St. Leonard Catholic Parish
M
anotick, Ont
"Where disciples grow
"
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Monthly E-Newsletter for June 2019
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Welcome to the St. Leonard monthly E-Newsletter.
Please take note of our Parish Potluck Picnic coming up on June 16th (Father's Day) and come on out and join in the fun. The E-Newsletter will not be published in July and August and will resume on Sept 1st. Best wishes for a great summer!
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It is with mixed emotions we share this news from yesterday’s Diocesan newsletter:
"Fr. Titus Egbueh is appointed Parochial Administrator of St. Martin de Porres Parish.
Fr. Gerard Plant is appointed Pastor of St. Brigid Parish in Manotick, St. John the Evangelist Parish in Osgoode and St. Leonard Parish in Manotick."
We have been truly blessed by having Father Titus as our Pastor for six short years. He has consistently encouraged us on our path to discipleship and his authentic love for Jesus has provided us with a living example of Christ amongst us. Our prayers our with him as he takes up his new Parish later this summer.
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Pastor's Message for June 1st
Your Generosity
Over the last few months I have witnessed some amazing examples of stewardship. Stewardship is discipleship. We strive to put God first in all things and to follow where Our Lord might lead. Each of us is called to give as God has given to us. This includes giving of our time, our talent and our treasure to help our Parish maintain existing facilities and services and to develop new programs to address emerging needs and opportunities. Ultimately our success as a Parish of “good stewards” depends on your generosity.
Even though I am uncomfortable talking about money, I want to share with you two examples of your remarkable generosity. On Feb 23
rd I presented our annual Financial Update and noted that, funds permitting, we hoped to install an air conditioner by this summer. At the end of the 11:00 am Mass, a parishioner approached me and asked how much we needed for the air conditioner. I said $8,000 and she wrote me out a cheque on the spot. Praise the Lord! On April 28
th I mentioned that, due to the inclement winter weather, we were behind on our regular offerings so far this year. At the end of the 9:00 am Mass, a different parishioner approached me and asked how much we needed. I indicated our shortfall was $8,000 and he said that he would add this amount to his Sunday envelope the following week. And indeed he did! Praise the Lord!
It is at times like this that I am somewhat overwhelmed by your generosity and how the Holy Spirit works through you to support St. Leonard’s Parish and God’s plan for our community. I suppose by now that I should not be surprised because this always been a Parish of “good stewards”. Whether it is in the dedication of our parish leaders or the many selfless acts of our volunteers, this Parish always seems to step up to the challenge of being Christ’s Church here in Manotick.
However, the charity and generosity of our parishioners does not end there! In addition to the dedication and expenses of running our parish, our parishioners are asked to support many other charitable initiatives … some sponsored by the Parish and many other community, diocesan and global projects. AmorDei, The Manotick Food Bank, Nigerian Orphanage, Chalice, Missions, Multi-Faith Housing, Development and Peace are just some of the names that come to mind. Year after year you continue to reach out to help those less fortunate.
Today I just want to express my sincere thanks to all of you for supporting the Parish and our extended community. And finally, I am extremely grateful for the personal support that you have extended to me over the last few years. Your love has inspired me.
My prayer for all of you is that you will hear the master say what he exclaims in Matthew 25:21:
“Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!”
God bless you and those that you love, Father Titus
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Let us pray this month that the Church in Africa, through the commitment of its members, may be the seed of unity among her peoples and a sign of hope for this continent.
Pope Francis – May 2019
The Pope Video is an official global initiative to disseminate the Holy Father’s monthly intentions. It is produced by the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network (Apostleship of Prayer). For more info and to view all of their videos
click here
.
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St Leonard Parish Picnic - Sunday June 16th
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The Parish "Pot Luck" Picnic this year will be held at St Leonard's church on Sunday June 16th, commencing at noon after the 11:00AM Mass.
All parishioners attending are asked to bring food and a sign up sheet for food will be at the entrance to the church from June 1st. There will be live music, good home made food, games for the children and a chance to meet more of our parishioners.
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Inspired, Formed and Connected to Share the Good News!
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On Saturday, May 5th the annual New Evangelization Summit was held in Ottawa and broadcast to 56 sites around the world. Six of our parishioners were in attendance and they were inspired, encouraged, and trained by Catholic speakers who are leaders in the New Evangelization.
Gerald Cardinal Lacroix gave some simple advice to start the Summit; Convert and Unite. He recommended that all 1) review their personal relationship with Jesus and 2) examine how they are are living it out with their family, their friends and their community. He felt that no program would outperform this simple approach.
Father James Mallon focused on the topic of Parish renewal and what you can do when you are not in charge. He made it very clear in his address that as parishes we must adapt to the change taking place around us or die. To have a future, a Parish must have as its primary focus the reaching of people on the outside with the good news of the risen Lord. If our primary focus is on maintaining the existing parishioners and facilities, we will see declining participation and eventually face closure. Father Mallon relayed that our Mission should not change but our methods and models for reaching people must change. He then outlined 10 things that you could to help:
- Pray for the Church and your local Church
- Encourage others
- Buy-in
- Dream of what things could be!
- Scratch the itch!
- Be filled with the Holy Spirit
- Influence your sphere
- Help implement and an evangelistic tool (i.e., Alpha)
- Give your Pastor permission to lead
- Be a vision carrier
Michele Thompson and Father Jon Bielawski from the Diocese of Plymouth, England presented a simple, logical and practical method of evangelizing, called the Genesis Method, which is used throughout their diocese. In a seven week formation study, parishioners inspired to share their faith, are shown how to use the art of meaningful conversation when connecting with people in their daily life - in particular, the art of listening and then, with prayer, knowing when the Holy Spirit will guide them towards bringing others the Good News. Participants in the study also read books based on evangelization to comment on at the meetings. After their formation, they continue to meet on a monthly basis as teams sharing their encounters and planning ways to assist their parish in this mission.
A number of
practical, hands-on and actionable
resources were introduced throughout the Summit that can be useful in assisting our efforts to share the good news. Here are links to two of them:
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The Divine Renovation Mobile app allows you to watch messages, connect with resources, find conference info, and get inspired and equipped to move your parish from maintenance to mission. Download the app for
Apple
or
Android today.
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If you are new to FORMED, to get ongoing FREE ACCESS to all programs and downloadable PDF guides, movies and e-books please
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Why would intelligent, successful people give up careers, alienate friends, and cause havoc in their families...to become Catholic? As he was considering his own move into the Church, Donald Johnson traveled around the country to get the story for himself, from some of today's most interesting and articulate Catholic voices. Scott Hahn, Jennifer Fulwiler, Jeff Cavins and many others share what drew them into the Catholic Church despite all the obstacles.
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Offerings Update for 2019
Year To Date as of May 15,
2019 Actual $
105,941
Year To Date as of May 15,
2019 Budget $
104,000
Year To Date as of May 15,
2018 Actual $105,805
As of May 15, 2019 we are $1,941 ahead of our offerings budget for 2019. A big thanks to those parishioners who dug a little deeper to help us get our financial plan back on track.
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June 5 Pastoral Council Meeting 7 p.m.
June 12 Knights of Columbus Meeting 7 p.m.
June 16 Parish Picnic
June 23 Confirmation at Notre Dame Cathedral 2:30 p.m.
June 26 CWL Meeting and Pot Luck Dinner 6 p.m.
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After the 9 am and 11 am Sunday masses in June coffee will be served in the Parish Hall.
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Parishioner Feedback: We Love Your Input!
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Dear Parishioners we are very interested in your feedback. If have any comments and/or suggestions as it relates to any of our Parish activities, including the E-Newsletter, please
click here.
If you would like a direct response to your suggestion, please include your email address.
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St. Leonard Parish
office@stleonardsparish.ca
www.stleonardsparish.ca
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