Author: AnishinabeSC

Carlo Acutis died in 2006, at the young age of 15. In 2025, he was canonised as a Saint. What made him a saint, or what made him saintly?

Something about Carlo, that I’m sure many young people today can relate to, is that he was a “gamer”, he liked to play video games – though he limited his gaming to two hours per week. He also went to Mass as often as he could, and his mother said that “the Eucharist was the center of his life”. Carlo was interested in what are called “Eucharistic miracles”, and he worked on a website and exhibition on that topic (miracolieucaristici.org). An example of a Eucharistic miracle, which is described on that website, is what occurred in Tixtla, Mexico, in 2006, when a consecrated Host bled.

While such Eucharistic miracles are amazing and can be inspiring, I would like to add that every Eucharist, every Mass, can be seen as a miracle. At every Mass, the bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Christ. This Eucharist is then given to us for our spiritual nourishment. Perhaps we have noticed some big or small movements of heart and of mind that have taken place within us, after receiving Communion. These spiritual movements in us might also be called minor miracles, and gifts from God.

Paul Robson, SJ

The Feast of the Most Holy Trinity is an opportunity for each of us to delve into the mystery of God, whose height, breadth, and depth is always greater than our thoughts; and to be embraced by the love of God, who is closer to us in reality than any created thing.

The First Reading of this Trinity Sunday, from the Book of Exodus, places us with Moses, on Mount Sinai, where the patriarch and prophet encounters God, and they speak to each other as trusted friends do. God gives Moses the words of the Covenant, the Law, which is the concrete presence of God, as well, being that it is the God’s Word. At this time in the story of Israel, the Oneness of God is clearly made known, that God alone is Creator, is ultimately Lord of all creation, and that there ought not be false gods, idols, before or in place of God. More profoundly, the nature of God is becoming clear: “merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness” (Ex. 34.6).

In the coming of Jesus, humanity has received the incarnate person of the Son of God, that is, the Second Person of God, who is fully God, and fully human. In the Gospel of John today, we hear a portion of Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus, the Pharisee who believes that Jesus is God’s Son, yet out of fear, he chooses to meet with Jesus secretly. Their conversation, though, is transparent and open, in which God’s love is revealed for “the world,” which is Jesus’ way of referring to our human condition that has gone astray and become lost to sin (Jn. 3.16). By God’s Incarnation, Jesus Christ, we are saved from sin by the love of God, to live in the light and the freedom of the children of God.

The Gospel of John will articulate the fullness of the Holy Trinity, by revealing the gift of the Holy Spirit, the Third Person of God, as our Advocate. Today, it is St. Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians that professes the Trinitarian formula we are so familiar with: “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with all of you” (2 Cor.13.13). In Jesus and by his Gospel, the revelation of God as Creator (Father), Saviour (Son), and Spirit of Love (Holy Spirit), is known to us. Through the experiences of our lives, in prayer and in living the Way of Love, we become more aware of the reality of these three persons, who are always mystery, yet so intimately very close to us, body, mind, heart, and spirit. God is love.

– Fr. Gerry McDougall, SJ

This is the Sunday we celebrate the birth of our church. Jesus blew his breath on his apostles before he ascended into heaven, and the spirit descended on the gathering of those in prayer after Jesus was gone. Was this really the descent of the Holy Spirit, or was it an awakening of an awareness that the Holy Spirit was already in the lives of those present? The Spirit is present in all forms of life on our earth.

Jesus came to let us know just how much we had drifted away from wholeness, and how we had become divided within ourselves, and with each other. Jesus became human and, like us, a child of the earth and of the Spirit. His humanity (and ours) was inhabited by God, as earth is inhabited by God. We have become a divided world, and Jesus tried to show us how united we are. He talked to trees and to the water. He gave us bread to eat and said ‘take and eat, this is my body’, spelling out the fact that what comes out of the earth is his body. Was he then saying that the earth was also his body? Jesus was united with the earth in all his actions just by being human, and by eating of its fruit. Jesus also knew that the Spirit of his Father was in each breath he took, united with the Father.

In centuries past, our Anishnabek elders and wisdom keepers knew this unity, and they would lead, guide the people back to who they were if they went off balance and became divided. We are off balance, divided from each other and even within ourselves. Like St Paul, we do the things we don’t want to do and don’t do the things we need to do. We see our material world and concrete humanity as a separate entity from God, as separate from ourselves. We tend to only see our earthly nature and we are forever trying to reach the heavens with our prayers.

This Pentecost, let us see our wholeness in that oneness with God, and ourselves as spiritual beings growing in that knowledge. Each one of us is the human face of God and the earth is also a face of God. Let us accept and be happy to be who we are, weak, poor, rich and strong. Let us change our perceptions of what is weak, poor, strong, or rich, and know that there is no difference. The love of God and the God of love is in each of us. May we grow in the knowledge of who we are in all our fullness and claim who we are.

Sr. Terry (Kateri) Beaudry

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of Son and of the Holy Spirit.”  (Matthew 28:19)

These words of Jesus are known as the “Great Commission”.  We can see them as his final “marching orders” to the eleven disciples who had been his companions for the past three years.  These disciples were now instructed to bring the message of new life to the whole world.  Fortunately for us, with the grace of the Holy Spirit upon them, they were able to carry out this commission.

But these words were not meant to apply only to eleven men on a mountain.  Christianity has thrived throughout two thousand plus years because others took seriously this great commission of Jesus.  We, too, have been commissioned by Jesus to “make disciples of all nations.”  What a daunting, scary task!  How often we shrink from it, for fear that we might offend someone.  Yet Jesus ended his commission with the comforting words: “I am with you always, to the end of the age.”  We can stand on this promise.  He will be with us as we carry out his commission.  He will help us to overcome fear, pride, or anything else that prevents us from sharing his word.

Through baptism, Jesus lives in us.  He who died for us has given us new life, and we can rejoice now and in heaven when we share that life with others.  There are many ways we can do this.  We can feed the hungry, comfort the lonely, and visit the sick.  We can work to correct injustices.  We can build strong, loving families.  We can invite people to our churches, and support and assist our local parish priests and the church community.  In all these ways we bear witness to our loving God who has provided us with ways to share in his divine goodness.  In all these ways, we build God’s Kingdom on earth.

Jesus, today, we gaze on your glory and know that all things are in your hands!

-Rosemary Pitawanakwat

“I will not leave you orphaned”, said Jesus. At some point we all want or even need to hear these words. They speak directly to some of our greatest fears and challenges: abandonment and isolation, loneliness, vulnerability. They remind us that we are not destined to walk this earth without an identity or direction. We do not stand alone. To be sure there are seasons of life, moments, when the transitions, changes, and tragedies can leave us feeling as orphans.

Whether spoken or unspoken, the questions begin. What will I do now? Who will love, help, and guide me? Who stands on my side? What will become of me? Those are the orphan’s questions. Anyone who has ever loved and lost – a spouse, a child, a friend, security, hope – knows the orphan’s questions. These are the questions I imagine running through the heads and hearts of the disciples in today’s gospel.

“I will not leave you orphaned”, promised Jesus. That is the promise. How strange that must have sounded to the disciples. In the same conversation Jesus tells them that he is leaving and coming. Leaving and coming sure sound like opposites. Leaving and coming. Presence and Absence. That is what Jesus has set before us. That tension confronts us with the question of whether Jesus, for us, is a past memory or a present reality, a sentimental story that makes us feel good or a living experience that challenges, guides, and nurtures our life. He is leaving, but the Holy Spirit is coming, his Spirit.

According to Jesus, the answer to that question is determined by love that is revealed and fulfilled through the Holy Spirit in keeping his commandments. The commandment to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love our neighbor as ourselves. Keeping the commandments is our access to Jesus’ promise that we will not be left orphaned. The Holy Spirit helps us in keeping the commandments, which makes us present to the already ongoing reality of Jesus’ presence and love abiding within us. “I will not leave you orphaned”, said Jesus.

– Fr. Louis-Martin Cloutier, SJ

 May 03, 2026

Lent is the start of the most important time in the Church’s liturgical year. We began journeying with Jesus in the wilderness for 40 days. Jesus was ready to do God’s will, and Satan was right there pushing him and mocking him. Writing this brings me sorrowful tears.

The Easter Triduum brought us to a beautiful, most loving time of Jesus’ life. At the Last Supper he gave the covenant to the disciples and spoke to them honestly of what is to come. Can you feel being present in the upper room and listening to him ever so close? Perhaps some unbelief about what is to come, but comfort because of the love through which Jesus will be with us at every mass when the gifts are brought up to the altar. There is Jesus standing at the altar in the form of bread and wine. He loves us so much more, more than our parents.

Good Friday, the Easter Vigil and Easter Sunday brought us to the Resurrection. The church became lit up and Easter Lilies played the trumpet and announced that Jesus has risen!!!

Easter continues for another 7 weeks after Easter Sunday. Jesus is present and appears to the two Marys and to the disciples whom he loved. We celebrated Divine Mercy Sunday, and we met Jesus on the Road to Emmaus, Jesus the Good Shepherd (we know his voice and we follow); and Jesus says “I am the way, and the truth and the life.”   

In this Sunday’s first reading, from the Acts of the Apostles, the word of God continues to spread, the number of disciples increase. We can see ourselves as one of his disciples and we follow Jesus and try to do his will.

The responsorial psalm reminds us that “the Earth if full of the steadfast love of the Lord”.

The Gospel of John (14:1-12) leaves us with a message to believe in God, and believe in Jesus as he is one with God the Father. Those who believe will do the good works of the Father. We are constantly changing with God’s love. We become more loving as we begin to see ourselves as precious children of Jesus. We are so LOVED.

Reflection by: Tish   

The 4^th Sunday of Easter is well known as Good Shepherd Sunday. Jesus is the primary representative of the noble qualities of the shepherd. Christ’s enigmatic definition of himself as the Gate stresses the necessity of all the Church’s leaders to be closely united with him. If that condition is met, they can be compared to shepherds in ancient Palestine, leading their flocks safely in and out through the gate of one common enclosure. The shepherd, responsible for the overall safety of the sheep, would lie down across the gate entrance at night, putting himself in danger. In the case of Jesus, the Good Shepherd willingly died for his sheep. 

Good Shepherd Sunday is also the World Day of Prayer for Vocations. It is a time to pray for potential candidates for priesthood and religious life, that they might respond generously to God’s call to continue and share in the caring, ready for any sacrifice, in the ministry of the Good Shepherd. Let us pray for families to be solid in faith, because they are the natural starting point for following Christ closely. The concept of vocations challenges everyone to offer their different personal talents and gifts, in service to the church and to others. We pray not only for vocations for others, but also for the discernment of our own contributions, or for strengthening our own commitment if the decision was already made. 

Fr. Toni Baranowski, SJ

In our Eastern brothers’ and sisters’ liturgy, a popular exclamation reads: Christ is risen from the dead, trampling death by death! And to those in the tombs, giving life!

Part of St. Peter’s discourse on the fact of Jesus’ death and resurrection makes use of Psalm 16, the same one used in part by today’s Responsorial. The purpose of this is to give us confidence in Christ’s divine as well as human nature. We can therefore rest securely, given that there is no doubt about his human origin, and that Peter had been a witness of Christ’s tomb and of his resurrection. A belief that St. Peter will hold onto until his own public torture and execution, even though it offered him no ordinary or worldly comfort or benefit (that of fame, wealth or the like). Likewise, in his first letter he tells us that in trusting in these things about Christ, we are setting our hopes on God himself, not merely on something earthly.

Christ then makes these things, and no doubt other things as well, clear about himself. In drawing from the Scriptures, he gives encouragement to a couple of his dejected disciples who are leaving Jerusalem shortly after these events took place. They lacked the confidence we are, by the grace of God, called to have. Jesus himself demonstrates for us the principle of Biblical interpretation, of seeing the New Testament being hidden in the Old, and the Old fulfilled in the New.

In the course of this, if we are properly attentive as those two disciples were, a burning in our hearts may yet stir within us. Interestingly, Jesus was only made fully known to them in the Breaking of the Bread. The Holy Eucharist, the source and summit of our faith, is the supreme way the Lord wishes to encounter, have communion with, and make his home in us. The entire body of Scripture, though a means of encounter in itself, is meant to prepare us for something greater, and even this is but a foretaste of the good things that are yet to come. Amen! Alleluia!

– Aaron Neiva

On this Second Sunday of Easter, the Sunday of Divine Mercy, we are reminded that we are a people called to live in faith, hope, and trust in the Risen Lord.

In the first reading, we see the early Christian community gathered together—listening to the apostles’ teaching, sharing in fellowship, and breaking bread. This image speaks beautifully to who we are as a parish family. Like them, we come together in faith, supporting one another and growing together in our relationship with Christ.

The second reading invites us to reflect on the “new birth” we have received through the Resurrection of Jesus. This is not just a distant promise, but a living hope—one that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading. In our daily lives, with all their joys and challenges, this hope reminds us that God’s love remains constant and unshaken.

In the Gospel, we find the disciples gathered in fear, yet Jesus comes to them and says, “Peace be with you.” He shows them His wounds and breathes the Holy Spirit upon them. In this moment, fear is replaced with peace, and doubt begins to give way to faith.

Thomas, in his honesty, struggles to believe without seeing. Many of us can relate to that. Yet Jesus meets him in his doubt and gently leads him to faith. And then we hear those words meant for all of us: “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.”

As a parish community, we are among those blessed. We may not see with our eyes, but we believe with our hearts. We trust in His mercy, we receive His peace, and we are called to share that mercy with one another.

On this Divine Mercy Sunday, may we be reminded that no matter where we find ourselves—strong in faith or struggling with doubt—Jesus comes to us with love, patience, and peace. May we continue to grow together as a community rooted in faith, strengthened by hope, and united in His mercy.

Blessings to all.

Dolores Peltier-Corkey

At the Easter Vigil, Saturday evening after dark, we sing and listen to a song called the Easter Proclamation, also known as “Exsultet” based on the opening line: “Exult, let then exult, the hosts of heaven . . .”

This ancient, chanted poem tells us about a “blessed night, when things of heaven are wed to things of earth”. That blessed night was the night of our Lord’s resurrection; but it is also tonight, this night. It is the night “when Christ broke the prison bars of death and rose victorious from the underworld”. This happened because of God’s great love for us: “O love, O charity beyond all telling, to ransom a slave you gave away your Son!” It happened so that we might be redeemed, be reconciled with God. It is interesting that the song refers to the sin of Adam (who represents the first people or simply represents us) as a “happy fault”. Why? Because “it earned so great, so glorious a Redeemer!”

This sacred event, which we remember and participate in, can inspire and transform us tonight, today, and every day: “The sanctifying power of this night dispels wickedness, washes faults away, restores innocence to the fallen, and joy to mourners, drives out hatred, fosters concord . . .”

Happy, blessed Easter! Mina Paakwan!

Fr. Paul Robson, SJ