It’s been a few years now since my Mom passed away. She was quite excited with my role in the design and construction of the Cathedral as volunteer Chair of the Building Committee. Sadly, she never got to see the finished building. I actually interviewed for my position here as Facilities Manager a few days after her funeral.
She died in 2011 at the age of 89, some 6 years after Dad, who had lived to 92. Like many other young women of that depression/wartime generation, she trained as a school teacher after leaving home. Through her position in a one-room country schoolhouse, she met and subsequently married my father. They raised 8 kids while farming 3 quarter-sections of land - practically a hobby farm by today's standards...
This Easter season has been full of twists and turns. I went to the Easter Triduum at the Cathedral, and it was absolutely beautiful. The Easter vigil will be a highlight of the year, with breathtaking music and an awesome experience of our faith community. It was an absolute joy to see the congregation huddle around the baptismal fount to welcome twenty-six new members into the church.
But this past week has also been spent meditating on the mystery of God’s ways. Amongst the joy of the Easter season, the celebrations of God’s mercy for us, we mourn and lament the tragedy of the Humboldt Bronco hockey team. We light the Easter candle and finally sing Alleluia, while simultaneously offering prayers of sorrow and devastation...
Holy Week, the week leading up to Easter, is the busiest on the church calendar. It begins with the pageantry of Palm Sunday, with the faithful processing into the church amidst the waving of palms, commemorating the arrival of Christ in Jerusalem. Good Friday and Easter Sunday services later that week are traditionally very well attended, but if you’re able to put in the time, there are additional elements relating to these celebrations that help to accentuate and give deeper meaning to the mystery of Holy Week...
Recently my wife, Danielle, and I went on vacation to Florida, a place neither of us had ever been. It was beautiful. We plan to go back some time…gonna have to collect a lot more bottles and cans to supplement the vacation fund though... hahaha. As a part of our time in Florida, we took a tour of the Everglades National Park. What an incredibly interesting place. The tour began with a bit of a video, then the tour guide gave a short presentation, then we all loaded up onto the tour trolley. It was all very exciting. Danielle and I wondered if we would get to see any alligators and crocodiles as the video showed and the tour guide explained earlier. The trolley lurched forward and we were off.
These past few months have flown by as I settle into my position here at the Cathedral. Easter is quickly approaching! I am often struck by the amount of changes I have seen in my life as I transitioned from being a full-time student to a full-time employee. This has come with ups and downs, but I can see that God has a plan for me through it all.
I have recently met many, many students, and I find so much hope in this generation of young people! I am overwhelmed at the focus given to the Catholic faith in our school communities; coming from a small town public school, it was quite a different experience to participate in Ash Wednesday liturgies that entire schools attended...
So, on the advice of my trusted pharmacist, I availed myself to the annual flu shot. I'm not opposed to these shots especially in light of the ministry we do at Sherbrooke and my concern for the well being of the good folks who live and work there. The words of the young woman who gave the "shot" were reassuring: "This won't prevent you from getting the flu, but it will mean that the symptoms aren't as bad compared to not getting the vaccine." I was convinced. I believed her immensely and, unlike the nurses that I remember as a child who gave booster shots, this shot did not hurt - although she didn't make the little rabbit face on my skin like I remember from my youth...
I wear mismatching socks a lot. If the most recent census taken of my socks is correct, a little over half of my pairs of socks do not match. Now, this isn’t because over time I lost half my socks to dryer gnomes, and just threw the remaining pair-less socks together into pseudo-pairs. Nor do I haphazardly match my socks together after they go through the wash. I could never support that kind of anarchy. No, my socks deliberately don't match. They came to me together as mismatching pairs (or trios)...
Facetime and Skype have brought a whole new perspective to grandparenting. Even the term itself would not have been used a generation or so ago. When I was a child, we just went to see Baba and Gido, Nana and Papa, Gramps and Grandma. Those were the days when you jumped in the car (minus the seatbelts, car seats, etc.) and went for a Sunday drive for dinner and, if they lived further away, maybe you got to spend a few days visiting. The telephone was used sparingly if they lived far away as the long-distance phone charges were expensive, though they were the least expensive on Sundays...
Phase 5
Magnolia played a few more gigs but eventually dissolved. We moved out and went our separate ways. I often reflect on the good times with the band.
When I was age 23, I was transferred to Beaver Home Centre in Saskatoon. I packed my belongings, including my acoustic guitar, loaded up my 1976 Mustang Cobra 11 and headed to the big city. After living in a small town for years, Saskatoon felt like a big city. At Beaver Home Centre, I enjoyed working with a team of retail salespeople and became good friends with Lorne, Paul, Curby and Lonny. I enjoyed the work but had a longing to go back to school.
Cathedral of the Holy Family
123 Nelson Road
Saskatoon, SK
S7S 1H1
Phone: 306-659-5800
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
We acknowledge that we are located on Treaty 6 Territory and the Homeland of the Métis.
