Easter Message
"Jesus was led into the desert by the Spirit." Matthew 4
What is this great paschal candle that stands in our midst, that during the Fifty Days of Easter seems always to be burning, never to go out? It is the pillar of fire by which God led the children of Israel from slavery to freedom, through the dusty desert to the land flowing with milk and honey. Behind it, we marched freed from sin from the gloom of exile back into our church’s house on Easter’s eve. With it, we led those chosen for the sacraments of new life to the font of baptism that is both tomb and womb. It is the holy sign of Christ our Light.
For fifty days it shines gloriously in the assembly of the church. Then, held in a place of honour near the font, it is brought out and lit for every evening sacrifice of praise, for every birth and every birth into eternal life. And as the days and seasons turn, slowly this pillar of finest wax and strongest wick is consumed, eaten up by fire, sacrificed—like Christ himself—and never truly extinguished. And so it measures our days and seasons until it is Easter again, until once more we sing in the light of a new paschal candle.
Come journey with us and with the Lord during the special events of Holy Week. Beginning with Palm Sunday, then the three days of Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and the Easter Vigil. All will profoundly touch your heart as the Church remembers and celebrates the victory Christ won for it by laying down his life and taking it up again.
Sincerely Yours In Christ,
Very Rev. John Van Hees
"Jesus was led into the desert by the Spirit." Matthew 4
What is this great paschal candle that stands in our midst, that during the Fifty Days of Easter seems always to be burning, never to go out? It is the pillar of fire by which God led the children of Israel from slavery to freedom, through the dusty desert to the land flowing with milk and honey. Behind it, we marched freed from sin from the gloom of exile back into our church’s house on Easter’s eve. With it, we led those chosen for the sacraments of new life to the font of baptism that is both tomb and womb. It is the holy sign of Christ our Light.
For fifty days it shines gloriously in the assembly of the church. Then, held in a place of honour near the font, it is brought out and lit for every evening sacrifice of praise, for every birth and every birth into eternal life. And as the days and seasons turn, slowly this pillar of finest wax and strongest wick is consumed, eaten up by fire, sacrificed—like Christ himself—and never truly extinguished. And so it measures our days and seasons until it is Easter again, until once more we sing in the light of a new paschal candle.
Come journey with us and with the Lord during the special events of Holy Week. Beginning with Palm Sunday, then the three days of Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and the Easter Vigil. All will profoundly touch your heart as the Church remembers and celebrates the victory Christ won for it by laying down his life and taking it up again.
Sincerely Yours In Christ,
Very Rev. John Van Hees
Ash Wednesday
February 26, 2020
9:30 am, 12 noon & 7:00 p.m.
February 26, 2020
9:30 am, 12 noon & 7:00 p.m.
Stations of the Cross
Friday evenings during Lent
7:30 p.m.
Friday evenings during Lent
7:30 p.m.
Lenten Evenings of Reconciliation
The Sacrament of Reconciliation is an opportunity for us to celebrate the Lord’s forgiveness in our lives as God’s people. Usually Advent and Lent are occasions to partake in the sacrament. You may wish to celebrate this Sacrament during one of our regularly scheduled times—Tuesdays from 6:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., Saturdays 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. or you may wish to join us at our Communal Celebration hosted by St. Benedict’s Parish on:
Thursday, April 2, 2020
7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Held at
Jean Vanier High School
1145 Bronte Street South
** Please note: Change of location to Holy Rosary Parish **
Additional Lenten Reconciliation
Celebrations in our Diocese
Mary, Mother of God, Oakville
2741 North Trail Ridge
Oakville, ON
Wednesday, March 25, 2020
7:00 pm
Saint Matthew, Oakville
1150 Monks Passage
Oakville, ON
Wednesday, April 1, 2020
7:00 pm
The Sacrament of Reconciliation is an opportunity for us to celebrate the Lord’s forgiveness in our lives as God’s people. Usually Advent and Lent are occasions to partake in the sacrament. You may wish to celebrate this Sacrament during one of our regularly scheduled times—Tuesdays from 6:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., Saturdays 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. or you may wish to join us at our Communal Celebration hosted by St. Benedict’s Parish on:
Thursday, April 2, 2020
7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Held at
Jean Vanier High School
1145 Bronte Street South
** Please note: Change of location to Holy Rosary Parish **
Additional Lenten Reconciliation
Celebrations in our Diocese
Mary, Mother of God, Oakville
2741 North Trail Ridge
Oakville, ON
Wednesday, March 25, 2020
7:00 pm
Saint Matthew, Oakville
1150 Monks Passage
Oakville, ON
Wednesday, April 1, 2020
7:00 pm
Passion (Palm) Sunday
Celebrating Christ's Passion
April 5, 2020
*Please note the time changes of the Masses:
Saturday - 5:00 pm
Sunday - 8:00 am, 10:00 am & 12:00 pm
Lenten Fast:
An Invitation to Awareness
“What are you hungry for?” Sometimes the answer is obvious: pizza, Chinese food, a juicy steak. Our spiritual hungers are rarely that easy to identify. The season of Lent, our 40-day preparation for Easter, is our annual invitation to grow in awareness of those deeper hungers. We need Lent to help us recognize that our meaning and mission are rooted in Jesus’ dying and rising. Together with those preparing for baptism, we join in outward signs of our inner conversion. Our year-round prayer, fasting and almsgiving take on new meaning during this season.
Catholics were once well known for their practice of not eating meat on Friday—a specific form of fasting called abstinence. Stories abound of the lengths Catholics would go to keep this law. Of course, as with any law, it was not that difficult to meet the letter of the law and violate its spirit. One might enjoy a fine lobster dinner or fish fry at a local restaurant and still meet the law’s requirements. Catholics were also called to limit their food intake on a variety of other fast days. The reforms which followed the Second Vatican Council sought to simplify the often complicated questions that arose regarding fast and abstinence while re-emphasizing the continuing need for such practices.
The current laws took effect in 1966. They read simply: “Catholics who have celebrated their 14th birthday are bound to abstain from meat on Ash Wednesday and each Friday of Lent. Catholics who have celebrated their 18th birthday, in addition to abstaining from meat, should fast, i.e., eat only one full meal on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. Smaller quantities of food may be taken at two other meals but no food should be consumed at any other time during those two days. The obligation of fasting ceases with the celebration of one’s 59th birthday.”
The spirit of the law may invite us to fast from other activities as well: from television or computer games, from eating out or from gossiping. These minimum requirements make the most sense when they are combined with prayer and almsgiving. These age-old disciplines reflect our most fundamental concerns: our relationship with God (prayer), with our bodies (fasting) and with each other (almsgiving).
Copyright © 1997 Archdiocese of Chicago: Liturgy Training Publications, 1800 North Hermitage Avenue, Chicago IL 60622-1101; 1-800-933-1800. Text by Kathy Luty. Art by Rita Corbin.
-------------------------
Mass of Chrism
Monday, April 6, 2020 - 7:00 pm
at Cathedral Basilica of Christ the King
714 King Street W, Hamilton ON
Blessing of Holy Oils for sacramental use throughout the Diocese of Hamilton
All are welcome and encouraged to attend.
Celebrating Christ's Passion
April 5, 2020
*Please note the time changes of the Masses:
Saturday - 5:00 pm
Sunday - 8:00 am, 10:00 am & 12:00 pm
Lenten Fast:
An Invitation to Awareness
“What are you hungry for?” Sometimes the answer is obvious: pizza, Chinese food, a juicy steak. Our spiritual hungers are rarely that easy to identify. The season of Lent, our 40-day preparation for Easter, is our annual invitation to grow in awareness of those deeper hungers. We need Lent to help us recognize that our meaning and mission are rooted in Jesus’ dying and rising. Together with those preparing for baptism, we join in outward signs of our inner conversion. Our year-round prayer, fasting and almsgiving take on new meaning during this season.
Catholics were once well known for their practice of not eating meat on Friday—a specific form of fasting called abstinence. Stories abound of the lengths Catholics would go to keep this law. Of course, as with any law, it was not that difficult to meet the letter of the law and violate its spirit. One might enjoy a fine lobster dinner or fish fry at a local restaurant and still meet the law’s requirements. Catholics were also called to limit their food intake on a variety of other fast days. The reforms which followed the Second Vatican Council sought to simplify the often complicated questions that arose regarding fast and abstinence while re-emphasizing the continuing need for such practices.
The current laws took effect in 1966. They read simply: “Catholics who have celebrated their 14th birthday are bound to abstain from meat on Ash Wednesday and each Friday of Lent. Catholics who have celebrated their 18th birthday, in addition to abstaining from meat, should fast, i.e., eat only one full meal on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. Smaller quantities of food may be taken at two other meals but no food should be consumed at any other time during those two days. The obligation of fasting ceases with the celebration of one’s 59th birthday.”
The spirit of the law may invite us to fast from other activities as well: from television or computer games, from eating out or from gossiping. These minimum requirements make the most sense when they are combined with prayer and almsgiving. These age-old disciplines reflect our most fundamental concerns: our relationship with God (prayer), with our bodies (fasting) and with each other (almsgiving).
Copyright © 1997 Archdiocese of Chicago: Liturgy Training Publications, 1800 North Hermitage Avenue, Chicago IL 60622-1101; 1-800-933-1800. Text by Kathy Luty. Art by Rita Corbin.
-------------------------
Mass of Chrism
Monday, April 6, 2020 - 7:00 pm
at Cathedral Basilica of Christ the King
714 King Street W, Hamilton ON
Blessing of Holy Oils for sacramental use throughout the Diocese of Hamilton
All are welcome and encouraged to attend.
The Triduum
Holy Thursday
Mass of the Lord’s Supper
Celebrating our Lord's Giving of the Eucharist
April 9, 2020 - 8:00 pm
Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, after Mass, until 11pm
-------------------------
Good Friday
Solemn Liturgy of the Lord’s Passion
Remembering the Sacrifice our Lord made for all Humanity
April 10, 2020 - 11:00 am & 3:00 pm
&
Children’s Remembrance
Parish Hall - 11:00 am
The Journey of the Cross Passion Play
(See further details below)
7 pm
-------------------------
Holy Saturday
April 11, 2020 - 9:00 am
Blessing of the Easter Foods
&
Easter Vigil
April 12, 2020 - 8:00 pm
Service of Light, Baptism and Reception of
New Catholics, Renewal of Baptismal Promises
Celebrating Christ's Rising and the Easter Sacraments
Holy Thursday
Mass of the Lord’s Supper
Celebrating our Lord's Giving of the Eucharist
April 9, 2020 - 8:00 pm
Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, after Mass, until 11pm
-------------------------
Good Friday
Solemn Liturgy of the Lord’s Passion
Remembering the Sacrifice our Lord made for all Humanity
April 10, 2020 - 11:00 am & 3:00 pm
&
Children’s Remembrance
Parish Hall - 11:00 am
The Journey of the Cross Passion Play
(See further details below)
7 pm
-------------------------
Holy Saturday
April 11, 2020 - 9:00 am
Blessing of the Easter Foods
&
Easter Vigil
April 12, 2020 - 8:00 pm
Service of Light, Baptism and Reception of
New Catholics, Renewal of Baptismal Promises
Celebrating Christ's Rising and the Easter Sacraments
For three full days, from Holy Thursday evening to Easter Sunday night, the Church celebrates the Paschal Mystery of Jesus Christ. This liturgy is the highlight of the liturgical year and is very beautiful. We highly encourage your participation!
Easter Sunday
Alleluia!
Our Lord is Truly Risen!!
April 12, 2020
The Resurrection of Our Lord
*Please note the time changes of the Masses:
Sunday
8:00 am, 10:00 am, 12:00 pm and 1:30 pm
Alleluia!
Our Lord is Truly Risen!!
April 12, 2020
The Resurrection of Our Lord
*Please note the time changes of the Masses:
Sunday
8:00 am, 10:00 am, 12:00 pm and 1:30 pm
