Pastor of St Peter's in Nanaimo, BC. Doctoral Candidate
@MaryvaleInst
. Amazon Wishlist for Doctoral Studies in the link. Co-host of Clerically Speaking
Today a young man in our parish announced that he has been accepted as a seminarian for our diocese. The people were literally cheering when he announced it! Very proud of Mitchell, please pray for him! First vocation in the 140 year history of our parish
I am not a bishop. I’m just a pastor of a parish.
But I want to say something from the depth of my heart to the indigenous communities of Canada, as insignificant as I am.
I’m sorry. I’m sorry we hurt you. I’m sorry about what was done to your children and your culture.
Well. Decided to do a holy hour and offer confessions for Divine Mercy Sunday.
Almost 100 people showed up and heard 55 confessions in 2.5 hours. Jesus’ mercy endures forever!
I’ve been very supportive of restrictions etc.
But there comes a point where enough is enough. Religious groups in BC have bent over backwards to be helpful. But to hear today that everything has been green lit for re-opening EXCEPT religious groups…it’s too much.
Could definitely use prayer. I am in the "Can I actually get this all done in time, or maybe it is time to say "you gave this a shot, but time to walk away from the PhD"" moment of thesis writing. Utter despair looking at the task ahead of me for the next 3 weeks.
Yesterday, I did something different.
I was talking to a couple who wanted to have their child baptized. they are immigrants, husband works 2 jobs to make ends meat.
I started to ask them about why they often marry civilly: "it's smaller and quieter and cheaper" 1/
Did you know the catechism has 8 paragraphs on modesty? and within those 8 paragraphs, only one sentence about clothing that is pretty chill? Modesty is about the person, since it’s a virtue. The obsession over clothing in modesty discourse is not a Catholic thing.
One thing we are trying differently this year in my parish: we have scrapped religious Ed as it exists. This is no judgment on the coordinator or catechists, but there is a real retention problem in the classroom model of religious Ed. Instead we are trying family catechesis 🧵
Decided I do enough hosting in the rectory that it needs a little bar area to mix drinks, hang out etc.
I've decided to give it a name. Since the Parish is St Peter's, the bar area will be called...
On The Rocks
I do not post links lightly. But this is from 1.5 years ago. And the end of the article is especially enlightening: the commission on abuse at the Vatican proposed a tribunal for bishops who mishandled cases and it was squashed.
The Church must rediscover the mustard seed principle. She must become small.
By this I dont mean that she lose members or even institutions.
Rather, she must encourage small local activities and groups outside the parish building, especially in the home.
I have to thread this one out because a lot to process.
On Tuesday, it is my ordination anniversary. Personally, it is a bigger day to me than my birthday. I had a sneaking suspicion a little something was up. Turns out a lot more was up than I expected. /thread
One thing I’ve learned ever since the McCarrick stuff broke: the scriptures are actually ALWAYS meant to speak to us. When we take sin more seriously and the call to repentance to heart, scripture will draw us into its story always.
“The holy cloud, the shekinah, is the sign of the presence of God himself. The cloud hovering over the Tent of Meeting indicated that God was present” Benedict XVI, Jesus of Nazareth Vol 1, p. 316
(image from the morning of his funeral Mass)
North Americans Christians, imho, too easily conflate persecution with mistreatment.
We've no clue what persecution is. We ought to be reverent towards the word.
Every day I study Ratzinger I see more & more how his theology is a gift to the Church. Time to go pray for him & the Church in these his possible last hours. We pray he enters the Father’s house, & that his sufferings & prayers are received as the gift they are for the Church
Ratzinger constantly repeats that when the Church in her institutions and, more broadly, when Catholics attempt to get to close to political movements for ecclesial gains, is a Church that has lost hope in eternity and his mistaken the Kingdom of God for the kingdom of this world
Ratzinger has been forewarning of this trend for a while for one reason: Paul demands a philosophical/hellenistic vision. Certain schools are so against Hellenism that if it comes to rejecting books from the Bible for the sake of pure history, they will. 1/2
I started speaking about Paul's opposition to Christ for a decade now. I have received hatred but, people are starting to see and understand. This pastor is coming to terms with this fact. It's good to hear.
When the kids from the high school were asking me about LGBTQ+ stuff last week, I knew their question wasn’t so much “what does the Church say”
Their question was “I have a heart that wants to be loved, can that heart find a place in the Church?”
Should this be Pope Benedict’s final hours, there is a note of Divine work in it all
Born on Holy Saturday, in the middle of the Paschal Mystery, dying during Christmas season. Incarnation & Cross—united themes for him—lived out liturgically in him in the most real way possible
To see that this parish has grown so much, has become so vibrant so quickly, has deepened its faith so profoundly, is the greatest gift a Pastor can receive. I got teary eyed a lot this afternoon, it is amazing to feel so loved, & to see the fruit of God's love of them is amazing
Well. Today I am 40.
I am not huge on birthdays, honestly. But found it was important to mark it. Had a party with lots of friends and family yesterday at a friend's house. No speeches or anything. Just hang out. It was a delight. Especially to see new friendships made.
Got some good news today. After years of fighting to get it, a young adult from my parish was finally able to secure club status at our local university. We can finally start ministry ON Campus next year.
Very cool how Luke uses the Greek word for Inn twice.
Once in the nativity, where there is no room.
Secondly, in the Last Supper, where they are invited in.
Like mind blowingly awesome.
Went to hospital to anoint someone who was dying. As I left palliative care, a couple people asked if I could pray for their friend Fred, who was dying. He & they were First Nations. To be invited in to pray with them and for him. In the current situation. Powerful and beautiful
It just takes work. Good listening. Asking questions. Etc. And they may be able to become leaders, to help with future outreach to people from their culture, to help them see our parish is a home to them.
Yesterday was a great pastoral "win" /end
There is a great irony in Easter morning whereby Christ is indeed risen, and yet after vigil and post vigil festivities, it is probably the hardest day of the year for the priest to rise from his bed
I’m gonna drag all my friends to Heaven with me. If I have to fast and pray the rest of my life for this to happen, I’ll do that!
Because Heaven is a celebration, and when you’re celebrating you want your friends there. Simple as that
Thanks to George Weigel, our Edith Stein Society got this relic of the wedding dress of St Edith Stein from her final vows. That organization is now defunct, so I am the custodian of the relic now :). St Edith stein, pray for us!!!!
Christ is Risen! ALLELUIA.
Very proud of everyone who worked so hard for Holy Week. We welcomed the LARGEST RCIA class in the diocese into the Church tonight! God is good!
One thing that we could all learn from children in confession: they’re brutally honest, acknowledge what they’ve done, and don’t give an explanation. They do confession so well! We could learn from their simplicity of heart
When will Satan learn that when he does division and sin, God sows saints to set the world on fire. Where sin abounds, grace is abounding and lavishing itself all the more on the Church.
Had an altar server practice today. 15 new kids came. I had my 2 young adults lead the practice, I spent time with the parents, ordered pizza for the kids. Kids all loved hanging out with each other, and parents were so happy with everything. Very fruitful! Thank you Jesus!
"instead of presuming why they do these practicies, ask them". It is not cheap to live in Nanaimo. And they take the bus, every Sunday, with the stroller, to come to Mass. Their faith is important. And we can help the Church be a part of these sacraments again for them. 4/
This is the biggest piece of garbage I've ever read. No sense that basically most of this money is tied up in parishes that actually are in use, doing shelters (like my parish), soup kitchens, refugee services, etc. Also there is no singular "The Catholic Church" legal entity!
I am more and more convinced we give too much energy & attention to things we cannot control. Especially with Church news.
Guess what: you cant do anything about what is going on in Rome, etc. If it is outside your sphere of influence, why give it so much energy & attention? 1/2
They then started peppering me with questions about the faith. We all walked out of there a lot happier than when we started. I told them they could use our parish hall for free to celebrate these sacraments. This is their home.
For me, it was a moment of... 3/
Every time this pops up, I'm utterly moved by it. It is such a moment of true evangelization.
But more importantly, it helps re-orient us to a fundamental fact: to be is a gift, and so everything that comes with being, both joys and pains, are a gift.
You said "'What punishments of God are not gifts?' Do you really believe that?"
@andersoncooper
asks comedian Stephen Colbert, choking back tears as they discuss grief.
"Yes," Colbert replies. "It's a gift to exist, and with existence comes suffering. There's no escaping that."
so many sick calls. never in my priesthood have I had so many. the demands are outpacing our ability to meet them sacramentally. please pray for more priests in my diocese!
But we had a great conversation. I learned how much they do love Jesus, but they were just not well formed. It wasn't their fault, really. At one point of the conversation the husband said "honey: why don't we get married with the baptism?" and I was overjoyed! 3/
One of those really PRIEST days where you also realize your diocese needs more priests:
2 calls for people imminently dying
3 other sick calls/communion calls
Confessions
Mass
Benediction
Funeral
Plus other appointments in the day.
Jesus, send labourers into your harvest!
We have talked a lot about the smoke of Satan entering the Church.
It's true.
But it's not in what people think it is.
It's deeper.
Deep down, the smoke is atheism.
Atheism in a lack of real and life changing belief that God is real and has saved us.
Atheism.
Today is the Birthday of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. He is 95 years old. He was baptized on Holy Saturday and today is...Holy Saturday! I am so grateful for his ministry and his thought in the life of the Church!
This is a
@jdflynn
&
@canonlawyered
appreciation tweet. I pray Mass for them once a month. We need what they’re doing. We need reform
We too often want just performative outrage because it means we don’t actually need to change
The basic truth, though, is: we all need to repent
Merry Christmas from St Peter’s.
Snow (BC rarely gets snow and it’s very wet and hard to drive in) + Omicron keeping numbers low. Alas, Christ is still born and God has embraced our humanity so that we may be lifted into His life.
#MerryChristmas
If there is one line of thought that I think sums up much of Ratzinger's/Benedict XVI's thought it's this:
in Christ we see the face of Truth. Truth is not an idea, but a Person.
Life has been very stressful the last few weeks. But then moments like reconciling someone to God on their deathbed makes you forget all the difficulties, even just for a brief moment. God is good.
man. it was not the best vigil liturgically. ran out of time & focus to get everything prepped as I would have liked.
BUT
It was the most emotional. I have been journeying closely this year with all these folks wanting to be catholic. I got choked up especially at confirmation!
Please pray for Richard who is in his last days, who I just anointed.
As we talked, I was struck by the reality of the Incarnation, that Christ was a mysterious but real presence in this man. I pray that my eyes may see this more.
Christ is here
one interesting thing in Ratzinger is that he never sees erroneous worldviews as a threat: rather they are a challenge to Christians to rediscover how radical the faith is and to live it as something that can truly shape history in a life giving way
The hardest thing as a priest is that there are often so few of us.
Was in another parish 45 minutes away tonight hearing confessions for a reconciliation service. I got a call from a woman’s son. She was in palliative. I just got here and she already passed (small 🧵)
Acedia is a sin that denies the incarnation. It wants you to be listless with what is in front of you by either choosing to do nothing or to be distracted with something else.
Virtue means choosing reality, which is what the Incarnation is all about.
oh no it's happening again.
The Church sees natural marriage between two unbaptized people, or a baptized and non-baptized non-Catholic as valid. Ergo. Real.
The Church also sees the marriage between two Baptized non-Catholics that may happen, say, at a beach, as valid.
Acedia is the sin of our age because it’s the sin of avoidance, the avoidance of experience, the concrete, our enfleshment.
It is why Christ is so hard to encounter today because it’s precisely those things, the concrete, in which he is found. Acedia is the avoidance of Christ
Could use a prayer or two with PhD work. It has been really tough. Not because I'm not interested. I am. But lately the parish tends to get my attention. It has been a good "busy", but it has definitely interfered with thesis work and I am struggling to figure out how to do both
Twitter becomes a much better experience when you recognize that it's a horrible platform for sustained argument and so you avoid arguing for your point. Then you can just post, engage, and move on. Twitter is way more enjoyable this way.
Some advice I often give in the confessional. If you’re trying to overcome a particular sin, give yourself small, manageable goals to start working on.
I always say you don’t start training for a marathon by running a marathon. That would kill you. Rather, you run a few blocks
If you want to know if the world is going to be ok, just hang out with religious sisters. Because there you’ll see the fact that because they’re here praying and interceding and working, the world is in good hands