<![CDATA[ORA - Blog]]>

<![CDATA[ORA - Blog]]>Sat, 11 Apr 2026 11:21:32 -0300Weebly<![CDATA[Keep Calm and Carry On]]>Fri, 10 Apr 2026 03:30:00 GMThttps://www.oraministry.ca/blog/keep-calm-and-carry-on2389472A Reflection on the Gospel for Sunday, April 12th, 2026:
Divine Mercy Sunday

John
20.19-31

It was evening on the day Jesus rose from the dead, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews. Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.

Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”

When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”

But Thomas, who was called the Twin, one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.”

After eight days his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.” Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!”

Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”

Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name..

Pause. Pray. Reflect.

Keep calm and carry on.

This slogan appeared in a series of propaganda posters designed as morale boosters by the British Ministry of Information during the Second World War. Their goal was to help the British people persevere in the midst of war and to encourage the believe that things would get better, despite the adversity surrounding them. Three such slogans were developed. Interestingly, “Keep Calm” was produced on a poster but never officially used or even seen by the public until a copy of the poster was rediscovered in a British bookshop in 2000. Now we find “Keep Calm and insert-action-here” slogans everywhere – from memes and framed prints to journal covers, pens, aprons, tea towels and coasters.

Why is that?

Well, while those of us born and raised in North America might find the realities of war hard to imagine, life here is nonetheless complicated and often messy, so sometimes it really helps to be reminded to take a breath, calm down, and keep going.

It seems to me that this is the sentiment Jesus is trying to get across in this Sunday’s Gospel passage each time He says, “Peace be with you.” Not only have the disciples witnessed the brutal death of their friend and Messiah, they now have to contend with the backlash of being His followers – surely the authorities, the Pharisees, and others complicit in Jesus’ death will come after them next. Were it me, I would have hid away and locked the door as well!

But Jesus, risen from the dead, comes back to them – as he said he would – to encourage and give courage. It’s as if Jesus is saying, “Keep calm and carry on, lads! You’ve got this!” Yet instead of just bolstering their spirits, as the Keep Calm slogan intends, Jesus does much more. He gives them His Spirit. Even after surrendering His life for their sakes, Jesus still has more to give them. He does not promise to take away the hardships or challenges they will face, but He promises that they will not face these difficulties alone. But, first, they must take a breath, calm down, and keep going.

In my day to day, I would do well to remember this. My head and my heart can be easily overwhelmed by the wars of my own making. When I doubt my faith and am grasping like Thomas to feel the reality of Christ present, it helps to stop, take a breath and calm down. In the space created by calm, I can root and strengthen my faltering faith in the belief of the disciples who came before me. Just as Jesus gave them His peace and His Spirit, He has given the same to me, so that I too can keep calm and carry on.

Aurea Sadi
(Originally published on April 16, 2023)

]]><![CDATA[Gold Tested in Fire]]>Thu, 09 Apr 2026 03:30:00 GMThttps://www.oraministry.ca/blog/gold-tested-in-fireA Reflection on the Second Reading for Sunday, April 12th, 2025:
Divine Mercy Sunday

First Peter
1.3-9

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead: a birth into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who are being protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

In this you rejoice, even if now for a little while you have had to suffer various trials, so that the genuineness of your faith — being more precious than gold that, though perishable, is tested by fire — may be found to result in praise and glory and honour when Jesus Christ is revealed.

Although you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy, for you are receiving the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

Pause. Pray. Reflect.

Around two thousand years from the events of Easter Weekend, Peter’s words of encouragement ring. Peter, who had seen so much and experienced so much, knew what it meant to have his faith tested like gold is tested in fire.

What does it mean to be tested in fire? It means heating the gold to around 1,100 to 1,200°C with some added lead and flux until it becomes molten. The impure metal is removed and only the pure metal remains.

In Peter’s life, that process was no doubt pretty painful. He demonstrated tremendous faith and also tremendous weakness. Peter was the recipient of the scathing rebuke from Jesus: “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things” (Matthew 16:23). Peter denies Jesus three times during Christ’s passion (Luke 22:54-62). When put to the test, Peter had to face his worst impulses and weaknesses.

But despite his failures, Peter is remembered as a great saint and martyr for the faith. His failures weren’t obstacles but times when he encountered God’s mercy. He was able to receive the fire of the test and he was strengthened and purified. He didn’t burn away, he got stronger. He was not his weakest moment. He was not his worst day. He was defined, in the end, by how much he loved the Lord and how he persevered through every trial.

Peter’s words are all the more moving because they come from a man whose experience of faith is so entirely steeped in his humanity and his encounter with Christ. As I struggle with my own humanity and constant failures, I see the work of God in the life of Peter as a sign of incredible hope.

My failures aren’t the end of my story. They are an opportunity to receive the same grace that Peter received. My trials are opportunities for my faith to be purified and strengthened. I can live with the hope that, like Peter, the arc of my life is being bent by grace towards perfection in Christ. Every day, I have the chance to embrace the movement of the Holy Spirit in me and watch how wonders can be worked with my small offering.

Heavenly Father, through the working of the Holy Spirit, teach my heart to accept every trial and test, so that my faith may be made pure and beautiful. Help me to keep my heart focused on my love of Christ and help keep my feet on the right path. Amen.

Stéphanie Potter

]]><![CDATA[Rejected Stones]]>Wed, 08 Apr 2026 03:30:00 GMThttps://www.oraministry.ca/blog/rejected-stonesA Reflection on the Psalm for Sunday, April 12th, 2025:
Divine Mercy Sunday

Psalm 118

R. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his steadfast love endures forever.

Let Israel say, “His steadfast love endures forever.” Let the house of Aaron say, “His steadfast love endures forever.” Let those who fear the Lord say, “His steadfast love endures forever.”

R. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his steadfast love endures forever.

I was pushed hard, so that I was falling, but the Lord helped me. The Lord is my strength and my might; he has become my salvation. There are glad songs of victory in the tents of the righteous.

R. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his steadfast love endures forever.

The stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvellous in our eyes. This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.

R. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his steadfast love endures forever.

Pause. Pray. Reflect.

“The stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.”

Who among us has no fear of rejection?

It haunts us—childhood playgrounds middle school lunch tables, the dating scene of young adulthood, the ruthless world of job applications, relationships that fall apart, and most painfully, in our families and among those who are supposed to love us unconditionally.

When I was a young adult, freshly graduated, I found myself at a healing retreat without really knowing why I was there. I had a healthy childhood with two loving parents, great career prospects, and a close-knit community of friends. But as the weekend unfolded, the speaker talked through several wounds that might trace a pattern over the course of our lives and continue to rear their ugly heads: abandonment, rejection, powerlessness, confusion, fear, shame, & hopelessness. And every time he mentioned rejection, my heart stung.

I felt rejected in many small moments throughout my life, like many of us do, but I never realized how the devil had used those moments to weave a pattern of lies into my heart: “You’re reject-able. Even if people love you now, they may reject you later. People-pleasing is your only hope at being loved—if you make yourself small, they won’t see enough to reject you.”

That’s a painful place to be.

But look at what God has to say about rejection in our psalm today: “The stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.”

Jesus is the stone that the world rejected. He had nothing to offer. He was a nobody: a carpenter with no pedigree, no formal religious training, no apparent merit. His teaching was unexpected and subversive; not people-pleasing, to put it mildly. Jesus was rejected.

But He is the cornerstone—the straight and strong stone which is measured against all others, upon which a whole world of grace is built. His rejection by men does not prevent the Father’s work to make Jesus the firm foundation of our souls.

This Divine Mercy Sunday, He invites us to be transformed in Him. My brokenness can be pierced by the power of God. My pain is an opportunity for mercy to penetrate and transform my soul. The rejected places can become the cornerstone of a new life of grace.

That weekend at my healing retreat, I surrendered my wound of rejection to the Lord. I renounced the lie that I was “reject-able”, and proclaimed truth over my soul: that my Father loves me, has chosen me, and will never reject me. He has proved His love for me, because while I was still a sinner, Jesus died for me.

I am not yet perfect, alas. But that healing retreat was a turning point in my identity. I rest on a foundation of love more than on a fear of rejection. My people-pleasing tendencies aren’t gone, but they appear less and less often, and I can see them more clearly when they do.

Rejection (or shame, abandonment, powerlessness, confusion, fear, or hopelessness) do not have the final word. The stone the builders rejected can become the cornerstone of your life; it is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes. Praise God for His mercy.

Becca O'Hara

]]><![CDATA[The Good Old Days]]>Tue, 07 Apr 2026 03:30:00 GMThttps://www.oraministry.ca/blog/the-good-old-daysA Reflection on the First Reading for Sunday, April 12th, 2025:
Divine Mercy Sunday

Acts of the Apostles
2.42-47

They devoted themselves to the Apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. Awe came upon everyone, because many wonders and signs were being done by the Apostles.

All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need. Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread in various houses and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having the goodwill of all the people. And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.

Pause. Pray. Reflect.

Our first reading makes it sound as if the world was a perfect place when the apostles began to enter fully into the life God called them to: prayer, preaching, almsgiving, healing. The reading focuses on how things were perfect and it is easy to get caught up in that one piece of the story. Don’t get me wrong; it is essential to recognize the beauty of this experience because it gives hope to all who seek to live the life God calls us to!

An important reality is that when we continue to read through the Acts of the Apostles, we see that the life they lived was not always so peaceful and unified. There were those who feared this life, and others who condemned it and sought to stop the gospel from being preached. We read of dissent among believers and a need for change as they grew in numbers and spread out geographically.

The beauty of today's reading, for me, is not found in some fairytale idea of perfection but rather in the awareness of such beauty and holiness in the midst of a world that was set against them and was determined to stop them from preaching. It is always easy to look back in history and see only the good, and then to believe that we must return to that way of life and no other.

In truth, no time in history has ever been perfect, because perfection is waiting for us in heaven. We may see something we find beautiful and confuse it for perfection, but we are called to set ourselves toward heaven: to live this life as a preparation for eternal life. In our reading we see the steps we are called to in order to prepare: prayer, faith formation, loving my neighbour, and taking care of those entrusted to me in this life.

When my attention is focused on serving the Lord and my neighbour and not on my own wants and needs, I will see the very thing we read about in the Acts of the Apostles. It will not end the crosses we will carry or the suffering we will experience, but these are the very things Jesus experienced for me. Can I not take a small portion of it as well and walk with my Lord to Calvary on our way to eternal life?

Sr Theresa MacDonald

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