Sunday Liturgy
Saturday: 5:00 pm
Sunday: 11:00 am
Mission Statement
We are a welcoming Christian community called to embrace and respect the uniqueness of each individual as we join together in our faith and worship. Our ongoing mission is to engage our youth, promote renewal, out reach, evangelization and ecumenical cooperation.MASS INTENTIONS FOR THE WEEK
Monday, May 18th – 9:00 am No Mass (Holiday)
Tuesday, May 19th – 9:00 am Helen Quinlan (Anniv)
Wednesday, May 20th – 9:00 am Marion & James Oram
Thursday, May 21st – 9:00 am Doug Wilkes (Anniv)
Thursday, May 21st – 10:30 am Margaret Robichaud -Carleton Kirk
Friday, May 22nd – 9:00 am No Mass
Saturday, May 23rd – 5:00 pm Connie, Don, Terry Murphy & DMF
Sunday, May 24th – 11:00 am Aldei/Irena & Robert Robichaud
Weekly Reflections (Homily) from Msgr. Sheehan (May 15th, 2026)
ASCENSION OF THE LORD
Dear Friends:
Getting used to absences… getting used to not having… not seeing… not touching…
Painful happenings… separation… departure… a common occurrence in every life… adjusting to change… to new situations… to a new kind of presence… new kinds of absences, like we are experiencing in these challenging times these days…
It takes a long time to admit that physical presences do not last… by their very nature they are for a determinate time… they are limited…
Physical presences end for a number of reasons… personal decisions, circumstances… choices… age… changes effected by one’s own motives – or by others’…
Physical presences also end in a radical way by death… which occurs in all kinds of time circumstances… young, middle-aged… or old… late in one’s life…
People, and especially loved ones… have to deal with the absences of a loved one… they have to cope… with the loss… the non-physical presence of somebody who was a part of their lives.
Some people handle it well… courageously, serenely… others, are never the same… life never seems the same for them… they are lost… directionless… purposeless… they nearly become incapacitated. They do everything to try and bring back… to make present the loved one… some means are healthy, positive – others can be unhealthy, unwise… even morbid.
The Church in her great doctrine – the communion of saints – a creedal statement – teaches a communion… a certain kind of bond and presence between the loving and the dear… a communion… transcending time and place…
… Newman, the great English Cardinal used to say, the Christian has but to close his eyes, and realize (make real) this great company of men and women… who are present to us… of all times and place… and in Christ… they are still with us – but in a new and wondrous way… and in which we can commune with them.
So too… though Jesus has ascended he is still present in so many ways.
There is the different presences of the Lord – sacramentally… the real presence in the Eucharist… the presence of the Lord in the Sacraments… through the Sacraments… the presence of the Lord in people… where two or three are gathered… in the poor, the needy, the least of the brethren…
The presence of the Lord in each one of us… dwelling in us – as he said he would… Making his home in us.
Then there is the presence of the Lord in his work… and that is the presence spoken of today in the wonderful feast of the Ascension.
And it is an ordering presence… a presence of association… of being with… of doing with another… of doing the Lord’s work…
“Do what I have been doing… I will not be with you in the same way as I have been with you in my physical body – but I am with you in a new way…
Make disciples… immerse yourself in their lives… teach… hand on what I have handed on to you… When you do this… I am present to you… in a new wonderful way… and I am leaving you – so that I can be present to you.”
And as Matthew ends his Gospel – “So remember… I am with you… am present to you – always to the end of time.”
Amen.