Visiting the Michaelites

 I was mainly on the road today as I headed back to Sudbury from St. Peter's Seminary in London. On the way I decided to visit the retreat centre of the Michaelite Fathers, as I wanted to learn more about their devotion to Saint Michael the Archangel. My guide was Father Mateusz Sobierajski, who met me there after their morning Mass.

It turns out there are many forms of such devotion, such as a Chaplet of Saint Michael, as well as a Scapular of Saint Michael which one obtains by being enrolled in the confraternity of the same name. They also do a big outdoor Mass around Saint Michael's feast day on September 29. 

More info: Michaelites in Canada

Very proud of Father George Gardner, a priest of our diocese

Father George Gardner is an honorary chief of Whitefish River First Nation and recently took part in a ceremony renewing the relationship between the First Nation and the company Lafarge. Thank you Father George.

https://www.manitoulin.com/lafarge-birch-island-ink-historic-50-year-pact/

island-ink-historic-50-year-pact/

My nephew Paxton is now an altar server!

Proud uncle here! :-)

Q&A with Bishop Dowd, part 2!

 My podcast interview with Marybel Mayorga last month was well received, so we did a part two!

Key timestamps for this one:

1;40 - There’s a lot of bad things going on in the world. Why does God allow this?

8;19-When I say God is with me, there’s more than millions of people who are also saying that God is with them too. How can He be with us all at the same time? Or does He has angels that take care of us?

10;39-How do I know my sins from a younger age but never confessed them because I don't remember them or taught at the time it was not a sin. How does one make themselves at peace for things they do not know they did wrong? Like I ask myself did I ever bully someone without knowing I was, was I mean to someone, did I intentionally hurt someone, I talked bad about people, I judged people. Being a teen, being rude to my parents, etc.

14;10-Why is it so important to go to church?  Some people say they already have their relationship with God at home or in their hearts and don’t need to go to Church.

20;52-Why can't priests get married? Compare to other religions 

24;40-How do we really know that God is real? Why are there people that don’t believe in God and why are there different religions?

33;57-In our catholic religion, is it bad to get a tattoo?

35;43-I was brought up in the old school catholic where you can't eat meat on fridays, you can't take communion only when you do confession. Is this true? If it’s true, what are other rules to follow that we should know of? 

41;52-Why doesn't God heal everybody?

48;36-How do I know if it's really God's voice or my voice in my head? I'm trying to make the right decision..

55;40-What is a good catholic? Go to church, say your prayers, be good , believe. What is the definition of a good catholic? How do we know we are doing good?

Interview on "A Walk of Faith" podcast

I did a Q&A on the podcast "A Walk of Faith" with Marybel Mayorga. Have a listen here:

Some key timestamps:

24;34- How did original sin cause death, if there were animals before Adam & Eve that possibly died, like the dinosaurs? 

30;36-What do you do with your palm?

33;15-How many times do you need to go to confession? I always confess the same thing? How does God forgive me when I redo the same mistakes?

41;28 - Can we pray for money?

45;56-Can a catholic be cremated?

47;59-As a catholic how does one deal with their child who was brought up catholic but ends up falling in love with someone who is not catholic but they decide to not get the catholic root?

51;49-The new normal is not to get married and live together first to make sure it works out before they commit to each other. How is this seen from a catholic point of vue?

59;03- saw in a confession post that masturbation is a sin but we teach the kids in school that this is totally normal to do. We see this everywhere. 

1;07;42-How do you deal with someone who is so negative and wants to bring you down or brings up past mistakes that you have done but made peace with and asked for forgiveness but this person is so angry at the world. How do you accept someone or try to make it work so the family can be at peace. 

1;16;48-What can we answer to people outside the Faith that say the Church is discriminatory towards women; women can’t be priests; can’t be bishops, cardinals and they can’t vote for the pope…

4th run of 2023!

Once again, just a lap around the block (1.5 km) but I'm starting to pick up the pace. I could feel my legs getting stronger as I ran, and it showed in the time for the lap. And no injury or soreness after, which is good. I'm on track to start my real training in the first week of May.

 

Why did God give us free will and personality

A talk I have to the CWL today. Enjoy!