I remember a story about Henry Ford’s celebration of his and his wife’s golden or 50th wedding anniversary. Mr. Ford was asked by a reporter: “To what do you attribute your fifty years of successful married life?” Henry Ford smiled and answered: “The formula is the same one I used in making cars: just stick to one model.”
In Matthew 19, Jesus is asked why Moses allowed in the book of Deuteronomy the writing of a decree of divorce. Jesus, in response, brings us back to Genesis. He notes that, from the very beginning, the will and the plan of God, who created everyone, who created all things, was for us to be capable of a covenant relationship that lasts. And that is not an order. It is part of our nature, as human being; it is our model, how we were made...
I had the honour to be part of the core team for the Face to Face United conference, hosted here at the Cathedral of the Holy Family this past weekend. It was a ton of fun and I would not hesitate to say that it was huge success! With over 300 participants, amazing talks, adoration, reconciliation, and Mass on Sunday morning, I am humbled to have been part of such a holy event - an event that many will look back on and say that it was a turning point toward God and faith in their lives.
This was a fast paced weekend, with upbeat music and games intertwined with social times and hard hitting challenges from the speakers. It was clear that part of the success of these types of weekends is simply the bringing together of like-minded youth to find support and fellowship...
I’ve recently started trying to schedule Tea Time into my week, just spending time with my wife and kids, drinking tea and maybe eating a little snack.
The challenge is, it seems like such an utter waste of time. But on the other hand, the exact reason I want to do it is because it is such a waste of time.
This winter will mark a major milestone for me. If nothing goes wrong over the next few weeks, this will be the first time in about 10 years that I’ll be able to get both of my cars into the garage for the winter. Now, this pronouncement will likely generate one of 2 responses:
The distance between the two camps is perhaps not as large as it seems. Once upon a time I too would use my garage (mostly) for vehicles. Of course there were other things that also took up space...
I think I pray the most when I’m driving. I pray when I go on road trips (as I leave and upon arrival), when I’m looking for parking spots (the Blessed Mother is my go to for this one), and especially when I’m… uh… frustrated with other drivers (though I really have to work hard to make sure that what I say is actually a prayer and not something else).
Of all the times I pray in my car (Balthazar), I think my favourite prayer (and the one I use the most) is my road trip prayer. This prayer was handed down from my parents; we’ve been saying it as a family for every long journey probably since before I was born. As soon as everyone was settled in their seats, cruise control was on and the city was only seen from the rear-view mirror, my Mom and Dad would turn off the radio and call us all together to pray...
I have had the enjoyable privilege of seeing much of the pew art created by the young people of our Cathedral parish. I have been impressed and moved by it. It truly is beautiful. My favorites tend to be the ones I believe were probably created by some of our very young artists. They tend to be full of colour and random squiggles and lines and circles and shapes of all kinds. What a delight to have that freedom of expression! To seemingly go at it “willy nilly” without a care in the world, and yet it is done with great determination and focus. Truly what a great gift these young ones have, and maybe even what a great example they are for me…for us?
You would have thought I had learned by now! On my next trip, my blue bag is going to stay at home!
We just passed the mile 0 sign for the Yellowhead highway leading out of Masset, BC, when I realized time really did seem to have gone at a snail’s pace so to speak. Two weeks earlier, glancing out of the window, the landscape started to unfold beneath us from the window of the plane. I had finally gotten used to the drone of the Air Canada prop job (even if conversation to my husband seated next to me was almost none existent). Leaving Vancouver behind, we were still a bit taken aback when Air Canada was offering $800 to give up your seat to Sandspit. We both agreed if Shan and Matt weren’t waiting for us the offer was tempting. Our youngest, Shan, was deployed last year to Masset on Haida Gwaii, formerly the Queen Charlotte Islands, in Northern BC for a three-year term. FaceTime has been our daily method of communication since their move...
Phase 11
As another weekly class assignment, I was asked to learn another folk song. Once again I went to the music library and glanced through the song books. I asked the librarian for some ideas of an easy-to-learn folk song and was referred to the song “The Story of Isaac” by Leonard Cohen. The melody line and the key of Em appealed to me. So I learned the song and nervously performed it a few days later in front of my classmates with my singing instructor, Sam, watching and listening intently to my performance.
After class Sam asked me if I knew where the story of the song came from and I said no. He said from the Bible when God asked Abraham to sacrifice his only son, Isaac. That evening, I looked in my Bible in the book of Genesis and sure enough, there was the story of Abraham and his son Isaac...
What do you fill yourself with?
I adore chocolate. Massive bowls of macaroni and cheese are amazing. Poutine is simply lovely. That being said, I know that I really should eat better. This just isn’t healthy, and as they say, “Garbage in, garbage out.”
Cathedral of the Holy Family
123 Nelson Road
Saskatoon, SK
S7S 1H1
Phone: 306-659-5800
Fax: 888-897-7980
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
We acknowledge that we are located on Treaty 6 Territory and the Homeland of the Métis.
