St. Philip Parish and St. Clare Mission

The book of Proverbs in the Old Testament declares: ”Without a vision, the people perish” (Proverbs 29:18). 

If you do not have a vision, a goal, a plan for your life, you are destined to perish in mediocrity, disappointment and lack of a sense of fulfilment. This is true whether it is a question of an individual or a community. St Philip’s has its own vision statement: and my community, Lift Jesus Higher has for their vision: ”To lift Jesus higher in Ottawa and in Canada.” 

What vision do you have for your life, brothers and sisters? Do you even have one?  

It may surprise you to know, brothers and sisters, that God has a vision, a purpose, for your life and he wants to communicate it to you, if you are willing to listen out for it. In the prophet Jeremiah, we read: ”I know my plans for you, says the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, to lead you into a future full of hope. When you call upon me and come and pray to me, I will hear you. When you search for me, you will find me, if you seek me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:11-13). This is primarily a promise to a people, the nation of Israel, but it also applies to each and every one of us. 

When God created us, he already had formed his purposes for us. In St Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, we read that “God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless before him, and to live before him in love, destining us to be adopted as his children through Christ” (Ephesians 1:4-5). That is what God wants for each one of us, to have us live with him for all eternity in love and peace and joy. … Read more...

Story of man seeking wisdom for his life – “stay on the balls of your feet, not your heels”.  This is especially excellent wisdom for us during this Advent season. For, as Jesus reminds us in our gospel today: ”therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour”.  We have been told not to seek to know the actual date when this second coming of Jesus will take place. No one knows when this will be, says Jesus, in the gospels, and elsewhere, not even He himself, only his heavenly Father. (Acts 1:6). But we are meant to be always in readiness for that event, which can happen at any moment in history. If there is one sure thing I can predict about that moment, however, is that the vast majority of the world will not be in readiness for it. Jesus reminds his disciples in our gospel today that his second coming will find people doing what they did in Noah’s time, just before the flood came and swept them all away. “As the days of Noah were, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark, and they knew nothing  until the flood came and swept them all away, so too will be the coming of the Son of Man.“

Historically, we know that in A.D. 70, following a revolt in and around Jerusalem by the Jews seeking to drive their Roman occupiers out of their country, the Romans marched on the city , destroyed the Jews’ beloved Temple and went on a murderous rampage throughout the city. Many, many Jews were killed at that time, but no one who had become a disciple of Jesus.… Read more...

Story of priest called out in winter to minister to dying man.

This true story highlights a truth about God that should bring us much hope and consolation, especially if we have friends or family members who are estranged from the church and their faith. It is never too late in this life for a person to turn away from their sin and back to God. God’s hand of grace is stretched out to the very last moment of a person’s life to offer them salvation, if they will reach out and grasp it. We have two examples from Mass earlier in the week. One is of a blind man standing along the side of the road, begging, when he hears that Jesus is passing by. He starts calling out to Jesus: ”Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”  When Jesus calls him over and asks him what he can do for him, the man replies: ”Lord,, let me see again”. In other words: ”Lord, I am sick and tired of living this empty way of life, since I lost my sight. Let me see again, so I can do something different with my life.” When Jesus heals his eyesight, the first thing he does is to become a follower, a disciple of Jesus. But Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem, he is very close to the time when he will be crucified, and, yet, even in these last moments, he is offering this blind man the chance of salvation.

The next story from the same gospel of Luke shows us Zacchaeus, a chief tax-collector, very rich but hated by his fellow-Jews for taking their money and giving it to the Roman occupiers. He is too short, we are told, to be able to see Jesus from the ground, so he climbs a tree to look down on the path Jesus will be taking, and, to his astonished delight, Jesus stops ,looks up at him, calls him by his name, and invites himself to Zacchaeus’ house for a meal.… Read more...