November 2007

I got a call from the Curateur publique today to follow up with from the meeting I had a few days ago. The government official in question wanted to meet the elderly priest in person, so I proposed picking her up from her office and going to see him this afternoon. She agreed, and we had a very nice visit.

I attended an all-day meeting at the Assemblée des évêques catholiques du Québec. The Comité des ministères, one of the standing committees of the Quebec bishops, was gathering with the executive members of some of its official partner groups, such as the “group partenaire des prêtres”. The topic was the life and experience of ministry of the lay pastoral agents who work as part of the various ministries in the Quebec church (most often in parishes).

I went to Saint-Luke hospital today to visit with a sick priest. The trip was not planned, but was one of those things that the Holy Spirit seemed to arrange himself. I got a call from a social worker, letting me know that there was a sick priest who had requested special assistance from the local health clinic. Coincidentally, I had already made arrangements to meet the curate of the parish where he lives (on another matter, mind you) so it would give us a chance to coordinate whatever help he might need.

I met a young couple this evening who want to get married, but the family is not too keen. Why? She’s Christian, and he’s Muslim. Whoops.

Now I have to say, I really like this couple. The young lady was actually a student of mine a couple of years ago, and I felt quite honoured that she contacted me after so much time to seek some advice. In particular, she wanted to know what the Church had to say about their desire for marriage.

This is not a joke: it actually happened, this very evening.

Well, not quite. Actually, it was two priests. I was one of them — the one who was mistaken for a gangster.

Well, again not quite. My friend Fr. Richard Depairon and I decided to go and shoot some pool at a billiards hall near a former parish of mine. I guess this place has gotten a bit tough since I was there, because we had to pass through a metal detector to get into the place. Fr. Richard got through fine. Me? I set off the alarm, meaning I then got searched for weapons.

…and after supper with the monks, I headed to Upstairs to have a drink with a fellow named Vincent, who had recently posted some comments on the Adventus website about a conference I had given. I hadn’t really quite understood the points he was trying to make, and I felt that we risked getting very frustrated in having an exchange merely over internet, so I proposed we meet in person and he accepted.

I had the honour this evening of presiding mass with the Fraternité monastique de Jerusalem, a new religious community that has a centre in Montreal. The evening of prayer actually began with Vespers (evening prayer), followed immediately by a mass which I also preached.

In his general email yesterday, Cardinal Turcotte announced that my boss was being given a promotion: Msgr. Jean Fortier is now the Vicar General of the Archdiocese, replacing Bishop Anthony Mancini who was recently named Archbishop of Halifax. Bishop Lionel Gendron is being named his replacement in the Office for Pastoral Personnel, which means I have a new boss!

I was visiting my brother’s home today, and at one point was just sitting on his couch when my youngest niece (Maya, 7 years old) came over and sat down next to me. She then promptly leaned over and put her head on my chest in what was (I am sure) the most heart-melting snuggle the world has ever seen.

Or at least, it seemed that way to me.

Today we had a large gathering of the various offices and departments of the Archdiocese, as well as different pastoral agents working in the parishes, to listen to a presentation by Jacques Racine of Laval University on the new program for religious education that will start to be offered in our elementary and high schools as of September 2008 (French only).