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The Ascension Picnic

5/29/2019

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On June 2, 2019 we celebrate The Feast of the Ascension of Our Lord in Canada, which will be the final Sunday of the Easter season. This is one of the most important feasts in the Church and commemorates the bodily Ascension of Jesus into heaven. To celebrate Ascension with your family, consider an Ascension picnic on a high place in your area after Mass on the Feast of the Ascension, or on an alternate Sunday in June. Did you know that the highest place in Calgary is the Rocky Ridge in the northwest? However, you may find a place in your area that is somewhat elevated and that will allow you to meet for a picnic. Finding a high place might be a bit of a challenge in some areas because the prairies are mainly flat. In any case, find a place with a free view of the sky where the family can have a picnic.  During the picnic, talk about Jesus’ Ascension. Recall the gospel story of Jesus leading the disciples to Bethany. He lifted his hands and blessed them. Then he vanished into a cloud and out of the sight of the disciples. If you have the text of the gospel with you (Luke 24:46-53) read it out loud. 
 
Suggested family activities:
  • After the picnic lunch look for clouds in the sky.
  • Watch the clouds and determine their shapes.
  • Pick one particular cloud and describe what it looks like.
  • Do you see it move and if so, does it change its shape?
  • Close with a prayer:
God our Father,
make us joyful in the ascension of your Son Jesus Christ.
May we follow him into the new creation,
for his ascension is our glory and our hope.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.


(Source: New Saint Joseph Sunday Missal)
For more resources to help children understand about the Ascension of the Lord, check out: https://www.pbgrace.com/ascension-for-kids

Written by: Gabriele Kalincak
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Good Shepherd Sunday

5/7/2019

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This coming Sunday is the Good Shepherd Sunday, or the World Day of Prayer for Vocations. The second collection this Sunday supports the education and formation of our seminarians. To help promote awareness of the Good Shepherd Sunday and to encourage donations for Good Shepherd Sunday, please use the graphic below for your parish social media, AV media, website or bulletin. 
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Catholic Education Week

5/7/2019

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The celebration of Catholic Education Week across Canada is an opportunity for our faith communities to promote this important ministry of the Church. The theme for Catholic Education Week 2019 is Rejoice and Be Glad. The theme is inspired by Pope Francis’ apostolic exhortation of the same name which speaks to the call to holiness in our world. To celebrate the gift of Catholic Education together with our Catholic schools, please find the resources below: 

  • Prayers of the Faithful for May, June, July and August, written by Bishop Paul Terio to support Catholic Education.
  • Letter from the Catholic Bishops of Alberta & NWT 2019 
  • Catholic Education Week & World Catholic Education Day - background & ideas
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Spring reads

5/1/2019

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Here is what we got when we asked some of our beloved clergy what books they have read and recommend: 
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Bishop Henry, Bishop Emeritus of the Diocese of Calgary
  • ​111 Questions on Islam: Samir Khalil Samir, S. J. on Islam and the West 
    "Best read in ten years!" 
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Fr. Nathan Siray, Pastor of the Our Lady of the Rockies, Canmore
  • The Lord by Romano Guardini 
    "Many Christians spend time each day reading the Gospels and meditating on the person of Jesus Christ. A beautiful supplement to this devotional reading of Holy Scripture is to read a life of Jesus Christ written by one of the great spiritual writers of our Church. Guardini's "The Lord" is a rich and prayerful reflection on the mysteries of Jesus Christ. This book is best read slowly, carefully considering the reflections and descriptions that Guardini offers, and then taking to pause, meditate and pray about what you have just read." 
  • Helena by Evelyn Waugh 
    "Evelyn Waugh was among the greatest English Catholic authors of the past century (and possibly of all time). His novel on the life of St. Helena, mother to the Emperor Constantine and pilgrim to the Holy Land, is a fictional re-imagining of the life of Helena and her journeys throughout the Holy Land to discover the relics of Jesus Christ, most notably the site of the Holy Sepulchre and the finding of the True Cross. Waugh beautifully transports you back into the 3rd century AD, inviting you to join the saintly empress as she walked in the footsteps of Jesus Christ." 
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Fr. Brian Hubka, Retired Priest
  • The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien 
  • Harry Potter: The Complete Collection (1-7) by J.K. Rowling
  • The Economist ​
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The love of a mother from the inside

5/1/2019

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Mother's love during my incarceration was unceasing, and ever so deeply was her devotion.  She not only gave birth to me; at this point, she protected and preserved me when I was most vulnerable.  Her hiatus would have been to my detriment; I would have failed not only survival but possibly the will to live also. From turning myself in to finishing my sentence in the Penitentiary, mother remained lovingly reliable. Even after denial of bail, she was the trumpet and glue holding the network of family and friends in a state of love for me. Mom was my window to my family and the outside world. She was the visitor I can count on every few days, rain or shine. Behind the glass, I saw tears held back and selfless fake smiles to protect me from negativity.

My guilt poured as she aged 10 years in the span of one, from all the stress. The prosecutor wanted 14 to 16 yrs and mother just wanted to make sure I was going to survive the next few years. Often when I was able to call out, I couldn't speak when my mother picked up. Like a lost little boy that needed his mom, and had nothing left in me to go on, I couldn't speak a word, not even hello. If I had spoken, I would have come undone in the worst way, and in jail, its forbidden to cry at all because you would immediately get preyed upon. “Who is this?! I am going to hang up if you don't talk?!” Then she went silent for a few seconds because intuitively she sensed it was me. “Son? I know its you, I know you can't talk, and you need to hear my voice. Listen to me; you will be ok; everything will work out. I love you son, and everyone loves you. We will not stop loving you and will always be here for you.”

As an immigrant, oblivious to Western incarceration, she asked my lawyer if there was a way she can go to jail with me so she can feed me because I was shriveling up from the outcome. She prayed constantly and cried out to God everyday and night. She fasted and made many promises to God wanting to trade her life for mine. I tried to stop the visits, but mother never failed on them, even when I became so hopeless and couldn't go on believing there was anymore hope to get out or survive and I wanted to be forgotten because of the pain from the glimmer of hope.

Mom always reminded me to pray to God constantly and told me God will take care of me in there and He will watch over my isolated children. Mother was at every court session, many times with food in hand hoping to give me a bite because it absolutely tortured her to see me so thin. Years later to this day, I watch her pray everyday before every meal, and I see her do it under her breath for everything. She reminds me that no one stands besides another as much as a mother for her child. There is nothing comparable to a mother's love in my opinion. From my childhood to my incarceration and the aftermath, my mother had become my hero because of all that she is and continues to be in my life. 

​Written by Kyle T. in Calgary for Faithfully
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Like mother, like daughter

5/1/2019

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Danielle Tomiak (Sacred Heart Parish, Calgary) is quick to admit that the adage ‘like mother, like daughter’ rings true for her and her own mother, Tracy Tomiak. 

“Our temperaments are kind of the same. Our reactions are kind of the same. As I continue to grow up, I hear myself sounding like her. And we look very much alike. It’s cool to have that connection with my mom,” said Danielle, the fourth of five siblings. 

They will even be brides at the same age. Tracy was 23 when she married her husband Bill Tomiak 30 years ago, and Danielle will be 23 when she marries Nathaniel de Jesus this June. As Danielle prepares for her vocation, she’s reflects on how her mother has been a model of both strength and femininity throughout her life.

Many don’t know that Tracy suffers from chronic pain after her car was rear-ended 15 years ago. 

“She used her suffering and united it to Christ for the greater glory of our family. She accepted it and turned it into something good. She used her struggles and her weaknesses and turned them into strength,” said Danielle, a parishioner at Sacred Heart Church.

Tracy, a member of Holy Name Parish, went on to achieve her masters in counselling and now runs her own marriage and family counselling practice.

“My mom is a powerhouse. In my eyes, she is the view of feminism in the world today. She’s fought for her (counselling) career not because ‘I’m a woman, I deserve a career’ but because she wants to help people and love people through her own feminine genius,” said Danielle.  

But for most of Tracy’s adult life, she worked inside the home raising four daughters and one son, now aged 21 to 29. And she is now active in the lives of her two young grandchildren. 
As her children, “we are all very different but my mom has loved us in all our differences,” said Danielle. “She has shown me how to receive love as a woman from a man, and how to love tenderly as a woman, and how to own my femininity and not to be afraid of who I am and who God made me to be.”  

Danielle describes her mother as having been a popular high school student, captain of all the sports teams, and a participant in her small town parades. Tracy converted to Catholicism a few years after high school graduation, before her marriage. It’s hard for Danielle to picture a time when her mom wasn’t a devout Catholic. Relationships are what matters most to Tracy: her relationship with God, her family and community.

“She loves bringing people together. She brings everyone into the home constantly,” said Danielle. “She loves spending time with her family. She would do that over anything else.”
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Tracy Tomiak

Written by Sara Francis
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Lessons from grandmother

5/1/2019

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Mary Vos and her family
Monica Boehm (St. Michael Catholic Community) turns 30 this year, and she will welcome her third child in August. This Mother’s Day, she reflects on how her grandmother, Mary Vos, already had seven children by the same age.

“I have deep admiration for her (doing that) at that time. I look at her at that age as really giving her whole life to having children and raising children,” said Monica.  

“She is very selfless. I just find motherhood more difficult than she found it. Maybe it came naturally to her, or maybe it didn’t. She did struggle. I know there were times where it was hard.” 

“As a mother myself, she has always taught me the importance of unconditional love, and slowing down the time we have with (our children) because the world moves so quickly around us. To raise our children to be mindful, kind and caring people.” 
Monica describes her 88-year-old grandmother as the matriarch of the family. With 11 children, 51 grandchildren and 14 great grandchildren, Mary and her late husband Hank have left an incredible legacy.

“She’s the head mother that I look toward, and I base my motherhood off of her,” said Monica. “She would not just get us together, but get us having fun and bonding. She has a ton of energy. And she is so stylish. Her hat and shoes always go together. She presents herself very well.” 

Every December, Mary hosts a Christmas party at a downtown hotel for her entire extended family. They go skating in Olympic Plaza, swimming at the hotel pool, followed by Mass, dinner and a talent show where everyone is encouraged to perform. 
Mary, who sings and plays piano, has always tried to develop her children’s musical talent. The family created an album under the name ‘Vos Family Singers,’ performing at the Calgary Stampede, the Spokane World's Fair, the Montreal Olympics and a tour of Great Britain.

But while music is important, it is Mary’s Catholic faith that is the foundation for her close-knit family. A long-time St. Michael Community parishioner, she attends the parish with several of her children and grandchildren, including Monica. 

“She is always telling us to surround ourselves with those who enhance our walk with Jesus. That’s her big reminder to us in our lives. She always reminds us to trust God’s timing. And also to place your anxieties on the Lord,” said Monica.

After Mary’s husband Henry died four years ago, Mary got a custom rosary made with the initials of her grandchildren engraved on each bead. She dedicates a Hail Mary to each of her grandchildren as she prays the rosary daily and afterward, she sends a text to whichever grandchild came to mind during her prayer.  

Mary has managed to pass on a Marian devotion down through the generations. Growing up, Monica remembers her mother Cathy Sandquist’s desire to imitate Mary, Mother of God and Matriarch of the faith. “I always remember my mom saying ‘let me be more like the Virgin Mary.’”

According to Monica, faith and family is the foundation upon which Mary has built her life and created a legacy for generations to come. 

Written by Sara Francis
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What I gave him this year...

5/1/2019

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This year, on the birthday of my newly turned two-year-old son, Lorenzo I looked around the house, and I wondered what I could give a boy who is so lovely, has such spirit, loves us so deeply and has such fire.

As I swept the floor and set up the balloons, I asked myself, does my two-year-old really care if the floor is swept? And it led me down the path of - what am I really giving him this year on his birthday?

I often feel that my strongest desire for him, and all my kids, is that they know they are safe, loved and that they live in a Holy environment. That they eat well, that they know that their Papa and I would do anything to keep them alive, strong and protected. That they constantly strive for brotherly love between them.

Most importantly, I know my job is to show them the love of God. So maybe sweeping the floor can do that, maybe giving extra gifts can do that, maybe extra patience every day, even though right now I need that patience often, just a little bit, or an extra squeeze, or a smile, could be the best gift I can give him.
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The Roman family
So, I keep trying. Although sweeping the floor with a two and four-year-old is something akin to shoveling while there is an extreme snowfall warning in effect, I do believe it shows the depth of our love. And even though every corner of the house, don’t be fooled, every corner is filled with dust, but as the main area is clean, this should reflect my love.
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The big moment came when I asked myself - What did he give me this year?

Lorenzo, you constantly give me lessons in humility. You challenge my every thought about myself as a patient, extra loving, non-yelling person. You make me laugh at how much you already understand humour and silliness and intonation. You melt my heart when you ask me to “cudo” you each night in your big-boy bed. I am awed by your ability to express yourself to anyone, and everyone who’ll listen and I look up to your courage and heart-on-sleeve passion.

So, I’d say this year when it comes to your birthday gifts, you gave me many more gifts than I could’ve ever purchased for you.

I can’t wait to see your pushed-out, soother-toothed smile, hear your lisp and feel your pudgy fingers around my neck tomorrow morning. I can't wait to brush your screamed-out tears off of your dry cheeks and help you “boow nose peas” when it drips. I pray I will find the grace that I’m certain God is providing me, to be extra patient with your loud voice and big emotions and help your brother and Papa, to do the same.

You are my love baby, my Valentine’s Day reminder to have extra love in my heart and I can’t wait to sweep the floor out of love for you again tomorrow.
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Papá (Sebastian), Elias and I love you so much we could just “ea chew”. We love every moment of you. And I love that my call in life is to live the little things for you with great love, sanctity and joy. Thank you for challenging me always and keeping me in check with my pride. I love being your Mama. 

Written by Cyra Roman, parishioner of St. Peter's Parish in Calgary
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Women of faith and courage

5/1/2019

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Mothers are often portrayed in both fictional and nonfictional literature in ways that reflect the complex demands they face in life. This literature often captures our imagination by portraying women of strength who face hardships and challenges with determination, strength, and a selfless love for the well-being of their children. This is indeed a significant part of being a mother – facing the adversities of life and preparing children to withstand them. For Catholics, the Blessed Virgin Mary is an inspiring model of both determination and joy who is not protected from the sorrow and anguish of being a mother.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) 1172 emphasizes the maternal importance of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Church which stems from her care of Jesus, her Son, by stating that the “Holy Church honors the Blessed Mary, Mother of God, with a special love. She is inseparably linked with the saving work of her Son. In her, the Church admires and exalts the most excellent fruit of redemption and joyfully contemplates, as in a faultless image that which she desires and hopes wholly to be." The Gospel of John provides the account of the moment she becomes a mother to Jesus’ disciples and thus the Church, “When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he said to his mother, “Woman, here is your son. “ Then he said to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” (John 19: 26-27)  [CCC 964]

In his 1965 encyclical, Mense Maio, Pope Paul VI recognized May as the month for the Marian devotions, “May is a month which the piety of the faithful has long dedicated to Mary, the Mother of God.  …  For this is the month during which Christians, in their churches and their homes, offer the Virgin Mother more fervent and loving acts of homage and veneration; and it is the month in which a greater abundance of God's merciful gifts comes down to us from our Mother's throne.” 

Many of our parishes are named after Mary, others offer the Rosary daily during the month of May and they could erect an altar with a statute or a picture of Mary as a reminder of this Marian month.  It is a long-standing tradition to crown the statue of Mary during May to honour her faithfulness.  Additionally, the Feast of Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church, was instituted by Pope Francis in 2018 and is celebrated on the Monday after Pentecost.  Mary’s example of trust, faith, and strength inspire us in the living of our faith.  

These devotions encourage us to imitate the Blessed Virgin Mary’s virtues in our own lives and to think of the women of faith and courage who nurture and inspire us – firstly, our mothers and grandmothers.  They have a vital, even irreplaceable, role in our lives.  Their love, faith, courage, strength, and humility guide us through the experiences of life so that we can follow God’s call and live our lives in service to others.  And then we think of the women who are maternal figures in our lives, the women who devote themselves to living an authentic and courageous witness of faith through acts of sacrificial love.

In his Apostolic Exhortation Gaudete Et Exsultate, On the Call to Holiness in Today’s World, Pope Francis writes about women of faith saying, “Within these various forms, I would stress too that the “genius of woman” is seen in feminine styles of holiness, which are an essential means of reflecting God’s holiness in this world. Indeed, in times when women tended to be most ignored or overlooked, the Holy Spirit raised up saints whose attractiveness produced new spiritual vigour and important reforms in the Church. We can mention Saint Hildegard of Bingen, Saint Bridget, Saint Catherine of Siena, Saint Teresa of Avila and Saint Thérèse of Lisieux. But I think too of all those unknown or forgotten women who, each in her own way, sustained and transformed families and communities by the power of their witness.”  (GE, 12)
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In this month of Marian devotion, let us pray for and honour the women in our lives and in our Faith Tradition who have “sustained and transformed families and communities by the power of their witness.” (GE, 12)
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Most Rev. William T. McGrattan, Bishop of Calgary

Most Reverend W. T. McGrattan, D.D., Bishop of Calgary
May 2019

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Rest on The Flight into Egypt, c. 1510 by Gerard David​
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A book review: Sanctify Your Daily Life

5/1/2019

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​“Work is man's original vocation,” wrote St. Josemaria Escriva. “It is a blessing from God, and those who consider it a punishment are sadly mistaken.”[1] This theological reality is communicated to us early within scripture. In the second chapter of Genesis, prior to the fall of Adam, we are told that the Lord “took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to till it and keep it.”[2]

Yet in our contemporary, modernized society, it is even rare for farmers to push ploughs with any regularity. Instead, as technology has expanded, more and more people have found themselves buried under a perpetual deluge of emails and invisibly tethered to their employers through their smartphones. Work as we know it bears little resemblance to the horticultural endeavor blessed in Eden. The passage of time seems to have transported the ennobling task assigned to Adam from the idyllic backdrop of Eden to the figurative Jerusalem of the industrial revolution as described by Blake: “And did the Countenance Divine, Shine forth upon our clouded hills? And was Jerusalem builded here, Among these dark Satanic Mills?”[3]

Given the world in which we live, it is easy to understand why many often assume that the sin of Adam has deformed the nature of work in its very essence. The disparity between what was and what is has inclined many to think of work as something which ought to be overcome in order to pursue greater spiritual endeavours.

The Catechism, however, teaches us that “work is for man, not man for work.”[4]
Only through fulfilling both the social and spiritual duties attached to work do will fully cooperate with God’s plan. Rather than presenting a stumbling block to spiritual growth, work offers us solid steps upon which we can ascend closer to the Lord.

To engage in work in a way that will allow an individual harvest its spiritual fruits, one requires a deep understanding of the purpose and nature of work. In “Sanctify Your Daily Life: How to Transform Work into a Source of Strength, Holiness and Joy”, Stefan Cardinal Wyszynski ably guides the reader by clarifying misunderstandings relating to the theology of work and offering concrete spiritual advice in everyday contexts.

Mentor and friend to St. John Paul the Great, Wyszynski demonstrates a personal understanding of the practical challenges of work: monotonous tasks, limited resources, intensifying responsibilities, time constraints, office politics, etc. Writing in post-war Poland, he also anticipated the challenges that have accompanied technological change, warning that as human work moves from a creative endeavor to one of procedural execution, technology descends from a “triumph of the human brain to being its enemy.”[5]

While systematically describing the spiritual virtues which are developed in work, Wyszynski also offers profound insights into the accompanying psychological and sociological hurdles which are present within our hearts, our minds and our work communities. As such, the text reads as a stimulating blend of both spiritual treatise and a business ethics guidebook.

Guided by Cardinal Wyszynski, the reader will come to understand that “the result of all human work should be not merely the perfecting of the thing produced, but also the perfecting of the worker; not merely external order in work, but also inner order in man.”[6]

[1] Furrow, 482
[2] Genesis 2:15
[3] William Blake, “Jerusalem”
[4] Catechism, 2428
[5] Page 27
[6] Page 141
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Written by Theodoric Nowak, Director of Social Justice & Outreach Ministries
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A Life Witness

5/1/2019

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In 1992 my husband and I were expecting a son, and at about 18 weeks into the pregnancy, doctors saw serious anomalies on the ultrasound. The baby’s kidneys were not developing, and there was serious concern about lack of enough amniotic fluid for the baby to continue to grow in time. We took a wait and see attitude, and we were now managing a ‘high-risk pregnancy’.

From the time you find out that you are pregnant, you become active parents. You start making decisions for that baby’s life right away.
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Baby Brandon Joseph
As my pregnancy progressed, medical concerns for the baby’s life and my own life were discussed. The doctors recommended ‘terminating the pregnancy’ at around 27 weeks. I refused all ideas of ‘terminating.’ Then the doctors suggested testing to see if the baby would have chromosomal issues. This would not change my decision, but the result may have affected their ideas on how to treat this high-risk pregnancy with respect. The test came back normal, and we learned that we were having a son. We immediately gave him the first gift that parents can give their child, his name. Brandon Joseph.

It became ‘medically necessary’ to deliver the baby early, thereby terminating the pregnancy, but not necessarily the baby. Immediately after birth, baby Brandon was baptised.

Every day of Brandon’s life had value because of the effect his personality had on each person who met him – his parents, his sister, and the doctors, nurses, volunteer cuddlers, interns, roommates, and extended family. Brandon lived for seven months. Just as any loved one who dies in a family, his memory continues to influence our family to this day.
Today, I am the educational resource consultant for Calgary Pro-Life Association. School teachers invite me to their classrooms to give presentations on positive self-esteem, and the miracle of life/fetal development, to students in grades five to 12!

During one presentation, students hear the sound of the fetal heartbeat that started between 18 and 22 days; then learn that at four weeks, they were the size of my thumb nail; at six weeks their brain was developing, and at 12 weeks they were the size of my thumb! We continue to talk about the development of the fetus until birth.

All of us have a responsibility to affirm life in our culture. We need to ask ourselves: How are we modeling the virtues of motherhood to our daughters and the virtue of fatherhood to our sons? How are we raising men who will support women in that natural affection that they ought to have for their children?
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Tell everyone you meet, no matter the age or stage in life, that they really matter and that they have a life purpose that is exciting to watch as it continues to be revealed day by day! This is how we share the pro-life message so that women and men will know that they have the right to life; and the right to choose life for themselves; for their own children now, and in the future.

Written by Moniqe Achtman, ​parishioner of Holy Spirit Parish, and Educational Resource Consultant for Calgary Pro-Life Association. www.calgaryprolife.com 

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Monique Achtman
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Like my mother, I found my own path

5/1/2019

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Jessica Cyr & her family
When I was a little girl, I remember my mom talking about her career aspirations – the things she dreamed of doing before I came along – and how when I came, she decided that staying home with me would be better. I vividly remember looking up at my mother, who was the most wonderful person I knew and in my 4- or 5-year-old mind thinking, “I want to be just like you.” I often go back to this version of myself when I start getting anxious about the path I’ve chosen; to stay home with my children like my mom before me.
Last week I found myself having the conversation about “what I do,” with other women. A bunch of soccer-moms trying to make small talk leaves me a bit wary.

“I stay at home with my five kids.” I said, eliciting replies of “Wow,” and “Five? You have five children?”, and then “and do you work?” (the question I was dreading).

“I work,” I say carefully, “having five kids means there’s a lot of work.”

A somewhat uncomfortable laugh. “Oh, of course, there is. Five! I just can’t imagine. But before kids, what did you do?”

“My background is in journalism. Now sometimes I freelance on the side,” I say.

I sense relief as I share this. A collective sigh as I share what I’ve contributed to life beyond the home. I do mean that sarcastically, because though I highly respect meaningful work outside the home, I don’t see why it can’t be on equal ground with the meaningful work many other women and I do within our homes. Aside from my household though, I am privileged to have the time for mother’s groups, school volunteering, and to commune with other moms who stay home. Women are needed in so many roles, and the choices we have today are abundant. There is a bit of material sacrifice in staying home, but I say this as a woman with the choice that many others don’t have due to poverty. The few things we don’t have compared to the time with my children are small.

I don’t view my position in the home as one might view a typical job, so I don’t want to call it a career, but I so badly want to convey to others that it is fulfilling. If I said the word “vocation,” in the soccer-mom crowd, I’m not sure what kind of looks I would get. 

In explaining vocation, the Catechism of the Catholic Church (898) states that “it belongs to the laity” – that is people who are not priests or religious; ordinary people like your average mom – “to seek the kingdom of God by engaging in temporal affairs and directing them toward God’s will.”

That means that even I, an ordinary mother, have a role to play in the kingdom. In my endless laundry, in my nightly wakings with babies and in all of the budgeting, story reading, disciplining and other seemingly mundane things that I do in my home, there is the opportunity to “direct them” to God and His ultimate plan. 

I certainly know quite a few Catholic mothers whose vocation also includes a career balanced with home. But I think we must remember that mothers in any walk of life are not the sum of what they do, but that motherhood is wrapped up in womanhood and indeed humanity itself. 

St. John Paul II famously wrote a thank you to mothers in his 1995 Letter to Women, 

“You have sheltered human beings within yourselves in a unique experience of joy and travail. This experience makes you become God's own smile upon the newborn child, the one who guides your child's first steps, who helps it to grow, and who is the anchor as the child makes its way along the journey of life.”​

These important words have echoed in my heart since I began on my own mothering journey 10 years ago. Being the anchor and the guide is no easy task, but seeing those first steps, hearing those first words and having the luxury of time with my children is an immense privilege. Some days are hard, and it is on those days that I think “Was I ‘God’s own smile’ or was I Satan’s scowl to these children.” 

The great responsibility of raising four boys and a little girl is a heavy burden, which some days is eased only by the very idea that God’s grace is upon my husband and me to do it. It also eases my mind to know that even great saints struggled in this vocation:

“I could never have imagined how much I would suffer being a mother,” wrote St. Gianna Beretta Molla to her husband in 1958, “… It’s a good thing you’re more optimistic than I am so you can encourage me – otherwise, my morale would be almost below zero.”

St. Zelie Martin, mother of St. Therese of Lisieux wrote in a letter to one of her daughters, “I long for rest. I have not even the courage to struggle on. I feel the need of quiet reflection to think of salvation, which the complications of this world have made me neglect.” 

In some ways, life has grown only more complicated for mothers since the time of St. Zelie, but we continue to look for the very same things; quiet reflection, rest, balance.

I find solace in the community of women I’ve built over the years; people who understand what the Catholic faith teaches about family and vocation. Without these gracious and welcoming women, I might’ve thought that staying at home with children is not for me. Coffee flows in the homes of my friends, and an understanding ear is there when I need it. 

My mother converted to Catholicism when I was a child, and her example of fervent love for God and practice of the faith has shaped my motherhood. Hence, I also find encouragement within the Church I was brought up in. I’ve been blessed to encounter priests who smile on my family and welcome their noise and laughter, even in the middle of their homilies. I’ve been fortunate to have encountered those amazing people who will hold a baby, or just smile kindly at us when the children are being children. And in my role at home, it is my joy to bring the Church and its beauty to my children.

Written by Jessica Cyr, parishioner of St. Bernard / Our Lady of Assumption in Calgary.
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Family mission: to get to heaven

5/1/2019

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That mission is what is crudely written in a child’s handwriting on a large post-it note at the main exit of our family home. It’s a big goal - getting to heaven, especially with all the personality flaws, conflicts, imperfections - and those are just a few of my shortcomings - we haven’t even addressed the other seven people in my family!

I didn’t start out on this motherhood journey thinking I wanted a large family. Often God’s plan for our lives goes in completely different directions than expected. My husband Dave and I have six beautiful kids ages ranging in age from almost 3 to 16.  Each of my children is very individual, with different needs, temperaments, wants, goals and dreams.  How do we as a family balance all that chaos and get to our ultimate goal? With grace, prayer and a lot of outside help.

In what seems like a former life, I was a Special Education teacher. In the classroom every child had an individualized plan to get them to their desired educational goal. My educational goals for our kids are for them to develop good character and to learn how to learn. With these ideals in mind, our family has been through it all in the search for the perfect educational opportunity for each of the kids. At different stages of our family life, we have homeschooled, tried blended school, done online classes, gone to private schools and finally landed in publicly-funded Catholic schools.  

Through it all, the one commonality that we needed to be present: faith.  What we found through our educational journey was our family needs other supportive adults to help us mold our children into the godly citizens that we hope they become. We need other people to challenge us, grow with us and keep us on our journey. We have been blessed to have some amazing teachers, priests and friends help us in the formation of our kids.

Right now, all our school-age children are in the Calgary Catholic system. What a blessing to have a publicly funded system with faith intertwined into the message. Here is the beauty I see:  all my children will eventually need to retain their faith in the secular world. It is easier to surround them with people who are as serious about the ultimate goal as ourselves. In this increasingly secular world, it is tough not to feel the pressures of conformity banging relentlessly at our family door. I know there is a balance, Catholic schools invite children in, from all walks and journeys. However, the backbone of the school is Christ. Sometimes it’s hard to see Him, but He is invited in. The door is open to our children and community. This allows my children to go to school with diversity in thought and culture, which gives our family the opportunity to discuss serious questions and have heartfelt conversations about topics of faith and life before they leave our home. 

At a Catholic school, the environment feels like home, because Christ is there. How we get to heaven is through Christ. In faith, I hope we will all complete our family mission and we will continue to learn and grow together to get there.

Written by Kimberly Cichon
Picture
The Cichon Family.
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