One of my "little" joys this week was to learn from a proud mother parishioner that her two youngest daughters (still little children) enjoyed watching on our YouTube channel the morning show of "Fr. Alain and Fr. Ben" praying the daily reflections of the 33-day Consecration to St Joseph. I was rather puzzled, and I questioned these little children: "what have you learned about St Joseph? " and I got the most beautiful answer:

Every year as we celebrate Ash Wednesday, we hear God say to us through the Prophet Joel, "RETURN TO ME WITH YOUR WHOLE HEART, with fasting, and weeping, and mourning ...and RETURN TO THE LORD, YOUR GOD. For gracious and merciful is HE, slow to anger, rich in kindness, and relenting in punishment." (Joel 2:12-13). This is a joyful way to enter into the 40 days of Lent. The Prophet Joel gives us HOPE. The kingdom of Judah and Jerusalem had just experienced a great disaster (locust invasion) and Joel announces the coming of a much worse, unprecedented disaster unless the people turn back to God. If Joel were alive today, would his message to us be the same? Most of us would say...

I would like to share with you a beautiful experience about the Eucharist and the Cross. It happened at Mass last Sunday when one of our little children had a vision at the very moment of the Elevation of the Consecrated Host and then of the Chalice. To maintain privacy and anonymity, the parents have allowed me to share that experience with you provided that I do not mention any name but simply refer to "a little child." Here is the vision in the child's own words: “I SAW THE BREAD WAS GROWING A...

THE GIFT OF LOVE is the theme of our Lenten Parish Retreat. THERE IS NO GREATER LOVE THAN TO GIVE ONE's LIFE for his friends. This is what Jesus did for all of us when dying on the Cross. Yes, all of us are called to become His friends. He is truly GOD. His LOVE is INFINITE. The great teacher and theologian St Thomas Aquinas (we celebrated his feast day last week) says it more eloquently: "Why did the Son of God have to suffer for us? There was a great need, and it can be considered in a twofold way: in the first place, as a remedy for sin, and secondly as an example of how to act. It is a remedy, for in the face of all evils which we incur on account of our sins, we have found relief through THE PASSION OF CHRIST. Yet, it is no less an example, for ...