My surprise was understandable when the Archbishop asked me to take up the ministry of Rector of Holy Spirit Seminary in Ottawa – I almost fell off my chair. When I announced it to the parish on Palm Sunday, there was a moment of stunned silence, and then some audible gasps. I wanted to gasp as well as I was expecting to be at Holy Eucharist Parish for another six years. Eight weeks have passed and I have packed up all my belongings (man, did I collect a lot in 16 years!) – and shipped it all to Ottawa.
I finished almost all my business in Winnipeg by last Tuesday and left for Ottawa by car. It was a wonderful three day trip. The hardest part was today – from Sault Ste. Marie to Ottawa. The roads after Sudbury are pretty rough and passing lane occurrences are far less. My favourite part of the trip was yesterday – just to the west of Sault Ste. Marie there is a place called Old Woman Bay on Lake Superior. I stopped there four years ago with my parents for a lunch. Yesterday, the only living being was a chipmunk in search of some sweet somethings in a recycle container with almost full bottles of Coke, Gatorade, etc. He didn’t want to eat any of the dried cranberries that I sent his way. The wind was generous – and the temperature cool. I just stood looking out at the lake – reminded of the wonderful psalm we sing everyday at Vespers – how great are Your works, O Lord!
For now, I will stay with my parents for a week – try to start getting some papers changed over to Ontario standards, etc.
My next five years will be in Ottawa – my home town. Talk about “back to the future.”
Incredible as it sounds, it is absolutely true. Fr. Stephen Hrynuck of Olyphant, Pennsylvania retired after 50 years as pastor of Sts. Cyril and Methodius Ukrainian Catholic Church.
Orphaned at an early age, the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Philadelphia reports, Msgr. Hrynuck was left in the custody of an uncle who dreamed of the boy studying at Temple University and becoming a doctor. However, a friend of Msgr. Hrynuck’s parents instead convinced him to meet with the bishop of Philadelphia and tell him of his desire to become a priest.
Yesterday, on the Sunday after Theophany, on the feast of Theodosius the founder of coenobitic monasticism, my good friend and prayer partner, Mary Koltek, reposed in the Lord.
I met Mary when I was pastor at Holy Family Parish in Winnipeg. She and her husband, Bill, were faithful members of the congregation. Bill, a retired pharmacist, had already lived a few years with Alzheimer’s disease, and Mary, also retired the day Bill closed shop, was his primary caregiver. Oh, how she loved Bill. I remember being invited up to their family cottage on the east side of Lake Winnipeg for a “day of rest.” It was Mary’s way to ensure that I got pampered and that she did the pampering. After the bountiful lunch, I retired to the sun room to read, and perhaps take a short nap. Bill entered the room, sat down for a few minutes, mumbled a few words, and then jaunted over and showed me that he had three more cigarettes for the day. (Bill was a smoker and Mary was his cigarette custodian.) Mary overheard and chased him out. He smiled at me without her seeing it, and then she smiled at me without letting him see it. The love and joy she shared with Bill, even in those difficult years at the end of his life, was like a fountain overflowing its edges – and the water was sweet. Even after Bill’s passing, Mary had me visit her at the family cottage until she was no longer able to drive herself. Oh how we laughed telling each other stories, and sharing in a home cooked meal.
Mary and I became prayer partners after she had some trouble with her heart some years back. She was in the hospital, I came to pray and anoint her. We have remained partners to that day. She always told me that she was able to live all those years because of my prayers. I kept telling her that it was the wisdom and ability of the doctors and the Lord’s mercy enacted through them that allowed her to live these “extra years” as she called them. I recall one visit to her apartment for an afternoon tea (which usually involved an entire full course meal with a bottle of wine) and reminded her of the above. She just smiled, shook her head, and poured some more wine. To tell you the truth, I have prayed for Mary every single day of my life since that day in the hospital when I anointed her. There was some sort of spiritual connection with her that I truly believed the Lord established – a type of spiritual brother-sister relationship even though Mary was old enough to be my grandmother. Mary prayed for me every day as well. Truly, if not for her prayers, I do not know where I would be.
Mary had a wisdom that exceeded her years. She shared it freely. Always a gift. I shall treasure all the nuggets that she gave.
When I was in Ottawa for some graduate studies, I sent her a postcard of one of my most favourite oil paintings, Sunrise on the Saguenay (1880, Lucius O’Brien) – see the photo above – that hangs at the National Gallery. Imagine my surprise when I returned home to Winnipeg and was presented with her own oil painting of that very same postcard. In the original there is an almost ethereal feeling as the morning mist, still hovering over the water, begins to be burned off by the rising sun. The colours of the sky and the background are pale, while the foreground is crisp, clear and vibrant. In Mary’s version, the sky is filled with much colourful vibrancy, almost a foreshadowing of her expectation of Paradise. Her painting now hangs in my living room. It was Mary’s last oil painting.
Proud Mary – in the most profoundly good way. Mary often boasted of her children and grandchildren, their accomplishments, their graduations, marriages, births. There was a shining light in her eyes as she told stories of her family to me – again, that overflowing fountain of love.
Mary was an elegant woman with mystifying simplicity. I suppose it was about last Pascha when I felt that I had finally “caught the wave” she was riding. In her longing to love and serve her family, friends, church and state, she sought first her true love. No, Bill was her second love. In her years of prayer on her knees beseeching the Lord – Who is Love – for His grace to be upon those whom she loved, she had somehow come into His presence in such a profound manner that she was simply filled by Him. Perhaps she knew this, perhaps she did not. But I convinced by her example and word that prayer is the answer – to all.
Some may think that Mary was of the world. She may have been at some point in her life. But I can tell you that her last years with us, she had left the world, simply in it, and prayed for it. Just like Theodosius.
In blessed sleep grant eternal rest, O Lord, to Your ever-to-be-remembered servant, Mary, and make her memory everlasting. Вічная пам’ять.
Христос Раждається! Славіте Його!
Christ is born! Glorify Him!
Lots of time these past few days to reflect on the Mystery of our Lord’s Incarnation and first Manifestation to the world. A few years ago, the parish I serve (Holy Eucharist, Winnipeg) had a fine man assigned as a pastoral intern – Xenios Marckx. He introduced me to the writings of St Ephrem (Ephraim) the Syrian. St Ephrem has a way of writing that allows the reader/pray-er to simply jump into the pool of the Mystery of Salvation. I am always in awe after even a few minutes of reading/praying. Here is a small piece of his work on the Mystery of the Nativity of our Lord:
Glory to Your coming that restored humankind to life.
Glory to that One Who came to us by His First-born.
Glory to that Silent One Who spoke by means of His Voice.
Glory to that Sublime One Who was seen by means of His Voice.
Glory to that Sublime One Who was seen by means of His Dawn.
Glory to the Spiritual One Who was well-pleased
that His Child should become a body so that through Him His power might be felt
and the bodies of His kindred might live again.
Glory to that Hidden One Whose Child was revealed.
Glory to that Living One Whose Son became a mortal.
Glory to that Great One Whose Son descended and became small.
Glory to that Great One Who fashioned Him,
the Image of His greatness and Form for His hiddenness.
With the eye and the mind–with both of them we saw Him.
Glory to that Hidden One Who even to the mind
is utterly imperceptible to those who investigate Him.
But by His grace through His humanity
a nature never before fathomed is now perceived.
St. Ephrem the Syrian (4th C), “Hymns On the Nativity”
Ephrem the Syrian, Hymns, pages 83-84
Classics of Western Spirituality
Paulist Press
To tell you the truth, I am surprised that at night I am not glowing. I have had so many x-rays in the last six months, that I am sure that if I looked in the mirror with no room lights on, I would still see myself. Either that or my internal organs are being preserved for decades to come such that one may have a difficulty in determining whether they survived in the grave because of God’s grace or because I have been irradiated so many times (as much as the former may appeal to my ego, it is likely the latter).
Every time I visit x-ray department of the Winnipeg Clinic, there seems to be a new technician (the receptionist is always the same woman – she is VERY efficient). They take an image of my left kidney – the one that seems to produce monster stones from the planet Ho Canet B in the Calcium Oxalate system – and also my bladder. Just before I lie down on the table, I tell the technician that my bladder is a little lower than most people’s bladders. A slight look of disbelief, perhaps with a tinge of “and where exactly did you get your training for this incredibly sophisticated machine,” and I am asked to lay down. Taking the image of the left kidney is no problem. When it comes to the bladder – well, let’s just say that more times than not the technician retakes the bladder image.
I usually take the images upstairs to the fifth floor – that’s where Dr Cho has his practice. He is a young urologist that seems to be on top of his game. He has given me a special treat – 6,000 shockwaves to the left kidney to break up – that’s right – the monster stone from the planet Ho Canet B in the Calcium Oxalate system. It’s called Extracorporeal Shockwave Lithotripsy. The support staff, i.e. the nurses, in that unit are extremely superb in delivering health care. Their sense of humour and the ability to deal with people in extreme pain – like passing small sharp particles through a tube that is designed to pass only some unwanted waste fluid – made the two sessions (September and December) bearable.
I saw Dr. Cho last week. We looked at my new x-rays. The monster stone is all broken into five passable pieces (oh, joy). And they have all sunk to the bottom of the kidney. Unless I spend about 5 hours a day standing on my head, it looks like these stones will remain in the kidney. Hence, the issue of me being seemingly chronically stoned. The stones pose no threat and at the moment do not cause any pain. Check-up in six months will reveal more information.
My family and friends (that would probably be you who are reading this account) have offered various natural and some (surprisingly) unnatural “cures” for kidney stones. Some are convinced that they are caused only by diet. According to Dr Cho, diet accounts for only 20% of the cause of stones. The remaining 80% is do to – yep, you guessed it – genetics. So, I have to thank my parents, and their parents, and their parents, and so on and so on…
I continue to drink – water – actually, copious quantities of the stuff. On top of being chronically stoned, I may have to attend WA support meetings – Waterholics Anonymous.
On July 30, I had my first haircut in almost two years. It feels good to have short hair again especially in these warm days of summer. Sherri of Ultracuts on Henderson Highway (just north of McLeod Avenue) did the cutting honours; she will send my hair away to the outlet that makes wigs for those who lost their hair as a result of chemotherapy. If you recall, I did this all in honour of my dear friend, Frances Gunning, who succumbed to cancer after a very lengthy battle with the disease, all the time continuing as Youth Coordinator for the Archeparchy of Winnipeg. While a sinner like the rest of us, she was an example of spiritually running the race keeping her eyes fixed upon Jesus the Author and Finisher of our faith (may her memory be everlasting!). Also, I am glad to report that on this occasion of some rather massive hair loss, some members of my parish have made donations to the Manitoba office of the Cancer Society. Thank you! The Lord sees what everyone else does not see. May He bless you a hundred-fold! Here is the link should you want to donate as well: Canadian Cancer Society Manitoba Division.
I know… it’s been a long time since I last wrote a post to this blog… that’s about to change. To begin with, a friend of mine recommended a site to read (Orbis Catholicvs Rome Tovrs). One of the entries which I wish to highlight is a scene from the popular television drama, ER, in which the flaw of post-modernism is explored. It is worth a watch:
As a priest, I really appreciate this scene. I have have entered rooms of parishioners when the hospital chaplain is in the midst of “narrating the end of one’s life” as it was put to me once. The chaplain portrayed in the above scene is a good example of bad hospital chaplains.
I remember in my seminary training in the late 1980s and early 1990s that we were told that when visiting the hospital, we should NEVER wear anything that would identify us as clergy. It would allow the patients to better identify with us and therefore, presumably, be in a better frame of mind to communicate with us.
It is advice I have never followed. When I go to the hospital, I am a minister of the Gospel, of the Good News, of hope, trust, mercy, forgiveness, and salvation. These I cannot offer of myself; but as a sacramental presence of Christ the Priest, I can be a fountain of His grace and mercy to others, offering them words of hope and encouragement, mercy and forgiveness – the very hope, encouragement, mercy and forgiveness of the Lord God.
I have found over fifteen years of priesthood that most people are like the man in the above scene – they want answers that are eternally true – not answers that shift with the seasons or with the mood of the chaplain. Remain rooted in the truths of Christ Jesus, and you be able to offer those truths to others when the time comes, when they ask.
You would be a blasphemer if you were to say that every believer receives and possesses the Spirit without knowing or recognizing the fact.
Yes, you would! You would be accusing Christ of lying when he said: ‘The water that I shall give will become in him a spring if water welling up to eternal life.” and again: ‘Out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water.’ When a spring wells, up, when rivers gush out from a spring, how is it possible to look at it and not to recognize it?
If all that were to happen without our knowledge, clearly we should not have the slightest idea of eternal life that flows from it and dwells in us, nor should we be able to see the light of the Holy Spirit. We should remain like the dead, blind and unconscious. Our hope would be vain, our efforts useless.
But it is not so, not at all! The Father is light, the Son is light, the Holy Spirit is light: one light, timeless, indivisible, inconfusible, eternal, uncreated, illimitable, invisible, lacking nothing, above and beyond all things, a light no one can ever behold without first being purified. And by contemplating it, se can receive it.
Simeon the New Theologian, Theological and Ethical Treatises, 10
as found in Drinking from the Hidden Fountain by Thomas Spidlik.
“The Lord works from the inside out. The world works from the outside in. The world would take people out of the slums. Christ takes the slums out of the people, and then they take themselves out of the slums. The world would mold men by changing their environment. Christ changes men who then change their environment. The world would shape human behavior, but Christ can change human nature.”
Ezra Taft Benson
The following was my May 2007 message to the Knights of Columbus Council to which I belong:
Unbelievable! It happened again! It seems to happen every time. Recently, our parish made a pilgrimage to the shrine of Blessed Bishop Martyr Vasyl at St. Joseph Parish. After the Moleben service in the church, everyone went into the shrine to be anointed with oil that has been touched to the holy relics of the saint. I was almost the last to be anointed of the close to 75 people who had come that night. Afterwards, I stood before his holy relics and prayed. And again, I had the sense that I was standing before a fire. There was no heat. It was a sense of being present before a strong light, unlike any other light. I have had that sense every time I have come to pray before Blessed Vasyl’s relics over the last five years.
I have asked the question many times – why? The only answer worth listening is the one that Fr. John Sianchuk, CSsR gives so often – Blessed Vasyl is here in Winnipeg for the sake of holiness. Holiness. And then I ask – whose holiness? Mine? Yours? Ours? The answer is – yes. All of the above.
“Be holy for I, the Lord your God, am holy,” says the Lord through the mouth of the prophet Isaiah. Blessed Vasyl was given to us – to be in our midst, in the midst of the Communion of Saints – as an example of how to be holy in the modern world.
I think I know what you are thinking. How can I be holy? It must be for other people. Yes, I think the same way at times, too. But the fact is that the Lord wants us to be like Him so that we can live in Him. What now arises is the question – how do I do it? The answer is that “I” don’t do it – it is the Lord who makes me/us holy. It is His work in us. We only have to give way to Him.
I truly believe that this is the way that Blessed Vasyl followed on his way to martyrdom. It wasn’t the martyrdom that made him holy. Rather, it was his availability to being used by the Lord; it was his surrender to the Lord; it was his imitation of the most pure Mother of God – “Let it be done unto me according to your word.” I am sure that is why he had such a deep and profound devotion to the Mother of God. He found in her the perfect example of surrender to the Lord, of being used by the Lord, of being holy.
This recognition of God’s presence in our daily lives, not just once through the day but at each moment in the day, is an important step to being made holy. St. Paul puts it well when he writes, “It is no longer I that live but Christ who lives in me.” Allowing this to happen, giving way the Lord, and recognizing His presence and activity in our lives is key to being holy.
Blessed Vasyl’s presence in our midst is the call of our Lord to holiness. It is our Lord’s voice calling us to be like Him, to dwell in Him, to find all our being in Him.
What’s your answer to this call?
Let’s pray for one another, indeed, for every member of the parish, that we may enter deeply into the holiness of the Lord. And if you need some help, go, sit before the holy relics of Blessed Vasyl – sit before the fire of God’s presence – and ask him for help. He is an elder brother in Christ. Still following the example of the most pure Mother of God, he will ask the Lord on our behalf. And the Lord will answer.
O great and holy martyr, our blessed father Vasyl, you were on fire with God’s Word and have followed His Will even unto death. You have been sanctified and purified by the Cross and now you stand in God’s Presence wearing the martyr’s crown interceding on our behalf. You, who have confidence before the Lord, pray for us who come to you with love and devotion. For we come to you with all our needs knowing that the Lord hears His faithful ones.
Intercede for us before the Almighty God, that each one receives according to their needs; bring comfort to the sorrowful and hope to the lost; heal the sick; give courage to the young; bring a change of heart to all those who fall into sin; enlighten our minds with the truth of the Gospel; inspire us always to follow Christ; help us always to choose the good; give us courage in times of distress, faith in times of despair, hope in times of darkness; and strengthen our commitment to love our Lord. Grant that each one of us be saved through the grace and mercy of God, that together with you we may praise and glorify Him who is wondrous in His saints: Father, Son and Holy Spirit, now and for ever and ever. Amen.
