Parish of Saint Oscar Romero - United Free Catholic Church of Canada

04/26/2026

04/16/2026

When divisions arise within the Church, it can feel confusing to know where truth and faithfulness lie. Yet Jesus did not ask us to judge people themselves—He taught us to recognise the fruits of what they live and produce. This guidance applies not only to individuals but also to communities and movements within the Church, which together form its living body.
A schism does not usually come from small differences, but from deep and serious disagreements about belief, direction, or practice. In such moments, the question becomes less about who claims to be right, and more about what their lives and actions reveal. The measure Jesus gives is simple but searching: look at the fruit.
Where do we see compassion made real? Where are the poor lifted up, the vulnerable protected, and dignity restored? Which path leads toward mercy, justice, and self-giving love rather than power, exclusion, or self-interest?
To follow Christ, then, is not merely to choose a side based on argument, but to discern where His spirit is most alive. The community that stands with the poor and the vulnerable, not just in words but in action, reveals the presence of Christ most clearly. For it is there—in love expressed through justice and care—that His life continues to be made visible in the world.

04/03/2026

Friends,
Join us for the celebration of The Resurrection of Christ! We will gather on April 4 at 7:30-7:45 at our usual place, and will begin with the blessing of the fire (weather permitting). There will also refreshments and fellowship after the Vigil. Please join us on the Holiest Night of the Christian Year!

03/29/2026

When something difficult stands before us and no option feels clearly holy, it’s very easy to retreat into the phrase, “It’s God’s will.” But that can become a way of avoiding the deeper calling placed within us. God’s will is not passive resignation—it is an invitation to engage fully with what is before us. We are given a heart to feel, a mind to discern, faith to trust, and hope to guide us through uncertainty.
Sometimes every available path carries some measure of pain, imperfection, or even what appears to be sin. In those moments, the task is not to find a flawless option, but to discern which path most closely reflects love. That kind of discernment is difficult and often uncomfortable, because it requires responsibility rather than certainty.
Many people, however, are afraid of getting it wrong with God. Fear of judgment or punishment can lead them to cling tightly to fixed rules or church teachings, treating them as a safeguard against error. But in doing so, they may refuse to allow the space where genuine moral discernment happens. They substitute obedience to structure for the harder work of love.
Yet church teachings, like all human systems, can fall short. They are attempts to express divine truth, but they are not the fullness of it. When they are followed without reflection, they can sometimes lead to outcomes that are less loving than a sincere, compassionate choice made in good faith.
In this way, people can become like Pilate—symbolically washing their hands of responsibility. By deferring entirely to rules or declaring something “God’s will,” they avoid the burden of choosing. But love does not allow us to step back so easily. It calls us to step in, to wrestle with the tension, and to act with as much compassion and integrity as we can.
To follow God is not simply to obey—it is to discern, to choose, and to love, even when the path is unclear.

03/24/2026

Amen!

Today is the feast day of St. Oscar Romero. He was canonized by Pope Francis in 2018 and is remembered for his faithfulness as Archbishop of San Salvador. On March 24, 1980, he was shot to death while offering Mass. Amidst the persecution we face today, St. Oscar Romero, pray for us!

https://ow.ly/5jQp50YlWVS

03/16/2026

Con gratitud y humildad, comparto una noticia muy especial.
Estoy agradecido por las oraciones, el ánimo y el apoyo de tantas personas a lo largo de este camino. Les pido que continúen teniéndome presente en sus oraciones, así como a nuestra Iglesia y a nuestra diócesis, mientras avanzamos juntos con esperanza y espíritu de servicio.

03/16/2026

With gratitude and humility, I share some special news. I'm grateful for the prayers, encouragement, and support of so many along the way.
Please continue to keep me, our church, and our diocese in your prayers as we move forward together in hope and service.

03/03/2026

A true prophet never finds a comfortable position.
It is easy to stand outside faith and criticize it — to point to contradictions, human weakness, and the lack of empirical proof. But a voice that only throws rocks eventually becomes just another voice of accusation. It may expose flaws, yet it rarely builds anything life-giving in their place. Even Jesus’ criticism of the religious leaders led not to applause, but to rejection and the cross.
Yet there is no safety in being a comfortable insider either. To defend the status quo at all costs, to ignore corruption or injustice for the sake of belonging, is to betray truth. Apologetics alone cannot sustain faith; people will always question, compare beliefs, and challenge certainty. Jesus himself warned that loyalty to his deeper mission would bring resistance and even hatred.
The prophet, then, lives in the tension between these two worlds. Faithful enough to love their tradition from within, yet courageous enough to critique it. Close enough to belong, yet free enough to speak.
This middle ground is precarious because it refuses both cynicism and complacency. It does not claim airtight proof, but it holds onto truths rooted in love — truths that are beautiful, hopeful, and transformative.
And when those truths are revealed not as weapons but as invitations, they draw others — not by force, not by fear, but by the quiet power of love held in creative tension.

03/01/2026

That, which we all must measure ourselves against!

03/01/2026

🌧️ When the Sky Refuses to Behave

This morning the clouds hung low, the kind that look heavy enough to break open but somehow refuse to. I kept waiting for the rain to start—some sign that the sky would follow through on what it clearly carried. Instead, it held everything in suspension, as if undecided about whether to release what the world beneath it desperately needed.

I thought about how often we do the same. We carry convictions, stories, scriptures we claim to honor. We speak of compassion, justice, mercy. Yet when the moment comes to let any of it fall into real life—into budgets, policies, relationships, or the stranger at the intersection—we hesitate. We hold the weight but not the willingness. Jesus’ words in Matthew 25 don’t leave much room for that kind of withholding: “I was hungry and you gave me food… I was a stranger and you welcomed me.” There’s no footnote about deserving it. No clause about efficiency. No exemption for discomfort.

And that’s when today’s quote surfaced—not as an indictment from the outside, but as a mirror held up to the inside.

Stephen Colbert once said, “If this is going to be a Christian nation that doesn't help the poor, either we have to pretend that Jesus was just as selfish as we are, or we've got to acknowledge that He commanded us to love the poor and serve the needy without condition and then admit that we just don't want to do it.”
- Stephen Colbert, 2011 segment of The Colbert Report

Colbert, beyond his satire, is a lifelong Catholic whose work often weaves humor with moral clarity. His commentary on faith and public life has been widely noted for its theological literacy and sharp ethical insight.

What truth are we carrying right now that we’re still refusing to let fall as rain?

🤟 Royce

03/01/2026

Amen!

It is right and necessary to comfort those crushed beneath the wheel of injustice. We must bind wounds, offer support, and stand beside the suffering. But if we stop there, the wheel keeps turning.
Love requires more than sympathy. It calls for courage.
To “drive a spoke into the wheel” means refusing to remain silent. It means challenging the systems, attitudes, and abuses of power that create victims in the first place — even when doing so costs us something, grief becomes action, love becomes resistance.
Injustice is the misuse of power — and often a mask for weakness. True strength protects. It does not dominate. Strong men and strong women alike show their strength not by control, but by responsibility and care for those more vulnerable.
If we only bandage wounds, injustice survives.
If we challenge the wheel itself, injustice begins to break.
Let us be brave enough not only to comfort the wounded, but to stand in the path of the wheel — and drive a spoke into every system that crushes human dignity.