St. Philip's & St. Clare's
Richmond and Dwyer Hill, Ontario
Fr. Bob Poole
Deacon Mark Masson
Deacon Louis Seward
Contact us
Parish Office Info:
Tel: 613-838-2314
Address: 127 Burke, Richmond,
ON K0A 2Z0
Office Hours: from 9.15 to 3.15pm Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
The Holy Week and Easter celebrations this year mark six months since my arrival at the parishes of St Philip and St Clare. So let me first take the opportunity to thank you all for your wonderful warm welcome to me . Obviously the circumstances were not ideal, but I felt immediately accepted and affirmed . This encouraged me to pour myself out into both parish communities and I have been delighted by the enthusiastic response to the initiatives that we have made in these last six months. My faith and trust is that the momentum which is being built up will continue to increase in the months ahead.
So at this six month anniversary , I want to share my sense that both parishes have undergone a real "death and resurrection" experience . This is in keeping with the whole of the Christian life experience , following in the footsteps of Jesus. We all have to undergo many "dyings and risings" in the course of our lives, and what makes the various "dyings" bearable is knowing that the power of God's Holy Spirit, who raised Jesus from the dead, is continually being poured out over us so that each "dying" gives way to a fresh "rising".
One of my favourite saints, Blessed John Henry Newman, once said "Here below, to be human is to change, and to become perfect is to have gone through many changes". If we substitute the phrase "dyings and risings" for the word "changes" we will be able to understand that there is no experience, no matter how dire or devastating, that cannot , in the hands of our all-powerful and all-loving God , be turned into good . God can turn to our good all the negative experiences we have been living , if we learn to surrender those experiences into his hands in confidence and trust and with forgiveness in our hearts . Then this Easter will truly become a real "resurrection" for us .
"We are an Easter people, and our song is "Alleluia " (Blessed Pope John Paul II)
Happy Easter !!
fr bob