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  • Mass Times

    • Saturday: 5:00 PM EnglishEnglishEN St. Edmund
    • Sunday: 10:00 AM EnglishEnglishEN St. Carthagh
    • MonFri 9:00 AM EnglishEnglishEN
    • Thursday: 6:30 PM EnglishEnglishEN
  • Daily Mass Online
    Daily Mass Online

  • Confession Times

    • Sunday: 4:30 PM to 5:30 PM Saturday night and Sunday morning just before mass

  • Where to Find St. Carthagh's, Tweed, Ontario

  • Weekly Meditation

    5th Sunday of Lent:  WHY GOD’S WAYS ARE MYSTERIOUS

                Once I was visiting a young mother of 2 who was being diagnosed with leukemia, cancer of the blood. Doctors had given her 2 years to live. Her children were playing on the veranda, not knowing what was soon going to happen to their mom.  The lady looked at the children, then, turned to me and said: “Father, why?” Indeed, why should this young woman die and leave her kids? That is a mystery!
                Life is fraught with mysteries! Everywhere the question “why” stares at us. For instance, why do we have natural disasters as drought, floods, earthquakes, covid-19 pandemic, wars? Why does God not intervene to prevent such tragedies, disasters and misfortunes?
                We are not the only people who ask the question “why,” Mary and Martha of today’s gospel also asked the same question. They did not understand why Jesus did not come immediately when they told him that their brother Lazarus, whom he loves, was critically ill.
                One reason why we have trouble understanding God is because God’s timetable may differ from ours. When Jesus heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was for 2 more days. This confused Mary and Martha.  Why the 2 days delay? It was to accommodate the Jewish perception of death. When someone dies, the Jews believe that the soul hovers around the body for 3 days, trying to go back. When it fails, then, on the 3rd day, it leaves irreversibly. So, Jesus stayed for 2 more days to ensure that Lazarus truly and undeniably died according to the Jewish perception of death. When Jesus got there after the 2 days, their brother, according to Mary, had truly died: “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
                As we ask for favors and blessings from the Lord, like Mary and Martha, we need to understand that heaven’s clock is different from ours. We operate in the realm of space and time; God operates in the realm of eternity. For him one day is as 1000 years, and 1000 years as one day. God is always on time! Therefore, when we ask for something, we must be patient. Our prayer will always be answered, but in God’s way and in his time.
                Another reason why we do not understand God is because God thinks differently from the way we think. We experience life one event at a time, while God has the total picture of history. He knows everything and sees everything immediately. We must be patient with God.
                Yet another reason why we do not understand God is because God’s methods are different from ours. When Jesus arrived in Bethany, Martha and Mary said: “Lord, if you had been here my brother would not have died.” Martha wanted healing from Jesus for her brother, but Jesus had something much bigger and greater than anyone could imagine. He wanted the resurrection of Lazarus. If Jesus had given in to Martha’s desire that would have been a great loss to Lazarus, his sisters, and all humanity. Jesus’ statement: “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.” This statement would not have been made. Yet, thousands of people have been able to face death because of these words of consolation that Jesus spoke once Lazarus had died. If Jesus had carried out Martha’s wishes, we would never have heard these words. In raising Lazarus from death to life, Jesus has demonstrated his power over life and death.
                Although God’s ways seem mysterious to us, they make sense because he knows everything and knows what is best for us. This is why we can confidently place our future in his hands. Lent ultimately invites us to place ourselves and our future into the able hands of a loving and gracious God.
     

  • Saint of the Day

    Saint Peter Regalado

    Peter lived at a very busy time in history. The Great Western Schism (1378-1417) was settled at the Council of Constance (1414-1418). France and England were fighting the Hundred Years’ War, and in 1453, the Byzantine Empire was completely wiped out by the loss of Constantinople to the Turks. At Peter’s death, the age of printing had just begun in Germany, and Columbus’s arrival in the New World was less than 40 years away.

    Peter came from a wealthy and pious family in Valladolid, Spain. At the age of 13, he was allowed to enter the Conventual Franciscans. Shortly after his ordination, he was made superior of the friary in Aguilar. He became part of a group of friars who wanted to lead a life of greater poverty and penance. In 1442, he was appointed head of all the Spanish Franciscans in his reform group.

    Peter led the friars by his example. A special love of the poor and the sick characterized Peter. Miraculous stories are told about his charity to the poor. For example, the bread never seemed to run out as long as Peter had hungry people to feed. Throughout most of his life, Peter went hungry; he lived only on bread and water.

    Immediately after his death on March 30, 1456, his grave became a place of pilgrimage. Peter was canonized in 1746.
    Sourced from Franciscanmedia.org–

  • Bp. Barron's Lent Reflections

    • Thursday, March 30, 2023
      Thursday, March 30, 2023
      by Bishop Robert Barron
      Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus asserts his pre-existence by declaring that “before Abraham came to be, I AM.”

  • Breaking News!

  • Mission Statement

    With grateful hearts for God’s grace of one faith, one baptism, one hope and one Lord Jesus Christ, the  Good News of God’s unconditional love for all, we stand united as a community of God’s people in the  Archdiocese of Kingston. Conscious of our equality in God’s eyes and His personal love for us and  imbued with the evangelical zeal of our patrons and Mary, the Mother of the Church, we reflect God’s  goodness in our community and in our dealings with others. Guided by the Spirit and assisted by prayer  and the Sacraments, we strive to deepen our personal relationship with Christ Jesus and to share him  with others.

  • Parish Financial Statements

  • DAILY GOSPEL

    John 8.51-59

    Jesus said to the people, “Very truly, I tell you, whoever keeps my word will never see death.” The Jews said to him, “Now we know that you have a demon. Abraham died, and so did the prophets; yet you say, ‘Whoever keeps my word will never taste death.’ Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? The prophets also died. Who do you claim to be?”

    Jesus answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, he of whom you say, ‘He is our God,’ though you do not know him. But I know him; if I would say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you. But I do know him and I keep his word. Your ancestor Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day; he saw it and was glad.”

    Then the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?” Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, before Abraham was, I am.” So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.

    Reading provided courtesy of Living with Christ.