And Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he received his sight and followed him on the way.
Mk 10:52
30th Sunday in Ordinary Time. Faith is believing in something even though you may not be able to physically see it. Many people think that miracles don’t happen anymore. This is hard, but try to focus on the positive and not the negative things in your life. When you focus on your blessings instead of your hardships, miracles will seem common. You will see God’s active presence in your daily life. You will begin to develop an attitude of gratitude.
This week I enjoyed seeing my brother priests both at our Deanery Meeting, hosted by us, over at Maison Shalom House, as well as the first Pastoral Day for the new Pastoral Year 2021 – 2022, hosted at St. Augustine’s Parish in Ottawa. Many different leaders of our parishes were also present on Thursday morning, and our theme all week was the new Synod Process.
I wrote about it via The Glengarry News this week.
The Synod process is a spiritual journey together. Like the disciples of Emmaus, sometimes we want to leave, discouraged. God, in Our Lord Jesus Christ, finds us on the way, and listens to us, and makes Himself known in Word and Sacrament, and invites us back into community. I look forward in walking with you all this year too, on a journey of communion, participation, and mission.
If you are interested in helping me coordinate this journey, please let me know. The first phase – parish and diocese – is from now into February 2022. It is a process we have already begun, listening to our brothers and sisters via different Book Study Series, CWL, Knights of Columbus, and ALPHA and Youth ALPHA. Also please continue to pray for the families preparing for First Confessions next weekend, and First Communion in early December.
What is our experience of church? Our joys of church? and what are the next steps? The pastoral day concluded with the priests gathering in prayer in the church. Msgr. Kevin Maloney led us in a beautiful reflection on what does it mean for the priests to have fraternity. After praying, we shared with one another on the following questions:
1 how have I experienced the need for fraternity today?
2 how do we experience fraternity in the Archdiocese?
3 how can I, can we, encourage fraternity in Archdiocese?
The journey continues, and I look forward to the mission with each one of you. Have a great week. Peace.
