DIOCESE OF LONDON (ONTARIO) CANADA Part One

BEEN THERE AND DONE THAT.... ONCE BEFORE

September 2013

GOING THERE AND DOING THAT... TWO MORE TIMES

May 7 - 11, 2018

May 28 - June 1, 2018

 

Bishop Ronald P. Fabbro, C.S.B.

Diocese of London, Ontario

          

NOTTAWASAGA INN RESORT
Alliston, Ontario, Canada
(About I hour and 10 minutes north of Toronto)

This will be my 5th and 6th week at this resort. I was there with the Archdiocese of Toronto twice for two week-long convocations - four weeks in all.

Leaving for Toronto on Monday 5:15 am!
It's about time for a stress-free plane trip!
The last two trips have been among the worst: hurricanes, mechanical problems, fog, airport computer crashes and a snow storm!
Please pray that I will have the patience necessary to get there and get back without "losing it!"





WHAT DO YOU DO AT THOSE THINGS?
WELL, I CERTAINLY WON'T BE LOUNGING AROUND, THAT'S FOR SURE!

2018 COMMON RETREAT FOR PRIESTS OF THE DIOCESE OF LONDON

 INTENTIONAL PRESBYTERATES II

Made Holy By Our Shared Ministry

All priests, especially those called diocesan, should bear in mind how much their sanctity profits from loyal attachment to the bishop and generous collaboration with him.

Lumen Gentium, No. 41

All (priests) are required to make a sincere effort to live in mutual esteem, to respect others, and to hold in esteem all the positive and legitimate diversities present in the presbyterate. This too constitutes part of the priest’s spiritual life and his continual practice of asceticism.

Pastores Dabo Vobis 31

Of special importance is the capacity (of the priest) to relate to others. This is truly fundamental for a person who is called to be a “man of communion.” This demands that a priest not be arrogant, or quarrelsome, but affable, hospitable, sincere in his words and heart, prudent and discreet, generous and ready to serve, capable of opening himself to clear and brotherly relationships and of encouraging the same in others, and quick to understand, forgive and console.

Pastores Dabo Vobis 43

Rev. Ronald Knott

May 7 – May 11, 2018

May 28 - June 1, 2018

Monday

12:00 p.m. *                            Lunch 

12:30 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.            Free time / rest

1:45 p.m.                                 Midday Prayer in common

2:00 p.m.                                 Conference I

                                                PRESBYTERAL THEOLOGY: A QUICK REVIEW

                                                “Claiming Our Common Sense of Purpose as a Team”

5:00 p.m.                                 Mass

6:00 p.m.                                 Dinner

7:00 p.m.                                 Conference II 

                                                QUIT WHINING AND PUT ON YOUR BIG BOYS PANTS

                                                Personal Commitment to Serious Priesting Without Excuses

 8:30 p.m.                                Night Prayer and Rosary (optional)

Tuesday

 8:00 a.m.                                Breakfast

 9:00 a.m.                                Morning Prayer in common

 9:30 a.m.                                Conference III

                                                PUTTING THE OXYGEN MASK ON YOURSELF FIRST                                                              BEFORE ASSISTING OTHERS

                                               Tackling Your Own Apathy, Cynicism, Narcissism, Neglect

11:00 a.m.                               Mass

12:00 p.m.                               Lunch

12:30 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.            Free time / rest

2:00 p.m.                                 Conference IV

                                                LESSONS FROM THE PARABLE OF “THE RABBI’S GIFT”

                                                “There is No Rescue Party Out Looking for You”

5:00 p.m.                                 Evening Prayer in common

6:00 p.m.                                 Dinner

7:30 p.m.                                 Exposition / Holy Hour             

Wednesday

8:00 a.m.                                Breakfast

9:00 a.m.                                Morning Prayer in common

9:30 a.m.                                Conference V

                                               GIVE ME A BREAK

                                               Saying “No” to Gossip, Jealousy and Suspicion

11:00 a.m.                              Mass

12:00 p.m.                              Lunch

12:30 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.           Free time / rest

2:00 p.m.                                Conference VI

                                               THROWING OFF THE CRUSH OF GARBAGE

                                                “The Power of Forgiveness”

5:00 p.m.                                 Evening Prayer in common

6:00 p.m.                                 Dinner

7:30 p.m.                                 Scriptural Rosary

Thursday

8:00 a.m.                                Breakfast

9:00 a.m.                                Morning Prayer in common

9:30 a.m.                                Conference VII

                                               THE JONAH COMPLEX

                                               The Convenience and Selfishness of Playing Small

11:00 a.m.                              Mass

12:00 p.m.                              Lunch

12:30 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.           Free time / rest

 2:00 p.m.                               Conference VIII

                                               PROTECTING THE FIRE, NOT PRESERVING THE ASHES

                                               Lessons From Pope Francis

 5:00 p.m.                               Evening Prayer in common

 6:00 p.m.                               Dinner

 7:30 p.m.                               Communal Celebration of the Sacrament of Penance

                                               FOR WHAT WE HAVE FAILED TO DO

                                               A Priest’s Examination of Conscience

 Friday

 8:00 a.m.                               Breakfast

 9:00 a.m.                               Morning Prayer

 9:30                                       Conference IX

                                               THE SHOW MUST GO ON

                                               We Don’t Have the Luxury of Coming Unglued

 11:00 a.m.                              Mass

 12:00 p.m.                              Lunch / Departure

WHY DO I DO THESE THINGS? 

1. Because priests keep responding so positively. 

2. Because I keep getting invited.

3. Because I want to stay "on top of my game" in retirement.

4. Because I want to make some money for my Caribbean mission organizations: Catholic Second Wind Guild and R J Mission Projects. 

My Passport is filling up! This is just two pages! 

I hope God will give me the stamina to keep doing this a few more years! 

WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?

There is no rescue party out looking for you! 

   
   

Where do you start? 

You start with yourself!



You start by changing the way you are thinking!

SAINT JOSEPH HOME FOR THE AGED

 
FEAST OF SAINT JOSEPH
May 1, 2018


CEREMONY OF INDUCTION INTO THE
Association of Saint Jeanne Jugan
(lay service volunteer organization)


  






Father Emmanuel OP concelebrated. Seminarian Michael played the organ and cantored. 






Sister Bernard (sponsor) and the new inductees. 



Mother Paul leads the new inductees into the Association of Jeanne Jugan in their promises and other members in the renewal of their commitments. 




Sister Bernard presents the new members their pins. 



A typical lunch table at Saint Joseph Home. 

MORE AND MORE DON'T GET IT: OUR BEHAVIORS AFFECT OTHERS!

I am the vine, you are the branches.
without me you can do nothing.
John 15

Am I imagining it, or am I just a cranky old man? Is there a growing attitude of people who think and act as if they live on this planet by themselves, displaying a total disregard of how their behaviors affect other people, displaying an attitude of “I am going to do what I want and I don’t give a hoot how it affects you or anybody else”?

Recently, I find my anger level hitting the boiling point when I see people throwing garbage out of car windows, rolling down their car windows and turning their car speakers up so loud it that it rattles the windows of my house, carrying on loud cell phone conversations in public places, letting children run wild in grocery stores and restaurants, trashing public facilities and vandalizing public art, just to name a few.

Our present excessive individualism is, no doubt, a reaction to an over-emphasis on the common good in previous years, when individuals felt crushed and controlled for the sake of the family and the community. I guess it’s the age old story of running off both sides of the road, trying to balance what's good for the community with what's good for the individual.

This is a very old problem. It goes all the way back to the story of Adam and Eve. According to that story, at the end of creation God, humans and the animals lived in harmony. They were interconnected and interdependent. As a colorful Baptist preacher said at one of my graduations, “In the beginning, God was happy being God. The animals were happy being animals. Human beings, however, have never been happy being human beings. They've wanted to be God one day and animals the next!”

Adam and Eve were tempted to believe they could do without God. The serpent convinced Eve that the only reason God had forbidden her and Adam to eat of the fruit in the middle of the garden was that they would become gods like God himself. Their children, Cain and Abel, were tempted to believe that they could do without each other. “Am I my brother’s keeper?” With this, we see the sin of denying our interdependence, and insisting on our independence, begin - a sin that has been repeated in a myriad of ways ever since. Interdependence is the recognition that we are responsible to, and dependent on, God and other people. To deny that fact is a sin. 

The scriptures are full of stories emphasizing our interdependence. Today’s gospel presents us with one of many. In the gospel today, Jesus gives us the parable of the vine and the branches. The Father is the vine grower, Jesus is the vine and we are the branches. Just as Jesus and the Father are one, we are one with Jesus. “Just as a branch cannot bear fruit on its own unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me. By this is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples.” We are interconnected, whether we want to recognize it or not. As Celie, in the movie “The Color Purple” put it, “It ain’t easy trying to do without God. Even if you know he ain’t there, trying to do without him is a strain.”

Saint Paul has many more examples of our interdependence. “I planted, Apollos watered, but God caused the growth.” “Everything is lawful, but not everything builds up. No one should seek his own advantage, but that of his neighbor.” “Avoid giving offense, whether to Jews or Greeks or the church of God, just as I try to please everyone in every way, not seeking my own benefit but rather that of the many, that they may be saved.” “As a body is one though it has many parts, and all the parts of the body, through many, are one body. Now the body is not a single part, but many. If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it; if one part is honored, all the parts share its joy.” No part of the body can say to another part I don’t need you!

The Kentucky motto is “United we stand. Divided we fall.” This could be the motto of our country, our church, our parishes, our schools, our marriages, our families and our neighborhoods. It is the message of our scripture today, as well as all of scripture. Some people advocate personal freedom and independence as the ultimate good; others advocate communal responsibility and mutual dependence as the ultimate good. Interdependence recognizes the truth in each position and weaves them together. It is only when people choose independence or dependence only that we get into trouble. We are both independent and dependent in a delicate balance. We are interdependent! We are interconnected and we need each other. The great poet John Donne wrote, "No man is an island, but part of the main." John Muir, the famous conservationist put it this way, “When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the Universe.”

This is a timely message for our country and our church. In both worlds, there is a meanness and a “them versus us” kind of attitude that make enemies, winners and losers, rather than partners of each other. We cannot do without the immigrants who pick our vegetables, clean our hotel rooms, roof our houses, landscape our lawns, nanny our children and dig our ditches. We cannot do without Middle Eastern oil or clothes from China. We cannot do without people in places like India when we try to get our credit card bills straightened out or our computers fixed.. We are finding out that we cannot even keep our Catholic parishes going in this country without priests from Africa, Poland , Vietnam, the Philippines and Central America. We are not as independent as we think we are. In fact, we are becoming more interdependent than ever, thanks to modern communication and travel.

“A branch cannot bear fruit on its own unless it remains on the vine.” This is true spiritually as well as socially.