By EMMALEE ITALIA
Contributing Editor
UPDATED Oct. 14, 2025
“Where do you stand in relation to the crucified?”
This question posed by Dominican Father Bill Garrott of those gathered in St. Anthony Church, Hamilton, kicked off his Oct. 7 talk, part of a three-night mission for parishes in the Hamilton area.
“Do you stand with the beloved disciple? Are you there with the Blessed Mother, with Mary Magdalene?” he continued. “Where are you standing, given what is going on in your life right now?”
PHOTO GALLERY: Parish Mission – Our Lady of Sorrows-St. Anthony
As St. Anthony Church is one of the designated pilgrimage sites in the Diocese for the Jubilee Year of Hope, attending the retreat provided an opportunity to receive an indulgence, if the usual conditions were fulfilled; priests remained after the talk for attendees to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
To set the tone for the evening, Father Garrott made available for veneration a relic of St. John Paul II, while he led those in attendance in praying the Rosary.
WE SUFFER, WE SIN, WE FORGIVE
Focusing his talk on suffering, sin and forgiveness, Father Garrott alternated among keyboard, guitar and speaking; his blend of music, humor and frank openness about the challenge of facing one’s weaknesses drew laughter and sighs from the crowded pews.
“God decided to step into our suffering – not to remove it, but to fill it with his presence,” Father Garrott said to the congregation composed of the Lumen Christi Cohort parishes of Our Lady of Sorrows-St. Anthony and St. Raphael-Holy Angels, both Hamilton, and St. Gregory the Great, Hamilton Square. “He took our human nature upon himself and experienced the utter depravity and depth of suffering.”
Knowing that truth, he continued, “can you imagine standing next to the Blessed Virgin Mary at the foot of the Cross, and turning to her and saying, ‘He doesn’t know what I’m going through?’”
Father Garrott gave multiple examples of how only God can bring good out of suffering and evil – including Louis Braille, who, after an accident as a child that left him blind, later invented the raised alphabet for the blind that bears his name; and Eric Clapton, whose young son died in an accident, bringing about a conversion for Clapton, who opened clinics to help those suffering from addictions.
On the matter of sin, Father Garrott likened Jesus to the light that illuminates the dark corners of a restaurant at night’s end, so that the room can be cleaned.
“When we stand at the foot of the Cross, there is a radiant mercy that illuminates the dirt,” he said. “The Lord … wants to deal with it … so that we see the darkness therein and present it to him.”
He also compared Jesus to the sheep that are injected with snake venom in order to form antibodies, which produce life-saving anti-venom.
“The Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world allowed himself to be stung by the venom of the ancient serpent, the devil,” Father Garrott continued, “and to undergo all the venom of the human race, and it brought him to death. But because he is the Lamb of God … he rises victorious, and now he has the anti-venom, which is the Eucharist.”
That remedy to forgive sins, “the Lord expects us to share. ‘Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.’ What was Jesus feeling when he said that? I don’t know … all the Gospel tells us is what he said, and that’s all you need to know, because forgiveness is a decision, not a feeling.”
BLESSED TAKEAWAYS
Following Father Garrott’s presentation, priests and deacons of the parish and visiting clergy used holy oil from the Oratory of St. Brother André Bessette to bless people who came forward with photos or other items.
Nydia Ramos, parishioner of Our Lady of Sorrows-St. Anthony Parish, said she was eager to come to the mission to hear Father Garrott and receive a blessing for healing.
“I think in their own way, everybody’s taking something home with them” from the experience, she said.
“He preaches in a way that speaks to me personally, said Mary Theresa Weil of St. Gregory the Great Parish. “And I feel like I could explain it better to other people [after hearing him.]”
To learn more about the Dominican Preachers and Father Garrott’s ministry, visit https://dominicanpreachers.com.