En cette période des fêtes alors que nous célébrons Noël et faisons des plans pour le Nouvel An, nous vous invitons à vous joindre à nous et à découvrir tout ce que notre communauté a à offrir. Voici un survol de nos prochaines activités :

La messe dominicale a lieu à midi, à l’église Trinity, au 1230, rue Bank, à Ottawa. Nous serons heureux de vous y accueillir dans une ambiance conviviale et fraternelle. (Au fil des ans, la communauté a célébré dans différents lieux, et elle a trouvé, depuis plus d’un an, un foyer chaleureux à l’église Trinity.)

La prière du matin a lieu tous les jeudis matin, à 9 h, sur Zoom, avec des membres de la communauté. Le lien pour nous joindre se trouve ici : https://communautestbernard.ca

Notre messe de Noël aura lieu le 24 décembre à 17 h 30 en l’église Trinity.

Notre dernier Bible et Bouffe de 2025 aura lieu le dimanche 28 décembre à midi dans la salle Canterbury de l’église Trinity. Il s’agit d’un temps privilégié pour nous retrouver, échanger et tisser des liens autour d’un repas simple et chaleureux.

Au début de 2026, des rencontres sur la Bible seront offertes par Pierre LaViolette de l’Université Saint-Paul. Ces rencontres auront lieu les mercredis du 7 janvier au 4 février, de 19 h à 20 h 30 sur Zoom; une belle occasion de rester connectés et de partager, même à distance, la richesse de ces échanges.

En terminant, si vous souhaitez du soutien pastoral ou des célébrations anglicanes en français, n’hésitez pas à communiquer avec moi – ce sera un plaisir d’en discuter avec vous, en tant que curé de la communauté de St-Bernard. Vous pouvez me rejoindre à kevinwflynn@gmail.com, et il nous fera plaisir de vous accueillir.

—Rédigé par le Révérend Kevin Flynn

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Time, then, is also a gift we receive from God and, like many gifts, we mostly take it for granted. Like gravity, time is simply reality as the seconds continue to tick by. When we do notice it, it is often because we notice a lack of time – we resent the speed at which good things pass; we are anxious about having enough time to do the things we need to do; we worry about wasting time and saving time and spending time. But the truth is that a day is a day is a day, no matter who or where or how you are. There is, in fact, no wasting or saving or spending time. Time passes no matter what we do or don’t do and God’s work unfolds around us and within us.

This is not, generally speaking, our orientation to time. We are expected to manage our time, making the most of each moment and proving ourselves in control of our lives. Time, after all, is money. Time is a limited resource. Somehow, we are expected to simultaneously regret the passing of time while also hurrying on to the next thing. In the midst of all this, it can be difficult to remember that, in fact, time is not ours to control. We live in God’s time, created and gifted to us by the Source of all we have and all we are. Our time, and all time, is in God’s hands and is in service to God, not us.

In the Gospel according to Mark (4:26-29), Jesus offers this parable:

The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how. The earth produces of itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. But when the grain is ripe, at once he goes in with his sickle, because the harvest has come.

This process — planting, waiting, watching, and finally, harvesting — unfolds in time and requires discernment on the part of the farmer to understand when these various steps need to take place. Neither delaying nor rushing will do any good. No steps can be skipped. The time it will take is, simply, the time it will take, and so the farmer must align their activities according to God’s purposes in God’s time. Participation in the kingdom, it seems, involves an awful lot of time and patience which are two things that often seem to be in short supply. This is where Advent comes in.

Advent calls us to enter into a season of deliberate, holy waiting. We count the weeks and days to Christmas but resist the urge to jump ahead to the festivities, focusing instead on the in-between time – waiting not just for Christmas but for the unfolding of the kingdom of God. Like the farmer in Jesus’ parable, we wait and watch for the ripening grain, signs of God at work in the world around us and an invitation to us to join in the harvest.

Christmas will come soon enough. There is no rushing it nor delaying it. We can neither waste the time nor save the time between now and then for the time will pass no matter what we do. So accept the Advent invitation to live, right now, in God’s time, attentive to the kingdom that Jesus proclaims is already near.

The Venerable Rhonda Waters is Incumbent of St. Helen’s, Ottawa

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The Ven. Rhonda Waters reflects on time for Advent.

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We hope you enjoy our diocesan photo album. It’s a tradition we hope to build on, so please send us favourite photos from your parish or ministry in 2025.

Belong Ottawa hosts Christmas dinner

Belong Ottawa served festive turkey dinners at all three of its locations —Centre 454, St. Luke’s Table and The Well—in the days leading up to Christmas.

Ascension House staff volunteered at The Well on Dec. 16, helping serve turkey dinner and treats, helping with games and distributing gifts.

Belong Ottawa staff gathered for an all-staff meeting and Christmas lunch in December

Special holiday concert raises funds for Centre 105

Cornwall, Ont. — In partnership with the Centennial Choir of Cornwall, Centre 105 in Cornwall held a Christmas Concert Fundraiser during the afternoon of Dec. 7 at Trinity Anglican Church where the outreach centre is located. Taylor Seguin, executive director of Centre 105, said: “The concert featured an incredible performance by the Centennial Choir of Cornwall, as well as the Parish Choir of the St. Lawrence Anglican Parishes, led by Penny Bedard.” The event was hugely successful, raising more than $8,000. “The reception featured a praise band, hot chocolate, and holiday treats. Professional photos with Santa also took place, thanks to the photography company Eye of the Beholder.” — Carol Goddard

Ottawa parishes work together to give gifts to women in shelter and seniors

For Christmas 2024, St. Aidan’s Anglican Church teamed up with St. Thomas the Apostle Anglican Church and Emmanuel United Church in Ottawa to prepare gift bags for residents at a low-income seniors’ residence and for women staying at the Heron Community Centre shelter.

This year, the need was greater than ever.  Between the three churches 147 filled gift bags were donated. Along with the great support of parishioners, other community members joined in with donations to help as well.  As volunteers brought the bags into the buildings, they could see excitement on many faces of the recipients who were happy and touched to see how many useful supplies and treats were in the bags.  Many thanks to all who participated in this outreach project. — Lois Wynn

St. Mary’s parish hosts community Christmas dinner in Russell

Russell, Ont. – There was a lot of work being done at St. Mary’s Anglican Church in Russell on Saturday, Dec. 21 in anticipation of the annual Christmas Dinner organized by Janice Stewart and a team of volunteers and hosted by the church.  “The dinner is a gift by the community for the community” explained Stewart, who mentioned the event has been a Christmas tradition in Russell for 18 years and is made possible thanks to the overwhelming generosity of the Russell community. People are able to enjoy a complete turkey dinner, with a choice of apple cider or eggnog, dessert and mandarin oranges, with eat-in, take-out or delivery options available, with reservations needed beforehand to help plan the event.  She wished to thank the volunteers who donated food, their time and efforts to ensure the tradition of community togetherness continues.  From the left: Volunteers Gail Salmon, Lorraine Comeau, Mary Inglis, Nellie Kingma, Eamer Kelly-Rombough, Cherry Bekkers, Lois Durant and Raja Wysocki take a moment from their work to pose for the camera. —Carol Goddard

Christ Church Seaway hosts festivities and takes carols out to the community

Long Sault, Ont. – Christ Church Seaway in Long Sault, a member of the St. Lawrence Area Parish, hosted a holiday favourite with local people and parishioners on Nov. 29. The annual Make it, Bake it, Sew it, Grow it event was held in the church hall. Parishioner Brenda Goyer said there was plenty of time to enjoy some delicious treats, coffee and tea. During Advent, the church choir sang at Sunset Cover and Marlborough Place in Long Sault, singing 14 songs in each location. The choir then proceeded to O’Neill’s Pub in Long Sault to enjoy dinner and afterwards sang a carol. —Carol Goddard

St. James, Morrisburg began Advent with a musical jubilee

Morrisburg, Ont. – On Dec. 1, the first Sunday of Advent, the community gathered at St. James Anglican Church in Morrisburg to enjoy “A Christmas Jubilee!” The event featured the Orchestre symphonique des jeunes de la Montérégie under the direction of Georges-Etienne d’Entremont, soprano Margaret Whisselle and a performance by the Jubilee Singers of Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus as well as a Christmas sing-a-long of holiday favourites. The event was organized by Tilted Steeple Productions in collaboration with the Anglican Parish of South Dundas and was a fundraiser to support the community ministries of St. James Anglican. —Carol Goddard

Advent wreath shines with Christmas messages 

Winchester, Ont. – The candles on the advent wreath at St. Clare’s Anglican in the Parish of North Dundas were lit during the Advent season.

The white candle in the centre of the Advent wreath represents the arrival of Christ and the light He brought into the world by his birth and is often referred to as the Christ candle. Around the centre candle are four candles, each of the which represent a different aspect of Advent.

The first candle, purple in colour, is sometimes referred to as the prophesy candle and presents hope, and the anticipation of Christ’s coming into the World. The second candle, also purple and known as the Bethlehem candle, represents peace and preparation for the birth of Christ. The third candle, pink in colour to symbolize a rose, is often referred to as the Shepherd’s candle, represents joy and the return of Christ, with the third candle, purple in colour, referred to as the Angel’s candle representing love and God’s message of love which was announced by angels as Christ was born. — Carol Goddard

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But you, O Bethlehem of Ephrathah, who are one of the little clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to rule Israel, whose origin is from of old, from ancient days.  Micah 5:2

The prophet Micah, distressed with the worldly splendours of the great city of Jerusalem and the corruption that surrounds him, looked at Bethlehem, a modest village with a rich history, a decent economy but not much else, and declared it to be the place out of which the future hope of Israel would come. And of course, it did. In a dark, crowded stable, away from the royal palaces and holy temple of Jerusalem, God chose to empty God’s self into the very lives of humanity. In the place least likely for it to happen, in a dark little grotto in an overcrowded village, God became one with us, so that we might become one with God.

In the place least expected: the pain of loss; the weight of hopelessness; the silence of the forest; the stillness of the sea at rest – it is there you will find the power of God working out the Divine purpose. In the dark quiet of Advent, where the light of day comes late each morning and flees early each evening, we wait for the coming again of the glory of Christ, the light of the world. From the reality of what is to the promise of what will be, we watch, and we wait for the light that shines in the darkness. And try as it might, the darkness will never overcome it. The miracle will continue to be born, shining its light into every corner of our heart.

In the beginning, God spoke the Word and created light out of darkness, order out of chaos, life out of the void. In Bethlehem, God emptied God’s self into the reality of the day to renew and restore life. In our present day, we are bombarded by a cacophony of messages that declare destruction and devastation while Christmas carols – increasingly referred to as holiday songs – do their best to mask the despair and desperation. The liminal space that is the season of Advent provides the Church with a time to confront the hurt and the pain of the world through hopeful prayer, inviting God once more to be in our present reality, and empower us to be agents of God’s Divine purpose.

In her book, Come Emmanuel: Approaching Advent, Living with Christmas, UK poet and retreat leader Ann Lewin writes: “Advent: a time for discovering treasure in darkness; Christmas: the dawn of light transforming light.” May we take this season of Advent to discover the treasures as we watch for the Christmas dawn of transforming light.

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