I am reaching out to you with this Pastoral Letter to share some faith-filled and spiritual reflections in an effort to contribute to the growth of the Christian spirit among us and help strengthen the faith, joy and devotion throughout the Archdiocese of Toronto. Last year, I penned a first Pastoral Letter reflecting on the theme of the Kingdom of God present and active in our midst. This year, I would like to reflect together on the place and significance of The Upper Room in our lives, our families and in our communities of faith since it is primarily associated with major and pivotal events in the life of Jesus and of the early Church.

For those who have been blessed with the opportunity to visit the Holy Land, one of the major holy sites is the Upper Room on Mount Zion in the Holy City of Jerusalem. It is literally the upstairs room in a two-story building. Tradition holds that it is located directly above the Tomb of King David and close to the Abbey of the Dormition of Our Lady. It is called Cenacle because the Last Supper, in Latin Coena, took place there. Though it has served many different uses over the centuries, for believers and pilgrims it remains a focal point. It conveys such depth and meaning as to what it means to live in Christ that it can become an inspiring aid for our day.

The Upper Room was a real physical dwelling/meeting place in Jerusalem at the time of Christ – but much, much more. It constituted an array of grace-filled events, an anointed sign of God’s redeeming love, new beginnings in Christ, a series of turning moments in the life of the worshiping Christian community, and the unfolding of God’s saving and loving dream for us. With my brief elucidations found in these pages, I wish to underscore a number of key and foundational building blocks of the Christian life and provide all the faithful – clergy, consecrated and laity – with insights which will hopefully benefit their walk of faith. Living life as an authentic disciple of Christ entails the embodiment of certain “non-negotiable” aspects which I will expound upon in this reflection. My intention is to offer an aid for growing in holiness of life, in Christlikeness – and to offer some tasty and nourishing manna for our common journey to the Kingdom, our Promised Land.

Hence, I believe it to be of great relevance and significance for us all to take time this year, the Jubilee Holy Year, to ponder with Mother Mary, the following nine dimensions of our Catholic Christian life as they emerge from the testimony of Sacred Scripture. My idea was to flesh these dimensions out stemming from a theological, spiritual and pastoral consideration. There are a number of ways with which one may utilize this resource. Some might consider meditating on these reflections as a sort of Novena, one per day. Others might choose to dedicate a day a week or a day a month to focus on these points. As each of the aspects of Christian living are delineated, this can be done either individually or in community. Perhaps you can bring these reflections to your prayer space at home; or consider these questions during a time of eucharistic adoration in your parish church or a perpetual adoration chapel. You might consider jotting down in a prayer journal any inspirations that emerge from your heart as you spend time with the Lord letting yourself be guided by these reflections. An accompanying resource might be a Bible or the Catechism of the Catholic Church. As you read through the nine facets, you might consider researching one or other of the authors or works that are cited; for example, the saints, mystics and spiritual writers. Some of the reflections would also be helpful when meditating upon the mysteries of the life of Jesus and Mary with the holy Rosary. Another idea is to use the deliberations and questions to look into our hearts and ascertain how we are incarnating them in our daily walk of faith, followed by bringing them up in spiritual direction or in the sacrament of penance and reconciliation.

As per the format, these nine themes are subdivided into three sections: One, a reflection for learning and drawing personal connections with your lived experience; Two, the anecdotal illustration serves as an example of a witness or a story that typifies an intuition found in the first part; Three, a more active analysis whereby we ask ourselves an array of questions – as many as you feel you want to answer - which came to mind while pondering the dimension in question. What I always find helpful is looking at the references in the endnotes and going deeper by reading further from the original text. I am most excited about these considerations becoming a fulcrum for further reflection, prayer and for getting closer to the Lord. There are graces that await us as we engage in this prayerful and reflective process. Likewise, this resource can be the object of a parish sharing group or an informal gathering of friends. The reflections can be used as inspiration for summer reading or for Advent or Lenten activities or for a personal retreat. You can, for instance, take one question per day and let it accompany you or set some quiet time per week, a short 15 minutes, to read a paragraph and ask yourself a question that is proposed. Studied and reflected upon individually or in community, whether in families, parishes, schools and religious houses, I pray that this small contribution will help readers and faithful come to a more profound sense of faith, a more mature relationship with the Lord, and to a transforming experience of grace. In whatever way one chooses to use these ruminations, they are offered to the faithful of the Church of Toronto and beyond. Let’s unpack these nine characteristics of the Cenacle together.