle names, but I am sure Colin will, as I believe is it the intention of the parents to make sure he can speak Mandarin.
I love babies, and it is my pleasure to share this bundle of joy with all of you.
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Any sin can be forgiven
Post for June 8, 2008
My latest homily at Saint Brendan’s parish.
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Congrats to Claudia and James
Post for June 7, 2008
It was almost three years ago, on September 25, 2005, that I had the pleasure of presiding the wedding ceremony of Claudia and James. Just this past year, however, they have become proud parents of a bouncing baby boy by the name of Adam, and tonight I had the opportunity to meet this recent addition to their family! Claudia and James invited me for a delicious dinner and very pleasant company which everyone thoroughly enjoyed — heck, even the cat, who got into the prosciutto when we weren’t looking. Seriously, many congrats again to these two, and I look forward to seeing the little one grow up.
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Back for a week now
Post for June 6, 2008
Hola amigos!
I got back from Mexico late last Friday (May 31) and it has been fairly non-stop since then.
Saturday was the diocesan feast day, so I got to see a lot of people at once. Congrats to André Tiphane, BTW, for his appointment as episcopal vicar of the Eastern region of the diocese.
Sunday I visited my previous parish of Holy Name of Jesus to celebrate the 10th anniversary of ordination of a good friend of mine. In the evening, on the other hand, I went to the wake service of another friend — Father Thomas McEntee, who passed away of cancer.
Monday was the funeral, and my first day back at the office. I was there until 9pm catching up on phone calls and emails.
Tuesday: more of the same, with a twist: I had to use my Spanish in a work-related situation! It turns out a Latin American priest has come to Montreal who speaks only a bit of French and nothing else except Spanish. So I had to put it to use, over the phone and in person.
Wednesday: more of the same, at least in the morning. The evening was the “grand opening” of the new location of the Canadian Centre for Ecumenism, at which I participated for most of the evening. We were outside a lot, though, and by the end my nose started to sniffle, so I decided to call it a night.
Thursday: a meeting all day on the South Shore. Sniffles have become a full-out cold now, but nothing too bad.
Friday: meeting all morning + another one in the afternoon. I was supposed to go to an ordination this evening (it is going on as I write this, in fact), but I am presently sick as a dog (fever, other disgusting symptoms I won’t mention).
Tomorrow: rest, and prepare my homily for the evening.
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