Andrew Pump offers the reflection at Mass this weekend and in it, he shares:
“John’s Gospel is not individualistic and apolitical, rather it is about the strength that Christ gives to the communities that proclaim him – even and especially those persecuted and on the road to martyrdom. The early Christians were a group of despised communities that were scapegoated by the Roman authorities all over the empire for political purposes. And these periods of persecution would flare up and subside up and down for 300 years. So this is the paradox, the folly of the cross, a community being killed is proclaiming they have received eternal life, those doing without and self-sacrificing are proclaiming that they are filled with the bread of life, and those persecuted are calling themselves blessed and grateful. God does not take away our earthly problems and trials, he spiritually transforms us so we can use poison as medicine, and not let life on life’s terms destroy us with despair, but become empowered within communities of shared struggle.”
Liturgical Resources
Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time – July 25 2021 – Liturgy of the Word for use at home
READINGS FOR THE SEVENTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME – 2021
READINGS FOR CHILDREN – 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time 2021
Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time 2021 – Prayers of the Faithful
Parish Update
A reminder: All are welcome at Mass
This is a reminder that all are very welcome to attend Mass at St. Joe’s, including visitors. Capacity in Step 3 of the reopening is 100 people. Parishioners do not need to register to attend. If you are a new visitor and are attending Mass, please let the office know for contact tracing purposes. Tel.: 619-233-4095, ext. 251. Email: frontdesk@st-josephs.ca
Free breakfast and snack boxes available
On Monday, the Parish will once again receive a shipment of 40 breakfast and snack boxes available for free to parishioners with school age children. The program is made possible by the Ottawa Network for Education and each box includes healthy breakfast and snack items. If interested, please contact the front office to pick up a box. Tel.: 613-233-4095, ext. 251 or frontdesk@st-josephs.ca
World Day of Grandparents and the Elderly
Sunday, July 25th is the First World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly with the theme: “I am with you always” (cf. Mt 28:20). We offer our prayers for all grandparents and elderly members of St. Joe’s and we cherish your presence in our community .
A Call from the Parish Finance Council
The Parish Finance Council is looking for parishioners who are interested in serving on the Council. It is a permanent advisory body to the Pastor and the St. Joseph’s Parish Pastoral Council, responsible for ensuring they are well-informed in all their decision-making with respect to financial matters.
Members serve for 2-year renewable terms and are selected from among the parishioners, based on their experience in financial management to the extent possible. Accounting credentials and experience on boards of corporate bodies or associations or management teams where financial issues are considered as part of management’s deliberations are assets.
The Council generally meets on a monthly basis with a break during the summer. Additional details about the Council and its members may be found in its Terms of Reference posted on the Parish website. If interested, please email: cadam@st-josephs.ca and your message will be forwarded to John Mark Keyes, Chair of the PFC.
Sunday Offerings for July 19, 2021 : $5,205
Thank you for your generosity. We are grateful for your support during the pandemic, especially as our expenses continue. If you would like to continue giving in this period, but have not yet returned to in-person Mass, you can mail in your offering envelopes/cheques to the parish front office, donate through Canada Helps or call us at 613-233-4095, ext. 251 to donate through credit card.
Recommended reading on confronting the history of Indian residential schools
Eileen Markey writes in America Magazine:
It is such a Christian word: reconciliation. Can a private sacrament, a movement between soul and God, be adapted to heal a division in the polis? How does a religious community embark on a spiritual endeavor with people they have harmed?
These are questions Sister Joan O’Keefe, current president of the Sisters of Charity of Halifax, is puzzling over. “My goal is to continue to build those relationships and to respond to the invitation to be part of the process,” Sister O’Keefe says. “We colluded in a racist system,” she says of her order’s role in running the residential schools. “It’s not enough to ask for forgiveness. The point is to listen to their stories…. You can’t reconcile if you don’t know the truth.”
To read the full piece in America, please click here.
Vocation Reflection: “What is it that we are in need of today?”
By By Serena Shaw – Vocation Team – Oblate Associate
“What is it that we are in need of today? All of us have needs, whether they be personal or communal. How do we work together when our needs are so diverse? Or are they? What is the motivation, the moral imperative? If we can all agree that we are working for one purpose, then we can accomplish anything. And then we will realize our full potential.”
Read the reflection here (published on Friday July 23): https://omilacombe.ca/become-an-oblate/
Andrew
When you state almost matter of fact that the Church provided theological backing to the wiping out of entire cultures around the world what I hear is not truth but the woke dialectic focused on laying blame for the perilous state we find ourselves in rather than searching for remedies. You trivialize the dedication of generations of missionaries who brought the knowledge of Christ, education, medical care and compassion to people who had not yet heard the good news of the gospels. The Canadian martyrs did not die attempting to extinguish a culture, they died defending the Hurons from genocide at the hands of the Iroquois Confederacy. They were carrying out the mission of Christ who charged the apostles to take his teachings to all peoples. The fictitious agenda you propagate might be expected from the secular press. I do expect to hear it from the pulpit.
Sorry. My last line should read “I do not expect to hear it from the pulpit: “