December 25, 2011
The gift of Christmas is the gift of our Lord Jesus Christ Himself. His first coming, which we celebrate on Christmas, is a great reminder of His second coming which we should all anticipate.
It is my hope that every Christmas celebration can serve as a renewal of our faith in Him who “saved us because He loved us” (Book of Psalms). As Catholics we express our love for Christ by making an effort to faithfully follow His teaching. God said in Scripture: “If you love me, you will keep my commandments”.
Every year we are overwhelmed by the number of Catholics who visit our church for Christmas Mass. This is a source of great joy for me, seeing so many who wish to honour Christ on this special feast. Every year I only have one wish for which I pray with all of my heart: that Christ may be honoured at our Church not only on Christmas but throughout the year.
This Christmas please consider offering Christ a gift of your time throughout the year by coming to Mass every Sunday. Many have found great joy and peace from this simple practice.
Merry Christmas and God’s blessings,
Fr. Kuzma
December 18, 2011
As our Advent season draws to a close and Christmas is just around the corner, we take time to do some last minute preparations for this important feast. My hope is that we will not forget our spiritual preparation through the sacrament of confession. In addition to our regular confession times, 1/2 hour before each Mass, we will have our Advent Penance Celebration on Tuesday, Dec. 20th, with 7 priests available to hear confessions. We have also scheduled all day confessions for Thursday, Dec. 22nd. A priest will be in the confessional from 7:30am until 9pm waiting for you. Let us take advantage of this important sacrament as we prepare for Christ’s coming.
In Christ,
Fr. Kuzma
September 25, 2011
St. Aloysius Parish is going to be undertaking a few projects for the upcoming 50th anniversary of the consecration of our church in 2013, and 60th anniversary of the beginning of our Parish.
The most costly project will be the replacement of our windows. As you know most of our windows in the church are original, wood framed, and are 50 years old now. When I came as your new pastor 3 years ago, Fr. Con (the previous pastor of our parish), spoke to me about the need to replace the windows of our church. In his time at St. Aloysius, Fr. Con started this work by replacing the main window at the choir loft. I have been working closely with a small committee on this project. We are getting closer to presenting proposals to the parish. We will need to raise money for this project (the exact price will be presented to the parish soon). We are hoping to have a few initiatives to help raise some of the money. One such initiative is coming up in a few weeks, when we will welcome a well known Catholic Evangelist to our parish. Mr. Hector Molina, from the archdiocese of Huston, Texas, is a well known speaker on Catholic topics. He will be coming to York University to give a few lectures, and has agreed to come and speak to us. More details will follow in next week’s bulletin. He will speak at our parish on Wednesday, October 12th, at 7:30pm. Donations will be accepted for our Church Windows Project. Please come and bring friends. For more information about Mr. Molina please go to his website: www.hectormolina.net.
Fr. Kuzma
August 14, 2011
Starting at the end of November – this year’s Advent Season – the entire English speaking Catholic Church will begin using a new translation of the Mass. This will give us an opportunity to renew our knowledge and love for the Liturgy of the Church. To help in our preparations for this change I include another article from Monsignor Kroetsch, director of Liturgy for the diocese of Hamilton.
Fr. Kuzma
June 5, 2011
The month of May has been a month of great joy in our parish. Here are a few highlights from the past month:
- Almost a hundred young parishioners have celebrated their First Communion, and close to thirty young people received the Sacrament of Confirmation from the hands of Bishop Crosby. I am grateful to all that helped in the work of preparing our young parishioners for these important spiritual events.
- Shortly after Easter Sunday we also started our Holy Spirit Retreat, which serves to help people to renew their faith. Close to one hundred people have been participating in the retreat, which will continue for a few more weeks.
The month of June proves to be a busy one, with many wonderful events in our parish. Please refer to the announcements in the bulletin for upcoming spiritual events. I am especially excited about our Annual Picnic, which will be taking place on Sunday, June 26th, in the afternoon. I hope that it will allow us to come closer together as a parish family.
Fr. Kuzma
May 1, 2011
During this octave of Easter, I would like to thank all those who helped make our Holy Week celebrations so beautiful and well attended. Thanks to all our altar servers, Mass coordinators, Lectors, Ministers of Holy Communion, Ushers and hospitality ministers. A very special thanks to our musicians who came together under the direction of Dan Brown and provided beautiful music for the Holy Triduum. Your hours of practice and giving of your time and talent has helped all who attended our Liturgies to enter into prayer during these holy days. Thank you all.
Because Easter was so late this year, we are already at the beginning of May. This is a beautiful month in the Church. Not only are we honoring Mary the mother of God during this month, it is also the month of First Communions, Confirmation and Ordinations to the Priesthood. There is much to celebrate and give thanks to God for during this month.
Fr. Kuzma
March 27, 2011
The season of Lent provides a perfect opportunity for us who strive to follow Christ, to reevaluate our lives and recommit ourselves to our God and our Church. This year we are proud to offer our Lenten Parish Retreat as a great help to our renewal of faith. Our retreat begins this Sunday, March 27, and continues on Monday – Thursday of this week with Mass and a Retreat Talk at 7pm. Our retreat Master is Bishop Matthew Ustrzycki, retired auxiliary bishop of our diocese. I welcome Bishop Ustrzycki at our parish and pray that His presence with us may lead us to renewed faith and love of God. The theme of our retreat is: “Lord, to whom shall we go?” Please join us.
Fr. Kuzma
February 27, 2011
Last weekend our parish has been blessed with a very special teaching and exposition of Relics. Fr. Carlos Martins, from the Companions of the Cross, came all the way from Houston, Texas, in order to share with us his ministry called “Treasures of the Church”. Fr. Carlos teaches the long tradition of the Church of praying to God through the Saints with the aid of Relics. He also brings over 150 Relics of the Saints with him to give people a rare opportunity not only to learn about Relics, but to also experience the power of God’s healing through this ministry. Over 700 people came to the exposition at our parish, and many more people are inquiring if there will be another opportunity to experience this profound exposition. Fr. Carlos will have a few more expositions next week in Hamilton, and you can find out exactly where and when by going to his website www.treasuresofthechurch.com
Fr. Kuzma
January 9, 2011
With today’s feast of the Baptism of the Lord we come to the end of our season of Christmas. I would like to thank all our wonderful volunteers who have made this year’s Christmas celebrations at St. Aloysius so beautiful. I have received many complements from parishioners about the quality of our music and decorations during our Christmas Season. I know that all this took much work and sacrifices on behalf of many volunteers. May our efforts be a beautiful offering to our Lord Jesus Christ in thanksgiving for what He’s done for us! I also wish to thank all parishioners for your kind gifts and wishes for Christmas and the New Year. I am very grateful to all of you for your kindness and generosity.
Fr. Kuzma
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