Welcome to Mustard Seeds, the blog page at St. Joseph Church. A group of our very own parishioners will be contributing bi-weekly with the hope of inspiring you as we journey together in our faith.
Mary, Mother of the Church
Read Time: 4 minutes
St. Jerome stated that ignorance of scripture is ignorance of Christ. Then ignorance of scripture is also ignorance of Mary. This is because “What the Catholic faith believes about Mary... Read More →
To Be a Diamond
Read Time 5 minutes
My theme today is discipleship. Rolheiser has written on Mature Discipleship
The Gifts of the Holy Spirit
Read time: 14.5 minutes
With Pentecost and the feast of the Trinity behind us it seemed to me a good time to reflect briefly on how the Holy Spirit wants to express God’s goodness …
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The Light of the World
Read Time: 7 minutes
Jesus is, “the light of the world”. [Jn 8:12]
We’ve heard and read those words often, but take a moment and consider what light is.
Light most obviously allows us to...
May, the Month of Mary
Read time: 5 minutes
“Bring flowers of the rarest,
Living in the Spirit
Read Time: 6 minutes
What does it mean to live in the spirit? I mean to live every day doing God’s will in our lives. How do we, as baptized Christians live this out?
Let’s look …
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Mrs. Edward’s “Little Visits”
Read Time 8 Minutes
People have been getting lost in the forests ever since the land was first settled and far too often, going astray has had a tragic ending. Hunters have gotten...
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Desperate Times Call for Prayer
Recently, I saw two movies that had recently been released and which won fame because of the number of awards they have won. However, though they were not “religious” in nature, what impressed me was …
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Conversations with God – The narrow way
This morning Lord I see that more of my thoughts are going to imaginations than prayers. Lord I don’t want to live in a make believe world … it occurs to me that …
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THE SACRIFICE IN LENT
Read Time: 5 minutes
We are often told that Lent is sacrifice, and that it will help prepare us for Good Friday and Easter. We hear that the bit of pain we feel when we forgo …
Ordinariness
Read Time: 4.5 minutes
After all the Christmas liturgical seasonal celebrations, we are now back in “Ordinary Time”. This is the longest liturgical season in the year and lasts 33 to 34 weeks, in two chunks, one short and...
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No Greater Love
Read time: 3.5 minutes
For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God sent the Son into the world, …
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My Brother’s Hand
Read time 4 Minutes
Angel of God, my guardian dear,
To whom God’s love commits me here,
Ever this night, be at my side,
To light and guard, Rule... Read More →
The Trees are gone
A sign of the times… in old age the changes just keep on coming. Lord those two Weeping Birch trees were such a beautiful feature of the property you gave us and now they are gone …
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God Up There
Read time: 3.5 Minutes
We offer our prayers to heaven. The warmth of candles and the fragrance of incense rises with our prayers. We look to God “up there”; after all, everyone knows, God is “up there”.…
Remembering
Read time: 6 minutes
After a glorious fall season, with an incredibly warm October, November has arrived with a vengeance, bringing the cold, snow and double digit minus temperatures that we expect at this time of the year!
WITNESS
A few years ago, I had the privilege of visiting Canada’s second martyr’s shrine. The Bishop Vasyl Velychkovsky National Martyr’s Shrine located in Winnipeg, Manitoba. In the twentieth century millions of people gave up...
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An Rathad – The Road
Read Time: 5 minutes
The road is deserted now. No one lives here. The hay has grown outside the fragmented fence and spilled from the field. The road tips up into the depths of the …
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The Church of the Book of Acts
Read time: 11 minutes
The Baptism of the Holy Spirit, sometimes called the pentecostal experience in recent times has been experienced by millions of Catholics around the world primarily through the Life in...
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The Descent of Love
Read time: About 6 minutes
In distress and want I ask, “Where oh God are you?”
Here, I am as close to you as the warmth of your breath.
But this does not satisfy my mind, …
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Grandparents
“Respect your ancestors, for you are the result of a thousand loves.”
This is one of my favourite Irish proverbs. I am so grateful to my ancestors for all the struggles and pain they went through to maintain...
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Clay Pots
Kintsugi
Japanese art of fixing broken pottery with lacquer and gold. It is meant to embrace flaws and imperfections and to treat breakage and repair as part of the beautiful history of an object.
We Live in Each Other’s Shelter
Inhabitants of rural areas tend to keep an eye out for each other. One Sunday after my father turned 95, something extraordinary happened. He missed Mass! The village was a flurry of questions, “Where …
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Rediscovering Sabbath
Read Time: 5 1/2 minutes
“Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the... Read More →
Our Divine Purpose
Read time: About 5 minutes
Esther 4:14 “And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”
The story of Queen Esther, who was a Jew married to a Persian …
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WHAT ABOUT HIM, LORD?
Read time: About 6 minutes
“Seeing him, Peter said to Jesus, ‘What about him, Lord?’. Jesus answered, ‘If I want him to stay behind till I come, what does it matter to you? You are to... Read More →
Mountain Moments
Read Time: 4.5 – 5 Minutes
At this time of year when the seasons change, winter is over, and after a couple of false starts, spring has arrived and summer is on the horizon. So it is with …
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ANASTASIS
Read time – 4 minutes
I have an Icon in my office, Anastasis, also known as the Resurrection Icon or the “Harrowing of Hell” Icon. You are not likely to find this Icon in any Latin Rite Catholic Church. …
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The Annunciation
Read Time: 3.5 – 4 minutes
“In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the... Read More →
Going Deeper
Read time: 5 1/2 – 6 minutes
Lent has become my favourite season of the church year. I look forward to this season because it is full of opportunities to help us go deeper into our faith and …
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Kingdom Thinking – A Biblical Paradigm
Read Time – 10 minutes
Last year as I went through the Bible in a year podcast with Fr Mike (I would highly recommend this) I was reminded of many of the stories in …
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IT IS THE LORD
…”The disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, ‘It is the Lord.” [Jn 21:7]
John is the first disciple to perceive Jesus on the shore. All we are told is that John says, “…it …
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The Eucharist, the Need of Our Heart
When we go to mass Christ is present to us in four ways. In the Liturgy of the Word when the scriptures are read. In the Liturgy of the Eucharist where the Body …
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When does Night End and Day Begin?
Read Time: Approximately 6 minutes
In these dark days of December and January, before the days are noticeably longer, it is easy to dwell on all the darkness in the world. We face …
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Be Prepared
I have heard that Advent is a time of preparation for Jesus to be born again in our hearts; or a time of preparation for the second coming of Jesus as he comes as Judge; or a time …
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Advent is about to begin. This time of the year is my favourite, as we wait in anticipation to celebrate the birth of Jesus over 2000 years ago. For me, it is a time to remember what the incarnation of …
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Conversations About God
I recently had a conversation with a co-worker who kept referring to God as “the universe”. The universe is trying to tell me something or the universe is guiding events in my life.
My response was that …
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Designed to be in Relationship
A colleague at work commented to me that over the past six months, she has had more ‘strangers’ make small talk or comment on something that normally would pass without conversation. I was just at …
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Waiting – Wrapped in God’s Love
The newest COVID restrictions have once again placed us in waiting mode. “To wait” implies being in a place of expectation. As the world situation continues to unfold, we watch as refuges wait in …
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The Hope of Heaven
One day I dreamt death came my way, and heavens gates opened wide.
The angels came and took my hand and ushered me inside.
There I saw folks I had known on earth, that I had …
THE HEARTBEAT OF JESUS
Accepted opinion says that the “beloved disciple” is either John, or John’s disciples passing-on John’s teachings.
Interesting, but it also misses the point.
We like answers to these kinds of questions,...
Recently, I felt the need to reinvigorate my prayer life, do something different, and change it up. Prayer had become dull, uninspiring, and predictable just when I needed it most. Like many in these days of political strife, social media …
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Musings on a Challenged Faith
I confess to you, my brothers and sisters, that I am struggling with my Church right now. I confess that there is much about Her that I love – Her wisdom tradition, Her great models …
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This month in the daily mass readings we hear about the story of Moses and the people of Israel who were set free from bondage and slavery in Egypt by God. We have heard this story many times and at …
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I read an article a couple of years back about a person who went on a journey of health and self-discipline but had few ‘extra resources’ for supports. She ended up simply walking around her small apartment in a loop …
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Earlier this spring I joined our parish community to follow a zoom series called THE SEARCH. I would like to share some of my reflections from that prayer time. One of the things that happened for me was the many …
Read More →Third Place – Rachel Walker
Drawing Close
“For it is by grace you have been saved” (Ephesians 2:8-9). Through my journey of believing in Jesus Christ, God has revealed His love and truth slowly to me, each part at exactly …
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