Good Morning:

Today is my last day here in Fort Nelson. When I arrived it was a sunny and warm day for up here. Today it is cloudy light snow and much colder. The last few days since the snow on Thursday and Friday have been cold. I am off this afternoon to Fort St. John and overnight as Air Canada cancelled the flight today from there to Vancouver so I leave late tomorrow morning.

The month has gone by quickly for me here in Fort Nelson. I now have a better idea of what it is like in a Northern Diocese like Whitehorse. Small communities and often the parishes are without a priest and are lucky to have a lay person as an administrator who looks after the parish. Mass might be once a month or twice depending if there is a priest to come to the community usually from Whitehorse. It is a mission diocese and that is where they need priests from the south and from other countries to come for a period of time that could be one to three years and possibility more. The Oblates of Mary Immaculate as missionaries were up here in the diocese for many years however they have died or are retired and now there are none left in the diocese and there were some religious sisters over the years and likewise have left or retired.

I have had a good experience during the month here in Fort Nelson at Our Lady of Sorrows and going to Mile 295 (Sacred Heart) on the reserve and to Prophet River. There can be a fruitful ministry in being here with the people in the communities. We will see what plans unfold for me in the next few months to come as the vision is to come up to the diocese for at least a couple of years and maybe more.

I also recognize on the other hand that I may be leaving St. Rose of Lima in Sooke a parish community that I have been with for over six years. Many memories that I have and blessed in countless ways journeying with the families and people.

Fr. Mike

Hi again as I am posting this evening some of the pictures from Lower Post to Whitehorse


#1 is the road where the rectory is on just across from the Laird River the sunrise a stunning location and #2 is Ben the deacon who is there and at Watson Lake.

#3 is the church which is next door to the rectory. One can see the character that these mission churches have in this part of the country.

#4 & #5 are the inside of the church. They changed where the altar is on the side and the barrel stove is supplement heat as they have a furnace. There are some antlers for the lectern. 

Entrance to the church I have noticed that often the parish names are Marian or Jesus names

These next two are some of the sights on the highway 

The next 5 pictures are of the cathedral of Sacred Heart in Whitehorse. 

This is taking a picture of the opposite direction of the cathedral

These last two are of the parish church in Teslin. I heard the shape of the building is stunning inside as one can see from the outside. There is a large lake that one follows along into town. The bridge in the last picture lower left corner is the one that crosses the Lake and heads south. 

These are a sampling of some of the pictures that I had taken on the trip to Whitehorse.

Fr. Mike

Good Evening from Fort Nelson:

Yesterday morning I left Whitehorse and seeing the weather forecast for Watson Lake and Fort Nelson I decided to drive straight through. I did arrive late last night and glad I did as today the road conditions would have been terrible with the snow overnight and the wind even if one could travel. I heard this afternoon the highway was closed might have been to the south as Fort St. John had a dump of snow too. It was a good visit to Whitehorse a long way though and a chance to see the cathedral and the rectory where a couple of priests live. I was just looking at the pictures and will post some of them now.

The first set are from Fort Nelson to Lower Post which is just inside B.C. before the Yukon. There are some wonderful sights on this stretch of the highway.

The first three pictures were closer to Fort Nelson I believe before Testin River. I was following this tanker truck until some of the hills. With the ice and snow could be slippery as this truck and trailer found out.

 #4 is the Northern Rockeries to the west. A beautiful sight. Starting to climb higher and Stone Mountain Provincial Park #5 is the highest point on the Alaska Highway. One than goes down hill to Muncho Lake Provincial Park.

 The bison were just past Laird Hot Springs as this is one of the areas they are seen on the side of the highway. They are so big and digging into the snow to get to the grasses I think. None were on the road as they do not move too fast lumbering along.

 These next two pictures are what one sees getting closer to the Yukon.

The next set will be from Lower Post and Whitehorse

Greetings from Whitehorse:

I arrived this afternoon in the city from Lower Post B.C. I stayed overnight at the rectory in Lower Post with the hospitality of Ben a deacon who lives on the reserve. It is close to Watson Lake just inside the Yukon boarder that has a parish and a few other mission communities that Ben looks after. The drive from Fort Nelson on Monday was wonderful the ever changing views. There were some bisons that I photographed on the side of the highway. The weather and road conditions were good. This morning it was -35 degrees in Lower Post and my usually cold hands were sure frozen quickly. There are some pictures in this posting of the trip from Fort Nelson to Lower Post and a few up to Whitehorse. Tomorrow I will have a chance to see some of the city and area. I will be returning to Fort Nelson on Thursday morning and staying overnight in Lower Post as it is long drive all in one day. I figured over 6 hours each day and not much stoppage time to get here and there may be some snow on Friday on the last leg to Fort Nelson.


The internet connection is too slow to upload the pictures so will have to do it in Lower Post or when I get back to Fort Nelson

Fr. Mike

Thursday afternoon

Greetings today to you:

Today in Fort Nelson the weather seems to be more of the normal temperatures as it is around -18 and went down to -29 last night. Had to put another blanket on last night. There might be some snow flurries but have not seen it yet today.

I went to the Fort Nelson Literacy Center last night for a potluck dinner and the theme last night was French. They have once a month a potluck and next month it will be China so people are supposed to bring a dish that would represent that country. There were people from Japan, Korea, France, Mexico, China as some of the countries represented.

Saturday night is a moonlight cross country ski and bonfire with hot coco afterwards with some singsong. Will go to the community event after mass so we will miss the cross country ski part. The parish is having a pancake breakfast after mass this Sunday.

Monday I will be heading up to Whitehorse for a visit. I will stop at the Laird hot springs in the way up to Lower Post where I will visit with Deacon Ben who is there and covers Lower Post and Watson Lake up the road. Fr. Kieran who is the administrator for the diocese is coming down to Lower Post and Watson Lake for masses this weekend. I will stay till Friday and than head back to Fort Nelson.

A week this Sunday some baptisms are planned at Mile 295 Sacred Heart Church that I go to each Sunday and at Prophet River also later on that day. That will be my last weekend as I leave on the Tuesday February 10 overnight in Fort St. John and than back to Victoria Wednesday evening.

I will have some great pictures of the trip to Whitehorse as the forecast for next week is sunny and cold.

Fr. Mike

Friday afternoon Jan. 23rd

Hi to all this afternoon! Yesterday as I had mentioned I was going to Prophet River for a visit. It is a quiet hours drive south of Fort Nelson. In one of  the pictures looking south west one can see the Northern Rocky Mountains in the distance as they come into view a spectacular sight. I almost went pass the reserve as it is tucked away off the highway for the speed signs jumped to 100 ks. There are about 200 people living on the reserve. It was moved a few years ago to the present location and a couple of years ago they built a new complex that includes the administration, medical, and activities for the community. It is a lovely looking structure with some art work and stuffed animals. The temperature was 11 degrees down there amazing for this time of the year.

The included pictures are of the drive down the highway and back. Pictures of the building and art work and stuffed animals.

Hi Again:

The last post should have said Tuesday Evening not Monday though the date was right. As you can see from the pictures the two churches are both unique. I understand at Prophet River a hall is used for mass.

Fr. Mike

Monday Evening

This morning I saw the hoar frost so beautiful as the snow crystals are floating in the sky. When I was in Saskatoon while in the minor seminary I used to see this often when it was a sunny day and the crystals were coming off the trees. It was a sunny and warm day today as it was been warmer than usual and that trend will continue in the next few days.

I went to the Fort Nelson Aboriginal Friendship Centre for lunch today as on Tuesdays they have soup and bannock. Met some of the people and saw the facility and heard of some of the programs that they have for the community. There is a youth centre upstairs and a large hall that they rent. There is counselling programs and a woman transition house in the community and a men's shelter also.

Tomorrow I will attend the ministerial meeting and on Thursday visit the community of Prophet River an hour south on the Alaska Highway. I did take some pictures of the church inside so will now post some of the photo's.

Fr. Mike
Sacred Heart Church first two and last picture Our Lady of Sorrows in Fort Nelson the other pictures

Good Evening:

It is Sunday evening as the first weekend here in Fort Nelson has passed by. Yesterday was a sunny and pleasant day here. Shovelled some of the sidewalks and finished the church steps. Did some shopping as there not too much food in the house. I say that for Fr. Emmanuel is from Africa and their style of cooking is much different that for us. Found that shopping is more costly, heard that the shipping costs makes it more expensive.

The parish is Our Lady of Sorrows here in Fort Nelson and the parish on the reserve is called Sacred Heart Parish. I have felt welcomed by the people and look forward to being with them for the coming month. I took some pictures of the two churches and will post them soon. Have none yet of Our Lady of Sorrows here in Fort Nelson.

I hope that the funeral for Robin Terry goes well at the church tomorrow afternoon. Andrew Cullum is still in the hospital and hope that he will be well enough soon to come home as he has been there for two weeks now.

Fr. Mike

Good Evening from Fort Nelson

I arrived here in the early afternoon to a sunny warm day. It was an early start to the day though a lovely day to be flying with clear skies all the way. Thank you to Patty and Gus who brought me to the airport this morning.

I was impressive to see the mountains and the rivers flying in the province. One can sure tell the impact that the oil and gas industry has before Fort St. John and all the way up to Fort Nelson. Seeing all the roads, pipelines and sites where a well has been dug from the air.

I was picked up by one of the parishioners Vern and he showed me around the community after lunch. We saw the church on the reserve, Sacred Heart Parish and here in town Our Lady of Sorrows Parish. I will take some pictures in the days to come to show you. Met some of the parishioners this evening. Will shovel some snow in the morning on the walkways and steps from the other day.

Fr. Mike

Hi to all:

Tomorrow morning January 16th I will be on my way to Fort Nelson for the month to have the northern winter experience in the Whitehorse diocese. I will update you as the adventure happens.

Fr. Mike

Hi to all:

I will write some thoughts soon of the trip. I got home early Sunday morning and had a good sleep. Still getting over the jet lag as I have only once before travelled to Europe. It was a wonderful trip in many ways.

Fr. Mike

Greeting to all:

It is Friday afternoon as I write this post to you. This morning we went to the Church of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary just outside the old city for our last Eucharistic celebration together. It is a beautiful church where it is believed that Mary after the resurrection of Jesus spent her last days and died here. We have had some free time after mass and soon will have our closing ceremony and our farewell dinner.

To recap the last couple of days on Wednesday we went to Ain Karen to the Basilica of the Visitation and  Basilica of St. John the Baptist. This was where Elizabeth lived during her pregency with John the Baptist. Mary came to visit her cousin from Nazareth and it sure is in the hill country as the town is built on a hill. I was the homilist for the day so it was extra special for me. After mass we walked to where John the Baptist was born in the lower part of the Basilica. So often it is the case that these holy places like the churches are in areas where there is just Arabs living so there is no people who come to the churches except pilgrims like ourselves and there are sure a lot of people that come. As I have mentioned this is January and February the raining season and usually it is quieter with less pilgrims, however there sure has been many groups that we have seen on our journey. We visited the National Museum of Israel and the two exhibits that are noted is model of the Old City of Jerusalem at the time of the second temple and the building where the scrolls of Qumran are kept. That afternoon and early evening we had two conferences.

Thursday was a light day as we went to celebrate mass at Pater Noster on the Mount of Olives and than we had a free day to tour, visit sites to  shop and to rest. Our last conference was on pastoral charity.

Tomorrow we are on our way back home. Our flight is not till 12:30 p.m. and just heard that there is no taxi to take us around 8:30 a.m. so we are leaving really early at 6:45 a.m. so we will be spending more time than we thought at the airport in Tel Aviv.

I will write some reflections and attach pictures later on this evening.

Fr. Mike

Hello again to all:

It has been a few days since my last post on Saturday. It is Wednesday evening now and a few days with many experiences have happen since Saturday. Firstly I have been under the weather so have not had the energy for a new post later at night or early morning as that seems to be the time that I have found for a new post.

Sunday was a day of rest with no schedule so I went with some of the fellows to a Maronite mass in the old city. It was a compound tucked away a chapel on the second floor. The liturgy we could follow as they had some order of the service in English as it was mostly in Arabic, some french and the archbishop spoke in English a couple of times. The liturgy was somewhat different with the order of the mass and they had a cantor a woman in a side room who canted parts of the mass and people responded with singing. That afternoon our Victoria crew Fr. Stephen and John, myself and a fellow from Washington D.C. went on the light rail system to the Holocaust museum for a few hours. It was intense to see some of the pictures the films and memories of what happened in many parts of Europe prior and during WWII.

On Monday we headed to Qubeibeh in Samaria (palestinian area) where the Emmaus story took place. It was a round about way we had to go on the secondary roads through Ramallah. Once you are in the Samarian zone you sure see the difference as it looks so much poorer the communities. If there are Jewish communities they are on the tops of the hills as this is hill country and they are gated and wired protected communities. The father at the church in Emmaus said you are brave to come here as seldom pilgrims these days. Our next stop was through Nablus to Sebastia as we were heading north through the hill county. We stopped in Nablus on the way back and visited Jacobs Well in a beautiful church. The icons were amazing to see. After returning to Notre Dame we had a conference and dinner and called it a night.

Yesterday was a trip to the Judean desert with a stop on the way in Bethany to see the tomb of Lazarus and celebrate mass in the church. We continued on to Qumran which is heading south along the Dead Sea  where the Dead Sea scrolls were found in some caves in the mountains besides the lake in 1947.  It was fascinating to see the site of the Essene community and how they lived. On down the road we went to Masada. It is a well know site and spectacular  as it sits on a plateau of one of the mountain tops. The fortress was built by King Herod. During the second temple period the Jews revolted against the Romans and they than destroyed the Kingdom of Judah and this fortress was the last bastion of Jews to fall to the Romans. Fr. Kelly one of the fathers who lives here was saying one time while visiting Masada while coming down on the tram a Israeli government official was saying to him that now the government is somewhat sorry that they have chosen Masada as a symbol for the people for in the end after killing those that were left including woman and children the ten men left choose lots and one killed the 9 and than the sword on himself so when the Romans entered the fortress there was no one alive. It is the idea of suicide rather than surrendering. We than stopped a bit further down the lake and some of us took a dip in the Dead Sea where one floats and would never sink. The salt was sure hard on the eyes and water not too warm till one was used to it. It was a full day and today we visited Ain Karen known for the Visitation when Mary went to visit her cousin Elizabeth and the birthplace of John the Baptist. I will write more about yesterday tomorrow and post some pictures too as I am retiring for the night.

Fr. Mike

Good Evening to all:

This morning was an early morning as we celebrated mass at 5:00 a.m. at the Holy Sepulcher in the  tomb of Jesus. It was a tight squeeze with over 30 of us. The Franciscans have the church from 4:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. for the pilgrim groups who are celebrating mass. After breakfast the english group first had a tour of the museum of the Shroud of Turin. If you ever come to Jerusalem you have to see the exhibit as it is amazing that is right here at the Notre Dame Center where we are staying. Today we had a conference on Mary in the life of the priest. The conferences are an hour long usually. Themes we have had are The cross in the life of a priest, conference on the Eucharist as some examples. This afternoon we went to see the Auxiliary Bishop of Jerusalem who gave talk on Christianity in the Holy Land. He started with the history of Christianity to the present day an informative talk to listen to. The english group went for a walk to Jewish quarter in the Old City this afternoon. There are a few of us that have colds and mine has acted up and more are getting sick so not a good sign. Tomorrow is a free day which is great for those who have been on tours know they can be busy. I will send some pictures with this post.

On Thursday we started the Sacred Triduum where we followed Jesus to his death and resurrection visiting holy places on the path to his death. The pictures are not in order. The first is from Bethpage when he rode the donkey into Jerusalem. Second is the Garden of Getsemani, Third is the Russian Orthodox Monastery of Mary Magdalene and the last is a view from the church of St. Peter in Gallicantu looking towards the wall and one can see the temple square with the golden dome.

Until next time  Fr.Mike