Catching up with one of my former professors

Back when I was a student at Concordia University I had Professor Mahesh Sharma as one of my teachers. At that time I was also very involved in student life. One weekend, as we were leaving the building after working late, we ran into Professor Sharma leaving his office. It turned out he had been in all day, meeting students in his office and helping them with their studies. Not long after we have Professor Sharma a special award for his dedication as a teacher.

For Professor Sharma, teaching the students and caring for them was more than a job, it was a calling. He had, very tragically, lost his entire family in the terrible Air India bombing of 1985. After a time of depression he got into shape through running, and with his new energy his students became the family he would now care for. Needless to say, I admired him greatly, and still do.

Professor Sharma and I had hoped to see one another sometime in the last few month, but alas, the COVID pandemic got in the way. Still, we made a point of connecting today via technology. Professor Sharma is a Hindu but he has always expressed great respect for my faith convictions, and I can sense he is proud of my vocation. Now in his 80's, he continues to teach and serve the students. I am proud to call him my professor, mentor and friend.

Persian night in the kitchen!

Last weekend we celebrated the feast of the Epiphany, and so to commemorate the Magi who visited the infant Jesus I decided to cook a Persian dish: Noodle Soup! Although, to be honest, it turned out to be more of a noodle vegetable stew. But it was still delicious!

I started by frying some red onion in olive oil until it was nice and crisp. This was to serve as a garnish later, and really helped make the dish.

While that was cooking, I soften some onion and garlic in a pot, and then added tumeric and vegetable broth. This was set to a slow cook, with the onions and garlic slowly dissolving in.

Also also added some kidney beans and some lentils to the mix. That slow cook was going to take a while, so I used the time to chop up some parsley, mint, green onion and cilantro. I also rinsed some lentils. This eventually got added as well.

One the mix had cooked some more, with lots of stirring the blend the flavours, I added the noodles. I didn't have anything authentically Persian, so I used linguini.

The final ingredient was some spinach. This goes in last, and cooks just long enough for the leaves to wilt.

And voila! Dinner is served, with salt and pepper to taste, and dollop of Greek yogourt with friend red onion on the top (same as in the first picture). 

I do enjoy cooking, I must say. There are a few things I'd adjust in this recipe, such as the suggested amount of noodles (it just sucked up the water in the soup) as well as the timing of some of the cooking. As well, next time I'll go with dried beans rather than canned ones (I just need to remember to leave them to soak for a few hours first). But the end result was still delicious!

Visit to Holy Redeemer in Sudbury

I was going to write that this was my 15th visit to a church so far, but I realised now that Holy Redeemer was actually my second visit to a parish in this diocese! When I first came in November 2020 I stayed at Saint-Jean-Brébeuf parish, and at the end of that week I also went for a social visit at Holy Redeemer.

The church is somewhat different with regards to its internal decoration. The most obvious element is the image of Jesus suspended above the altar, which evokes his Resurrection (and, particularly, his Ascension). There is also the two beams, which meet to for the image of the cross, present over the assembly. However, as a more subtle element, the sanctuary also has an interesting placement for the altar, which is not in the middle but off to the side. This is an expression of what is sometimes called the "two tables" approach to understanding the relationship between the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist within mass.

My visit today included a broadcast mass, and many thanks to Father Sam D'Angelo for his warm welcome!

Visit to Our Lady of Hope

Visits to churches continue! This weekend I was at Our Lady of Hope. I started to the do math: my 14th church visit so far!

I have to admit,  I love the name of this parish. Hope is at the heart of my personal spirituality, and we often don't realise how Mary's faith was not just a faith in God but in his providence in his plan. In other words, Mary, the model of our faith, is also the model of our hope.

Many thanks to Fr. Larry for his warm welcome!

Back to Sudbury, day 3, part 3: Saint Andrew the Apostle in Sudbury!

The title of this blog post has a bit of a double meaning. On the one hand, I am referring to the parish church that I visited this evening (the last of 4 for today). But on the other hand, I mean that Saint Andrew the Apostle can literally be found in Sudbury (well, a piece of him!)

To put this in context: I got home from my visit to Sturgeon Falls in the early evening. I took some time to unpack and rest up before heading out to my last stop of the day (the aforementioned Saint Andrew the Apostle). I was given a nice tour by the parish priest, Father Denis Vaiz. As we looked around the church, he casually pointed out a small monstrance affixed to the wall in a small box. This, he explained, was a first-class relic of Saint Andrew the Apostle. 

To which I thought to myself, "Wow!"

For those who don't know what a relic is, it is a generally a piece of the body of a saint, or a bit of his clothing or other artifact closely associated with that saint, or a cloth touched to one of the above. The earliest written record we have of this practice is found in the Bible itself, in the Acts of the Apostles, which describes how "God did extraordinary miracles through the hands of Paul, so that even handkerchiefsc and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and the diseases and evil spirits left them." (Acts 19:11-12)

With regards to the practice of keeping the actual body of the saint, while this is sometimes seen as gruesome it is actually part of an ancient tradition meant to honour the saint in question. In one of the earliest written testimonies we have to the practice. When Saint Polycarp was martyred in the second century, the Christians of the time gathered up his bones and placed them together in a suitable place so that, every year, they could celebrate his "birthday" into eternal life. Then, as people moved about they carried these special devotions with them, and erected shrines to those same saints in the places with one or more of the bones of the saint in question with them. 

And, believe it or not, that's what we've got in Sudbury: a bit of Saint Andrew the Apostle! First class relics of apostles are very rare, so I was really quite amazed to see it there!

There are some who think the devotion to saints via their relics is a bit passé, but the practice continues to draw the faithful despite those who do not understand. A major relic of Saint Francis Xavier, for example, recently made a tour of Canada, and many articles were written on the subject (scroll down to see). I especially enjoyed this fun article called Have arm, will travel. Only a Newfoundlander could come up with an article like this, that is both reverent and a bit cheeky! :-)

Want to know more about relics? Here is a good article in the Catholic Encyclopedia on the doctrine and practice of this kind of devotion.

Back to Sudbury, day 3, part 2: Visiting two churches along the way

After Mass at Saint Peter's in North Bay I hit the road for Sudbury. That said, given I would be in the area I thought it would be a chance to visit other visit churches along the way. So I called ahead to Fr. Tensingh Alexander in Sturgeon Falls to see if he'd be free. Happily, he was!

I first visited the English-language church of Our Lady of Sorrows in Sturgeon Falls (I already visited Sacré-Coeur on Christmas Eve). Unfortunately I don't have a photo of this sanctuary on my phone (not sure why), but trust me, it's a lovely little church.

We then headed to the other community served by Fr. Alexander: Holy Spirit Mission, in Nipissing First Nation. While the territory has normally been closed to outsiders due to COVID, a couple from the community who look after the church were able to meet us and open up for us (many thanks to them). I have to admit, I marvelled at the view from the pews, looking over Lake Nipissing. I love traditional stained glass, but this must just showcase the beauty of creation. I can't wait to see it in the spring or summer.

Our visit was necessarily brief, in part because I really did want to make it back home. I drove Fr. Alexander back to the parish in Sturgeon Falls, and then kept on my way. I had one more church to visit after getting back to Sudbury.

Back to Sudbury, day 3, part 1: Mass at Saint Peter the Apostle parish

Day 3 of my journey back to Sudbury brought me to Saint Peter the Apostle parish, also in North Bay. Although this parish is not equipped for streaming the service, the pastor still made sure to offer mass even if only a maximum of 10 people could be present. This led to a moment of amusement: as I pulled up in the parking lot, parish greeters came to warn me that there was no more room. They quickly recognized me, though, and we had a good laugh about my presence: "I guess you can go in, Bishop!"

People kept arriving, as news of the effect of the lockdown on worship had not yet reached everyone. I was then asked, "Could people stay in the parking lot, doing the reading and saying the rosary, and then receive communion?" I was very moved by this request, so of course I said yes. In fact, I adjusted my whole homily around this new development. This idea of having people inside the church engaged in the sacrificial worship, while others pray outside in communion with that sacrifice, is actually a very old idea, dating back to Jewish times. We see it mentioned in the gospel of Luke, when Zechariah goes to offer incense while others are praying outside of the sanctuary. Their prayer was being done in union with what Zechariah, as a priest, was doing: despite the separation, the unity of intent made it one act of worship.

As the Jewish people spread throughout the world, they brought this tradition of prayer with them. Jews in Rome, for example, could not go to the Temple in Jerusalem to take part in the sacrifices, but nothing prevented them from being united in their hearts with those sacrifices regardless of distance. They diligently studied the Old Testament, and when the temple was destroyed in 70 A.D., they kept on praying at times that symbolically represented those times when sacrifices would have been scheduled. Prayer itself became the expression of the sacrifice.

The early Christians maintained this custom of scheduled prayer, known as the Divine Office or Liturgy of the Hours, and it became a core part of the spirituality of those in monastic life. For those unable to afford (or read) the prayer books it involved, an alternative developed: the Marian Rosary. Until recently it involved the recitation of 150 Hail Mary prayers, to match the number of Psalms (which formed the core of the Divine Office).

So think of it: a group of people in the parking lot, doing the readings and praying the Rosary: they were spontaneously copying a tradition that has very ancient origins. So we made sure everyone received communion, and after mass was over inside I made sure to make my way outside to offer a brief homily explaining all these elements, and then offering the solemn blessing for the New Year.

I love these moments when the work of the Holy Spirit becomes so visible!