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The fairways have withered: remembering Bishop Fred Henry
Whoever aspires to the office of bishop desires a noble task. (1 Tim 3:1)
Driving to work one cold January day in 2016, I heard an announcement on the radio that the Bishop of the Diocese of Calgary, Frederick B. Henry, was officially announcing his retirement after 19 years as a bishop.
I can’t say I was surprised, but I certainly felt a tug of sadness. Bishop Henry was the first bishop I served under as president of St. Mary’s University in Calgary. He was chancellor of the university, and as such, we worked side by side on many projects for almost six years.
Our projects included convocations, opening and closing term liturgies, five Bishop’s Dinners, fundraising events, and more. In all of these, the diminutive giant, as I called him, towered good-naturedly over his community.
He was, as many know, a fearless advocate for the faith, sometimes adopting a take-no-prisoners position, at others humbly tending to parishioners in their time of need. Through it all, his sense of humour knew no bounds.
One of my first exchanges with Bishop Henry was not what some might expect. I recall, at the very start of my presidency, sitting at my kitchen table with my children when the phone rang.
The conversation went something like this:
“Gerry?”
“Yes?”
“This is Bishop Henry. You’re golfing with me at the charity tournament next week.”
I hung up the phone and looked at my kids: “I have to learn to play golf.”
That tournament was one of the most stressful public events I have ever attended. To suggest that my golf game was execrable is to be charitable, and not in a fundraising way.
In fact, as I moved towards the cart for the first time on that fateful day, someone leaned towards me pityingly. “He got two holes-in-one last year.”
As we approached the first hole, I gamely suggested: “You’ll need to be a bit patient. This is the first time I’ve ever golfed.”
Bishop Henry stared at me with those piercing eyes of his. “Charity is for the Church! This is golf. You’re on your own.”
But as he prepared to tee off for the first time, he looked back at me: “You know, I got two holes-in-one last year.”
Later, during the speeches, he singled me out for special mention. Hopeful for words of encouragement about the heroic effort I’d made on the golf course, he said to the crowd: “There’s only one person who can help Gerry’s golf game. St. Jude.”
The saint for hopeless causes.
On all other matters, Bishop Henry was unbelievably supportive.
He loved students and encouraged them in their faith life, applauded their commitment to community service, and looked for ways to be present despite the crippling workload that all bishops carry.
Pondering before the manger with the pregnant mother
I notice them most when I’m not moving: the squirms, kicks, and hiccoughs of two tiny people in my womb. Already they have different personalities.
Baby A’s movements are obvious and distinct; like a Looney Tunes cartoon character travelling underground, I can clearly see a foot or elbow on the move just below my skin. Baby B is more subtle, only felt when I place my hand on my belly in just the right place and find someone dancing to an unknown tune or massaging my organs.
I must sit and relax to notice. I must quiet my mind to let the joy and anticipation sink in. Sometimes, we can only notice the most profound moments and miracles in our lives in silence and stillness.
It’s a special thing to be pregnant before Christmas. Advent – the season of waiting – feels very real and personal when you are waiting for your own miracle. It makes it easier to unite your waiting with Mary and ponder it all in your heart, as she did.
How many of us spend the few weeks of Advent careening toward Christmas instead of approaching it in thoughtful anticipation? We get stressed out shopping for decorations, gifts, and special foods, exhausted by standing in lines, and burdened by the number of family gatherings and events in our schedules.
This Advent, I’m finding myself drawn toward quiet places and slower paces. I’d rather sit in a cozy chair re-reading favourite books and imagining myself as a mother bird sitting on a pair of eggs – being productive by simply existing in the right place – than go shopping or take my 3-year-old to photo ops with Santa.
For pregnant women, the instinct of “nesting” is joked about as a sudden burst of energy that makes moms scrub baseboards and purge kitchen cabinets. But, looking with anticipation toward the joy of new life in this season, I’m realizing nesting is more like prayer.
Minnesota midwife Jana Studelska wrote: “To give birth … a woman must go to the place between this world and the next, to that thin membrane between here and there. To the place where life comes from, to the mystery, in order to reach over to bring forth the child that is hers… We need time and space to prepare for that journey. And somewhere, deep inside us, at a primal level, our cells and hormones and mind and soul know this.”
During Advent and Christmas, the “membrane” between heaven and earth feels thin. The air is pregnant with the excitement that something big is coming. We can hustle toward it with piles of gift bags, dishes, and to-do lists, or we can see it in the distance and amid the chaos create space for the anticipation to wash over us, in awe of what it means.
God has become our salvation
4th Sunday of Advent, Year C
First Reading: Mi 5:2-5a
Second Reading: Heb 10:5-10
Gospel Reading: Lk 1:39-45
“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice! Indeed, the Lord is near.”
The first word of that Entrance Antiphon, in Latin, gives this Sunday its name: Gaudete Sunday.
The First Reading echoes it: “Sing aloud, O daughter Zion; shout, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem!” The response to the Psalm repeats it, and so does the Second Reading.
Why should we rejoice?
The answer is that “the Lord has taken away the judgments against” us. Indeed, he has become our “salvation.”
Right after Adam and Eve’s fall, God said to the serpent — Satan, who had deceived them — “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will strike at your head, while you strike at his heel.”
In these words — called the Protoevangelium, Latin for “Proto-Gospel” or “First Good News” — God promised victory over evil and the restoration of what humans had lost. It was the first hint of a Saviour, a Redeemer, who would make amends for Adam and Eve’s disobedience and lack of trust.
“Saviour,” “salvation,” and “Redeemer” are words we hear often in church, but their meaning can be overlooked.
To “redeem” is to “free” by “buying back” or “paying a ransom.” We needed to be freed from the three things that have enslaved us since the Fall: the pleasures of the senses, covetousness for earthly goods, and the desire for self-assertion. We had to be ransomed, or bought back, from Satan, who, through his success with Adam and Eve, gained a certain domination over us, including the power of death.
Finally, someone had to mend — to make amends for — the relationship with God that Adam and Eve had broken. If a small child breaks a window, he may repent, and his father may forgive him, but the window remains broken. The child cannot repair or pay for it himself. Similarly, we needed someone to take on the consequences of Adam and Eve’s rebellion, especially death, to make reparation (from the verb “to repair”) or restitution (from the verb “to restore”).
God solved these problems by becoming our Redeemer: he became a man and, as a man, did for us all that needed to be done, something only he could do. His love for humanity was “so great that it turned God against himself, his love against his justice,” said Pope Benedict XVI. It was so great “that by becoming Man he followed him even into death, and so reconciled justice and love.”
Vancouver priest assigned to Vatican’s Secretariat of State
Father Paul Goo, pastor of Christ the Redeemer Parish in West Vancouver, has been called to Rome to serve in the English-language section of the Vatican’s Secretariat of State, starting in January 2025.
Vancouver Archbishop J. Michael Miller, CSB, who recommended Father Goo for the role, made the announcement in a Nov. 30 letter sent to archdiocesan clergy.
“As you all know, loyalty to the Holy Father and the Apostolic See is a defining characteristic of our Archdiocese, notably in the joyful gift of Vancouver priests called to serve the Church as Bishops,” he wrote.
“We have now been honoured with a different kind of request from Rome; namely, that one of our pastors be released for service in the English-Language section of the Secretariat of State, the Vatican dicastery which works most closely with Pope Francis in the exercise of his universal ministry.”
The Archbishop said Papal Nuncio Archbishop Ivan Jurkovic had asked him to suggest a priest suited to the responsibility, and Father Goo was his choice. “I responded knowing that we would lose – for a time – a dedicated and zealous pastor, but with confidence that this sacrifice would bring blessings to the Archdiocese.
The appointment is for five years.
In a Nov. 30 letter to his parishioners, Father Goo expressed his mixed emotions about the “surprising” news.
“While I am both happy and excited about this new chapter in my priesthood, I will miss all of you. Serving as your pastor has been a tremendous blessing and joy. From the moment I arrived, I have said that this parish does not belong to me but to the Holy Spirit. It is the Lord who has brought us together, and it is the Lord who will carry us through this change.”
Ordained to the priesthood in 2015, Father Goo was appointed as assistant pastor at Christ the Redeemer and named pastor in July 2023. He was vocations director for the Archdiocese of Vancouver from 2019 to 2013.
In his letter, Father Goo said he will be “supporting the coordination of the Holy Father’s communication in English-speaking parts of the world.”
Archbishop Miller will appoint a temporary parish administrator to work with Father Goo in December and assume responsibility for the parish in January until next year’s pastoral appointments are named.
Father Goo reflected on the unexpected move, saying “I know this news may come as a shock to many, just as it was to me. Transitions like these are always a challenge, but they also remind us of the mysterious and providential ways of the Holy Spirit.”
A divided Canada: two cities, two stances on Christianity
A tale of two cities has just presented itself a few days before Advent, offering contrasting approaches to the coming Christmas season.
- In Canada’s largest city, Toronto City Council voted to commemorate the final month of the year as Christian Heritage Month.
- In B.C.’s largest city, a member of the Vancouver Police Board was pressured to resign for expressing her views on such topics as Christianity, immigration, culture, and transgenderism.
Canada is clearly trying to sort out where it stands on issues like freedom of expression and religious rights. The Toronto example makes a case for confronting restrictions and woke culture.
Molly Banerjei, co-founder of the Christian Music Festival in Toronto, says she faced more resistance than ever this year trying to find a venue for the festival. So she launched a campaign to promote Christian Heritage Month in cities across the country.
More than 30 municipalities, including Prince George and Whistler in B.C., have declared December Christian Heritage Month, and organizers are now appealing to federal and provincial governments to do the same.
In the words of The Catholic Register in reporting the story, “the script was officially flipped, and this grassroots effort attained its most seismic victory to date”
Contrast that with Vancouver, where Comfort Sakoma-Fadugba was forced off the Vancouver Police Board for “expressing concerns shared by millions” of Canadians, says the Church for Vancouver blog.
Church for Vancouver Publisher Flyn Ritchie describes what happened.
“Did she jump, or was she pushed? Comfort Sakoma-Fadugba left her position as Vice Chair of the Vancouver Police Board November 22, following an outraged response to a statement she posted on Instagram.”
Ritchie notes that CKNW radio host (and former BC Liberal MLA) Jas Johal tweeted her comment, saying, “When you sit on the Vancouver Police Board you are representing a multi-ethnic police force which serves and protects a diverse city. I hope Vice Chair Comfort Salome-Fadugba [sic] can clarify her comments to taxpayers.”
Sakoma-Fadugba, who immigrated to Canada from Nigeria as a child, introduced her comment by saying, “I’m going to get very vocal about things happening in Canada, and it’s OK if it upsets some people.”
Ritchie recounts how she “reflected was:
“Years ago I warned that people were losing the ability to define what it truly means to be Canadian. Take 10 random people off the street, and we can’t identify a common food, sport or pastime that unites us. The implications of an immigration system that allowed for mass immigration without considering cultural integration, combined with a growing aversion to assimilation, are slowly transforming Canada into a place where a shared identity is disappearing.”
In the footsteps of saints: Ontario student travels 2,500 kilometres to attend Vancouver’s Spirit Day
Most kids who go to Spirit Day get there by bus, but not Nguavase (Avase) Tsevende, who travelled all the way from Kenora, Ont., with her mother, Natasha, to take part in the annual conference.
Nguavase was born in Vancouver, but her family moved to her mom’s hometown of Kenora in 2016. It’s a small town of only 15,000 people, with the closest city being Winnipeg. It’s not exactly the middle of nowhere, but it’s close.
“Other than a Bible camp, there isn’t a large group of kids practising [their faith] in our town,” said Natasha. “I was excited to have my daughter be a part of [Spirit Day] and see that there are lots of young people who are active in their faith.”
She reached out to the organizers to see if they could attend. Then she said a prayer and managed to buy cheap plane tickets.
Apex Ministries, one of the annual headliners for the conference, was a major selling point for Natasha. Having worked in youth ministry herself, she hoped Apex’s approach would resonate with her daughter—and she was right.
“I think that she was really inspired by it,” said Natasha. When they returned home, Avase “immediately started to find the music and sing the songs. She was able to connect with the messaging that Apex had and loved how fun it was.”
Another highlight was the sense of community. None of their Vancouver friends attended the second day of the conference, but that didn’t matter. Students from Blessed Sacrament Elementary in Vancouver welcomed them warmly, especially after learning Avase, like them, was enrolled in a French immersion school.
The whole trip was a whirlwind—they arrived on Friday and flew out Sunday—but Natasha said, “It was an adventure; it was totally worth it.”
Reflecting on the importance of choosing saints for their upcoming confirmations, Archbishop J. Michael Miller told the 1,700 Grade 7 with some heavenly advice. “The saints are urging you on by their prayers and by the example they have left us.”
The annual event took place at Chandos Pattison Auditorium in Surrey on Nov. 16 and 17. Supported by more than 100 volunteers from across the Archdiocese of Vancouver, the event took place on two separate days to accommodate the large numbers.
The Archbishop pointed to the parallels with Pentecost for Jesus’ disciples. “Confirmation will be for you, dear young people, what that first Pentecost was: the descent of the Holy Spirit on Mary and the disciples.”
Canada not immune to Netherlands violence: Catholic, Jewish voices
Amsterdam today, Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver or Calgary tomorrow?
Jewish and Catholic voices in Canada are concerned that anti-Semitic attacks on Israeli soccer fans in the Netherlands on Nov. 7 could be replicated elsewhere, including Canada.
Richard Marceau, the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) vice president and general counsel, and Father Deacon Andrew Bennett, faith communities director for Christian think tank Cardus, told The Catholic Register that Canada is vulnerable to the hatred seen in the riots in Amsterdam, which hospitalized five people and injured as many as 30 others. At least 71 individuals have been arrested.
“There are signs out there, and the people that I’ve been speaking to in the Catholic community who are trying to build ties of friendship and support with the Canadian Jewish community are very concerned by this coming to Canada,” said Marceau.
Father Deacon Bennett is one of the Catholic figures Marceau is referencing. Canada’s former ambassador for religious freedom established the Canadian Christian Declaration on Anti-Semitism on Sept. 23. The document has now been signed by more than 700 people, including religious leaders such as Archbishop J. Michael Miller.
Father Deacon Bennett told The Catholic Register, “we should be under no illusion” that Canada is immune to such violent riots, where Israeli soccer fans attending a game in Amsterdam were viciously attacked.
“If we look at the protests that have taken place, and I’ve been in the midst of some of these protests walking through Montreal or Toronto on various business trips,” said Father Deacon Bennett. “The vitriol, the very visceral anger and the hatred that is present in these protests is frightening.
“Our leaders have been weak in denouncing these and taking action,” he said. “We have to recognize that not all publicly expressed opinions are valid, and I’ve written recently about what seems to be the descent into moral relativism in this country where we can no longer detect good from evil or objective truth.”
Marceau, a former Bloc Quebecois MP, is grateful to Canadian Christians and Catholics for their solidarity and encouraged them to continue “speaking out about their values and the kind of society they want to live in.”
“It would shock many Catholics to know that to go into a synagogue, even on Shabbat, you have to go through rings of security,” said Marceau. “It’s unnoted. Can we in Canada truly talk about freedom of religion and conscience if you cannot in security and safety practice your religion, which is of course a very strong and important and central value for the Catholic Church?”
Echoing St. John Paul II’s 1987 comments about Jews being Christians’ “elder brothers in the faith,” Marceau emphasized that it is pivotal for the “elder brothers to be safe, respected and able to live true and free as Jews in Canada.”
Sculptor shares journey from nihilism to faith at Catholic college fundraiser
Michelangelo once described his artistic process by saying, “I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free.” World-renowned Canadian sculptor Timothy Schmalz made a similar observation in his keynote speech at this year’s Corpus Christi–St. Mark’s College fundraising breakfast.
“I look at this school, and it’s like a studio, and the clay is like the students,” he told the hundreds in attendance. “I see this beautiful environment that is so needed within our mainstream nihilistic culture,” he said. “These new creations, these new students coming up” are the Church’s best response “to fight the nihilism that is in our world today.”
Schmalz spoke about his transition from being a student steeped in the avant-garde of the modern art world to becoming the deeply Catholic artist who, in 2019, had the privilege of having one of his statues, Angels Unaware, installed at St. Peter’s Square in Rome—the first sculpture to be installed there in four centuries.
“If it wasn’t shocking, it wasn’t artwork,” he said about his early creations, reflecting on how he spent his late teens and early art school years copying the likes of Jackson Pollock. But he couldn’t sustain the effort.
Canadian sculptor Timothy Schmalz presents an example of cynical modern art during the Corpus Christi–St. Mark’s College fundraising breakfast.
He had become steeped in the very nihilism that Catholicism opposes. Over time, creating modern art became unsustainable and took its toll. Schmalz experienced what he describes as an “artistic meltdown.”
The modern art world was too far removed from the masters who had inspired him early in life: the Michelangelos, Da Vincis, and Berninis of the past.
The masters “had something that the art schools were not telling you,” he said. “In order to have great artwork, you needed great subject matter.”
“You needed a subject matter that had substance,” he continued. “I realized that form really is important to sculpture—that how it’s presented can really deepen one’s understanding of what’s going on behind the piece.”
He concluded that Catholic Christian art was all he wanted to devote himself to.
“Our faith is not an ornament; it requires participation and involvement,” he said. “The amount of work that can go into celebrating Christ and glorifying our eternal truths is infinite.”
In addition to his myriad works of art scattered around the globe, Schmalz’s Homeless Jesus statue can be seen outside the doors of Holy Rosary Cathedral in Vancouver.
In his closing address, Corpus Christi–St. Mark’s College Chancellor, Archbishop J. Michael Miller, thanked attendees for supporting the school.
Churches glow red in honour of persecuted Christians
At Holy Rosary Cathedral, the lights in front of the rose window in the organ loft turned from blue to red.
Red light, illuminating St. Michael’s Cathedral in Toronto on the night of Nov. 20 stood in sharp contrast to the darkness of the city’s skyline.
Some 500 km to the east, the facade of Mary Queen of the World Cathedral and the dome of St. Joseph’s Oratory in Montreal, were also lit in red, as were other world-famous cathedrals including the Notre Dame Basilica in Paris.
In Ottawa, home to the embassies, high commissions and representative offices of 129 nations, the facade of the historic baronial-style mansion that serves as the embassy of Hungary, glowed red the same night.
Nov. 20 is marked as Red Wednesday, an annual event in which participating churches and secular institutions around the world light their buildings in red, the colour symbolizing blood and sacrifice, to raise a conspicuous red flag on Christian persecution around the world, an issue too often ignored by the international political elite.
St. Nicholas Parish in Langley held 24 hours of adoration to pray for persecuted Christians. (St. Nicholas Facebook)
Described as an international day of prayer, action and awareness about Christian persecution around the world, and launched in 2016 with the lighting up of the Trevi Fountain in Rome, Red Wednesday is an initiative of Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), an international pontifical charity dedicated to supporting the faithful wherever they are persecuted, oppressed or in need.
Red Wednesday, largely through the efforts of ACN’s UK office, has now grown exponentially into an annual international campaign.
“It’s a great way to remember those Christians who have lost their lives or are suffering for their faith,” Marie Claude Lalone, national director of ACN Canada, said. “Raising awareness is a good step, but it’s not enough. We need to stand in solidarity with our brothers and sisters who are suffering.”
“This year, we need Red Wednesday more than ever,” Mario Bard, ACN Canada’s head of information, told The Catholic Register, citing the organization’s newly released report Persecuted and Forgotten. The report revealed that in more than 60 per cent of the 18 countries surveyed, human rights violations against Christians had increased since the last report that covered 2020-2022.
Bard said the focal point of violent attacks against Christians has shifted from the Middle East to Africa where Christians in such countries as Burkina Faso and Nigeria continue to bear the brunt of Islamic extremism, though it notes Christians in Iraq and Syria face constant pressures to leave their ancient homelands.