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St.
Leonard Catholic Parish
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This
Sunday our Gospel reading from Luke continues with the Sermon on the
Plain. Jesus paints a picture of the proper way to live to in God’s
kingdom. Jesus talks about love and He challenges us with two of His
most difficult teachings: “Be merciful, just as your Father is
merciful” (Luke 6:36) and “Love your enemies.” (Luke 6:27)
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The
first reading provides a fitting example of being merciful just as
God is merciful. The future King David is being pursed by a vengeful
King Saul. When David is given an opportunity to take revenge on King
Saul, he does not take it. He is merciful to the person that first
gave him a chance at greatness. It must have been hard for David to
forgive, just as it is sometimes hard to find it in ourselves to
forgive those that have wronged us. Perhaps we would be wise to
remember that we don’t always forgive others because they deserve
forgiveness but sometimes it is because we desire peace.
In
the Gospel Jesus calls on us to live by the Golden Rule: “Do unto
others as you would have them do to you.” We all know how we would
like to be treated. Do we treat our neighbours the same way? Let us
put ourselves in our neighbor's place, and guide our behavior
accordingly.
Jesus
then takes it one step further by challenging us to love our enemies.
Jesus continually invites us not only to free the individual who wounded
us, but also to free ourselves from the pain, anger and hurt that
binds us. Jesus is patient and yet persistent. He continually invites
us and calls us to forgive. Do I have the will and the courage to
show my enemies mercy? Perhaps today we can take one small step in
this direction.
I am
looking forward to seeing you at Mass this weekend. Please check out
the Worship section below for Mass times and public health
requirements as we continue to be attentive to our neighbour’s
safety.
God bless you folks, Father Gerard
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St. Leonard Mass Registration
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St. Leonard Mass Registration
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▶ 1 Samuel 26:2, 7-9, 12-13, 22-23 - Saul's life spared
▶ 1 Corinthians 15:45-49 - The natural and the
spiritual body
▶ Luke 6:27-38 - Love
of one's enemy
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In
today's Gospel, we hear the well-known "golden rule,"
Jesus' challenge to "Do to others as you would have them do to
you" (Luke 6).
Easier
said than done, right? It's a principle of mercy that we can
all agree with but is difficult to live out. Mercy (misericordia) is
to have a
heart that suffers for another, even if that other person doesn't
deserve it. Our first reading illustrates how
David could have killed Saul while he slept, but had mercy and spared
him. Mercy often
seems foolish, but this is the rising above our fallen
natures to live as God desires for us to be.
None
of us deserve or are owed the mercy of God. We've all sinned and
given in to self-centered lust, anger, or pride. But thank God for
his mercy and for Christ's offering of himself in our place. God's
mercy is extended to us over and over again while we have time on
this earth. Will
we accept that mercy?
"For
the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to
you," Jesus asserts. How can you show that undeserved mercy to
others this week?
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Consider watching the short video from
Bishop Barron's award-winning series Catholicism with these questions in mind:
- What actually is "love," according
to Christ?
- How can the attachment to the approval of
others block our ability to love as God does?
"Love all
men, even your enemies; love them, not because they are your
brothers, but that they may become your brothers.”
St. Augustine
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- Saturday: 4:30 pm
- Sunday: 9:00 am and 11:00 am
Please
note that physical distancing and masking remain in place for all
Weekend Masses. We would ask that you continue to pre-register for
all weekend Masses so that we may retain adequate crowd
control.
Kindly
register here for this weekend: (stleonardsparishca.flo...) or
through the St. Leonard website on an ongoing basis. Registration for
the following weekend's Masses will be open starting Monday.
You can make reservations by visiting stleonardsparish.ca/... or, If you
do not have a computer, please contact Susan in the Parish office at
(613) 692-4254 before noon on Fridays and she will gladly help you
out.
Please
note that no reservations are required for Weekday Masses.
Regular Confession times (resuming next weekend)
Saturday 3:00 pm to 4:15 pm
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All
Weekend and Weekday Masses from St. Leonard's will be Livestreamed at
the time that they are scheduled to our YouTube Channel. To visit
this site click here.
The 4:30 pm Saturday Mass will be recorded and made available on
Saturday evening here.
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Bishop Barron's Sunday Sermon
Bishop
Barron’s Sunday Sermons will air every Sunday morning at 8:15 AM
Eastern Time. Click on Bishop Barron’s YouTube channel and then chose the Sunday you wish to view.
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Take this Opportunity for YOUR voice
to be heard:
Each
week we will share new information or link on how you can better
understand the Synodal process in preparation for the survey that
will be sent out in the spring.
Archbishop
Marcel Damphousse recently wrote: “A Synod is fundamentally a spiritual
process of listening and discerning how God is calling us to be a
Church in the third millennium. It is a humble listening and a
journey together which aims towards unity and understanding and
should not be confused with a political process marked by power
struggles.
In
creating the opportunity for listening, dialoge and discernment at
the local level through this Synod, Pope Francis is calling the
church to rediscover its deeply synodal nature. Our diocesan process
will bring together the voices of the people of God in order to ask
one fundamental question: A Synodal church, in announcing the gospel,
“journey’s together”. How is this “journeying together” happening
today in our local church? What steps does the Spirit invite us to
take in order to grow in our journeying together?
We
invite you to listen to Marilyn Bergeron, Pastoral Services, Mission
and Synodal Planning Committee
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