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Please click here read an important letter from our Bishop concerning the financial impact of COVID-19 on our Diocese and Parishes.
In the Town of Canmore, the Mandatory Mask Bylaw took effect on August 7, 2020. You will be required to wear a mask upon entering indoor public premises including the Shrine Church at all times. The only time during Mass the mask is temporarily removed is when consuming Holy Communion to the side of the Communion line. For more information on this bylaw please visit this link. To financially support our parish, please visit the DONATE section of the parish website, mail donations to: Our Lady of the Rockies, 2 Silvertip Trail, Canmore, AB, T1W-2Z7, or bring them to the parish office Tue-Thur 9:00am-3:30pm and Friday from 9:00am-1:00pm. Click here for the current parish financials. Please scroll down this home page for spiritual reflections and homilies by Fr. Nathan. PRIVATE PRAYER AND DEVOTIONS The Shrine Church is open for private prayer and devotion Click here for Drop In times. Due to Masses, Weddings and other Sacramental celebrations on the weekends, there are no scheduled times for private prayer and devotion, though if the church doors are open and no celebrations are taking place, you are welcome to visit the church. Out of courtesy to others, please observe reverent silence during these scheduled times of private prayer and devotion. 
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ADORATION OF THE BLESSED SACRAMENT
Adoration will take place on Tuesday evenings from 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm with the Holy Rosary and time for silent contemplation. SACRAMENT OF RECONCILIATION During Advent: Dec 1, Tuesday 7:00 to 7:45 pm Dec 2, Wednesday 11:00 to 11:45 am Dec 3, Thursday 11:00 to 11:45 am Dec 5, Saturday 3:30 to 4:15 pm Dec 8, Tuesday 7:00 to 7:45 pm Dec 10, Thursday 11:00 to 11:45 am Dec 12, Saturday 3:30 to 4:15 pm Dec 15, Tuesday 7:00 to 7:45 pm Dec 16, Wednesday 11:00 to 11:45 am Dec 17, Thursday 11:00 to 11:45 am Dec 19, Saturday 3:30 to 4:15 pm Dec 22, Tuesday 7:00 to 7:45 pm Dec 23, Wednesday 11:00 to 11:45 am Anyone requesting the celebration of the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick and the Last Rites for the dying can contact Fr Nathan via the emergency parish line at 403-675-5044. |
Spiritual Reflections from a Priest in the Rockies
To watch Live-streamed Sunday and Weekday Masses from various parishes and at different times in the Diocese of Calgary, please click here
Homily for the 1st Sunday of Advent, Year B (2020): Mk 13:33-37
During these Winter months when we still see more and more visitors, I invite you to please consider assisting our new shrine church by signing up not only to attend Mass but also to offer some of your time in a volunteer position to assure the Masses we have scheduled can take place. These volunteer positions are necessary for Mass to occur in this time to be in accord with the guidelines set forward by the Diocese of Calgary for the celebration of the Holy Mass during Phase 2 of the reopening of our province in the midst of this pandemic. All volunteers are guaranteed a chance to attend the Holy Mass they sign up for.
It will only take a small amount of your day to volunteer in this capacity, for example, helping to clean the church after Mass only takes about 15 minutes. But more than volunteering it is a way to offer an act of charity and service to Our Lord and His Holy Mother in assuring we can offer the Eucharist for the Glory of God and the spiritual nourishment of His People.
I invite you to take time today to make a Spiritual Communion, using the following formula or one of your own choosing:
My Jesus,
I believe that You are present in the Most Holy Sacrament.
I love You above all things, and I desire to receive You into my soul.
Since I cannot at this moment receive You sacramentally,
come at least spiritually into my heart.
I embrace You as if You were already there and unite myself wholly to You.
Never permit me to be separated from You. Amen."
St. Alphonsus di Liguori
In Jesus through Mary, Fr. Nathan
To watch Live-streamed Sunday and Weekday Masses from various parishes and at different times in the Diocese of Calgary, please click here
Homily for the 1st Sunday of Advent, Year B (2020): Mk 13:33-37
- Both the Prophet Ezekiel and the Evangelist Saint John beheld among the strangest visions in all of Holy Scriptures. Both seers saw 4 Celestial Creatures surrounding the throne of God. They had multiple wings and eyes all over their bodies and individually they had the appearance of a man, a lion, an ox and an eagle.
- Over time the Church understood these 4 creatures to be symbolic representations of the 4 most important books of the Bible, the 4 Gospels, and assigned one of the symbolic creature to each of the books. You will notice that on the sanctuary gate behind me that these 4 creatures appear, reminding us of the importance of the Gospels and their proclamation at every celebration of the Holy Mass.
- The human creature is St Matthew, the Lion is St Mark, the Ox is St Luke and the Eagle is St John. Each creature is connected to one of the Gospels based on how that Gospel begins and give us an interpretive key on how to understand the themes that run throughout that Gospel.
- As we begin a new liturgical year on this First Sunday of Advent, we will spend the year reading the Gospel of St. Mark. The reason the Lion represents his Gospel is because it begins not with the stories of Jesus’ birth and early childhood as are found in the Gospels of St Matthew and Luke, but with Jesus appearing in the desert as a grown man, roaring as the mighty Lion of Judah whose ferocious cry sets the stage for the rest of the Gospel “Repent and Believe in the Good News!”
- What one discovers in the Gospel of the Lion of Judah is that St Mark uses short and very direct sentences to recall the words and actions of Jesus. He does not give us lengthy descriptions and his recounting of Jesus’ parables are shorter than St Matthew and St Luke. He wants to get his message out simply and boldly, like the roar of a lion, causing you to be still and ponder the powerful words you have just heard.
- We see this characteristic today in St Mark’s recollection of the parable of warning Jesus offered about the end of time when He would appear unexpectedly and catch many people unprepared. St Mark does not tell us much about how this will happen but rather that we must be alert, awake and ready for when the Son of Man arrives, who like the vigilant Master of the House is always watching our every action and may call when we are asleep in our indifference or sin and not alert and ready in prayer and the practice of good works.
- With Advent begun and a new liturgical year upon us, I would invite each of us to consider how we might spend this year with St Mark and His Gospel. It could be that we take more time each week to read the Gospel passage for that coming Sunday to see what St. Mark has to teach us. One might consider investing in a good commentary on St. Mark’s Gospel to learn more about the style and content of his writings, of which I would be happy to offer some recommended commentaries.
- Another suggestion would be to pray more often to St. Peter this year if you really want to know the spirit of St. Mark’s Gospel. Tradition states that while St. Mark was the author of his Gospel, the one who provided the stories and content was none other than the first Pope and Rock upon which Christ would build his Holy Church. Tradition claims that St. Mark was St. Peter’s scribe when they had moved to Rome and hoped that this gospel would give the first Christians of the Eternal city an important means to carry on the mission and proclamation the Good News of Jesus Christ.
- By praying to St. Peter, may our hearts be open to his intercession to help us encounter Jesus, the Lion of Judah, in this holy Gospel and be aware of how the mighty roar we read in these words can help us be more faithful followers of Christ.
- Recall that we often speak of St Peter as the gate keeper of heaven, who will greet us at the pearly gate to welcome us into the kingdom. How important it is then that we pray for him to help us be vigilant and ready for that day when we will meet Jesus Christ at the end of our lives, so that we are not caught unaware but ready to meet our Lord and Judge and be welcomed by the heavenly key master to take our place in the Father’s House.
During these Winter months when we still see more and more visitors, I invite you to please consider assisting our new shrine church by signing up not only to attend Mass but also to offer some of your time in a volunteer position to assure the Masses we have scheduled can take place. These volunteer positions are necessary for Mass to occur in this time to be in accord with the guidelines set forward by the Diocese of Calgary for the celebration of the Holy Mass during Phase 2 of the reopening of our province in the midst of this pandemic. All volunteers are guaranteed a chance to attend the Holy Mass they sign up for.
It will only take a small amount of your day to volunteer in this capacity, for example, helping to clean the church after Mass only takes about 15 minutes. But more than volunteering it is a way to offer an act of charity and service to Our Lord and His Holy Mother in assuring we can offer the Eucharist for the Glory of God and the spiritual nourishment of His People.
I invite you to take time today to make a Spiritual Communion, using the following formula or one of your own choosing:
My Jesus,
I believe that You are present in the Most Holy Sacrament.
I love You above all things, and I desire to receive You into my soul.
Since I cannot at this moment receive You sacramentally,
come at least spiritually into my heart.
I embrace You as if You were already there and unite myself wholly to You.
Never permit me to be separated from You. Amen."
St. Alphonsus di Liguori
In Jesus through Mary, Fr. Nathan
Our LogoAs a Marian parish, we entrust ourselves to her maternal protection.
Our Lady of the Rockies, Pray for us. |
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