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A new member of the Body of Christ

12/12/2018

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Sharing with you a baptism story of Yuan Wang, a member of the University of Calgary Catholic Community. Wang is a Mechanical Engineering student at U of C, and he was baptized on Dec. 8 (Solemnity of Immaculate Conception) by Fr. Cristino Bouvette at Sacred Heart Church, Calgary.

Pre Baptism
After learning about the Catholic faith for a few years, I got to a point where I didn’t know what I was waiting for. It took me a while to build up the courage to tell my parents about my decision and to take this leap. But I couldn’t be more excited, happy and at peace with my decision to become a Catholic Christian. I am getting baptized because I want to be able to receive the fullness of Christ and to live in His glory.
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​Post Baptism
After being baptized and living a Catholic Christian life for a couple days now, I can definitely say that I’m so glad I made this decision and I couldn’t be more happy and at peace. However, to be frank, I was a little nervous the last half hour before my baptism. But as the mass began, the nerves started going away and I just got more and more excited. To be supported by so many loving friends and to be part of such an amazing Catholic community is such a big blessing.

​I am beyond grateful and so thankful for everyone that has been supporting me and helped me be where I am today. I am super excited and happy to be part of such an awesome family. Being able to receive Jesus in the Eucharist for the first time was an amazing experience. It has given me a whole new meaning to mass. After being a spectator, more or less, for the past 3 years, being able to finally take part in communion has been amazing. It is still surreal and crazy to think about the fact that I’m a Catholic now. This was a crazy and long journey, but everything worked in God’s time. Now it’s the beginning of a new journey as I try my best to live a Catholic Christian life.  

Written by: Yuan Wang
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A hot meal with a side of faith, hope and charity

12/12/2018

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​The lineup for a free hot meal organized by the Diocese of Calgary often begins an hour before the doors to St. Mary’s Parish Hall open at 3:30 p.m. Rain or shine, wind or snow, people come by the hundreds. Most arrive on foot, some aided by canes or walkers. Others come alone. The adults will all take a seat beside others gathered at the long communal tables, but some will never speak.
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Those with children walk around to the hall’s back entrance. Pushing strollers, carrying toddlers, holding the hands of shy children and smiling at the antics of tweens and teens, they will be seated in the family section of the weekly supper known as Feed the Hungry (FTH). At one dinner held this past summer, a young mother travelled 90 minutes—taking three city buses—for the opportunity to take her three boys out for a meal. Illness keeps her from working. Her boys keep her from giving into despair.
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Faith, hope and charity

A modern-day version of the Christmas story plays out near St. Mary’s Cathedral nearly every Sunday night of the year. Here, the menu includes a hot meal served alongside a good helping of faith, hope and charity.

A downtown Calgary institution since 1994, FTH welcomes as many as 500 people to its Sunday suppers. The event gives many of its guests temporary respite from emergency shelters. They are joined by parents with low income who welcome a break from meals made with items found in emergency food hampers; seniors parenting grandchildren; single people, couples and families couch-surfing through their wait for affordable housing; working parents for whom a couple of days off work to nurse a sick child means the month’s pay cheque no longer covers rent and food. Other guests may like to sleep “rough,” but welcome a tasty hot meal made and served by kind people.

Across the room from the family tables sit the less-than-sober. Every guest, regardless of age or situation, will receive table-side service of salad, a hot meal, beverages and desserts. Guests are welcome to ask for seconds and it’s not uncommon for the volunteer servers to step in when they see a young eater who’s not happy about the night’s fare. “Your little boy doesn’t like tonight’s entrée? Let me check with the chef. We’ll find him something.”
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For a few hours once a week, there is always room at this inn.
It takes a village

Every FTH meal is sponsored by a parish, company or community group, says Program Manager Sartre Jean-Gilles. Sponsors donate $5,000 and agree to supply up to 100 volunteers. To keep everything running smoothly, another set of regular volunteers serve as Team Leads and oversee specific stations. The menu is managed by other rotating teams of volunteer cooks. Some cooking teams are organized around parish links. Others are staffed by groups of friends.

Bishop William McGrattan likes the way FTH garners widespread community support. While many of its benefactors are Catholic, others participate simply because they seek to serve the less fortunate. The Bishop is also a fan of how FTH enables children to serve alongside their parents.
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​As diners leave the hall, many pick up a “hospitality bag” of food provided by the Calgary Food Bank. In late November, guests were also invited to write a Christmas letter or sign a card to be sent, postage paid, anywhere in Canada. “Guests were so excited to be able to reach out to family and friends like that. Many hadn’t done anything like this for years,” says Jean-Gilles.

​The Christmas spirit continued on Dec. 9, when Santa dropped by FTH to bring the children presents and their parents grocery store cards. That meal was sponsored by Calgary Rotary South, with Heninger Toyota and its employees donating the gifts and grocery cards.
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Volunteers in charge of seating that night’s families relayed critical information about the children to the Heninger team members doubling as North Pole elves. “When they let us know who’s coming on stage to see Santa, we get busy wrapping the gifts,” says Heninger’s Kevin Jones. “Because this all happens behind the scenes, it looks like magic for the kids.”
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Thanks to Heninger Toyota and its employees, 125 children left the Santa supper with a gift and 45 families received a grocery gift card to help them buy Christmas supper.
On Dec. 16, an anonymous sponsor will treat dinner guests to live entertainment. Each of the diners will also receive a $10 gift card for a fast food restaurant. Those cards were donated by parishioners, FTH sponsors, vendors and volunteers.
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Watching the first group of diners enter the hall, one of the Dec. 9 volunteers smiles. He’s been here before and he’s pleased to be back. “I’ve learned not to judge.” He doesn’t need to know why his guests are there. He’s just grateful they have a place to come.

Written by: Joy Gregory
  • ​Information about sponsoring an FTH event—or getting involved as a volunteer— is available through the Feed the Hungry office. While many sponsors are eager to book their dates for 2019, there is always room for more at the table. 
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Advent waiting and the life of a prisoner

12/12/2018

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Would you go to jail for Jesus? That’s the question the Roman Catholic Diocese of Calgary is asking people of faith—and a growing number of those who hear that request are choosing to walk into provincial and federal prisons on a regular basis.

As volunteers with the Diocese’s prison ministry, most go to pray with people who can’t leave when the allotted time is up. Retired seniors and working professionals, they know their ministry raises the eyebrows—and sometimes the blood pressure— of family and friends. Why would you do that? Aren’t you afraid? It seems risky to me. Their collective response?

Because Jesus asked me, I am not afraid, I am grateful.

“It’s a humbling experience,” says Elly, 78, of her regular visits to the Lethbridge Correctional Centre. There, she prays the rosary once a week, returning once a month for mass. Led by the Holy Spirit, she’s now thinking that’s not enough. “We don’t have enough time to just talk with the people.” Elly arrived at that realization while attending the annual prison ministry volunteer appreciation luncheon which welcomed current and potential prison ministry volunteers who have been attending an introductory workshop.

Organized by the Social Justice office, the introduction to prison ministry workshop included a discussion of prison ministry in the context of the Catholic faith. Participants were invited to a special prison ministry volunteer appreciation luncheon on Saturday, August 18. There, David Milgaard was one of the speakers.

Milgaard, who was jailed at 17, spent 23 years in federal penitentiaries for a crime he did not commit. At the luncheon, he likened volunteer visitors to the opportunity to breathe fresh air. Calling prison “a horrible place,” he credits the quiet witness of volunteer visitors with bringing Christ into his life. He also admits that happened over time. What he most appreciated about the people who visited him was news from the outside; tidbits of normalcy delivered to a life behind bars.

Jack, another former inmate, delivered a tainted version of that same message. Imprisoned in federal institutions in Bowden and Drumheller, Jack was matched with a visitor who simply didn’t show up. He was grateful, however, for the post-prison support with housing and employment that he received from Peter Worsley, a reintegration-chaplain with Bridge Ministries, a Mennonite Central Committee program funded in part by the Diocese. Worsley introduced Jack at the workshop.

Jack and Milgaard say life in prison was made tougher by the constant pressure of gangs. They also grappled with the ongoing temptation, fueled by a human instinct to survive, to park their morals at the prison gates.

The ministry-prep workshop, which will be held again in the Spring, is one of the ways the Diocese helps volunteers prepare to take on Christ’s work in the community, says Outreach Ministries coordinator Marilou LeGeyt.
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That support is important to volunteers like Elly, who’s relatively new to this ministry. She says the volunteer appreciation luncheon, which included several deacons involved with prison ministry, strengthened her commitment. “It’s hard to explain. But every time I come home from the prison, I feel somehow that I’ve done what Jesus asks me to do.”

Written by: Joy Gregory
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Left to Right: Peter Worsley, Marilou LeGeyt, Jack, David Milgaard
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A prayer for grandma

12/12/2018

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Dear Friends and Family,
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Tuesday, starting at 5 pm, a group of us gathered at St. Mary’s Church in Brooks to pray for my Grandmother and her soul.  We asked Christ to intervene in convincing her and others that dying a natural death allows God’s grace and mercy to be poured out upon all people involved.  

We sang many beautiful hymns, prayed the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, sat in silence, Adored Christ in the Blessed Sacrament and celebrated Holy Mass together.  Afterwards, a group of people gathered at my home for fellowship, food and drink.  We toasted to my Grandmother’s life and to one another.
Miracle 1
At 9 pm I looked at my phone and saw that my parents had been texting me and asking me to call them immediately.  I did so and was shocked and amazed to find out that right after we had prayed the Chaplet of Divine Mercy in the church, my 97 year old Grandma Margaret McGillis unexpectedly refused physician assisted suicide.  “PRAISE GOD!” I cried out.  I was so happy and appreciative to God that he had answered our prayers and the prayers of so many others.  When I told my family and friends who were gathered in my home, there were tears, looks of disbelief, joyous smiles and words expressing amazement.
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Miracle 2
The next day, on Wednesday, September 19th, my Grandma McGillis told my mother that she would not seek physician assisted suicide again.  Instead, she would be trying to get out of her room more often and would plan on attending more social events so she would not be so depressed.  (Our family is arranging for her to have a cell phone so we can call her every day.  We will also arrange for daily female visitors – with Grandma’s permission. Family will discern how we may visit her more often.  Cards and letter support will also be arranged.)
Please continue to pray for my Grandmother to accept natural death as a gift to her and to our family.  Also, pray for ways that we may influence society to understand the graces poured out upon us when we visit the suffering and care for them as we would want to be cared for ourselves. Increased personal support and prayer support for those in poor health will reduce the chances of people seeking physician assisted suicide.
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Thank you to all of you who prayed for my Grandmother, for my family and for our world.  I know that well over a hundred people agreed to pray and that four masses were offered up by priests and a Bishop and a Brother for my Grandmother on the day she was scheduled to die.  Intercessory prayer IS heard and has the power to change the future.
Pope Francis, in Evangelii Gaudium, mentions intercessory prayer.

A great brief meditation on intercessory prayer:
283. The great men and women of God were great intercessors. Intercession is like “a leaven in the heart of the Trinity”. It is a way of penetrating the Father’s heart and discovering new dimensions which can shed light on concrete situations and change them. We can say that God’s heart is touched by our intercession, yet in reality he is always there first. What our intercession achieves is that his power, his love and his faithfulness are shown ever more clearly in the midst of the people.

After this experience, I am filled with thankfulness to God and his great mercy and for the people of God who continue to pray for each other.  Most of all, the message I receive from this situation is, Prayer is Powerful and Prayer Works!  I feel drawn to pray with other people more often using song, scripture, Prayers of the Faithful, the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, the Holy Rosary and daily Mass.
In closing, I would like to invite you to think about spending a half hour a week supporting a person who is suffering. If you are a person who is interested in visiting people in the palliative care unit in Brooks, please let me know. I’ll help you and partner up with you, if you like.  In addition, if you would like to visit people in palliative care units or hospices in other cities, but don’t know how to go about it, please let me know.  I can provide you with a step-by-step guide explaining how to approach care unit staff in order to gain access to patients who want visitors. In addition, the guide includes recommended strategies that will allow your visits go well.
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Again, thank you for your prayers, your emails, phone calls and personal visits associated with my Grandma’s situation.  You have been Christ’s light in the darkness.

​With gratitude and increased faith,
Kim Heinrichs
  • ​“And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.” 1 John:14-15
  • “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” Mark 11:24
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Relationships in a digital age

12/12/2018

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​There is no arguing that digital technology has become a way of life for nearly all of us. We use our smartphones, tablets and other devices to stay ‘plugged into’ the world. We connect, we search, we share, we communicate …all through our devices. It is an internet generation, but is it too much? How do we navigate through this digital world and how do we help students do the same?

Christ The Redeemer (CTR) Catholic Schools has launched a new initiative in its 17 schools that focuses on supporting students living in this busy and noisy digital world. As author, speaker and podcaster Matt Fradd puts it, “helping maintain an internal filter in an unfiltered world.”

The purpose of the initiative, called #Relationships in a Digital Age, is to develop both curriculum and school culture which will help students to examine the impact that screen time and smartphones have on their relationships with God and each other, with an overarching personal wellness focus. CTR will challenge students to unplug, be present and look up and notice the world around them.  

With support from parents and school staff, students will be able to challenge today’s cultural norms and look thoughtfully into the areas of mental health, relationships, sustained attention and responsible decision-making. There are growing concerns surrounding the increased use of technology by students in our care such as cyberbullying, shaming, sexting and pornography.  The motto of #Relationships is: “to create a culture around the use of technology that teaches balance between our digital lives and the lives we lead face-to-face to love in community as God intended.” 
 
Students in our care need support in evaluating the impact of all the “noise” in their lives. Our faith is the logical starting point in developing a response to some of these online safety and relational issues. The first relationship our students need to cultivate is the one with God, followed by Christ’s second greatest commandment, which is love thy neighbour.  Drawing on concepts related to the Theology of the Body philosophy and the Fourth R© (relationship) program, lesson sets will be developed for students in Grades 4 to 11, focusing on students' relational safety and personal wellness as it relates to our increasingly online world.

Partnering with parents will be a key part of this initiative. We will share information with parents relating to healthy best practices regarding screen time for the benefit of their toddlers through to the teenage years. The issue of smartphone use becomes something parents should reflect on the moment they consider letting their children access a smartphone.  With older children, parents are the school’s key partner in talking to their children about what they are learning in school about screen time and smartphone use.
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We were blessed to be the recipients of funds raised at this year’s Bishop’s Dinner. Those funds will help to support this initiative by gathering teachers in the spring of 2019 from Grades 4-11 to create the lesson sets at each grade level. Lesson sets will include detailed plans and developed resources, with implementation scheduled for September 2019. Teacher professional development will be a part of the implementation process.

 For more information on this initiative visit http://www.redeemer.ab.ca/Relationships.php

Written by: Cindy Nickerson, Coordinator of Communications
Christ the Redeemer Catholic Schools 
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The Christmas Gospel

12/11/2018

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In the Christmas story of the birth of Jesus the names of the historical figures Caesar Augustus, Quirinius and Herod stand out.  These men do not enter into the manger scene.  They generally escape our imagination and interest, even if they played significant roles in the ruling Roman Empire.  Yet the Evangelist, St. Luke, makes a special effort to link them to the birth of Jesus.  The references to these men ground the events of the Gospels in world history.  They emphasize the point that the birth of Jesus really happened, and it happened at a specific point in time, around the time of these rulers of the Roman Empire.  So the birth of Jesus is more than just a heart-warming story.  It is a world event.

​The names of Augustus, Quininius and Herod also hold a different, far greater significance in light of the Nativity of Christ.  Some years ago at the Synod on the Word of God a recent Holy Father indicated that the birth of Jesus is not simply another world event, but the event that gives meaning to all events.  He states: 
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“The history of salvation is not a small event, on a poor planet, in the immensity of the universe. It is not a minimal thing, which happens by chance on a lost planet. It is the motive for everything, the motive for creation. Everything is created so that this story can exist, the encounter between God and his creature.”   

When we celebrate Christmas and hear the account of the birth of Christ, may we be fully aware of how this is not just one more event in world history.  It is the climax that gives meaning to our lives, our actions and our events, as it does for all peoples and all times. 

​By: Fr. John Kohler
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Advent: The middle coming

12/11/2018

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The liturgical year in the West begins with the Season of Advent on the Sunday closest to the feast of St. Andrew on November 30 and lasts about four weeks until the eve of Christmas. The word Advent means “coming” and as St. Bernard of Clairvaux explains:
 
We know that there are three comings of the Lord . . .
 
The first and second “comings” are visible. The third “coming” actually comes between the first and second, like a road on which we travel from the first coming to the last, is invisible, and is where St. Bernard focuses our attention for the season of Advent.
Historic coming

In the first coming he was seen on earth, dwelling among men; he himself testifies that they saw him and hated him.

The pre-Christmas Advent season may have begun outside of the Christian West with a three week period of preparation for baptisms at Epiphany that included ascetic practices like fasting. By the late fifth century there is evidence in the West (Gaul) of a seven week or forty day pre-Christmas fast not necessarily tied to baptism sometimes known as St. Martin’s Lent as it was calculated from the feast of St. Martin (Nov 11). Here, Advent becomes a preparation for the historical coming of Christ. Also, before being fixed to March 25th in the sixth century, the feast of the Annunciation was observed in close proximity to Christmas along with other Marian commemorations that draw our attention to the birth of Jesus.
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Future coming
 
In the final coming all flesh will see the salvation of our God, and they will look on him whom they pierced.
 
Rome inherited a related six week version of Advent but prescribed readings to emphasise the anticipated Second Coming of Christ. In the late sixth century Pope Gregory I shortened Advent to four weeks, which is the version of Advent that was exported throughout the Christian West. What we have received from the tradition is a very rich expression of Advent that embraces a broad spectrum of these “comings”.  
Middle coming

The intermediate coming is a hidden one; in it only the elect see the Lord within their own selves, and they are saved. . . Because this coming lies between the other two, it is like a road on which we travel from the first coming to the last. In the first, Christ was our redemption; in the last, he will appear as our life; in this middle coming, he is our rest and consolation.
 
The birth of Jesus and the End Times are two dramatic events. Yet we live out our discipleship in the time and space between. As St. Bernard explains, the “middle coming” of Jesus is hidden; it takes place deep within each one of us as we progress along our spiritual journey. In stark contrast to the sensory overload we experience in commercial culture during this season, the liturgical character of Advent cultivates the stillness and quiet that enables us to experience Jesus as our rest and consolation in this middle coming. While we do well to remember our redemption by commemorating the birth of Jesus and to express our faith that Christ will come again, Advent invites us to prepare our spiritual lives and hearts to receive Jesus within ourselves.

​By: Dr. Simone Brosig
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Christ, Bless This House

12/11/2018

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​In the cold and dark days of our January and February, there are three feasts accompanied by sacramentals that especially help us to bring the light of Christ into our lives and to know that God is with us in a very personal way throughout the year. 
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Adoration of the King, by Vrancke van der Stockt (1424-1495)
Epiphany (Solemnity)
January 6
Epiphany means “manifestation”, that moment when we suddenly understand something that previously was hidden from us. On this feast we especially remember the three Magi: Caspar, Melchior, and Balthasar, who followed the star to a manger in Bethlehem where the Messiah was made manifest for them in the person of a newborn child. In imitation of the journey of the Magi, carolling is appropriate around the time of this feast as a way of announcing the manifestation of the Christ Child in song. It is also traditional to bless doorways on this feast. The Magi showed great hospitality when they came to honour the Messiah. The blessing of the doorway reminds us to welcome strangers and travellers into our midst as though each were Jesus himself. In this blessing the doorway is marked with chalk using the first two digits of the year, the initials of each of the Magi (or the first letter of each word in the phrase Christus Mansionem Benedicat, Christ bless this house) followed by the last digits of the year, e.g. 20 + C + M + B + 19. The rooms of the home can be blessed with holy water. 
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​Candlemas (Feast)
February 2
The Feast of the Presentation of the Lord in the Temple is known by many different names. One of the most descriptive is Candlemas, named after the tradition of blessing candles for use in the church and the home throughout the coming year. It is an ancient feast based on the passage described in the Gospel of Luke (Luke 2:22-40) where Mary and Joseph bring Jesus to the Temple forty days after his birth according to the Law of Moses. When they arrived at the temple they encountered the prophet Simeon. The Holy Spirit had revealed to Simeon that he would not die before he had seen the Messiah. Upon meeting the child Jesus Simeon prayed the prayer that is known as the Nunc Dimittis, or Canticle of Simeon. This prayer is used daily at Night Prayer (Compline) in the Liturgy of the Hours and is a good prayer to commit to memory: 

​Lord, now you let your servant go in peace; 
your word has been fulfilled:
my own eyes have seen the salvation 
which you have prepared in the sight of every people:
a light to reveal you to the nations 
and the glory of your people Israel. 


In this prayer Simeon calls Jesus a “light” for all the nations. Candles are a powerful symbol of the light of Christ that reminds us that we have been given this Light. On this feast of light, there is a solemn blessing of candles for use in the church and the faithful can bring for blessing the candles they will use at home. The liturgy can include a procession with lighted candles around the church before the beginning of the Mass. 
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The Presentation in the Temple, by Meister des Marienlebens (1463-1490)

​St. Blaise (Memorial)
February 3 
The Memorial of St. Blaise is not observed liturgically in 2019 as the Sunday takes precedence. However, throats may be blessed at any time during the year.

The very next day the Church puts these candles to work with the blessing of throats on the Commemoration of St. Blaise. St. Blaise was a Bishop in Armenia in the fourth century. He was also a doctor, who was said to have saved a boy from choking on a fish bone. As such, St. Blaise is a patron of the sick, especially of those suffering from illnesses of the throat. On this day we pray for good health through a special blessing of throats using candles that were blessed the day before. In the blessing the minister touches the throat with the candles and says this prayer: 

Through the intercession of Saint Blaise, bishop and martyr,
may God deliver you from every disease of the throat
and from every other illness:
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. 

R. Amen. 


If the numbers are too great for the priest or deacon to offer the blessing to all in the assembly, lay people can assist but without making the sign of the cross during the prayer. It is especially lovely when the candles are made of genuine beeswax so that not only the senses of touch, sight, and hearing are engaged but also our sense of smell. The blessing of throats reminds us in a very bodily way that in our most human of struggles, God is with us.  
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Tableau du maître-autel "Saint-Blaise" (vers 1740)
​Resources:

• Blessings and Prayers Through the Year: A Resource for School, Parish, and Home,  Elizabeth McMahon Jeep
• Blessings and Prayers for Home and Family, Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops

By: Dr. Simone Brosig
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Gingco’s journey from an underground movement to his ordination

12/3/2018

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​With a servant’s heart, Joseph Gingco was pleased to help run the audio-visual equipment when his parish hosted an information meeting about the permanent diaconate back in 2013. Joseph, who has a Bachelor of Computer Science degree from the Philippines, knew his skills would prove helpful. Besides that, the life-long Catholic was curious about the topic.
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Five years later, one of Calgary’s newest deacons believes God used that opportunity to serve to answer one of his prayers.
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"I will seek you"

​When Joseph and his wife moved to Canada, he promised God, “Lord, when we are in Canada, I will seek you. I think Fr. Myles Gaffney’s intention with me was that I would help him that day as he was in charge of vocations in the Diocese and was the director of the Permanent Deacon program. In my heart, I believe God was just waiting for me to open the door.”

Deacon Joseph Gingco was ordained by Calgary Catholic Bishop William McGrattan on Saturday, Nov. 17, 2018. Watching closely were his wife Nirmla and their children, Ian Jay, Lemuel and Leianne Marie.

Joseph and Nirmal were married 26 years ago in the Philippines. Soon after the birth of their first son, they moved to Saudi Arabia, where Nirmla, a registered nurse, found work in a private hospital. That hospital was pleased to also hire Nirmla’s tech-savvy husband.
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Raised in devout families that include a priest (Joseph’s brother) and a nun (Nirmla’s aunt), the couple connected with an underground movement of Christians while in Saudi Arabia. In a country that bans all religions other than a strict form of Islam, they attended secret services in people’s homes, closely following guidelines about how they arrived at and left the home churches.
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​The young family, which included a second son born in Saudi Arabia, moved to Canada on July 8, 1999. Here, Joseph and Nirmla found work in their chosen fields. Church was a central part in the family’s life and all three of their children were altar servers and sang in a church choir. Joseph and Nirmla served as extraordinary ministers of the Eucharist at Sacred Heart Church and got involved with members of a Charismatic community. The family has attended St. Albert the Great Church since 2013 and that’s where he’ll serve the Church.
Joseph admits the diaconate formation program was challenging, especially since his entry into the program coincided with a major emergency surgery and three month’s convalescence for Nirmla. Juggling a critical role as her caregiver, three kids and a full-time job—plus online courses and monthly seminars—often seemed daunting. 

Looking back, he’s grateful for all that he learned and says his “tech guy” communications skills took a giant leap forward. Looking ahead, he admits to excitement and trepidation as he figures out how to serve the Church and his family.

Beside him, Nirmla smiles. She shares Joseph’s commitment to the Permanent Deacon program—and their family. Now working as an RN in cardiac care at the South Health Campus Hospital after years in palliative care at the Rockyview, she admits to being less of a worrier than her husband. And that strength serves Joseph in his new vocation. Following Nirmla’s lead, “I’m learning to trust Him and not worry so much,” says Joseph.
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The journey may be new and uncertain, but their faith holds true. They will follow Jesus, the Holy Spirit will guide and God will provide.

​Written by: Joy Gregory
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Wedding day | Joseph & Nirmla Gingco
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Boy-meets-girl-becomes deacon

12/3/2018

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Susan Laing remembers the Saturday afternoon in the mid-1990s that her husband decided to attend mass with her and their three children. Although they met at a dance held in a Catholic church she attended in Calgary—and were married in that same church— formal conversion to Catholicism was never on Dale’s short list of things he needed to do to be a good husband and father.

Baptized in the Anglican Church, Dale attended the United Church while growing up in Calgary’s Parkdale community. By the time he accepted a co-worker’s invitation to a dance to meet her sister, he was secure in his belief in God, but not given to the practice of faith. Over time, Dale saw the value of Susan’s witness to the Catholic faith. He joined the RCIA program and was confirmed in 2003.
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The couple remembers how some parishioners were surprised to learn Dale had joined the RCIA process at St. Thomas More. Susan, a cradle Catholic, was active as an RCIA sponsor, while Dale was on the Finance Council. Over the years, they were involved in many ministries ranging from church cleaning to hospitality after mass (serving coffee). 
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“I looked for ministries we could do as a family,” recalls Susan. Consequently, “A lot of people just assumed I was Catholic,” says Dale. After Dale was confirmed, the list of ministries they were part of grew to include service as lectors and commentators, Extraordinary Ministers of Communion and coordinating First Conciliation. Dale has also been involved with Together in Action and the Society of St. Vincent de Paul.

Dale remembers the day his formal conversion took another sharp turn. “About two weeks after I was confirmed, my daughter and I were coming to mass together and she asked, ‘So what’s next on your spiritual journey now that you’re Catholic?’” His response: “maybe I’ll become a Deacon.”
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Now a grandfather of three, Dale was ordained a Permanent Deacon of the Calgary Catholic Diocese on Saturday, November 17, 2018. He looks forward to serving at St. Thomas More parish, where Susan has attended Catholic mass since the couple married in 1982.
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God's call

The call to become a Permanent Deacon began soon after Dale’s confirmation. “I dismissed it out of hand, but over the years, the thought was whispered into the ears of my mind, sometimes even at 2 a.m.,” says Dale. Eight years ago, another deacon serving at St. Thomas More approached him after mass and asked him if he’d thought about becoming a Permanent Deacon. 

Suddenly, the whisper had a voice—and that voice revealed the path to a new vocation.

Both spouses are part of the rigorous formation process that leads to the husband being ordained as a Permanent Deacon. The first weekend of that process “was a bit overwhelming,” admits Susan, who works in the business office at Bishop McNally High School. “All the way through the process you’re discussing what you’ve learned and processing what that means in your own lives. But after a while, you learn to trust in God’s plan for you. It gets easier.”

Her husband agrees. “You absorb ideas from sitting in the pews and listening to the readings and homilies. But the Permanent Diaconate process goes so much deeper and it changes how you understand the Church and its teachings.”
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Dale, who manages one of the many parts departments at the City of Calgary, says he’s still learning what his new role at St. Thomas More demands. Sitting in the church narthex, he points to a display of flags that represents the diversity of a parish whose people come from more than 80 different nations. The soft-spoken grandfather of three knows this is a special place—and having raised three kids in the pews of this church, he’s excited about what lies ahead.

“I can now see the progression of God’s hand in my calling, from a simple thought to midnight urgings, to other people recognizing the light of Christ within me, to my joining my voice with that of Mary in saying ‘Yes’ to God’s call,” says Dale.

Written by: Joy Gregory
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Faith & Fun Night with the Flames

12/3/2018

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​The Diocese of Calgary has partnered with the Calgary Flames to get discounted tickets for the game on Friday, February 22, between the Flames and archrival Anaheim Ducks. Discounted tickets are $39. Each ticket purchased will help fundraise for Elizabeth House, which provides a home for at risk pregnant or parenting youth and their babies. In addition, the first 100 people to purchase tickets will be receive a voucher to an exclusive pre-game event in the Alumni Lounge and have a Meet and Greet with Bishop McGrattan. Come out and join us for a great night of hockey and entertainment, or buy the tickets as Christmas presents.

To purchase your tickets at the special price, click here.
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