St. Mary's and the Missions

Roman Catholic Parish in Owen Sound

What's New

From the Pastor's Desk

When shutdowns first started in February, we started offering Rosary every weeknight at 9pm live streamed on our website. The intention was to pray for an end to this pandemic, and to invite our parishioners to pray with their priests. Praying the Rosary as a community each day has made me rediscover the richness of this devotional prayer. There is a reason why it has continued to be one of the favourite prayers for Catholics for centuries. I find that the more I pray the

From the Pastor's Desk:

“God has shown you what is good, and what the Lord requires of you: To do justice, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God” Micah 6:8 As we are getting close to the start of another school year, I offer this reflection for our educators. First, let’s look at how the Scriptures differentiate between true prophets and false prophets: Prophet – from the Greek meaning one who speaks on behalf of another. It is a call to speak the truth – from God who is the source

From the Pastor's Desk:

Lately I have been feeling somewhat disoriented, not quite sure how to get back to the groove of things. As I reflect on the possible source of this disorientation I keep thinking of the importance of consistence and grounding in our lives. As exciting as new realities can be, we are hard wired for consistency. What makes going away on holidays exciting is that we have a home to come back to. Our home is what is consistent, what grounds us, and what allows new adventures

Are You a Timid Catholic?

Sometimes I could kick myself for being so timid, for not speaking up, for remaining silent where my faith is concerned. My non-Catholic, non-Christian friends do know my faith. In my timidity, I’m careful not to preach, but I have made my beliefs clearly known. Still, I’m too cautious, too careful, and, to the outside world, my gentle whispers of faith do nothing to bring forth the kingdom of God. Recently, a dear friend of mine told me of her personal struggles over lunch.

From the Pastor's Desk:

I had an interesting conversation with one local tradesman about the state of affairs in the world today. He said to me that even though he is not religious, he is convinced that what people are missing in their lives is religion. I was intrigued by his assessment of current events, and wanting to know more about his hypothesis I asked a number of questions. His observation of our Catholic Church and the community of people who come here led him to this conclusion. He tol

Come Home

Before I was married, I spent a year on an island, teaching in a one-room school house. The population of the island was about 100 and there was no church of any denomination. The school teacher (me) and my aid lived in the ‘parsonage,’ which was where the minister would come and stay in the summer months. The island is approximately 35 kilometres from the mainland (Maine) and, in those days, it was a two hour boat ride or a costly plane trip back to the real world. Every Sun

From the Pastor's Desk:

The life of the Spirit is central for followers of Jesus. We commonly refer to this as spiritual life, because it indicates that we are open to the Spirit of God dwelling within us, and guiding us towards our call of holiness. It is recommended that we continue to reflect on our spiritual life in the midst of ever changing circumstances which come our way. In our daily prayer the question we should continue asking is: “what is God calling me to do, to change, to be?” Perh

From the Pastor's Desk:

“The wait is over, the battle won!” These words of an Easter Hymn have been playing in my head all this week. Why, you may ask? Well, we (priests) have finally moved into the rental house, and our offices are fully functioning and are now open. Yes, we are back. Thank you to everyone who helped us, especially my friend Roger and his son Jacob. With the help of Roger’s small trailer, we were able to move all the furniture to the house, and it only took 15 trips. The good