The rain had lifted, the early evening sun cast its amber glow and the cricket chorus made known its presence just beyond the open windows of the Annunciation of the Lord Parish. The church’s meticulously maintained gardens, a lush array of flowers, and an outdoor prayer space are among the first sights to greet the visitor. On August 23, I joined 100 parishioners of this vibrant community for their Sunday 6:00 PM Mass. It included praise and worship music, and an animated priest affiliated with the Companions of the Cross. In the world of low church and high church liturgies, this Gloucester parish fits more into the former category, while offering a high quality and energetic liturgy. In addition to the Sunday evening Mass, morning liturgies are celebrated at 9:00 AM and 11:00 AM. The church often fills to capacity for both. Annunciation incorporates elements of Charismatic Catholicism. One of the defining features of the Charismatic movement — beyond the worship music — is a theological emphasis on an experiential and relational faith.
The Parish’s history begins in 1980, when in its December 6th issue The Ottawa Citizen reported on a “bouncing new 1,600-family Catholic parish entering the world and the Archdiocese of Ottawa.” At its inception, Annunciation was a bilingual parish, serving both Anglophones and Francophones. The name itself was selected as it sounded much the same in both English and French, and was also a nod to the community’s former home, St. Gabriel’s Parish — the angel associated in Scripture with the annunciation.
On its first Sunday, some 2,000 people attended the Parish’s first five Masses, celebrated at the Colonel By Auditorium. Fr. Gilles Lavergne served as the community’s first Pastor. The large property at 2414 Ogilvie Road, over three acres, had already been purchased. The erection of the white, modern church, however, was still in the planning phase. In its early days, Annunciation Parish celebrated six weekend Masses, four of which were in English and two in French.
On May 3, 1984, the Citizen reported that after a successful fundraising campaign, Archbishop Joseph-Aurèle Plourde was on hand at 2414 Ogilvie Road for the “turning of the first sod,” with 200 people gathered to mark the first steps in the construction of a new church. During his 1984 visit to Ottawa, Pope John Paul II blessed the new church’s cornerstone at a Papal Mass celebrated at LeBreton Flats on September 20. And on March 23, 1985, the completed church was blessed by Archbishop Plourde. Annunciation remained a bilingual parish until 1996, at which point this community focused on serving English Catholics, while St. Gabriel served the needs of Francophones. Beginning especially in the early noughties, Annunciation Parish became known for having a dynamic youth ministry.
The Companions of the Cross — a Catholic community of priests established in Ottawa in 1985 — started serving Annunciation in 2011. While Charismatic Catholicism had existed here before their arrival, the clergymen of this community built on these foundations. Today, Fr. Rob Arsenault, CC serves as Pastor, assisted by two young men: Fr. Dan Ramos, CC and Fr. Sebastian Muggeridge, CC. Fr. Dan served as the Presider at the 6:00 PM Mass.
Fr. Dan began by telling us about his love of sports, and particularly of tennis. It’s not uncommon for him to incorporate sports in his preaching, and this evening was no different. With humour, he spoke of his great betrayal of the tennis community by succumbing to Pickleball. A degree of tension exists between the two sports. But Fr. Dan learned that just as his neighbour had asserted for some time, Pickleball is good fun indeed. It took personal experience to finally convince him of this fact. It was also Fr. Dan’s opening to reflect on the Gospel reading, Matthew 16, and the importance of a personal faith — a personal experience of Jesus. He shared:
A personal experience of something can make all the difference in the world. Or to say that in the opposite way, if it doesn’t get personal, we might not really have the full experience. This principle holds very true when it comes to our faith: personal experience makes all the difference. And we see this exact thing happening in our Gospel today. So, what’s going on? Jesus’ fame and profile are growing. People are hearing about all the amazing works that He’s doing, and there are rumours circulating about who Jesus really is. Some are saying that he’s one of the prophets, he’s John the Baptist, he’s Elijah, he’s Jeremiah, or he’s someone else who’s come back from the dead, and is ministering in the name of God.
And in that moment, Jesus puts his disciples on the spot, and he asks them quite directly. He says, “All these people are saying this thing and that thing about Me, but who do you say that I am?” This is a very pointed question. It’s not a condemnatory question, but it is a challenge. It’s direct, deliberate, and it’s intentional. And Jesus isn’t just proposing a school testing question, or simply a test of head knowledge. This is a personal challenge from the heart, and for the heart. He’s asking His disciples, “Who am I to you? Who am I in your life?”
The personal nature of one’s relationship with God doesn’t equate to a privatized faith. Fr. Dan did speak of the importance of the communal element within the life of the Church. And yet he emphasized the value of faith penetrating beyond the communal into a deeply personal experience. Fr. Dan shared that while he had grown up in a Catholic family, it was in his early twenties that he experienced the power of a more personal faith — one that grew out of a transformational moment during an Adoration prayer night.
“If I may be so bold and direct to say that until it gets personal, you haven’t experienced all that God has for you, all the greatness that comes with living as a disciple of Jesus,” Fr. Dan shared.
The worship music at Mass was led by a very capable duo: a guitarist who also served as the cantor and an accompanying pianist. Among the songs were Here I am to Worship, Body and Blood (Soul and Divinity), as well as Because He Lives. The lyrics were projected on screens and the faithful sang with enthusiasm. As Mass ended and after the last song rang through the church, the congregation streamed out into the warm evening’s fading light.
Christopher Adam
Born in Montreal, Christopher Adam has called Ottawa home for the past twenty years. He received his MA from Carleton University, with a thesis focusing on twentieth century European church history, and a PhD in History from the University of Ottawa. Over the years, he has published widely and works in the faith-based charitable sector in Ottawa.