Spiritual Reflections

St. Philip’s Fast – Pilipiwka November 2022

St. Philip’s Fast – Pilipiwka
St. Philip’s Fast is a time to prepare us to receive Christ into the world and into our hearts.
On each Sunday of the Fast in our Ukrainian Catholic Church we celebrate a different
figure who has helped to show us the way.

• (Sunday, November 13) The first holy person we encounter is the Evangelist St.
Matthew whose feast is celebrated on November 16. St. Matthew is the first
Evangelist to give us the infancy narratives in the Gospels, the first to announce the
“Good News” of salvation. He begins us on our journey.
• (Sunday, November 20) We celebrate the entrance of the Theotokos (The God
bearer – Mary) into the temple on November 21. Mary goes into the Temple to
prepare her heart for God. She is the Temple where the Son of God will make His
home until His birth. She shows us how to be true servants of the Lord so that we
may also become worthy dwelling places for our Saviour.
• (Sunday, November 27) St. Andrew who is celebrated on November 30, was the first
apostle called by Jesus. Tradition tells us that he travelled to Slavic territories to bring
the light of Christ’s message to the Slavic people. He encourages us to be the
bearers of the light of Jesus to others.
• (Sunday, December 4) The Feast of St. Nicholas, the Wonderworker, is on
December 6. The story of this Saint is well known. St. Nicholas’ life is an example to
us all of preparing our hearts by doing loving acts for one another.
• (Sunday, December 11) This week we commemorate the ancestors of our faith; the
great men and women of the Bible who kept the promise of the Messiah alive through
the ages; the prophets, and we especially admire the Prophet Daniel and the faith
and courage of the three children who went into the fiery furnace. They teach us to
be courageous in our faith.
• (Sunday, December 18) This week, we remember the ancestors of Jesus. These
holy people waited and prayed with hope in their hearts that God would send the
promised Saviour to the world. They remind us to wait for the Saviour with hope in
our hearts.

Pope Francis Canadian Visit July 24 2022

Papal Visit to Canada – Pray, Watch, Reflect – Walking Together…

As we prepare to welcome Pope Francis to Canada, we invite Catholics from across the country to participate in this historic journey in a number of different ways. In addition to television coverage of papal events, visit www.papalvisit.ca or www.visitepapale.ca to access more than 10 livestream links of coverage featuring interpretation in many languages (including Indigenous languages), as well as livestream links from Vatican TV including commentary.

Salt & Light Catholic Media Foundation has a dedicated site for information and broadcast details for the papal visit – https://slmedia.org/popeincanada

Novalis has also produced a digital resource that includes texts for all the liturgies presided by Pope Francis, prayers as well as reflections on the significance of the Papal Visit. To download the resource, visit: livingwithchrist.ca

We invite you to pray for the Holy Father and all those involved in this historic journey of healing, reconciliation and hope.

God bless!

Bishop David