Responding to the pastoral need, Most Rev. Claude Hamelin, Bishop of St. Jean – Longueuil, assigned Fr. Michael Nguyen Dinh VINH, CSSp, a Vietnamese and religious priest of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit (Spiritans) as full time pastor of our parish.

His appointment is effective Oct 1, 2023 and will remain until July 31, 2029.

Message from Fr. Vinh Michael Nguyen

December 22, 2024

God Visits His People

The liturgy of the 4th Sunday of Advent expresses the joy of God's encounter with humanity through the visible encounter between Jesus in the womb of the Virgin Mary, and John the Baptist in the womb of Elizabeth.

In the ordinary sense, Mary's visit to Elizabeth expressed the special affection between two pregnant women for each other in a family relationship. But in this visit, there is a more sublime supernatural meaning, that is, Mary personally brought Jesus to the family of Zechariah and Elizabeth. That brought indescribable joy to Elizabeth's family, and the child, John, in her womb, leapt for joy at meeting the Savior in a visible way. In this image of meeting, the Fathers of the Church called it the first visible encounter of a God with humanity, right after he was conceived in the womb of a woman. This was the beginning of God's visit through the incarnation to his people. From this time, mankind would no longer wait for the Savior to come. He came to break the chains of sin and evil, to save humanity, and bring them to a life of eternal happiness.

Yes, the image of Mary's visit to her cousin Elizabeth is not only a tangible way of bringing the Son of God to her relatives, but also to humanity, including us. This encounter is not only an indescribable joy, but also a great love in the presence of God for humanity.  May Jesus also come to each of us to bring joy, love and warmth to us and our families; and may Emmanuel also visit all those who are suffering and have lost faith in God. Amen.