Many among us have heard the sad news of the recent death of parishioner Pym Dye in Sechelt BC.  We join with all who send love and condolences to her husband Laurie and their children Dave and Alyssa and their families. There will be a celebration of Pym’s life at St. Catherine’s at 2 p.m. on Saturday, June 21.  You can read Pym’s obituary here.

On a similar note, those of us who have been at St. Catherine’s for many years may remember Mary Gledsdale who grew up in the neighbourhood and attended St. Catherine’s.  Sadly, Mary passed away quite unexpectedly at her home in Langley this past February at age 73.  She was married to John Goch (who also grew up in the neighbourhood) and they had four children, Carrie, Jamie, Robyn and Brian.  We remember them also with love in this time of sadness and loss.  We placed Mary’s ashes in the memorial garden at St. Catherine’s on Thursday this past week.

Thank you to everyone who made last week’s Soul Food Sunday such a success – everything happened as planned and the food was delicious!  It was also lovely to hear the enchanting (heavenly?) music of harpist Hayley Ferenholtz.

This coming Sunday, May 11, is known as “Good Shepherd Sunday” because each year the Gospel passage reflects the theme of Jesus as the Good Shepherd and some if not all of the other readings also reflect this theme in some way.  Having said that, our first reading on Sunday is Acts 9:36-43 which tells the story of the raising of Tabitha (aka Dorcas) by the apostle Peter.  The only (tenuous) link I can see with the shepherd theme is that when Peter says “Tabitha, get up,” in Aramaic it would sound like “Talitha kum,” which is what Jesus said when he raised Jairus’s daughter, and it means, “Little lamb, get up.”  Our Psalm for this “Good Shepherd Sunday” is not surprisingly the Twenty-Third Psalm, The Lord is my shepherd.  The second reading is from Revelation and concerns a vision of heavenly worship of the “Lamb on the throne” by those dressed in white who have been through the great ordeal and have washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb to make them white.  Lots of rich symbolism which I have to confess I find difficult to penetrate and relate to.  The passage concludes with, “Lamb at the centre of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of the water of life, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”  An echo of the Twenty-Third Psalm.

Our Gospel passage for Sunday, John 10:22-30,  offers us something of a riddle, as is often the case with scripture!  In this passage, Jesus is challenged by the Judean religious authorities (unhelpfully simply referred to as “the Jews”) to tell them plainly if he is the Messiah.  Jesus says that he has already told them but they do not believe him.  The works he does in his father’s name testify to him.  He says to them, “But you do not believe because you do not belong to my sheep.” Think about that.  You do not believe because you do not belong.  So, belonging comes before believing.  We tend to think it is the other way around: we believe in Jesus, and as believers we belong to the community/family/flock of Jesus.  But Jesus seems to say that we do not belong because we believe but rather, we believe because we belong.  Hmm.  What does that mean?  Come on Sunday (in person or virtually), and see if we can tease out this riddle to find something to restore our soul and guide us along right pathways for his name’s sake!

As well as Good Shepherd Sunday I am reminded that it is also North-American Mothers’ Day (as opposed to the European Mothering Sunday which takes place in Lent), so I wish all mothers and everyone who has or has ever had a mother a very Happy Mothers’ Day!

À bientôt!

Angus

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This Sunday May 11,  2025 will hosting a Traditional Service

Here is the link to the downloadable bulletin:
Sunday May 11, 2025

Presider and Preacher: Rev. Angus Stuart
Our Musician is Hyejung Jun and Choir

To access the livestream, click on the button below.
Previous livestreamed services and sermon notes can be found on the website here.

Image: Jesus with the lost sheep, Artist Anonymous

Presider and Preacher: Rev. Angus Stuart
Musician: Hyejung Jun and Choir
Altar Guild: Bonnie Grundy
Greeters: Lori Burns and Bob Paxton 
Readers: Elizabeth Barratt and Penny Zuk 
Intercessor: Lynn Spence
Eucharistic Administrator: Elizabeth Barratt and Lynn Spence
Coffee Team: Penny Zuk, Elizabeth Barratt and Ivy Howes
Livestream: Ashkon Vahedi
Sunday School: Shaunti Bains

In our prayers this week,
4th Sunday of Easter, The Nippon Sei Ko Kai

We pray for our Companion Diocese:  The Episcopal Diocese of Northern Philippines, The Right Rev Benny Lang-akan, Bishop. We pray for our companion cluster parish of St. Catherine of Siena in Cervantes and The Rev. Gladys Pag, Bunga, Tadian.

In Canada we pray for Acting Archbishop Anne, Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada the Rev. Dr. Eileen Scully, Director, and the staff of Faith, Worship, and Ministry; Bishop Michael Pryse, the people and rostered ministers of the Eastern Synod; The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity and the ecumenical work and witness of our churches

In our Province we pray for our Metropolitan, Archbishop John. 

In our Diocese we pray Archbishop John, St. Helen, Point Grey – The Revd Mark Munn, The Rev. Jeffrey Preis,  The Deanery of Oakridge – The Revd Marion Wong, Regional Dean,· Postulants for Holy Orders

Since Vestry in February, the Property Development Committee has focused on working with the District of North Vancouver on the planning application for subdivision and rezoning of the two lots for sale.

Last week, Erica, our architect, and Rev. Sharon made an important presentation to the District’s Heritage Advisory Committee about our proposal to dismantle the Gower Hall.  The DNV planners had made this step a requirement in their ongoing review of our preliminary planning application. Our presentation was very well received by the 8-member committee, and they passed a resolution supporting our proposal. We now look forward to the District’s formal response to our planning application, after which we will have a clearer picture of the next steps and timeframe for the proposed land sale and start of our refurbishment project.

- Chris Wensley, Co-chair PDC

We are hoping to collect brief testimonies that are 1 to 3 sentences about your experience at St. Catherine's. These testimonies will be shared on our social media and/or website to help orient and welcome others to St. Catherine's. This will help folks get a sense of who we are as a parish and why they may want to join. 

Not sure what to write? Perhaps you've had a transformational experience, or a way in which you felt welcome, or a part of worship you particularly like. Maybe there's a ministry or volunteer role you're particularly fond of.

This will only take a few moments of your time, but hopefully, this will help others discover the wonders St. Catherine's has to offer.