Pastor's Message for Nov 1st

Communion and Community

The fourth step in the seven steps to discipleship is “encounter”. We are truly blessed as Catholics because we can encounter Jesus daily in the Sacrament of the Eucharist. Do we really understand and appreciate the power of the Sacrament of the Eucharist?

God wants to be united with us, and he accomplishes this through the Eucharist. We are called to live in dynamic union with God (Communion) and with His people (Community). The Eucharist sustains us on our spiritual journey and gives us a foretaste of Heaven. This is more important than ever as we face challenging times, in our society and in our Church.

As we strive to live our lives in relationship with Christ we should be experiencing ongoing conversion of our hearts and lives. We should be drawn into a deeper intimacy with the Lord, developing a more profound understanding of the Gospel, and a more sincere repentance from sin. There is no better way to do this than by regularly turning to the Lord and receiving his presence in the Eucharist allowing him to heal us and make us more like Christ.

I want to encourage all of you to attend the faith formation course being offered in November in the Parish. It is called the Presence: The Mystery of the Eucharist. It is an opportunity to learn about the “source and summit of our faith” and to experience learning in a community setting.

St. Anselm of Canterbury said “Faith seeks understanding. I do not seek to understand that I may believe, but I believe in order to understand.” Do not miss this opportunity to better understand the source and summit of our faith.

God bless you and those you love,

Father Titus

This week, we’re sharing Bishop Barron’s keynote talk at the recent 2018 World Meeting of Families in Dublin, Ireland. His talk was titled “Pope Francis on the Gospel of the Family.” One of our parishioners commented: "I recently listened to Bishop Robert Barron’s address to the World Meeting of Families and found it to be one of the most engaging directives to parents I’ve ever heard." Watch Here.

The end of mass- a time to pray, reflect, and celebrate the Good News with those we love (and those we should love). One of the ways this happens on Sunday's after the 9 & 11 AM masses is only footsteps away: it's a special gathering we call "Coffee Sunday's"!

 

During Coffee Sunday's we catch-up with friends, family, meet new parishioners  and have fun. Oh yeah, there are plenty of goodies and beverages to enjoy too! It's a Ministry that Father Titus started in 2014 and has since become a joyous tradition from mid-September until the end of June after both Sunday morning masses, and then after 9AM mass during the summer months (non-holiday weekends). The Catholic Women's League (CWL) and Knights of Columbus (KofC Council 11752) are co-Champions of this initiative alongside the Parish Council.

 

Coffee Sunday's can't happen without you: as an attendee or more importantly as a volunteer.

For some people it's a ministry, and for others they wish to give-back or just help out when able. No baking is required, just a willingness to act as a lead-host.Regardless of your motivation or reason, there is always a need for volunteers to step-up and fill upcoming empty slots as a lead-host.  This can be done by simply checking the Signup Genius link below, and also request to be added to the Coffee Sunday email distribution list if you haven't already! Click here.

If you've never signed up for Coffee Sunday's before, know that help is always available (drop-by volunteers), and there's also a 'Refresher / training' video to watch if needed too: Click here.

Whether you're a new or seasoned Coffee Sunday host, we thank you for your help and don't be shy to signup for session(s) of your choice.  

Cheers & we hope to see you at the next one!!

 

God Bless, John Brayman and Joanne Villeneuve

Advent starts on Dec 2 ^nd and wi thin the Advent wreath are candles that generally represent the four weeks of the Advent season as well as "the  light  of God coming into the world through the birth of Jesus Christ" . To help this tradition of lighting the candles in your own wreath, the CWL will be selling Advent Candles after each Mass on November 17 ^th and 18 ^th at the back of the church for a cost of 10.00 a set. All profits from the sales of these candles will be used to make a donation to the Nigerian Orphanage that Father Titus visits each year.

Development and Peace will be presenting our Fall Campaign focusing on the needs of people forced by difficult and varying circumstances to migrate from their homes. This is a notable international humanitarian crises with never-before-seen numbers of over 68 million people now on the move and searching for shelter. Usually, an average of 1 or maybe 2 million people would be in such need in any given year and these last few years have seen the numbers continue to increase to this alarming level. Pope Francis has called on the people of our church to consider them in our prayers and to also consider what we can do to alleviate their suffering. Development and Peace is launching this information campaign this fall called Share the Journey to assist parishioners in understanding the issues that force people to leave their homes, to understand what their needs are and to hopefully take action and ask the Government of Canada to assist as many as possible. At all Masses on November 24th and 25th information brochures will be included in the bulletin. Action cards will also be available in the pews for you to sign. The signed ones will be collected and sent to the Government of Canada. If you would like to read up on this beforehand, you can check our website at www.devp.org.  

Also, we would like to announce that Jean Lashley has volunteered to lead this campaign. Jean has had experience working with migrant workers at her previous parish in Newmarket and she is enthusiastic about promoting this campaign. We are also happy to welcome Ofure Eromosele as another new member of our group. Thank you all again for your continuing support of Development and Peace.

Nov. 1  Faith Formation: The Eucharist  7:00 p.m.

Nov. 2  All Souls’ Day Mass of Remembrance 7:00 p.m.

Nov. 5 Eucharistic Minister Training 7:00 p.m.

Nov. 6 Youth Bible Study 7:00 p.m.

Nov. 7  Pastoral Council Meeting 7:00 p.m.

Nov. 8 Faith Formation: The Eucharist 7:00 p.m.

Nov. 9  Coffee House 7:00 p.m.

Nov. 10 Lector Training 8:30 a.m.

Nov. 12 Sacristan Training 7:00 p.m.

Nov. 13 Youth Bible Study 7:00 p.m.

Nov. 14 Knights of Columbus Meeting 7:00 p.m.

Nov. 15 Faith Formation: The Eucharist 7:00 p.m.

Nov. 16 Youth Bible Study 7:00 p.m.

Nov. 20 Youth Bible Study 7:00 p.m.

Nov. 22 Faith Formation: The Eucharist 7:00 p.m.

Nov. 26 Confirmation Session 1  7:00 p.m.

Nov. 27 Youth Bible Study 7:00 p.m.

Nov. 28 CWL Meeting 7:00 p.m.

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