Rejoice Sunday!

This past Sunday sure saw a lot of activity at St. Michael parish! What a joy to be part of such a busy place!

First, Fr. Michael Fahlman came to celebrate a Mass of thanksgiving for us! He gave a beautiful homily about our joy coming from Christ! He concluded Mass with a special blessing for all the different groups of people in the parish. He said I could receive the youth blessing because I was short enough! And what a blessing to have his parents, Dot and Hilary, there to worship with us!

Next we had a Christmas brunch. It's always so nice to come together as a faith community for food and fellowship!

After cleanup we rushed over to the curling rink for some friendly competition. We managed to form 8 teams so again, what a great turnout for such a busy time of year! I was only able to curl 3 ends, but that's probably enough since I think I only hit the broom once, haha. But when I did, man I'm good!

At 3pm back at the parish we had our second monthly Mass in the Cree tradition. Our first was in November and we had about 60 people out to pray with us. This Sunday we packed in about 140! And these people are not regular church go-ers. I could tell because there was a lot of "and also with you's" out there. There is an entire crowd of people out there whom we are not ministering too. How blessed are we to be part of this new evangelization! After Mass we gathered for soup and bannock. Thank you Jesus for multiplying because we sure were not expecting that many people!

And this was just one day!

Have a blessed Advent and please, take some time to wait.

FT

December 17 we begin the O Antiphons. Here is the one for today O Come, Thou Wisdom, from on high, and order all things far and nigh; to us the path of knowledge show, and teach us in her ways to go.

The most expensive time....of the year

Its that time of year again! Parties, gifts, spending, winter, etc. Oh, I mean, the coming of Christ! But anyway, life can get really costly! If you or someone you know is under financial restraints, please talk to someone! Please contact me! It is completely anonymous and we can help you out! Jesus received gifts at Christmas! You can as well!

FT

Love hurts!

We have now just begun the 2nd Sunday of Advent. Yay! Preparing for Christmas can be fun! Decorating, shopping, baking, planning, etc. However, all of this can be expensive, busy, stressful as well. The Gospel of the 2nd Sunday of Advent has St. John the Baptist call for us to make straight the way for the coming of the Lord. Making crooked ways straight can be a ton of work!

The Church calls us to prepare for Christ with joy! Don't get caught up in the road building, the busyness, this Advent; rather, allow joy to surround everything we do. If Advent is not a season of joy for you, do something about it!

God bless your Christmas preparation!

FT

Epiphany Bulletin

The Epiphany bulletin is up. January the 8th for St. Michael parish.

See you tonight for the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord!

Christmas Mass in Prince Albert 2011

MASS TIMES DURING THE CHRISTMAS SEASON

Sacred Heart Cathedral Christmas Eve - 4:00 p.m., 6:30 p.m., 8:30 p.m. (French), 12:00 a.m.
Christmas Day - 11:00 a.m.
New Year’s Day - 8:00 a.m., 9:30 a.m. (French), 11:00 a.m.

St. George Ukrainian Catholic Christmas Eve - 8:30 p.m.
Compline followed by Divine Liturgy New Year’s Day - 10:30 a.m. Divine Liturgy

St. Joseph Parish Christmas Eve - 7:00 p.m., 9:30 p.m., 12:00 a.m.
Christmas Day - 10:30 a.m.
New Year’s Eve - 5:30 p.m.

St. Mark Parish Christmas Eve - 10:00 p.m.
Christmas Day - 10:00 a.m.
New Year’s Day - 10:00 a.m. St.

St. Michael Parish Christmas Eve - 8:30 p.m.
Christmas Day - 9:30 a.m.
New Year’s Day - 9:30 a.m

Christmas 2010

Greetings and Peace!

I thought I would take this opportunity to write to you a Christmas letter. Something I have never really done in my 10 years of adulthood. I am finally feeling a bit settled in life as I finally finished 8 short years of seminary, and survived my first year of priesthood.

Settled is an interesting word, however, as one would think that it carries with it the connotation that I would be living in the same place for more than a year. Nope, I moved again in November, leaving Fr. Matthew who gave me wonderful support during my first year of ordination, putting up with an imensity of all my sins and foibles! Thank you Father!

This year has seen many joys and struggles both in my ministerial life and my personal life. Lent was a wonderful time of growth, but Easter was not. In fact, Easter till Advent came with alot of struggles with prayer, routine, etc. Finally, after this struggle, I am beginning to feel whole again this advent!

This summer I was able to get away for awhile, taking in wine tasting, whitewater rafting, camping, mountain biking, as well as a lot of great reconnections with friends! I was also able to concelebrate at the ordinations of Deacon Geoffery Young and, most recently, Father Roger Rouleau. Further, I was able to witness the marriages of some friends of mine, Dave and Nicole and Chris and Katarina! Blessings to all of you as you begin a new chapter of your lives!

September was back to the grind and, doing things for a second time, I felt I was fitting in more. I had hopes of being more proactive than reactive, but you can't spell proactive without procrastinate. And if you think that last sentence makes no sense, stay tuned for my Christmas homily!

Advent has been a blessing. From the get go the Lord placed many things in my life to show me his presence. It has left me genuinly reflecting on my actions in a very concrete way. Often my prayer has been, "Lord, if you came right now, would you like that I'm "?

Funerals. I have been so privileged to be in the lives of families at the moment of such great loss. A time where God has been using me to bring his comfort to the sorrowing. These have been the source of some of my greatest consolations in my ministry as well as my most exhausting weeks.

Homilies are something that I truly love, and are the reason I first felt called to the priesthood. I take them seriously but also recognize with the utmost humility that when I begin speaking, the words are no longer mine, but the Words of Christ who has foolishly chosen my voice to offer Himself to His people. OMG.

Being in Prince Albert I am closer, geographically, to my family than I have been in 8 years. This has been great but I am still falling short. One of the blessings of celibacy, of having no family of my own, is that I am supposed to be more free to be with my immediate family. Lord, free me from the bonds that shackle me to selfishness and release me into the love of my family!

Well, that's me. Thanks to all of you who sent me Christmas blessings, gifts, letters, and/or prayers.

May Christ truly come into your homes this season and may the Holy Spirit bind you in unity!