Today was the annual luncheon of the Saint Patrick’s Society of Montreal, and yours truly was invited to be at the head table. This was not because I did anything special, but because of my role as a spiritual leader for the English-speaking Catholics of Montreal, who of course at one point were almost all of Irish descent. For that reason, I was asked to be one of two ministers to offer the grace at the beginning of the meal.

The speaker at this year’s luncheon was Kathy Reichs, the forensic anthropologist, producer of the TV show Bones, and best-selling author of the Tempe Brennan novels (seen in this photo with some other not-so-famous guy). Ms. Reichs is well-known in Montreal, not just because she works here but because Montreal is featured in her writing — and its always nice to recognize home in a work of art.

I had the pleasure of driving with Bishop Christian Lépine to the town of Mont-Laurier today, in order to be present at the installation mass for Bishop Paul Lortie, who just became the 6th bishop of that diocese. Photos from the event can be found at this link.

I must say, I am really enjoying visiting all of these different places within Quebec, and getting to know the life of the Church in these different environments.

I was quite busy with the Mass of Anticipation for the feast day of Saint Patrick (an annual event held at Saint Gabriel’s parish, which I was invited to attend), but I didn’t want to miss the closing ceremonies of the 26th retreat weekend of the Montreal Catholic Challenge Movement. Unfortunately I could only be present for the arrival of the outside guests, and not for the liturgy, but given that I had sponsored a candidate for the weekend I wanted to make sure I offered my support.

The Montreal Catholic Challenge Movement has a cherished place in my heart, of course, given that I was one of its founders. It was great seeing some other “old-timers” there, and great seeing that new blood continues to energize the activity of the group. I am working with Challenge to help them create a more formal institutional expression of the movement, something which I think will give them even greater possibilities for growth. Here’s hoping that its work of evangelization may continue to flourish.

Welcome to retired Archbishop Roger Ébacher, emeritus of Gatineau!

I had the honour of presiding the wedding of two very good friends of mine: Daren Chicoine and Mireille Leveillé (aka Mimi).

Congrats to the bride and groom!

I’ve been in Trois-Rivières this past week for the spring plenary of the AÉCQ (assembly of Quebec bishops). Check my Twitter posts for the quickie updates I left, as well as the web page of the AÉCQ for daily summaries of our activities.

My schedule of late has made it hard for me to write regular blog posts. That being said, readers will now be able to follow my Twitter feed through the box now in the sidebar.

Around the time that my appointment as a bishop was announced I found myself being interviewed a lot. One of those interviews was broadcast only yesterday. For those who understand French, you can go to the web page of Second Regard for the segment Évêque à 40 ans. So far the feedback has been good.

Bienvenue à tous les visiteurs qui sont venus ici après avoir regardé l’émission!

There was a meeting this morning at Saint Joseph’s Oratory, organized by the Archdiocese in conjunction with the leadership of the various shrines in the area. The Quebecois spiritual heritage is rich in shrines, and Montreal particularly so. The Oratory is but one example, being the largest shrine dedicated to Saint Joseph in the entire world, with a couple of million visitors every year. There are others, such as Marie-Reine-des-Coeurs (Mary Queen of Hearts), and La Réparation (now called Shrine of the Sacred Heart and Saint Padre Pio).

The goal of the meeting this morning was to see how the shrines can be (or already are) involved in our diocesan project for the new evangelization. Many people spoke of the ministry of welcome that shrines provide, in that they tend to keep their doors open for longer hours, as well as receive visitors from many walks of life (not all of whom are Catholic, or even Christian).

This makes sense to me, because in the end the key protagonist in the work of conversion is the Holy Spirit, active in the hearts of people. This interior work of conversion, however, urges the individual to some kind of response, a response that very often they feel a need to manifest in some external way. Going on a pilgrimmage to a shrine allows the person a chance to do things as simple as sit in a church, light a candle, get something blessed, ask for prayers, go to confession… (ok, maybe the last one doesn’t seem that simple to many people, but there is no mistaking its power).

There is no point calling people to conversion if we don’t give them the tools with which to respond. At Pentecost, Saint Peter preached on the need for conversion. The first question he was asked was, “What must we do?” In other words, his listeners wanted to respond to this message of good news. Their hearts were already “cut to the quick”, so they weren’t looking for more information. Instead, they wanted a means of action, to take the next step. For me, that is a key part of the mission of a shrine: to help people take the next step in their faith, whatever that might be.

Regular blog readers are probably aware that I teach a theology course at Concordia University, my alma mater. Today I had a chance to do something a little less professorial: I presided the weekly lunchtime Eucharist organized by the Concordia University Catholic Students Association. This is a relatively new organization, launched only in 2009, and I am very glad to be able to give it my support. It is my hope that the group will continue to grow, and will be supported by both the faculty and by the wider community. God bless you!

P.S. They also have a Facebook group.