Today is the feast of Pentecost, and I had the pleasure of visiting Our Lady of the Philippines Mission to offer the sacrament of confirmation to 9 children and 3 adults. The welcome was warm as only people of the Filipino culture can do, the ceremony was full of life, and the meal afterwards was delicious! Bring on the lechon!

Many thanks to Father Frank Alvarez, as well as the team of catechists, who joined in the picture you see above (click on it to expand). Congratulations to you!

As a bishop I have the chance to celebrate confirmations in many different places. Tonight, however, I had the joy of presiding confirmation in the parish where I am pastor (Our Lady of Fatima). I was so proud of those young people! And they were really good, participating well (reading and singing) and answering my questions at the homily. May their lives be filled with the Holy Spirit always!

I had a chance last October to speak at a conference in New York City alongside my good friend Glenn Smith. It was an honour to address hundreds of pastors and leaders in the Evangelical tradition. The Movement Day people have posted a video of our talk, so I thought I'd share it with you

Dear friends,

2016 was a big year for me in many ways, so rather than just send Christmas cards like I usually do I thought of sending an end-of-year letter instead. I’ve always appreciated getting news from others, and I’m hoping this letter will be meaningful for you.

My niece Temperance was born on September 5, 2016 (Labour Day), but at only 24 weeks (and weighing only 680 grams). Given her extreme prematurity she has been in the hospital for weeks, including in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). That all changed on December 3, when she finally made it home. Woo hoo!

My sister writes:

My niece Temperance was born on September 5, 2016 (Labour Day), but at only 24 weeks (and weighing only 680 grams). Given her extreme prematurity she has been in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) ever since. Still, I got a chance to visit with her last October 10 (Canadian Thanksgiving), on her 5th week birthday. I thought I'd offer an update.

First of all, let me say THANK YOU to the legions of people who offered prayers for Temperance. We all felt we were being lifted up to the Lord.

Homily from September 18, 2016. Money is supposed to serve us, but often we wind up serving it.

Homily from September 11, 2016. The day after my anniversary of ordination as a bishop, so I thought I'd preach about...bishops!