Post for November 26, 2009
As I have mentioned in the past, yours truly is the Chairperson of the Canadian Centre for Ecumenism. Tonight was our Annual General Meeting.
In the past, the AGM was more of an extension of the Board of Directors. Certain changes to our by-laws in 2008, coupled with the creation of membership recruiting tools in 2009, has permitted us to increase our roster of members more easily and even to envisage having hundreds, if not thousands, of members some day. This AGM, therefore, was particularly important, because we are starting a paradigm shift: we are trying to make the AGM a real community-building exercise for the task of Christian unity and interreligious dialogue.
So apart from the usual business, we had two excellent presentation: one on the work of the Tony Blair Faith Foundation (with which the Centre is partnered) and one from one of our Directors on the history of French Protestantism. The exercise of working on our usual business was also useful, as I think we now can have a better sense of how to scale it up for 2010. I’m hoping to be able to send out 1000 invitations to the AGM next year, and more than that, I’m hoping to create an energized base of members ready to collaborate in the mission of the Centre all across Canada. Oh, it’s a long-term project, but slowly the right steps are being taken. Tonight was just another one of those steps, and I am happy about it.
Posted by Wordmobi
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Post for November 23, 2009
So my niece has been waiting with great anticipation for the new Twilight film, called “New Moon”, and now it is finally here. I had seen the first one, and while it was “ok” I had found it pretty cheesy, so I was wary about seeing the sequel. However, the various reviews I read of the film were actually quite positive. In general, the consensus was that the movie was better than the first installment of the series, and that the performances really let you get into the mindset of the main character Bella. Granted, she’s an angst-filled teenage girl, so I wasn’t sure it was a mindset I wanted to explore all that much, but I figured what the heck. After all, how bad could it be?
Oh my gosh. Pretty bad, as it turns out. After almost falling asleep after the first half hour (it was so slow) the movie became a complete caricature of itself. I mean, it was really painful. A friend sitting beside me whispered to himself aty one point, “This is torture!” And it was, it really was. Now I have seen bad cheesy movies in the past and thoroughly enjoyed them (Army of Darkness comes immediately to mind), but this film suffers from the fatal flaw that typically prevents a movie from elevating its cheesiness to an art form: it takes itself WAY to seriously.
As it turns out, we weren’t the only ones to think this: several times people in the theatre burst out laughing at moments that you can tell were not meant to be funny. And I must also confess that those of us who went to see the movie together wound up spending a considerable amount of time talking about the movie or, more accurately, our experience of the movie. We were merciless, and I laughed so hard I actually cried. Ah well, it was a good excuse for us to get together after and share a good scotch.
» Filed Under Reviews | 1 Comment
Post for November 21, 2009
Today (Saturday) I once again had the beautiful opportunity to welcome a new member of the Christian family: baby Josef, the son of Terri and Fred (whose wedding I celebrated last year). It was like a spiritual reunion, a really joyful celebration of faith. And then, of course, there was the meal! The baptism in the early afternoon, so we got to the restaurant by about 2:30 pm. The promptly began eating… and eating… and eating! And I must confess, I have a weakness for Lebanese food, so I ate… and ate… and ate! I finally had to roll out of there about three hours later, and the main course hadn’t even yet arrived. You know, the Bible says that the Kingdom of God is like a banquet. Well, this new Christian, this new human that God has chosen in a special way for heaven, certainly gave us the occasion to have a taste of that abundance. Congrats to the family, and many thanks for inviting me to be a part of this special moment!
» Filed Under Marriage ministry, Pastoral work | Leave a Comment
Post for November 20, 2009
Today was Fr. Lowe’s funeral. Once again, my experience of funerals where faith is truly involved has been confirmed. In short, I have learned that when the deceased was a person of faith, the funeral, while sad, has a certain lightness about it. It is thanks to hope.
Many brother priests were there, and the church was full. But I must say, the homily was AMAZING. At first, I thought the preacher was being a bit abstract, talking about points of eucharistic doctrine etc. But then he brought it to Fr. Lowe’s life as an example of a man who, while being totally himself, was deeply committed to others: to Christ, to the Church, to his people. He loved the eucharist, he was deliberately faithful to the magisterium, and he was constant in promoting sound doctrine.
Again, it was amazing. It was like Father Lowe’s example was giving every priest, every PERSON, permission to be a true disciple of Christ. And the focus of the homily really wasn’t Father Lowe, but the things in which he believed. Fr. Lowe’s life was merely the key which opened a door of faith, and we were invited to walk through that door to Jesus.
Again, it was great. I am sorry my friend has died, of course, and I pray for the repose of his soul and for his community which will now be living a period of uncertainty. But I am grateful for having been given the chance to see experience that living faith that lets us grieve, but with true hope.
Posted by Wordmobi
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Post for November 19, 2009
I attended a meeting this morning of the various lay pastoral agents for our Archdiocese, which was organized by our office (the Office for Pastoral Personnel). I found the gathering very touching — several witnesses got up to give their testimony of the work they are doing in the Lord’s vineyard, and more importantly of the work they see the Lord doing in his vineyard.
I really believe that the transformation of our culture is going to require a body of laity truly alive and the Spirit and awake to their task. Some commentators have called the Catholic laity a “slumbering giant”, and in some respects I think that is true. I was very encouraged by what I saw and heard, but we need more. We need a way to take these people, give them community *around the task they are called to accomplish* and give them the training they need so that they are (a) truly Catholic, and (b) truly competent. The Archdiocese has the herculean task of now trying to make it happen. Ah well, sleep is overrated…
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Post for November 17, 2009
The following email came in recently:
I always understood that when you die, your soul is immediately judged by God and are sent to hell or heaven. Some would be sent to purgatory for purification before entering eternal life.
However, Jesus did say that He would return to judge the living and the dead. Does this mean that those who have died must also wait for the return of Christ for the final judgment? Where does Purgatory come into this?
A few nuances are in order: the soul upon death is not so much judged by God as it experiences judgment. The two are not quite the same, as it is possible that it is the soul that judges itself.
Also, the souls are not “sent” anywhere so much as they begin to *experience* heaven, purgatory or hell.
Yes, Jesus will return to judge the living and the dead, but the word judgment is being used differently in this context. It refers first and foremost to a “rescue operation” by Jesus in which the dead are restored to bodily existence in the resurrection. However, since both evil and good people rise, a second stage of the process is the separation of the blessed and the damned, akin to the separation they had previously when they didn’t yet have bodies again.
As for purgatory, there is a general consensus that it will no longer exist at the general resurrection from the dead. Whether this is because it will be “empty” by that point, or simply that it won’t be necessary anymore, is a debated point.
For an audio lecture of mine on these questions, check out my page on Adventus.org on the Creed, and scroll down to the April 9 lecture.
Finally, for a distinctly Canadian look at the “why” of purgatory, see my post on purgatory and hockey.
» Filed Under Explaining the faith | 3 Comments
Post for November 17, 2009
I got word Saturday evening that Fr. Don Lowe passed away earlier that day of a heart attack. His parishioners showed up for the Saturday evening mass and the doors were locked. When someone came with a key and they opened up the rectory, they found him dead. What an awful shock that must have been. I’ll post more details as I get them.
UPDATE: I just got word that Fr. Lowe’s funeral will be on Friday, November 20 @ 2:00 p.m., at Holy Family church in Deux-Montagnes. Visitation will be the previous evening (Thursday, November 19) from 7 to 9, and the next morning (the Friday) from 9 to noon (i.e. it finishes 2 hours before the funeral itself).
» Filed Under Uncategorized | 3 Comments
Post for November 14, 2009
Whew, what a weekend. I had another 24-hour training session with some of the foreign priests, which had me going full steam all day Friday (until 10 pm) and all Sat morning. But it was amazing — Fr. Alain Pouliot came from the diocese of Quebec City to be our guest speaker on the subject of teamwork in the Quebec cultural context, and Francine Tremblay spoke to us Saturday morning on the relationship between men and women (again, in the local cultural context). Both sessions were just great, and I think everyone got a lot out of them. I know I could never have led them with such quality, so I’m really glad I was able to find people of quality to take on this challenge.
Our next sessions will be in two weeks, on media and communications. I may add a fourth 24 hour session to cover miscellaneous topics that have been arising over time. One thing I do know: the priests attending these sessions are not wasting their time.
» Filed Under Archdiocese of Montreal | Leave a Comment
Post for November 12, 2009
A reader sends this along:
Last year several parishes across the US gave out copies of Rediscovering Catholicism at their Christmas Masses. The impact was incredible. For too many people this is the only time they come to Church each year, and the book became a touchstone for renewal.
We are making twenty thousand copies of the book available for just $1 per copy this year. If you would like between 250 and 3,000 copies for your parish please contact Analise Ebaugh by 5pm EST on Monday, November 16 via email: analise@matthewkelly.org
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Post for November 11, 2009
Today I had the chance to be the inaugural speaker for the Concordia University Catholic Students Association. They are a new group — only been around a month — so I was delighted to be able to be there with them and support them. The topic they had proposed was quite interesting: Man is made to keep the garden — Stewardship in environment and religion. Unfortunately there were relatively few students, but that may have been just as well — I wasn’t at my best, to be honest, having just come off 3 hours of teaching at the Grand Séminaire.
For those wanting to know more about a Catholic perspective on the environment, the following website entitled Catholic Conservation Center looks quite interesting.
One thing the students did mention to me was that they had a hard time selling this talk to their fellow Catholics, some of whom accused them of being part of a trendy fad or even of encouraging druidism (!). I’ve encountered this sort of reaction myself, and in my experience it is more a reaction to the excessive sentimentalism of some of the environmentalists than to the issues themselves. Indeed, this sentimentalism is sometimes downright irrational. However, I think that an excessive opposite reaction is not helpful either: we must be able to appreciate creation in a joyful reaction to its beauty, as a gift coming from God. There is the possibility of a genuine spirituality of creation, it would seem to me, that keeps things in their proper order. Anyway, that’s what I tried to get across.
» Filed Under Concordia University | 1 Comment
Post for November 10, 2009
Today I had a chance to visit the Melkite cathedral here in Montreal, in order to prepare an ecumenical pilgrimage that will take place in December. The Melkites are Catholics, generally from Lebanon, who follow the Byzantine liturgical tradition. Given the large Lebanese community in Montreal, the Holy See gave the Melkites their own diocese (called an eparchy) 25 years ago for all of Canada, with its home base in Montreal.
I was very warmly received by the curate of the cathedral, Father Jean Mansour, who was ordained in 2005 and has been in Canada for only a couple of years. We had a delicious lunch at a local Lebanese restaurant (well, more of a feast than a lunch, actually) completed with a couple of glasses of arak — I hope I got the spelling right. Arak is a liqueur that tastes like licorice — Fr. Mansour said that where he is from, the saying is that every day you should say at least one Our Father and drink one glass of arak. Let’s just say we were particularly pious today 
» Filed Under Order of Saint Lazarus | Leave a Comment
Post for November 8, 2009
Hmmm… MoPress had issues, mainly due to it not working properly with my Bluetooth keyboard. But now I’m trying Wordmobi, which seems to work really well.
Posted by Wordmobi
» Filed Under Uncategorized | 1 Comment
Post for November 8, 2009
One thing I’ve been trying to get my phone to do for some time is write decent blog posts, thereby freeing me from my slavery to my regular PC. Well, I managed to find a neat little tool called MoPress, a Java tool that I installed on my phone that acts as an XML-RPC client. It isn’t perfect but it seems to be doing the trick. Hopefully this will make it easier for me to blog more frequently!
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