Saying Goodbye To St. Patricks.

There are times in a persons life where the words seem meaningless. It's not like my childhood church is disappearing, in fact it isn't going anywhere. I am saying goodbye to it because I no longer live within her boundaries! With the growth of the city I live in, my childhood parish is overcrowded. There are so many people going to this church that they have to build a new church in the small city I live in. Markham used to be a town, and with growth comes change. The reason why this comes as shock is because my family's home is a 5 minute drive to the church, and even easier to get there on the bus. So why would "we" be out of their district? There has been huge growth in the area where I live and within the new boundaries for the new catholic church. The question was asked, "why did they do it that way?" It makes sense geographically. I know this because of my short time at Trent University as a part time student studying environmental science. Mapping the city of Markham, formerly a town, would be a great exercise for those who have no sense of the population growth.

Just recently, a friend took me up on a rooftop where I could see the city of Markham from a very high perspective. It looked wonderful! Despite all the growth that has been happening there are so many trees in Markham, that everywhere I looked, north, south, east, and west, there were trees covering the city of Markham. What a blessing. It can be a very hard task to set boundaries for something like a church, but that is what mapping does. It gives you a perspective of where things like schools are, and you would think that setting boundaries would be done by looking at your church roll, but that could only help you in a way that is akin to accounting. It takes someone trained in geography to set boundaries, but there is a human element you need to consider because of the nature of the building.

Being a part of a church affects all areas of your life. If you have no transportation to your place of worship (which in modern times is next to impossible) it can affect your mental health. There are people who may not be on board with a new church but from my experience with religion I know that when you really want something you go and get it. It might be an inconvenience for some but for others it is an opportunity. Where your treasure lies, there your heart lies. People go to church for different reasons, some go for the social aspect and a sense of security and others go just to meet with God. I believe the latter will do better being a part of a new church.

I am very excited for the parish in Markham establishing a new church.

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The Parable of the Ten Virgins.

Matthew 25:1-13 I have discovered a remarkable interpretation of this parable that I would like to share with you. The story in the Bible goes like this: “At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 2 Five of them were foolish and five were wise. 3 The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. 4 The wise ones, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. 5 The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep. 6 “At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’ 7 “Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. 8 The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’ 9 “‘No,’ they replied, ‘there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy som...

Age of Brokenness.

We are living in an age of brokenness, no matter what age you are, you probably have been touched with relationships falling apart, which causes more and more people to live in isolation. In this generation there is less of an incentive to heal and reconcile relationships, but that doesn’t excuse the amount of people who are broken. Why people don’t seem to be motivated to heal relationships is because our beliefs about faith and God have changed, really giving us less of an incentive to do what our religion says. If I act from my personal beliefs, but the person that I am responding to has abandoned religious beliefs, than the response to my wanting things to be better can be misinterpreted and rejected then by someone else. Generally when a society has expectations about broken relationships, loneliness and isolation, and the beliefs are generally accepted, society becomes a more compassionate society, because all value the same things. When religious values are undermined and ...

The Biblical Meaning of “Life in the Spirit.”

“Life in the Spirit” is an example that the Apostle Paul gives in the book of Romans starting in chapter 5 and going through to chapter 8. He begins by telling us we are justified by faith (5:1), and have gained access by faith into the grace of God (5:2). We have been delivered from God’s wrath (5:9) and we have been reconciled to God through the death of His Son (5:10). He goes on to explain that through Adam all die (5:12), and that the free Gift of God brings justification and righteousness to the believing sinner (5:15-17). Through our conversion we are baptized into Christ and into his death, which frees us from the law and makes us dead to sin (6:2-4). He explains that just as Christ was raised from the dead, we are given new life in Christ (6:4). Our old unregenerate self was crucified with Christ so that our body of sin might be done away with (6:5-6). Because we have died to sin, we now submit ourselves to God being that we are now under grace, not the law (6:8-1...

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