Episode Transcript
[00:00:24] Speaker A: Hey, everybody.
Happy New Year and welcome to the Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish podcast with Father Greg and J.D. probably Winona's favorite Catholic podcast, now available in 90 second segments.
Each week, Father and I will connect on a variety of topics to outline our faith and our parish in Winona, Ontario. We are here to help spread the good news and further unite our parish community.
[00:00:46] Speaker B: Yay.
[00:00:46] Speaker A: This is episode number 43. We are celebrating Ordinary Time, Saint Marguerite Bourgeois, and I want to ask you about hats in church.
[00:00:54] Speaker B: Exciting. Yeah.
[00:00:56] Speaker A: Remember, you can find us on the Spotify and the Apple podcasts and the YouTube. So please like or subscribe and we will find your inbox with new content as soon as we have it ready. Yeah, I do have a quick question before we begin this week.
[00:01:08] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:01:09] Speaker A: All right. So a sad saint is a poor saint, and holiness demands good humor.
Would you say that your chalice is half full, or are you just very good at eucharistic optimism?
[00:01:19] Speaker B: Think I need to reflect on this joke. This is deep. My chalice is half full.
I don't know how to answer this question.
[00:01:29] Speaker A: Neither do I. I don't know.
[00:01:30] Speaker B: What were you hoping for me to say?
[00:01:33] Speaker A: Just some generic, wonderful wisdom that always emanates from me every time you speak.
[00:01:36] Speaker B: But alas, not this time. Such wisdom was.
[00:01:39] Speaker A: This one was so deep. It is such a convoluted, like, whoa.
[00:01:42] Speaker B: What is the one?
[00:01:42] Speaker A: Yeah, there was a lot there.
I think we can just focus on.
[00:01:46] Speaker B: So do I think my chalice is half full.
I think they're both. Pause. I think they're both good. Can I say my chalice is half full and I'm good at eucharistic optimism. Yes, it is. Yay. Okay.
[00:01:57] Speaker A: You are excellent at both.
[00:01:58] Speaker B: God bless you.
[00:01:59] Speaker A: And your chalice is half full. Except at the end when you clean the chalice and you do your three little tantrums at the end.
[00:02:05] Speaker B: Yeah, gotta chug all that water down.
[00:02:08] Speaker A: Wow, that was a puzzler. For the new year. After that, you better start us off with a prayer. Okay, great.
[00:02:13] Speaker B: In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. God, we thank indeed for this new year the gift of humor and the gift of faith. We ask you. Bless us. Bless our podcast listeners and all we do. We ask this in Jesus name. In the name of the Father and of the Son, of the Holy Spirit, Amen.
[00:02:27] Speaker A: All right, let's kick off with our Saint of the Week. Each week we feature a saint or several and share some facts about their lives as we strive to live out Our mission. As Catholics, we can always look to our saints for inspiration.
[00:02:37] Speaker B: You've got a thing about our saint.
[00:02:39] Speaker A: I do have a thing about our saint.
[00:02:40] Speaker B: Go for it.
[00:02:40] Speaker A: Saint Marguerite Bourgeois was a pioneering educator in New France who founded the Congregation of Notre Dame in Montreal in 1658. She was committed to accessible education for girls, emphasizing practical learning, humility and faith. Lived through service. She refused cloistered life and worked directly among the people. St. Marguerite Bourgeois is a foundational figure in Canadian Catholic history, education, and women's religious leadership. And she has a memorial this week.
[00:03:08] Speaker B: That's right. We just celebrated her yesterday.
[00:03:09] Speaker A: Excellent. And a quote.
We must have an ardent love for God, but a love that is gentle and patient.
[00:03:17] Speaker B: Amen. Amen.
[00:03:18] Speaker A: It's a great connection, a great tie in.
[00:03:20] Speaker B: Yeah. Can I throw some more content of Vincent Marguerite? Please do so. She is one of Canada's most beloved saints. Born in France, though in 1620, she felt called to bring education and faith to the new World. Interestingly, she did think before about some other religious communities, but they didn't accept her. But really, even though that wasn't her plan at first, God had a better plan where she would start the Congregation of Utrecham, which was Canada's first religious community of women, where she taught children, got other women to teach care for indigenous, care for the sick. And really, she came to be known as Mother of the colony. So, amazing story about how God uses our plans and makes them better sometimes. Sainte Marguerite, pray for us.
[00:04:01] Speaker A: Amen.
It's time for Ask Father Greg. Each week we respond to a question submitted by a listener or one that we make up ourselves. This week is a question from one of our beautiful listeners, and it's about the bishop's hat, which is called a mitre, I believe.
[00:04:16] Speaker B: That's right.
[00:04:16] Speaker A: Okay, so what's the meaning behind it? Where did this tradition come from? And why do they wear the miter during Mass?
[00:04:24] Speaker B: Yeah, the mitre is that tall, pointed hat that bishops wear.
It symbolizes their authority as shepherds, that they're successors of the apostles. Right. The bishops are ordained by bishops, ordained by bishops all the way back to one of the 12 apostles. And they have this role of teaching and leading in the church. And this miter is really traced back over a thousand years.
And again, it signifies not only their apostolic office, but their union with the Pope.
And so that's a quick summary.
[00:04:53] Speaker A: And does the height of the hat symbolize greater holiness? Greater holiness closer to God?
[00:04:59] Speaker B: No, not at all.
Do you have another question?
[00:05:02] Speaker A: Well, you sometimes wear A hat when you're during the chanted Mass or some special Ask Father Greg nights that we've had.
[00:05:09] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. The black hat, The Beretta, actually.
[00:05:14] Speaker A: The Beretta, yeah.
[00:05:15] Speaker B: I sometimes wear it during our monthly chant Mass because it has.
It resonates with the more traditional flavor of that mask that we do once a month. I've worn it every once in a while. It used to be more worn before Vatican ii, but it was never abrogated. So we can still use it. It's kind of fun sometimes.
[00:05:31] Speaker A: Oh, very cool.
[00:05:32] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:05:34] Speaker A: All right, let's talk about our resource of the week.
So a new subscriber to Sirius Radio, and there are a couple of Catholic channels. I'm going to talk about one next week as well.
And this one that I would like to just touch on today I didn't even know existed. And it was at the Volunteers appreciation dinner, sitting and chatting with Angelo, and he talked about listening to the Catholic Channel and ewtn, E television network. Eternal World Television Network, Eternal Word. Yeah. And so I am a new listener to it and just purely fascinated. Again, it's another beautiful place to access great Catholic content. And not just it will have on its website. It's got a whole apparel. And you can buy resources as well, and you can read the Bible on their site, but also commentary.
There are television segments, radio segments, a bunch of other online content, including Masses, devotions, teaching, news and apologetics.
[00:06:31] Speaker B: So there we go. You just gave us the breakdown of why everyone should go to ewtn.
[00:06:34] Speaker A: Ewtn, please. Yeah. What do you got?
[00:06:37] Speaker B: So many might or might not know that it was founded by mother Angelica in 1981 as a response to, like she felt God was calling her to do this. It's the world's largest Catholic media network. They've got, as you've said, so many things, the Mass, rosary talks, documentaries. Check out ewtn.com if you want to grow in your faith life, learn more about what the church teaches. Get good solid Catholic news.
Yeah. Check out ewtn.com and you will be blessed.
[00:07:02] Speaker A: Okay.
And just like that, we're back into Ordinary Time. Hustle and bustle of Christmas has passed, although we still have Christmas in our hearts, and we keep it in our hearts all year round.
[00:07:13] Speaker B: Amen.
[00:07:13] Speaker A: But we're back in Ordinary Time.
[00:07:15] Speaker B: Ordinary Time.
[00:07:16] Speaker A: But for some reason, we started the second Sunday of Ordinary Time. Like we skipped the first and we jump right into the second.
What's going on with that?
[00:07:23] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. So now that Christmas is done remembering that the liturgical Calendar always starts with Advent, then Christmas, then we go into ordinary time, which is like the green time.
And interestingly, the baptism of the Lord often counts as the first Sunday in ordinary time. So, like now, we're already in ordinary time, but this upcoming Sunday will be our first green Sunday.
And so that's pretty neat to know, but ordinary time isn't like boring time.
The word, in this case, ordinary, comes from the word ordinal, meaning numbered or sequential. And so it's a season of constant growth in God's word, where week by week, we follow Jesus life. We read the Gospel kind of continually, sequentially. And this allows us to grow in our knowledge of the word of God, on our discipleship, living what Jesus teaches us, just taking it in week by week. Because although we do love these high points of Christmas and Easter, a lot of life is just regular life, so to speak. And yet we're called to find the extraordinary of life with God in the ordinary. Our prayer, helping others, the sacraments, evangelization, which means sharing the good news. That's all meant to be ordinary, too. And so that's what we're called to learn in this season.
[00:08:36] Speaker A: All right, very cool.
And there is so much happening ongoing in our community, and we have an amazing set of volunteers here at the church. Last Saturday, you hosted a wonderful appreciation event for the volunteers of the parish. I was overwhelmed at the number of participants. Yeah, you must have been so excited. It was so great and so pleased.
[00:08:57] Speaker B: We love our parish. We love our volunteers.
[00:08:59] Speaker A: Holy cow.
And just from all different walks of fellowship and faith and faith formation. I mean, I can't count the number of ministries that you have going on here, because it's such a big number.
[00:09:13] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:09:13] Speaker A: Available on the website.
[00:09:14] Speaker B: That's true. If you want to get involved, check out ihmchurch ca.
[00:09:18] Speaker A: There we go.
And then in one year, you can be recognized as a volunteer as well.
[00:09:22] Speaker B: That's right. Come and make our volunteer appreciation dinner grow. Because, yeah, we had over 100 people at least. I know there's more, but I don't number. Exactly. I was so happy to see so many wonderful people who really just continue to keep our parish going and growing, sharing food, laughter, and gratitude for each other as the great community we are. I mean, to every volunteer who cooks, cleans, teaches, sings, greets, organizes, prays, all the things.
Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart.
Every volunteer in our parish makes a huge difference.
Without your generous, hidden service, we couldn't do what we do. And as volunteers like you, who embody Christ's call to serve others. May God reward you. Please know you are so appreciated and love loved.
[00:10:06] Speaker A: Amen.
Well, that is just about all the time we have for today already. Thank you for your insights, Father. Shall we close with a prayer?
[00:10:13] Speaker B: Yeah. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. God, we thank you for this day. We ask you to pour out your blessings upon our listeners, our parish, and upon your church, upon the world. Fill us with your Holy Spirit and guide us in the ways of truth, right and goodness. We pray this in Jesus holy name. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
[00:10:32] Speaker A: Thank you, Father.
[00:10:32] Speaker B: What a pleasure.
[00:10:33] Speaker A: And thank you for confessing your podcasting talents with us. Your words are heaven sent.
[00:10:37] Speaker B: Wow.
[00:10:38] Speaker A: There we go.
[00:10:38] Speaker B: That's high praise.
[00:10:39] Speaker A: And thank you to our fans and friends and odds and ends for joining us this week through the Immaculate Heart of Mary social media channels, the Apple podcasts, the Spotify or the YouTubes. If you like our show, subscribe and tell your friends. And if you don't like our show, tell your friends anyway and let them discern for themselves. Or better yet, tell us.
[00:10:56] Speaker B: Tell us why we can persuade us how to make it better. I'm ready to hear your feedback.
[00:11:01] Speaker A: I'd love to hear that. Until next time, stay holy, stay hopeful, say your prayers, and don't forget to tip your priest with a smile and Hail Mary. Have a great start to Ordinary Time, everyone. And we are Father, Greg and J.D. leaving you smarter, happier and more blessed than you were yesterday.
[00:11:15] Speaker B: Bye for now.
