Holy Angels Parishioner, Will McMaster, has released a new Catholic Music Album on YouTube & Spotify. Go check it out!

By: Fr. Peter Keller I am feeling a bit overwhelmed by the movement of the Holy Spirit at work in our Church. At Easter, we experienced both the death of our pontiff, Pope Francis and the joy of the many newly baptized and initiated in our parish. This contrast pointed to the one movement of the Holy Spirit in the Church, which drives us forward to the kingdom. This week we were also gifted with a new pontiff, Pope Leo XIV. It was surprising that the Cardinals so quickly chose this dignified moderate whose first priority is to “communicate the beauty of the faith, the beauty and joy of knowing Jesus.” These next months are full of events that are fruits of the Holy Spirit and communicate the beauty of the faith. This weekend we celebrate, on Saturday, the Festival of Our Lady of Fatima and, on Sunday, the 50th Anniversary of Fr. Clare Coleman at St. Mary’s West Lorne. On May 24th there is the Women’s Retreat at Our Lady of Sorrows, Aylmer. The Called and Gifted Program completed its first round of personal discernment; while Holy Angels celebrates eliminating their debt and beginning to build for the future; and St. Anne’s prepares to reboot the Festival as a parish-based event. All these happening are a gift of the Spirit. I invite you to prayerfully discern how you are called to share your gifts. May we continue to grow together in faith as Pilgrims of Hope.

Lent is indeed the “favourable time ” to return to what is essential, to divest ourselves of all that weighs us down, to be reconciled with God, and to rekindle the fire of the Holy Spirit hidden beneath the ashes of our frail humanity. Pope Francis, 15 February 2025.

On Tuesday, December 10th, we will have Confessions only from 6- 7PM, no Adoration. Along with regular Tuesday confession, we will be available on Saturday, December 14th at St. Anne’s from 2-4 PM

St. Paul, in dealing with many different communities ... 'parishes,' would often encourage the believers to recognize that there are a variety of gifts, but it is the same Spirit that gives the gifts, for the upbuilding of the body. 1 Corinthians 12:12-31 is an amazing passage where it illustrates that all the various parts of the body make up the Church. That we do not serve the world, but we serve Christ but serve one another. Ask the Holy Spirit to show you what gifts He has given to you and how to use them for the building up of the Church. To bring souls to Jesus.

November is a great month of remembering. We begin with All Saints and All Souls Days later we of course will celebrate Remembrance Day on November 11th. St. Ephrem, the Syrian, first mentions the practice of remembering the unknown martyrs at the beginning of November in a homily in 373. It was Pope Gregory III who first proclaimed All Saints Day on November 1st when he consecrated a chapel in St. Peter’s Basilica to all the unknown martyrs in Rome. Gregory IV made All Saints Day and All Souls Day a universal feast day in 831. I mention all this because it has become fashionable to proclaim that Halloween is some ancient pagan feast that the Church wished to suppress with All Saints Day. This is simply not true on so many levels. Read more: The Ancient Irish Get Far Too Much Credit for Halloween | Ancient Origins. Halloween is just a product of empty secular spiritualism. On the other hand, All Saints Day, All Souls Day and the practice of praying for the dead are foundational to our faith. We all have a sense that our deceased loved ones still live in our thoughts and memories, yet we realize this is only partial and fleeting. How much more does a person live on in the love of God, who knew and loved that person perfectly? Yet, sin gets in the way of God’s love. The dead, particularly those close to us, need our prayers to help them receive forgiveness so that they can become more and more open to God’s love. When we remember someone in our thoughts we bind them to our memories. More wonderfully, when we remember someone at mass or in our prayers we bind them to God’s heart. Those most open to God are the saints who continue to participate in the ministry of God’s love in the Church. As members of Christ’s Church, our religious remembering binds us together as a grace-filled member of Christ’s Body. I commend you to pray for all the members of the Church… both living and dead… so that we may all live in Christ.

September 22, 2024 – Welcome Back to Church Event October 27, 2024 – Autumn/Thanksgiving Event December 1, 2024 – First Sunday of Advent Event March 30, 2025 – Lent Event April 27, 2025 – Second Sunday of Easter Event June 22, 2025 – Strawberry Social Event

Save the Date - St. Anne's C.W.L. Annual Mother/Daughter/Ladies Brunch will be held at the St. Thomas Golf & Country Club on Sunday May 5, 2024.

Even though the new life of spring is in the air, there still the winter debris everywhere. This echoes our spiritual life during lent. The debris that gets covered up with the dark times of our life becomes more evident with the spiritual springtime of Easter Renewal. It is a time to look at the habits and clutter in our lives to make way for the newness of life. It is times to take stock and recognize the things we have been wandering around, or even tripping over that hinder our spiritual progress.  Read More

There will be a Polish Lenten Mission (in Polish) on March 9th at 7pm with a small social to follow. and also Easter Basket blessings Holy Saturday.