TLIG Canada Retreat 2024
‘Canada is Mine’
(TLIG Message – March 4, 1992)
St. Volodymyr Ukrainian Catholic Church in Thornhill, Ontario
On a beautiful Canadian day in August – Saturday, August 3, 2024, to be exact – over 40 Canadians met in a small holy church, St. Volodymyr Ukrainian Catholic Church in Thornhill, Ontario. St. Volodymyr’s reminds one of what the early churches must have looked like with the early followers of Jesus, and members of The Way, worshiping, say, in Antioch or Smyrna.
We were graced with two beautiful Canadian priests, committed to evangelizing Jesus’ Messages of True Life in God to the world. Father Mark Bayrock, an Eastern-Rite Ukrainian Catholic priest, was ordained on September 8, 1985, and is the current dean and spiritual director at Holy Spirit Seminary, in Edmonton, Alberta. Father Mark is a Godly man of superb intellect who travelled over 4 days by car to join us in Thornhill. Father Mark was joined by Father Tiberiu (Tibi) Angelescu, an Orthodox Priest. Father Tibi is an electrical engineer and IT architect by profession, is married with two daughters, and has been active in the TLIG Family since 2007. What a blessing to have these two priests, one Catholic, the other, Orthodox, attending our retreat and providing two talks to us – one on Unity, and the other on the Holy Spirit.
Ted Potma and Toula Kasias
The retreat’s two leading organizers were our Canadian reps, Ted Potma and Toula Kasias. Ted was our master of ceremonies and without Ted’s lead this retreat simply would not have happened. Toula Kasias, our mama of the Canadian TLIG family for over 25 years, ran the book display, provided the food and, as always, provided her maternal love and attention to make sure everyone was taken care of. Just like a mom at home!
Father Mark with Al and Katherine Monette
The day started with the Divine Liturgy with an inspired homily by Father Mark. His homily was on Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well. A well-known historical event imbued with much meaning. Father Mark reminded us that our Lord’s conversation with the Samaritan woman was the longest conversation that Jesus had with anyone, as recorded in Holy Scripture; longer than his talks with the disciples, longer than his talks with his accusers, and longer than his talks with anyone of his own family. Father Mark noted that in many ways it was one of the most instructive passages in Holy Scripture about the nature of God’s Grace and how the gospel is to be shared. Despite the rigid practice of the Pharisaical Jewish custom during Jesus’ time, which forbade theological conversation with women; and despite that there was to be no association between Jew and Samaritan, not to mention man and woman alone, Jesus breaking the social barriers at the time was showing us how to Love, truly love our neighbor!
As Father Mark noted in his Homily,
So the point surely is that when one recalls the Palestinian restriction on women studying the Scriptures or studying with rabbis, that is, engaging in the intellectual life or acquiring any 'religious authority' - it is difficult to imagine how Jesus could possibly have been clearer in his insistence that women were called to the intellectual and spiritual life, just as were men.
Thus, for Jesus a Jew and a man, to talk with a Samaritan and a woman, was to be taking on (meaning, against) the racist and sexist structures of his day. And if one is what one practices, then Jesus, by his very action is declaring that one cannot, in the name of religion, ever say that any race is unclean or displeasing to God, or that one gender is more valued than the other.
After the Divine-Liturgy, everyone had a sumptuous lunch – of the Greek variety! So of course, everyone was well nourished and ready for the afternoon talks by Father Mark and Father Tibi in the Church hall.
Father Mark spoke first on the topic of Unity. His power-point was quite instructive. Father Mark reviewed the main passages in the New Testament on the importance of Unity, followed by the relevant Messages in TLIG, and buttressed by choice quotes from St. John of The Cross, amongst other saints. Quoting from the New Jerusalem Bible, Father Mark made reference to Jesus’ all-important Prayer for Unity in John 17:20 -23[i], and St. Paul’s instructions in 1 Corinthians 12:12, Ephesians 4:3, and 4:13.
Father Mark further referenced passages on Unity from the TLIG Messages of April 4, 1987, April 29, 1987, February 9, 1989, and November 29, 1989. In the passage of April 4, 1987, quite early in the TLIG Messages, the following conversation occurs between Vassula and Jesus as it concerns His Desire for us to unite:
My God, I personally am baptised as Greek-Orthodox, whom are you referring to My Lord, to Catholics or Protestants, or sects? or other religions? If I dare ask You this it’s because it’s existing.
O Vassula, Vassula, I am One; I God am One; My children are all created by My Hand, why are all My children dispersed? I desire Unity, 5 I want My children to unite; I am One God and they must understand that the Holy Trinity is all in One! the Holy Spirit, the Holy Father and Jesus Christ the Son, all three are in One; 6 Vassula cling to Me, learn from Me;
My God, what about the Light?
I am the Light, I am One;
As Father Mark stressed, just as the Holy Spirit is One, so should we - Catholics, Orthodox, and Protestant, all be one, in the heart, partaking of the Eucharistic Jesus, around one altar, with the dates of Easter celebrated on the same day![ii]
Father Mark’s talk was a great segue to Father Tibi’s talk on the Holy Spirit.
In an impassioned, straight from the heart, talk on the Holy Spirit, Father Tibi emphasized that we all take a wrong path when any of us try to show our theological authority over the other; and that any dialogue with our Christian brothers and sisters needs to be authentically imbued with Love. How true!
Father Tibi then reviewed important passages in Holy Scripture which speak of the power and importance of the Holy Spirit. He made reference to Jesus’ Words in John 3:5-8, John 14: 16, 17, John 14:26 and John 6:63, and St. Paul’s guidance in Galatians 5:5, amongst other Biblical passages.
Father Tibi further reviewed some passages from the TLIG Messages from the 4-part series on the ‘Canticles of the Holy Spirit’, dated April 22, June 7, June 21, and June 22, 1998, which tie in with Jesus’ Desire for Christian Unity. These passages, spoken directly by the Holy Spirit, are required reading for our TLIG family who wish to better understand, and understand deeply, the Giver of Life, the Reminder of the Word, the Third Person of the Trinity promised and Sent by Jesus as noted in John 14, 15, and 16. In a passage excerpted from the June 21, 1998 TLIG Message, Father Tibi brought to our attention the following:
I am the inner Source of Christian Unity, and it is in Me you should put your hopes and your union; I am the Source of Hope, Faith and Love; Infinitely rich, I glory in My glory; I am the vivifying Spirit of the risen Son and the vivifying breath of your mortal bodies; and so you who live for Us, you will be vitalised by My Divine Power to be destined for glory; not only do I resurrect you, but I also give you a free way to enter Our glory, becoming Our adoptive child and heir to Our Kingdom;
But, as Father Tibi noted, if you really want a deeper understanding of the Workings and Life Giving function of the Third Person of the Trinity, then there is no better instruction manual, no better theological course, then for us to read what the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit have to say in a full 3 month tutorial in the TLIG Messages, entitled the ‘Odes of the Holy Trinity’, which, in a type of symphonic exuberance, concludes “TRUE LIFE IN GOD Volume I (1986-2003)” Love Hymn of the TLIG Messages - from February 3, 2003 to April 30, 2003.
The Holy Spirit first reminds us of the Words of Jesus in John 15:26 (as referenced too in the original Nicene Creed) by teaching us the following in the
February 3 – April 30, 2003, discourse, namely:
peace be with you; behold, the Bridegroom stoops over you to sing His Ode as well to you and communicate words of Life; I am the Spirit of Truth who issues from the Father and sent by the Son, Jesus Christ; We are one Substance and one Power and one Knowledge and since We are one God alone We converse and give knowledge in the same manner and in the same terms; this great knowledge is transmitted to you filled with love;
Father Tibi further reminded us of the importance of abandonment in our Christian walk, and specifically as it concerns our abandonment to the Holy Spirit. Again, from the ‘Odes of the Holy Trinity’, February 3 – April 30, 2003, the Holy Spirit Speaks:
and I will respond to your plea and remind you that flesh and blood cannot inherit Our Kingdom, for what is perishable cannot inherit what lasts for ever; do not worry, I will heal your guilt since you desire it and I will flow in you as a river, refreshing your aridity and sterility; your abandonment to Me is the only way together with your repentance I could transfigure your mind to have the mind of Christ and discover Our Will; to penetrate God’s motives or understand His methods without Me being in you is impossible, but I can open the door to knowledge through My transcendent Light in you, for I, the formless One, will take form in your spirit; as a resplendent Sun I will array My Light in you and revive what is dead, filling you with virtues;
Moreover, Father Tibi emphatically preached on the vital importance for us to never blaspheme against the Holy Spirit, as stressed by Jesus in Matthew 12:32. For those, to this day, still opposing TLIG, notwithstanding the official ecclesiastic Seals of approval with both the Nihil Obstat and Imprimatur[iii], the following Words of Jesus in a TLIG Message dated November 2, 1997 are highly instructive:
others would imply that My honourable gifts given to you, as well as My favours, are not divine and do not come from Me; for these I have something to say: “if you say they are not of divine origin then they could only be, according to your insinuation, from the father of lies, or from the subconscious; has it never occurred to you that by judging My Work as evil you are sinning against the Holy Spirit and such a sin is not forgiven? if you say that this whole divine Work comes from the subconscious, then explain to Me the mastery and learnings of these writings from someone who had no knowledge of Wisdom’s Works and had no training in even an elementary catechism;
For those of us who live and breathe Jesus’ Words in TLIG, for those of us whose lives have been saved, literally saved, through TLIG, and who have been utterly Graced to hear and listen and believe in our Lord’s Words in this monumental Divine Work for our era, the following Words of Jesus in Matthew 11:25 (The Jerusalem Bible) certainly come to mind:
At that time Jesus exclaimed, ‘I bless you, Father, Lord of heaven and of earth, for hiding these things from the learned and the clever and revealing them to mere children.
Finally, perhaps the most powerful moment in Father Tibi’s talk was when he stressed that as followers of TLIG, we are listening to and following Jesus’ every Word to Vassula. We are listening to our Lord’s Desire for Christian Unity and the call for One date of Easter. We are listening to our Lord’s Heartbeat, staying close to Him, anchored in his Love. We are listening and following Jesus. Why? Because we are His children! That’s why!
Father Tibi passionately related this to Jesus’ Words in John 10:27, 28:
27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: 28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
Brothers and sisters in TLIG, we are incredibly blessed to be hearing Jesus’ Voice and following Jesus in our times.
And as our Canadian retreat revealed, we truly are stronger when we are together, particularly in person, to share the Love of our Lord.
Perhaps no wiser words were spoken by any apostle than the Eagle, the Apostle John, when he wrote 2000 years ago, that ‘We love each other because He loved us first.” ( 1 John 4:19).
And this is why, I’m sure, St. Paul in his writings to the Philippians, chapter 4:4-5, stated and continues to state to us:[iv]
Iannuzzi, Joseph, Rev. Antichrist and the End Times. McKees Rocks, Penn.: St. Andrew’s Productions, 2005
4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.
Yours in the love of Jesus Christ and His Most Holy Mother, Mary,
Peter Boushy
The Canadian TLIG Family & Friends
[i] John 17:20-23 : 20 I pray not only for these but also for those who through their teaching will come to believe in me. 21 May they all be one, just as, Father, you are in me and I am in you, so that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe it was you who sent me. 22 I have given them the glory you gave to me, that they may be one as we are one. 23 With me in them and you in me, may they be so perfected in unity that the world will recognise that it was you who sent me and that you have loved them as you have loved me.
[ii] Excerpt from a TLIG Prayer on Unity – March 25, 1991: “. . . Father, the time has come, when the reign of division cries out for Peace and Unity. The time has come that Your Son’s wounded Body cries out for Righteousness, that of which the world has not known yet;
but through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and the Sacred Heart of Jesus, give us, Precious Father, this Peace in our hearts, and fulfil the Scriptures by fulfilling Your Beloved Son’s Prayer to You: that we may all be one, one in the Divine Holy Trinity, so that we worship and praise You all, around one single Tabernacle. Amen.
[iv] As Father Iannuzzi notes, “Let us recall that God is ever ready to extend his saving hand to those who turn to him, for ‘everyone shall be saved who calls on the name of the Lord’ (Acts 2:21). Therefore, when understood as an expression of the Good Shepherd’s solemn intervention at the end of history, the Final Judgment and the Day of the Lord become a reason for rejoicing”.
Iannuzzi, Joseph, Rev. Antichrist and the End Times. McKees Rocks, Penn.: St. Andrew’s Productions, 2005