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Let the little children come to me

6/8/2023

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I heard the advice that if we want to grow in spiritual childhood and the gift of prayer, we should ask God to show us children at play, or with their parents.

I used to work as a recreation leader for free after-school programs and day camps. What a treasury of memories this experience holds for me! Upon reflection, I feel compelled to share my experiences with the young children, as they served as a reminder of how I was called to rely on his presence as the Caring Adult in my life, especially during this special month dedicated to His Most Sacred Heart.

One young man I knew from the after-school program, who I’ll call John, was 12 years old. I could see that his life was full of pressures: from his teachers who misunderstood him, abusive parents, and friends who pulled him down into the foolishness of youth. During our program, he would chat my ear off while simultaneously refusing to listen to my clear instructions. He really was quite challenging to manage, but I knew that God had made him good, and that the best place he could be during those evenings was our safe little room in which we held the program.

The after-school program room was full of posters with positive sayings and chairs for the children to sit in. It was no larger than the average Adoration chapel. I loved sitting at the front, teaching the children simple social and emotional skills, and seeing their little eyes attend to me. I was delighted in every face I saw and the voices that I heard. Every so often, John would miss our program after school, preferring the excitement of his friends or video games to the calm order of the program. Because I knew he belonged there, I remember standing at the door and watching for him, allowing my heart to hope that he would come again.

I also treasure the memory of a little girl who I’ll call Mary. She delighted us leaders very much, because she was always following us around, or sitting with us, telling us everything that came to her mind. Though she could be mischievous at times, whenever we corrected her, she would genuinely apologize and make an effort to do better. She was not discouraged when we reprimanded her but stayed as close as ever and audaciously expected to be loved, which she certainly was.

My least favourite part of the job was giving First Aid to the children. One time, a young girl came to me with a splinter in her palm. I thanked her for her bravery in showing me, then reluctantly retrieved the First Aid kit. Using the plastic tweezers, I removed the splinter out of her hand. I cringed as she cried out in pain, but we both knew that it had to be done. She left my little “doctor’s office” smiling and calm, free to play again.

During some professional development sessions, I learned about the importance of each child having a caring adult in their life. This person would be someone who sees and understands the child, expresses personal interest in their life, fills them with hope for the future, and encourages them amid the inevitable challenges of childhood. The mere presence of such a person in a child’s life, I was taught, can determine their capacity to flourish as a human being. Without receiving love in such a way, the likelihood of a fulfilling and happy adult life may diminish.
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Jesus reveals Himself as the Caring Adult whose Sacred Heart has a special spot for each of us. When we ask for the grace to approach Him in Adoration with faith and repentance, He knows how to teach, encourage, forgive, and heal us.

This year, I signed up for a holy hour at St. Anthony’s after reading on their website that “Many rich blessings are bestowed on those who regularly adore Jesus, truly present in the Blessed Sacrament.” With a hopeful heart, I committed that time to be with Jesus, a little like the children who chose to come to our programs. He has not disappointed me. He will not disappoint you.

​In our diocese, a wide range of Adoration hours are offered at parishes across the Diocese. Adoremus! Let us adore Him! 

Adoration Hours schedule (Summer 2023)
Monday
  • 9:30 am to 4 pm at Holy Spirit Parish, Calgary - holyspiritcalgary.com
  • 8:30 am to 4 pm, 7:30 pm to 9 pm - St. Luke's Church, Calgary - stlukeschurch.ca
  • 9:30 am to Midnight - St. Bonaventure Parish - stbonaventureparish.ca
  • 8 am to 8 pm - St. Michael's Catholic Community - saintmichael.ca ​

Tuesday
  • 9:30 am to 4 pm at Holy Spirit Parish, Calgary - holyspiritcalgary.com
  • 8:30 am to 4 pm, 7:30 pm to 9 pm - St. Luke's Church, Calgary - stlukeschurch.ca
  • 9:30 am to Midnight - St. Bonaventure Parish - stbonaventureparish.ca | Use NW entrance to access the chapel. 
  • 2 pm - 6:45 pm - St. Mary's, Brooks - saintmarysbrooks.com
  • 6 am to 8 pm (Adoration Chapel) - St. Anthony Church, Calgary - stanthonysyyc.ca | Register here to obtain the access code to the Adoration Chapel located in the back of the church off the North Parking lot. Access to the main church on Thursday is via the Office door off the South Parking lot. 
  • 8 am to 8 pm - St. Michael's Catholic Community - saintmichael.ca

Wednesday
  • 6 am to 8 pm (Adoration Chapel) - St. Anthony's church - stanthonysyyc.ca | Register here to obtain the access code to the Adoration Chapel located in the back of the church off the North Parking lot. Access to the main church on Thursday is via the Office door off the South Parking lot. 
  • 8 am to 8 pm - St. Michael's Catholic Community - saintmichael.ca
  • 8:30 am to 4 pm, 7:30 pm to 9 pm - St. Luke's Church, Calgary - stlukeschurch.ca
  • 9:30 am to 4 pm at Holy Spirit Parish, Calgary - holyspiritcalgary.com
  • 7 pm to midnight - St. Bonaventure Parish - stbonaventureparish.ca  | Use NW entrance to access the chapel. 
  • 7:45 pm to 8:30 pm - St. Mary's Cathedral - stmaryscalgary.ca
  • Third Wednesday of the month - 1:00 pm - 6:45 pm (Main Sanctuary), 2:00 pm - 6:45 pm (Adoration chapel) - St. Mary's, Brooks - saintmarysbrooks.com

Thursday
  • 8 am to 8 pm - St. Michael's Catholic Community - saintmichael.ca
  • 8:30 am to 4 pm, 7:30 pm to 9 pm - St. Luke's Church, Calgary - stlukeschurch.ca
  • 9 am to 9 pm - St. Francis De Sales Parish - francisdesaleshighriver.com
  • 9:30 am to 4 pm at Holy Spirit Parish, Calgary - holyspiritcalgary.com
  • 9:30 am to 5 pm - St. Mary's, Brooks - saintmarysbrooks.com
  • 10 am to 6 pm (Main church) - St. Anthony's Church - stanthonysyyc.ca | Register here to obtain the access code to the Adoration Chapel located in the back of the church off the North Parking lot. Access to the main church on Thursday is via the Office door off the South Parking lot. ​
  • 12 am to midnight - St. Bonaventure Parish - stbonaventureparish.ca  | Use NW entrance to access the chapel. 

Friday
  • 6 am to 8 pm (Adoration Chapel) - St. Anthony's church - stanthonysyyc.ca | Register here to obtain the access code to the Adoration Chapel located in the back of the church off the North Parking lot. Access to the main church on Thursday is via the Office door off the South Parking lot. 
  • 8 am to 8 pm - St. Michael's Catholic Community - saintmichael.ca
  • 8:30 am to 6:45 pm and 7:30 pm to 9 pm - St. Luke's Church, Calgary - stlukeschurch.ca
  • 9 am to Noon - St. Peter's, Calgary - st-peters.ca
  • 9:30 am to 4 pm at Holy Spirit Parish, Calgary - holyspiritcalgary.com
  • 9:30 am to 6:00 pm - St. Cecilia Parish in Calgary - stceciliacalgary.com
  • 9:30 am to 10 am - St James Church in Calgary - stjamescalgary.org
  • 9:30 am to 10:30 am - St. Albert the Great, Calgary - stalbertthegreat.ca
  • After Noon Mass to 3 pm - St. Joseph's Church, Calgary - stjosephcalgary.com
  • 1:30 pm to 3 pm - St Gabriel, Chestermere - saintgabrielparish.ca
  • 3:30 pm to 4:45 pm - St. Mary's Cathedral - stmaryscalgary.ca
  • 7  pm to midnight - St. Bonaventure Parish, Calgary - stbonaventureparish.ca  | Use NW entrance to access the chapel. 
  • First Friday of the month : 9:30 am to 2:00 pm (Main Sanctuary), 9:30 am to 2 pm(Adoration Chapel) - St. Mary's, Brooks - saintmarysbrooks.com
  • First Friday of the month - 9:35 am - Noon (Main sanctuary) - St. Thomas More Parish, Calgary - stthomasmore.ca
  • First Friday - 6 pm - Our Lady Queen of Peace, Calgary - queenpol.org

Saturday
  • 8 am to 6 pm (Adoration Chapel) - St. Anthony's Church - stanthonysyyc.ca | Register here to obtain the access code to the Adoration Chapel located in the back of the church off the North Parking lot. Access to the main church on Thursday is via the Office door off the South Parking lot. 
  • 8 am to 8 pm - St. Michael's Catholic Community - saintmichael.ca
  • 9 am to 9:45 am - St. Peter's, Calgary - st-peters.ca
  • 9:30 am to 4 pm at Holy Spirit Parish, Calgary - holyspiritcalgary.com
  • First Saturday - 5:15 pm - Our Lady Queen of Peace - queenpol.org
  • Overnight Adoration on First Saturday from 8 pm to Sunday 8 am - Holy Spirit Parish, Calgary - holyspiritcalgary.comPlease use the far NW entrance to access the chapel. There is plenty of adoration resources in the back of the chapel for you to borrow during your hour. Please contact our Adoration Coordinator Heather Burdeyney at 403-278-0394 or email heather.burdeyney@outlook.com

Sunday
  • 8 am to 3 pm (Adoration Chapel) - St. Anthony's Church - stanthonysyyc.ca | Register here to obtain the access code to the Adoration Chapel located in the back of the church off the North Parking lot. Access to the main church on Thursday is via the Office door off the South Parking lot. 
  • Noon to 8 pm - St. Michael's Catholic Community - saintmichael.ca

Note that hours may change without notice. Please contact the Parish Office if you are not sure.
  • Check out the full schedule and contact information for parishes with Adoration hours. 

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Written by Angela for Faithfully. Angela Blach is a member of the St. Francis Xavier Chaplaincy. She is studying history at St. Mary's University. She loves to read and write, and her favourite author is Michael O'Brien. Angela also likes to go for walks and spend time with her family and friends. She hopes to someday be a "polymath" like St. Hildegard of Bingen, who learned Latin through immersion in the Sacred Liturgy!
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Finding our home

5/27/2023

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For converts, the journey on the road to Roman Catholicism is as varied as their individual personalities and experiences. My journey was a rather circuitous route, due in part to a neurological disorder – but I’m getting ahead of myself.

Our three children are now adults, but when our youngest was just starting school, she began displaying sudden twitches and jerky movements which seemed out of her control. Our initial concern soon turned to alarm as the movements became more pronounced, and as she also began making odd sounds as well. We checked with our family doctor, who referred us to a pediatric psychiatrist over the Christmas break. After a lot of listening and observing, he gave us his diagnosis: Tourette Syndrome.

In some ways it was a comfort to have a name for the condition, but we also felt anxious about what the future might hold. My husband and I read everything we could get our hands on about Tourette Syndrome and found out that most people learn to cope with this neurological disorder, though it isn’t an easy condition to live with. We also learned that the involuntary movements and sounds are called motor tics and vocal tics.

School became a nightmare for our daughter. She felt humiliated, confused, sad and, most of all, concerned about “disturbing” the other students with her frequent vocal and motor tics. Finally, we made the decision to homeschool her, in an attempt to salvage our collective sanity. I quit my teaching job.
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I’ve noticed that, from my childhood, when faced with distressing experiences I seek solace in books. This was no exception. As we launched into the new experience of homeschooling, I buried myself in my spare time in the works of authors I have long loved, including C. S. Lewis. One line from Lewis’ book The Problem of Pain had a profound impact on me: “Pain removes the veil. It plants the flag of truth within the fortress of a rebel soul.” As I sat one day at our dining room table, reading and absorbing those words with my twitching, barking daughter beside me working on her math lesson, it did indeed feel as if a veil was being ripped off my old perceptions of myself, of God, and of the world. I knew I needed to go deeper and find a better way to cope with this new reality. 

C. S. Lewis led me to one of his favorite authors, G. K. Chesterton, whose books I ate up with an eagerness that my husband found rather baffling. Fascinated by Chesterton’s conversion to Catholicism, I then started reading the works of other notable converts – Cardinal John Henry Newman, Dorothy Day, Thomas Merton, and Scott Hahn. My concept of our relationship with God was challenged by their insights.

I grew up in the United Church, and my husband and I attended Protestant Churches with our children during the early years of our marriage. But after reading the stories of famous converts to Catholicism I felt drawn, like a magnet, to a little Catholic church in our neighborhood. I had never been inside, even though we had lived just two blocks away for almost twenty years. My husband decided to join me, and as we entered the church building together one Sunday, as Mass was about to begin, we had absolutely no idea what to expect.

At first it felt very foreign, but we kept attending. Before long, we found ourselves signed up for a Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults course (RCIA), with a group of other spiritual explorers. We were increasingly captivated by what we heard every Tuesday night at the RCIA class. In the Catholic Church we found people who were unafraid to gaze on Christ’s suffering, and as I followed their gaze, I was confronted with a love that shook me to the core. I felt like I finally understood Chesterton’s astute comment: “The Catholic church is bigger on the inside than it is on the outside.”
In the prayers and practices of the Roman Catholic Church I discovered a timeless connection, reaching back to the apostles, which backfilled missing elements in my faith. Discovering the writings of the early Church Fathers, and reading about the lives of the Saints, enriched and deepened my spiritual growth. And in the Eucharist, I fully embraced the invitation to come, eat, drink, find strength, accept forgiveness, and embrace God’s love.

My husband and I are both grateful that in the Catholic Church, we’ve found our home.
 
*Post Note: Homeschooling turned out to be a wonderful and very enjoyable experience for us. Our daughter’s condition has improved, in no small measure because of her own maturity, self-awareness and self-acceptance. We continued homeschooling right through to grade 12, and she graduated with Honours. She also received the Premier’s Citizenship Award for her volunteer activities. 
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St. Joseph Parish's Centennial Garden

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Laura Locke is an educator, journalist, and editor of a free online eMagazine called Kolbe Times: Faith, Arts & Justice (kolbetimes.com). She is also the author of A Lamp on the Hill: St. Joseph’s Parish 1912-2012 (Calgary Public Library). Laura is married to Bill, who is publisher of Kolbe Times, and they have three amazing adult children and one beautiful grandchild. Laura and Bill enjoy biking, cooking, and volunteering together. They received the Sacrament of Confirmation and were welcomed into the Catholic Church at the Easter Vigil in 2007. In 2014 they became members of the Order of Secular Franciscans.
Photos courtesy of Laura & Bill Locke.
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Restoring the Feminine Heart

5/21/2023

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As the highly anticipated "Restoring the Feminine Heart" Women's Conference approaches (May 26-27), the Beloved Daughters Ministry team shares with Faithfully about their event and the ministry's mission. Read on to discover what this exciting conference has in store.
Beloved Daughters

For those who have never heard of the Beloved Daughters Ministry, it's a lay-run women's ministry established in 2020 to support women at every stage of life as they rediscover their identity as beloved daughters of God. 
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Initially created to host annual women's conferences within the Diocese of Calgary, the ministry adapted to an online presence due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Through social media platforms, they share blog posts (written by many local women), weekly Sunday reflections, and host Advent and Lenten mini-retreats at various parishes. The ministry offers connection, relatability, and encouragement to women, helping them stay rooted in the truths of their identity in God.
“Restoring the Feminine Heart”

The ministry conference team, guided by prayer and discernment, has carefully chosen the perfect topic and speakers for this inaugural event. With the theme “Restoring the Feminine Heart”, they are eager to delve into the true identity and unique gifts that women possess. 

​"We hope to be able to provide the beginnings of restoration and healing to women who have experienced wounds in these areas, especially where in today’s society there is much confusion and distortion regarding the identity of the individual." said Rikka, one of the founders of the Beloved Daughter Ministry. The team also hope to shed light on God’s thoughtful design in creating humans male and female in His image and likeness, as well as the gift that we are to each other.

Women going to the conference will be examining how pressures from society, others, and even themselves, have hindered the ability to live out their truest identity. They will unpack how they can freely live out of the giftedness of our femininity.
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Jake & Heather Khym. Photo courtesy of: Heather Khym.
Jake & Heather Khym

The team is beyond excited to welcome guest speakers Heather Khym (most commonly known as a co-host on the Abiding Together Podcast) and Jake Khym (Registered Psychologist and co-host of the Restore the Glory Podcast). 

Jake and Heather Khym are a married Catholic couple from Abbotsford, BC. They are the founders of Life Restoration Ministries. Their ministry is devoted to creating opportunities for Jesus to encounter people, empowering disciples to deepen their faith. They achieve this through evangelization and formation focused on unlocking the heart. On their podcasts, Jake and Heather regularly share personal stories of their own journey towards healing and restoration with great vulnerability. 

When asked why Jake & Heather Khym for their first women’s conference, Rikka revealed, “The three of us first heard Jake Khym speak at Rise up 2014 in Calgary and his message blew us away. He spoke into each of our hearts differently, but prominently.”

The launch of the all-female Abiding Together Podcast, featuring Heather Khym, piqued the team's interest even more. One of their team members found great healing through listening to the Restore the Glory Podcast, hosted by Jake Khym (a registered counselor), and Dr. Bob Schuchts (a registered psychologist). 

“In listening to the honesty and relatability in which they share their experiences, combined with their professional and ministerial background, we immediately knew that having them speak at this conference would be just what was needed to create an environment of hope and healing for the attendees at our conference.” 

"We believe that Jake and Heather can beautifully demonstrate the harmony and unity that can exist within relationships as we each journey towards wholeness."
It’s more than a conference

“As women we often put the needs of others first, often to the point of burn out. But we cannot freely give of ourselves without first allowing ourselves to be and receive before our loving Father.”

Beloved Daughter’s ministry yearns for all women to have the opportunity to learn more about who they are as a beloved daughter of God. “To develop an understanding of our identity is essential to laying a solid foundation for all that we do.” said Jessica.

Attendees at this event can look forward to engaging speakers with experience in hosting women's conferences and healing retreats. They will also enjoy fellowship and community with women from Calgary and surrounding areas. Expect to worship the Lord in Mass, Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, praise and worship, as well as to receive the opportunity for the Sacrament of Reconciliation. 

Moreover, local Catholic vendors will have items available for sale, adding to the overall enriching experience. 
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Maria, Jessica, and Rikka, Beloved Daughters Ministry
A Pentecost Gift

Mothers, daughters, grandmothers, granddaughters, aunts, nieces, sisters, and girl-friends! If you are a woman over the age of 18 then there is a place for you at this conference! Nursing infants, and female adolescents 14 years and older coming with their mother or guardian, are also welcome. 

Maria added, “This conference is sure to be an enriching and impactful weekend filled with connection, rest and restoration. You can look forward to being amongst a community of lovely women gathering, learning and praying together!” 

It is truly a gift for our Diocese to have this conference offered in Calgary, and especially on the weekend of Pentecost. The Holy Spirit will be present and ready to shower the women in attendance with an abundance of graces! 

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“Restoring the Feminine Heart” Women Conference - May 26- 27, 2023 (Friday evening & Saturday all day). It will be held at St. Luke’s Parish in Calgary, AB.

To purchase a ticket to the “Restoring the Feminine Heart” Conference you can visit their website at: 
www.beloveddaughtersyyc.com

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Walking Together in Catholic Education

5/14/2023

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GrACE Summit 2023 in Edmonton, AB. Photo credit: ECSD.
Last week I attended the 2023 GrACE Summit – Walking Together in Catholic Education which was held in Edmonton. Grateful Advocates for Catholic Education (GrACE) was formed in 2018 as collaborative initiative of the Catholic school trustees and superintendents with the Alberta bishops. Its mission is “to inspire, invigorate and embolden the spirit of Catholic education in order to unite, engage, educate and communicate with one voice on its behalf”. This week we celebrate Catholic Education Week in the province of Alberta. The theme “Walking Together” was taken from the scripture passage “As for us, we will walk in the name of the Lord our God forever and ever.” (Micah 4:5). In the Alberta Bishop’s letter, we stated that this week “affords us the welcome opportunity to reflect on the crucial role Catholic schools play in educating our children and young people, by creating formative communities of love and care that witness to the Gospel of Jesus Christ”.

What makes a Catholic school distinct and relevant in our current society? These schools are communities of faith and learning. They can be diverse in their configuration i.e., public, private or charter, yet focused on coming to know the truth, the goal of all learning through the use of reason which is animated by a faith and belief in God. In fact, Catholic schools are not intended to be exclusively for Catholics. They are school communities for all families, imbued with a Catholic world view, a Christian anthropology of the human person as being created in the image of God, a faith infused curriculum of learning, the Gospel witness of prayer and service which promotes a focus on community through a spirituality of communion.  

Catholic schools are not institutions of propaganda as some would argue nor are they to be controlled by ideologies, or educational trends of a government agenda. The Catholic educational tradition offers experiences of learning that allow for both evangelization and the catechetical support of young people in their faith through celebrating encounters that are centered in Christ. However, the task of education is broader. It is to promote a wholistic experience of learning that forms and completes the person, preparing them for life, to appreciate the value of their life and that of others by offering to society values and goods that they willingly share for the benefit of others through service. This is the distinctly Catholic approach to education which enhances the human formation and mature development of the next generation of young people as they grow in knowledge and wisdom.  

In recent years there has been a growing “educational emergency” in public education. It is marked by the increasing difficulty of transmitting the basic values of life, what is truth, what is good, what is beauty, to our young people. At the core of this “emergency” is the misconception that truth is relative, that what I subjectively believe to be true for myself is the “truth” and that it must be accepted by others. Pope Francis identified this tension and challenge for Catholic educators – “Dialogue, in fact, educates when a person relates with respect, esteem, sincerity of listening and expresses themselves with authenticity, without obfuscating or mitigating one’s identity. We cannot create a culture of dialogue if we do not have identity.” The Catholic identity of our schools, the witness of our Catholic school teachers who engage in this dialogue through their teaching can transform a society and culture which is becoming more relativistic and secular. 

The Catholic school curriculum of learning needs to address this important dialogue while balancing the relationship between religious enquiry and catechesis in the Catholic faith. This initiative of dialogue is distinctly Catholic in identity which we offer to society. Catholic schools have a core curriculum of learning where religious faith can permeate all subjects. For Catholic students, this might also serve as a pathway of catechesis which must always respect a wider and more meaningful integration within their family and the life of the Church. It is a curriculum which is primarily “knowledge-based” for those students who are not part of the Catholic tradition. It invites them to be reflective, to grow in religious literacy and knowledge while being open to a human formation that reflects the Christian understanding of the human person, their inherent dignity and destiny. 

Catholic schools both public and private have the potential to contribute to the cultural enrichment of society. Despite the hostility and indifference towards religion these schools serve as a witness to the importance of religious belief as a critical voice of dialogue in civic society. Therefor Catholic schools have a unique opportunity to teach about the value of religion, belief in God and through Christ to know how we are to transform the values of a wider society.

​The key to the future mission and identity of our Catholic schools is the commitment of the parents and teachers to see Catholic education as an enrichment of our culture. Education by its nature invites an openness to other cultures, without the loss of one’s fundamental identity. This is the rich tradition of Catholic education in Alberta and the mission of our schools to inspire, invigorate and embolden this Catholic identity for future generations. This week let us speak with one voice in walking together for Catholic Education.   
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Resources:
  • Suggested Activities for 2023 Catholic Education Week and links to prerecorded reflections of Alberta Bishops - Download PDF
  • 2023 Catholic Education Week Letter from the Bishops of Alberta (English/French)
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Most Rev. William T. McGrattan
Bishop of  Calgary

​May 14, 2023
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Expansion access to MAiD

5/9/2023

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Together with the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB), Bishop McGrattan is urging the faithful to continue to oppose the expansion of MAiD in Canada. The CCCB has just issued an Open Letter to the Government of Canada and a Message to the Catholic Faithful on May 9 re: Permitting Persons Living with Mental Illness to Access Euthanasia/Assisted Suicide. We ask you to share the Bishop's message with your friends and family: 
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  • Download Bishop McGrattan's message (PNG) 
  • CCCB - Message to the Catholic Faithful on Permitting Persons Living with Mental Illness to Access Euthanasia / Assisted Suicide 
  • CCCB - Open Letter to the Government of Canada on Permitting Persons Living with Mental Illness to Access Euthanasia / Assisted Suicide
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2023 Daily Prayers for Families #NFLW

5/7/2023

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Let us spend the National Week of Family and Life (NFLW) 2023 united in prayer, reflection, and action, demonstrating our active support for family and life. Indeed, families are “guardians of life” when we love one another within our families and in wider society when we show kindness toward and care for the vulnerable and marginalized.
Note: Day 1 can begin anytime! We want to ensure everybody has the opportunity to join in and take part in this wonderful experience. Don't worry if you missed the start of NFLW, you can join in and start participating in the daily prayers and activities from any day.
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6

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Day 1 
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Prayer Intention: For single parents | 
God of love and tenderness, we pray for single parents, that you may be their guide, their protector, and their safe refuge. Grant them the grace to provide for the emotional, physical and spiritual needs of their children. In your loving mercy comfort all single parents in times of need and bring healing to their unique suffering. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Daily Activity for families
Single parents can often struggle with feeling isolated or marginalized. If you know someone who is a single parent in your community or church, consider extending yourself to them and their children. You can reach out to them to introduce yourself and get to know them. Other ideas could be dropping off a meal, offering babysitting for an hour, or inviting them over for dinner.

In the parish community
In your parish community, is there an opportunity to establish a network of single parents and their children with others in similar situations? Monthly prayer events or online scripture studies can be a good way to bring single parents together with each other, as well as other families.

Today’s prayer intention and family activity was developed in collaboration with Momentum, a ministry supporting Catholic single mothers. 
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Day 2 
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Prayer Intention: For those living with mental health challenges, including mental illnesses | Loving Jesus, you walk with us along the valleys and peaks of life. Be near to those living with mental health challenges, including mental illnesses. May they hear the still, small voice of calm whisper through the silence,“You are loved. You are not alone.” Strengthen and sustain caregivers and others who accompany those living with mental health challenges, including mental illnesses. May the joy of your Resurrection offer lasting hope and healing, as we await the coming of your kingdom where you live and reign with the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God for ever and ever. Amen.

Daily Activity for families
As a family, take time to check in on your individual mental health and share it with each other while practicing active listening. If you were to describe how you are feeling as a colour, what would it be and why? Recognizing that it’s okay not to be okay, are you experiencing a season of flourishing or of languishing? Can you care for your mental health together today? Perhaps go for a walk, have a kitchen dance party, make a visit to a Eucharistic chapel, bake your favourite muffins, or take a holy nap!

In the parish community
In your parish community, is there an opportunity to organize an outreach program or event to promote the wellbeing of every person? Wellbeing is about supporting the mental, physical, and spiritual health of persons and
families. What are some creative ways your parish community can promote wellbeing? Some examples could include a time of Eucharistic Adoration followed by a time of hospitality and fellowship. For an example ministry, see more information below about Sanctuary Mental Health Ministries. 
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Today’s prayer intention and family activity was developed
in collaboration with Sanctuary Mental Health Ministries,
a ministry equipping the church to support mental health and
wellbeing. 
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Day 3

Prayer Intention: For marriage accompaniment and enrichment | Heavenly Father, I thank you for the gift of my spouse and for the gift of each one of our children. You know our hearts and our needs. You know we desire to live faithfully our promises to you and to each other. We oftentimes find ourselves hurting each other and creating wounds in each other’s heart that we never wanted to cause. We recognize the gaps in our family caused by selfishness that have made us live distantly from you and each other. We want to invite you to fill our hearts with your presence and make us a family united in you. Inspired by the example of the Holy Family may our family always be a living gospel, giving witness to your love in our world. Amen.
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In the parish community
In your parish community, is there  an opportunity to connect with couples preparing for marriage with couples who have been married for a number of years? What can the parish community facilitate to celebrate and recognize couples who have been married one year, or two years? An example is to host a special Mass for couples celebrating one year of marriage alongside mile-stone anniversaries like 10, 25, or 35 years of marriage. Host a special reception following Mass!
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Today’s prayer intention and family activity was developed in collaboration with Witness to Love, a Catholic marriage mentoring and preparation program.
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Day 4

Prayer Intention: For persons with disabilities and their families | Father in heaven, you created us in your divine image. May every person living with a disability experience true belonging in a loving community. Guide us to pursue our call to work for justice and fullness of life for all persons with disabilities. Graciously help us to open new and creative spaces to invite all persons to participate meaningfully in parish and community life. Help us to contribute to the Church and, together, be a sign of the unity of the Body of Christ. Amen. 
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Daily Activity for families
On 3 December 2022, in his message for the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, Pope Francis spoke about a “magisterium of fragility ... a charism by which you—dear sisters and brothers with disabilities—can enrich the Church. Your presence ‘may help transform the actual situations in which we live, making them more human and more welcoming. Without vulnerability, without limits, without obstacles to overcome, there would be no true humanity.’” 

As a family, watch together the 4-minute video below. You will get to know a priest from Australia who was born legally blind and is a witness to a joyful faith lived within human fragility and limits. “We” not “they,” disability in the life of the Church www.bit.ly/IamChurch​
Discussion Questions for Families
  • What surprised you about Fr. Justin Glyn, SJ?
  • In your own life, do you live with certain limitations or vulnerabilities? How does your faith help you with these experiences?
  • After hearing Fr. Justin’s story, do you have any ideas about how to open creative spaces to promote the meaningful participation of persons with disabilities in your faith community?
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In the Parish Community
In your parish community, can you identify ways to open creative spaces for persons with disabilities to foster a sense of belonging for everyone? For some practical ideas in your parish, explore “Beyond the Ramp: A Parish Guide to Welcoming Persons with Disabilities”, written by Connie Price.

Additional Resources
  1. David Rizzo, Faith, Family and Children with Special Needs
  2. Megan Gannon, Special Saints for Special People: Stories of Saints with Disabilities
  3. For Catechists, teachers, parents, families: Loyola Press Resources for Special Needs Ministry: Special Needs | Loyola Press
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Day 5

Prayer Intention: For an increase of good palliative care and end-of-life care | Compassionate and healing God, We pray for all those who are sick and those nearing the end of this earthly life. Draw near to them and extend your consoling presence. Bless them with family and friends to care for and accompany them, skilled caregivers to ease their suffering and lessen their burden, and volunteers to lend a listening ear and steady presence. May your loving embrace be a light to their lives. Through Christ our Lord, Amen.
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Daily Activity for families
Start a conversation in your family about what’s most important to you at the end of life. Health care and end-of-life planning conversations are a powerful entryway to connect meaningfully about life and death. Note: This activity is most appropriate between young adults, parents and grandparents; however, mature teenagers may also find these types of conversations helpful.
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In the parish community
In your parish community, have you launched the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops' Horizons of Hope: A Toolkit for Catholic Parishes on Palliative Care? The open access program includes a facilitator’s guide and four modules that are easy to follow and offer high-quality medical and theological information on palliative care. It is so important to talk about end-of-life are today—don’t delay in opening these conversations in your parish community.
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Day 6 

Prayer Intention: Offering compassion for those grieving the loss of little ones | 
O loving God, out of the depths, we cry to you. Your Spirit intercedes for us even when we do not know how to pray. Come near to those who mourn the loss of a preborn infant or child, for you know our hearts and share our tears especially in times of grief and sorrow. Guide us with your grace to recognize you are always with us, even as we walk through the valley of the shadow of death. Almighty God, who knew us and formed us in the womb, we ask that you enfold every grieving heart and every child in heaven into your tender loving care; by your Spirit, we ask for your kindness and grace. Amen.

Daily Activityfor the family
Create a ‘Rooted in Love’ Memory Garden Start with talking about how each family member feels about having a memory garden to honour their sibling. Young children can help plan and draw what it might look like. Choose a special tree and plant it together as a family and create a garden so everyone can contribute and participate.

You can symbolize the family unit with pots or other objects such as DIY stepping stones for each family member. Hummingbird feeders and wooden hand-painted bird feeders can attract feathered friends to visit. Be creative and decorate pots, stones etc. with pens or paint. Use ribbons to represent memories, laminate drawings or pictures and hang them off branches.

Make it your own! You may wish to include a statue of the Holy Family and/or design a Rosary garden using painted rocks. Add a prayer bench and table to read, journal or meditate with a candle. It can be healing to sit around a firepit and pray together.

Here are ideas on how families can decorate the tree together; 
  • Advent | Jesse Tree Symbols and/or a numbered bag for each day of Advent with a surprise such as mini pieces to create a small nativity scene to display under the tree
  • Christmas | Have children create their own decorations using clear ornaments and add mini outdoor lights
  • Valentine’s Day | Hang hearts and notes of love and gratitude for family members to find
  • Lent/Easter | Use Easter eggs with scripture verses inside for each day of Lent, have an Easter egg hunt
  • Birthdays | Add streamers, have a picnic in the yard that includes birthday cake  

Additionally, the same plant/tree can also be sent to extended family members so they can also be part of honouring the lost child. Flower seeds can also be sent to those who are farther away. It's a beautiful way to remember loved ones and also create a new life and memories together. How meaningful would it be to exchange pictures of the memory gardens each Christmas? 
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In the Parish Community
In your parish community, can you find ways to gently raise awareness and support for those grieving the loss of preborn and born children?

​Sometimes the best people to lead these outreach programs and initiatives are those who have also experienced the grief of losing a child. Consider working closely with these parents and families and seeking guidance from them in your pastoral approaches and ideas.  

Today’s prayer intention and family activity was developed in collaboration with Elizabeth Ministry BC, which offers faith-based, peer support after loss of a baby during pregnancy, at birth, in infancy and toddlerhood. Visit Elizabeth Ministry BC’s website here: elizabethministrybc.ca
Source: National Life & Family Week Daily Prayers & Activities, CCCB, 2023
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Keeping our spaces clean & tidy

5/5/2023

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The space around us often reflects the state of our being. If our spaces are cluttered, this may mean that we are not on top of things or may feel overwhelmed with the demands of life.

One secret to keeping our spaces clean and tidy is to maintain little habits that help us to organize our lives and to avoid procrastination. For example, the habit of immediately returning a tool in the toolbox after each use will prevent tools from sitting around for days or weeks where they should not be. With this habit, unnecessary disasters and time-consuming problems are averted.

>>> Watch this video for daily habits that help keep our home clean and tidy.The space around us often reflects the state of our being. If our spaces are cluttered, this may mean that we are not on top of things or may feel overwhelmed with the demands of life.
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Consider this...
“But all things should be done decently and in order.” 1 Corinthian 14:40
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When we are able to maintain order in little things, we are present to the moment.
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Something to think about on Family's Day

2/17/2023

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Watch this excerpt of an interview of Dr. Jordan Peterson on parenting and the impact on children.  >>> Watch video now
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What are your thoughts as parents? How has your experience of parenting and raising children been?
Now, discipline always seems painful rather than pleasant at the time, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.” ~ Hebrews 12:11
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Authentic love builds and requires a lot of effort. 
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Adoro te devote

2/16/2023

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>> Watch this video and take in the beautiful arrangement of Adoro Te Devote by Domenico Bartolucci during the Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament on June 10, 2010, on the eve of the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus at St. Peter’s Square.
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Oh what treasure we have in the Church – the Son of God truly present! Let us adore Him.
In a world where there is so much noise, so much bewilderment, there is a need for silent adoration of Jesus concealed in the Host. Be assiduous in the prayer of adoration and teach it to the faithful. It is a source of comfort and light, particularly to those who are suffering.”

“Without the Eucharist, the Church simply does not exist.”

“Friends, do not be afraid of silence or stillness. Listen to God. Adore Him in the Eucharist.”
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Pope Benedict XVI
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The Beaver Tale

2/14/2023

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This St. Valentine’s Day, Jessica and Joseph Cyr celebrate a champagne wedding anniversary of sorts, with 14 years of marriage on the 14th. In that time, just as their family has grown to include five children, so has their extended family of faith.

The ceremonial ‘passing of the beaver pelt’ from one newlywed couple to another is a seemingly silly tradition that the Cyrs started in their Calgary Catholic community shortly after they were married, and never imagined would still be going strong today.
“I thought it would be fun to start a tradition within the Catholic community,” said Joseph Cyr. “I had the beaver hanging on my wall. It was unique to me, no one else had a homemade beaver pelt. I thought, ‘hey we can use that, and it’s something very Canadian, something that represents our heritage.’” 

At the time of publication, 48 couples, with more than 100 children combined, have written their names and wedding dates on the back of this storied beaver pelt. ​
PictureJessica and Joseph Cyr
History of the Pelt

​Back when Joseph was in high school, he earned his trapping license and trapped a beaver in a creek near his hometown of Pincher Creek, Alberta. He proceeded to prepare the beaver’s pelt for mounting onto plywood. While he had hoped to continue pursuing this hobby, the beaver was the only animal he ever trapped. 

Shortly after he and Jessica married, Joseph hung the pelt in the living room of their first home, but as it happened Jessica did not exactly share Joseph’s taste in home decor. Joseph then had the idea to gift the pelt to another young couple; Jessica was very receptive to the notion and thus a tradition was born.

The Cyrs presented it to Jared and Natalie Fehr at their wedding reception with the stipulation that they must display the pelt prominently in their home until the next Catholic couple involved with their young adult community married, at which point the ceremonial bestowing of the beaver pelt would continue. 

“Every time I hear the beaver pass to another couple, I say a quick prayer: “God be with them in their first years and keep them close to you,” said Jessica, a parishioner at St. Bernard’s Parish in Calgary.  

“I feel connected to the couples in the wider Catholic community by the beaver tradition in a maternal sense, especially now that over a decade has passed and a new generation of couples - the age of kids I used to babysit - are having it passed to them.” ​
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PictureAdam Pittman presenting the Beaver pelt at the Toner's wedding.
The beaver’s lodge

Currently, the pelt is in the possession of Brian and Jennifer Toner. Per the directive, it is displayed above their living-room television in Cupertino, California – one hour South of San Francisco. 

Adam Pittman presented the pelt on behalf of the Catholic community at their wedding reception in November in Saskatoon. 

“For us, receiving the beaver pelt was a huge honour,” said Jennfier Toner.

“It felt like our marriage was being uplifted by the prayers and thoughts of the whole group, whether we knew each couple or not. We also felt excited, because it is a delightfully ridiculous ‘gift and re-gift ' process that we now get to partake in,” Toner added.  

The beaver travels abroad 

A large part of the fun of this tradition is figuring out logistics as it travels from one couple to another. Now that it was in the Toner’s possession, they needed to figure out how to bring it with them across the border.

To get home, they needed to pass U.S. Customs. They had to assure the border guards of their plan to wrap it in a white garbage bag and take it as carry-on luggage on the airplane and stow it under their two seats. The first guard they met started laughing when they told her they had a beaver pelt. Then they were brought over for a secondary inspection.

“The second guard was enthusiastic about the pelt, because he’d always wanted to see one,” said Jennifer. “He told us a lot about the history of the Canadian fur trade and asked if he could touch the fur on the sides where the beaver is the softest.”

This second guard then called a third person from Agriculture Canada.

“He referred to it on the phone as a “family heirloom” that gets passed down from person to person. Beaver isn’t an endangered species in Canada, and because it was tanned, came from Alberta, and had been across the border before, everything checked out,” said Jennifer.  

The whole process took about 20 minutes.

Years ago, one couple had taken the beaver across the U.S.A./Canada land border while on their way to present it at their friends’ wedding in Vancouver. Following a long back-and-forth involving both American and Canadian customs agents, the beaver received official "papers," and the pelt was officially stamped on the back, from both sides of the border. These papers have traveled with the beaver ever since, and proved helpful to the border guards in the Toner’s recent travels.
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Brian & Jennifer Tonner
PictureThe Beaver Pelt (2023)
A silly or serious tradition? 

In his own way, Fr. Cristino Bouvette feels very much part of the beaver pelt tradition. He has celebrated the weddings of at least half of the couples associated with the beaver pelt, and witnessed time and again the passing on of the pelt at wedding receptions.

“It is clearly a silly tradition, but not merely a silly tradition. It is also a sign of married life being one of openness to the wider community. People marry for the sake of expanding the community of believers, expanding the community of the world,” said Fr. Bouvette.

“In receiving this memento, albeit tacky, it’s a sign of belonging to a wider community outside of your married life, which is a very important testament to the mystery of marriage. You give yourself to the other for the sake of the other, and then in that one flesh union that opens up to all others,” Fr. Bouvette added.

“It’s such a great sign to me of our ever-expanding faith community.” 


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Written by Sara Francis for Faithfully. Sara is a writer living in Calgary with her husband Ben and their six children. They attend St. Bernard's / Our Lady of the Assumption Parish 

​Photos submitted by Sara Francis. Used with permission. 
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Money habits that keep you poor

1/30/2023

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Some Catholics believe that we should not think of money as we focus on God not recognizing that most common symptoms of spiritual problems involve finances. Greed, the lack of self-discipline, and corruption in the heart will manifest wherever they can, often dealing with one’s money or other people’s money. Some people are drowning in debt from excessive shopping, some have gambling problems to channel their loneliness, some steal money from others or from work to manage their finances problems… 

Now on the flip side, we cannot be money-obsessed either. Our money cannot own us or control us. God should be our center. Money is a tool to serve God and others, while making sure that we have what we need for a good, balanced, and an upright life. 
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This accountant shares some basic financial approaches to overcome or prevent money issues. While not everything may apply to you, her tips should provide things to consider in the management of your personal finances. 

​>> Watch video now
As for those who in the present age are rich, command them not to be haughty, or to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but rather on God who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, generous, and ready to share, thus storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of the life that really is life.” 
​1 Timothy 6:17-19 

Be good stewards. Live with God by having Him at the center of your life. Keep everything in order.
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Spirituality & Mental Health

1/23/2023

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As human beings with both body and soul, we take good care of ourselves through healthy relationships, especially our relationship with God, and with the help of science.

​Watch this video and see how both science and the Faith connect.
Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, just as it is well with your soul.” 3 John 1:2

We have been wonderfully made by God. We must always seek wholeness and holiness in everything so that in sickness or in health and through life’s joys and sorrows, we abide in God.
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Sunday of the Word of God

1/11/2023

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Pope Francis has declared that the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time is to be devoted to the celebration, study and dissemination of the word of God “that the life of our people be constantly marked by this decisive relationship with the living word that the Lord never tires of speaking to his Bride” (Aperuit Illis, 2). In 2023 the Sunday of the Word of God falls on January 22.

​Download: 2023 Liturgical/Pastoral Resource from the Dicastery for Evangelization for Sunday of the Word of God


Here are five liturgical suggestions for making the most of this universal invitation from the Pontiff.  
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1. Homily
Focus on the centrality of the Bible for Christians. In the Gospel, Jesus quotes what we heard in the first reading from the Prophet Isaiah. The word of the prophet is the foundation for his teaching and the call of the first disciples. In the second reading Paul tells the Corinthians that Jesus did not send him to baptize but to proclaim the Gospel and that “it is the power of God”.

2. Bless Ministers of the Word
Following the Homily, invite ministers of the Word to stand (e.g. lectors, psalmists, leaders in RCIA, liturgy of the word for children, and scripture study). Bless them with hands extended:

Blessed are you, Lord God,
Source of all light and all goodness,
you sent your Son, your living Word,
to reveal to humanity the mystery of your love.
Look with mercy upon these women and men who proclaim your word
and lead your people closer to your teaching.
Bless X them in their ministry
so that they may be nourished by your Word,
be transformed by it and faithfully announce it
to their brothers and sisters in your Church.
We praise and thank you, Father,
in the name of Jesus your Son,
and in the love of your Holy Spirit,
God of glory for ever and ever.
Amen.


Adapted from the blessing of lectors in Celebrations of Installation and Recognition, copyright Concacan Inc.,2005. All rights reserved.

3. Universal Prayer

Introduction to the petitions:
Dear sisters and brothers,
nourished and formed by God’s Word
let us bring our needs and petitions before Him.


In addition to the petitions you have prepared for today, include some for the Word of God to come to life in your community, for example:
  • For bishops, priests, deacons, lectors, psalmists, and all who proclaim God’s Word in the world, we pray to the Lord.
  • For teachers and staff in Catholic schools, for catechists, parents, and all who bring the Word of God to children, we pray to the Lord.

Prayer at the end of the petitions:
Grant, O God, that our lives be marked by your living word.
Hear these, our prayers,
and help us to proclaim the good news of the kingdom.
Through Christ our Lord.
Amen.


4. Eucharistic Prayer

You might use Eucharistic Prayer III for Various Needs and Occasions (Jesus the Way to the Father). Its Preface focuses on Christ as the “Word” of God. Roman Missal p.764ff.

5. Enthroning the Bible (For use in homes, schools, and with RCIA or Bible Study groups)
​

The faithful have shown reverence to the bible as the inspired word of God since ancient times. The enthronement of an open bible has often served as a symbolic invitation to delve into the sacred text as the source of our spiritual life. You might use this short ritual from the American Bible Society to enthrone the Bible at home, in schools, and with RCIA or Bible Study groups.  
  • How to enthrone the Bible in your home/class/school? 

6. More Resources
  • Note from the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments on the Word of God Sunday. The note highlights opportunities and practical suggestions for the Word of God Sunday celebration. English | French 
  • Adult Formation Activity
  • Understanding the Bible
  • The Art and Practice of Lectio Divina
  • The Word of God as a Source of Prayer

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Entering the Ordinary Time

1/11/2023

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During the Ordinary Time, the Church celebrates the fullness of the mystery of the Lord Jesus. The people of God offer praise by celebrating the Paschal Mystery of the Death and Resurrection of Jesus. Sunday is the original Christian Feast Day, following the tradition handed down from Apostolic times, for this way the day of the Lord’s Resurrection.

Today’s Christian communities continue this tradition by celebrating every Sunday as the day of the risen Lord. 

​Below are some resources to help break down everything you need to know for this liturgical season, as well as practical advices to help you get the most out of the Ordinary Time.
  • Read: Ultimate Guide to Ordinary Time (Catholic Telegraph) 
  • Read: Why Ordinary Time can also be called the "season of saints" (Aleteia)
  • Read: 5 ways to make Ordinary Time less ordinary (Catholic Link)
  • Read: What about an Ordinary Time resolution this year? (Aleteia)
  • Read: How do we keep Sunday holy (Aleteia) 
  • YEAR A Monthly Liturgical Calendar (CCCB)
  • Read: 7 ways to make Sunday holy for the whole family (Aleteia)
  • Watch: Why do we need to rest from work on Sundays? (Fr. Mike Smith, Ascension Press)
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Unpacking Christmas Day

12/26/2022

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Why do we celebrate Christmas, the day of the Lord’s birth, on December 25th? 

>> Watch this video and find out that this date was not inspired by the pagan feast of the sun god as commonly held by those who are cynical of the Church’s celebration of Christmas. In fact, it’s the other way around as Christmas pre-existed the pagan feast of the sun. As well, Christmas Day was not chosen randomly by the Church as this date is connected to the birth of John the Baptist.
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So, don’t hold back, celebrate Christmas, the birthday of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. And one more thing… Christmas is not just a day-long celebration, it’s a season.




The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned."  Matthew 4:16

​Live and bask in the Light of God. Overcome darkness and death with the Light of Christ. 

​A Happy Christmas to you and your family!
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Beyond a picture-perfect family Christmas dinner

12/19/2022

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Watch this video and go beyond merely having a picture-perfect family Christmas dinner. ​Let Christ be at the center of all things.
Those who say, ‘I love God’, and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen.”
1 John 4:20 
​

Strive to be transformed by Christ and yearn for what is real.
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Joy, hope, and love

12/5/2022

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The Advent season marks the beginning of a new liturgical year. In preparation for the coming of Christ at Christmas, it is a time of spiritual renewal which invites us as Christians to reflect more deeply on the meaning of our common human history. To rediscover our vocation and mission in Christ which calls us to reach out to all of humanity, peoples, cultures, and across the path of time.
 
In our lives we can all experience the call to begin again, to rediscover the meaning and the goal of our lives in relation to God, and to all of humanity through Christ. It is similar for the human family in rediscovering the common path and horizon that unites us. This horizon of hope for all of humanity has been revealed to us in Christ, who was the incarnate Word of God.   
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The season of Advent can restore in each of us this horizon of hope. It is a hope which does not disappoint for it is founded on God’s word. It can be a time to deepen our longing and anticipation that God will do what the prophets of the Old Testament promised. To fully reveal the promise of His love, the promise of salvation that is founded on hope and which unites us in Christ to all of humanity.
Pope Benedict in writing about this season of Advent stated: “The purpose of the Church’s year is continually to rehearse her great history of memories, to awaken the heart’s memory so that it can discern the star of hope. It is the beautiful task of Advent to awaken in all of us, memories of goodness and thus to open doors of hope.” (Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI) in Seek That Which Is Above, 1986)

​Advent can also teach us that there are two ways of experiencing this common history of memories: one is a human or sociological vision and the other is religious that invites people of faith who believe in God to see a much deeper horizon in our common human history. The first experience of time or history is 
chronos, which is essentially cyclical and is often without the sense of purpose or meaning. The second, karios, is the living of our history, our lives through the lens of knowing we have been redeemed by God in Christ Jesus. This is the experience which brings us the joy and hope which we rehearse each year in Church’s memory of the celebration of Christmas.  
 
In Evangelli Gaudium “Joy of the Gospel” Pope Francis reminds us that “The joy of the Gospel fills the heart and lives of all who encounter Jesus. …  With Jesus Christ joy is constantly born anew.” (EG, #1) In Scripture joy is expressed or described through a multitude of personal and collective human experiences e.g., religious ceremonies and feasts. In the Old Testament, it was the most common experience that identified the presence of God or the awareness God acting in human history. The Psalms are filled with this experience of joy which celebrated the nearness of God in the life of our human experience.   

In John’s Gospel the experience of joy is the Messiah’s gift. It is what Jesus desired for his disciples that the joy that he experienced in the presence and nearness of his Father would be with his disciples, and that their joy would be complete. In the Gospel of Luke, the experience of joy proceeds the birth of Christ, that it is expressed by the angels and the shepherds. It is the same joy that accompanies those who encounter Christ each and every day, and which becomes attractive to those who are open to receive the Good News. Joy anticipates the coming of Christ, it is a sign of the God’s Kingdom, and as St. Paul stated, it is an enduring fruit of the Holy Spirit’s presence in our lives.
In the past few years during this time of Advent in preparation for our celebration of Christmas, we as a Diocese have introduced the I am Blessed campaign. It is an invitation to see how our lives have been blessed by God as a way of entering more deeply into the season of Advent and in preparation for Christmas. This year the theme is “We love because He first loved us. (1 John 4:19)"
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Written by Most Rev. William T. McGrattan, Bishop of Calgary
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​Dec. 5, 2022
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The art of accompaniment

11/13/2022

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“Help me!” Out of a dark bathroom in a long term care home, I heard a plaintive cry and froze. I was there to bring the Eucharist, nothing more. I turned to seek out an attendant and heard again, “Don’t leave me!” Heart pounding, I crept forward, identified myself loudly and turned on the lights to find an elderly woman on the toilet. With shaking hands I cleaned her and helped her to stand up. She leaned against me as we washed our hands. Secretly I thought, “I have wiped Christ’s bottom.”

Jesus said that whatever we do for the least of his brethren we do for him. This is true whether we cook for our family, give alms to the poor or serve at Mass. However, it might be particularly true when we are called to move out of our comfort zone and give more than we intended to. For example, when we offer to buy a street person a coffee and he chooses a whole meal with it. Or we call to check in on a friend and she spills out her woes for an hour. When we give of ourselves we prefer to have a measure of control over the experience but that is not how God gives of himself. God gave his only son, and Jesus gave his lifeblood for us. God continues to give constantly and completely, so we are called to do the same. This kind of self-emptying service is what Pope Francis called “the art of accompaniment”.

“The Church will have to initiate everyone – priests, religious and laity- into this “art of accompaniment” which teaches us to remove our sandals before the sacred ground of the other.” (Evangelii Gaudium 169)
​
I am coming to understand The Art of Accompaniment through a series of talks given by Fr. Tim Boyle at St. Martha’s Parish in Lethbridge . So far Fr. Boyle has noted that accompaniment is not quite the same as caregiving, although it might include that. To accompany someone is to first of all recognize that God is with them. As guest speaker Reno Guimond said, “We are not bringing God to anyone. God has been there long before we show up. We go to see where God is.” Besides recognizing God in each person, we also need to understand how God works in the world.

Fr. Boyle encouraged his listeners to imagine God “delighting” in the world as he created it. “God has invested himself in creation,” Fr. Boyle said. “This is not a one-time event but an evolving artwork. If God accompanies us as an artist not as an engineer then God is vulnerable to the unfolding of Creation… God suffers in the process… God chooses to spend himself on creation.” This form of sacrificial support was expressed ultimately by God becoming human and Jesus’ death and resurrection.

For us, sacrificial giving of ourselves is often a challenge. Society dictates that one must preserve oneself, must learn to ‘Say No’, and ration one’s time and energy. Yet Creation shows otherwise. Fr. Boyle used the examples of salmon making death runs upstream to spawn, and sunflowers drying up to produce seeds for food and for procreation. “Like salmon and sunflowers, every creature, in order to reach their full potential, needs to empty themselves out”, Fr. Boyle said. So how is this achieved in practical terms? How does one accompany another person, whether continuously or when called upon? 

It begins when we accept God’s accompaniment of us. This happens through grace which Fr. Boyle suggests is “like manna – something given by God every day which cannot be stored up but only taken advantage of that day.” Grace is not a weapon or superpower, it doesn’t enhance our abilities. Indeed it requires us to first accept that we have no ability without God. We are flawed and vulnerable beings made precious by God’s acceptance. It is God’s grace that sustains us, sanctifies us. When we understand this dynamic we are better prepared to handle the vulnerability of others, to accept it, and handle it gently.

Since my first incident of extreme vulnerability in long-term care, my ministry partner and I have been called upon to assist a few others at their times of greatest need, in life and even approaching death. While I still feel my heart pounding each time, the experiences have been deeply humbling. I know God is helping me learn how to cherish the sacred ground of others.

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Written by Alice Matisz for Faithfully. ​Alice lives in Lethbridge with her husband Don. She is a member of All Saints Parish where she volunteers to bring the Eucharist to a long term care home (pre-Covid). She enjoys reading, writing, baking and painting. 
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A Catholic Divorce? Certainly not.

10/10/2022

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Find out why the term “Annulment” is problematic and why it’s not the same as the Declaration of Nullity. Watch this brief video with Fr. Mark-Mary. 
​
It takes three to make a marriage: man, woman, and God. It only takes one for marriages to fail.

​Consider this…

He answered, “Have you not read that the one who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female’, and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate”. Matthew 19:4-6

All things beautiful last forever, and beauty involves joy, hardships, mutual self-giving, and sacrifice.

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Happy Thanksgiving!

10/6/2022

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It's fitting for God's people to offer public thanks for all the gifts we have received. The bountiful produce of the earth is a visible sign of the many blessings God wants to shower on us through Christ. Our God also wants us to share the goods of the earth with all people. (Ordo 2021). 

Note that the Catholic Pastoral Centre will be closed on Monday, Oct. 10 for Thanksgiving Day, and will reopen on Tuesday, Oct. 11.  ​​

Resources
  • ​Simple Thanksgiving prayer (Hallow)
  • How to talk about faith this Thanksgiving (Podcast - Ascension)
  • 10 ways to be a more thankful person (Podcast - Danielle Bean)
  • Download/Share Thanksgiving day greeting graphic (with scriptures)
  • Christian Thanksgiving ideas & activities (The Catholic Toolbox)
  • 12 Thanksgiving prayer ideas (OSV)
  • Thanksgiving craft for Kids (Catholic Icing)
  • How to celebrate Thanksgiving if you have to stay home alone (Aleteia)
  • Download graphic: square | wide | more graphics
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Thanksgiving Day Prayer

​Lord, we thank you

for the goodness of our people
and for the spirit of justice
that fills this nation.
We thank you for the beauty
and fullness of the land
​and the challenge of the cities.

We thank you for our work and our rest,
for one another, and for our homes.
We thank you, Lord:
accept our thanksgiving on this day.
We pray and give thanks
​through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

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Knowing the right things to say

10/3/2022

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Perhaps you have gone through difficult times and received unhelpful but well-meaning comments. Maybe you just heard yourself say something that didn’t come across as well as you thought it would as you tried to console someone.
​
Watch this video and learn some tips on knowing the right things to say as a personal mini sensitivity training.
Consider this…
Then Job answered: 
“I have heard many such things; miserable comforters are you all…” Job 16:2
Job’s comforters were not very present to him in his misery, instead they were trying to find a way to provide a rationale for what he was going through. When we are suffering, we do not need commentators around us. We just want someone to accompany us with what we’re going through. Be a friend who focuses on the feelings and needs of the other.
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The transfigured heart

8/7/2022

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Five o’clock. First light was beginning to peek through the blinds of our fifth wheel camper. I pushed past the temptation to remain snuggled under the blanket and forced myself out of bed. I was going to do it - I was going to climb a mountain (okay, a hill) to watch a sunrise and sit in the presence of my Heavenly Father. 

My family was spending the first week of August at Dinosaur Provincial Park, joining my in-laws for a four-day adventure in the hoodoos. Our first evening at Dinosaur Park, we’d trekked to the highest point to get a full 360 of the oddly picturesque World Heritage Site. It’s an incredible anomaly among the flattest of prairie, and it’s one of the most breathtaking landscapes I’ve ever experienced. Anybody who’s been to Dinosaur Provincial Park, 43 kilometers northeast of Brooks, knows exactly what I’m talking about: after driving through miles of prairie, the world suddenly opens up. Sandstone-striped hills, hiding who knows how many millions of fossils, seem to go on forever. Standing at the top of the mountain (okay, again, hill) and breathing in the majesty of God’s creation, I had the bright idea to climb again one morning during our trip to take in a prairie sunrise over the hoodoos and hills. 

Our first night camping was fraught with high winds, deafening thunder, and sheet lightning, which encouraged me to sleep in snugly that first morning (cozied up to my nine-year-old daughter, who tucked in with us at the first roll of thunder.) The following day, however, my internal alarm went off three times before I finally arose to first light at 5 am, pulled on a hoodie, and quietly slipped out of our camper while the rest of my family snoozed away.

It was quiet and dark enough that I felt a little bit disconcerted (I’ve seen a rattlesnake or two at the park), but as I began my ascent, my desire to be with God on a mountaintop (hoo-doo top?) outweighed my fear. The climb was steep and slippery in running shoes, and I laughed at myself as I huffed and puffed towards the top, bolstered by Al McGuire’s quote: “There’s no one who’s dropped on top of the mountain. You’ve got to work your way to the top.” After slips and slides and gratitude that I had no witnesses, I arrived at the apex, took a deep breath, looked around, and prayed:
Lord Jesus Christ,
Take all my freedom,
My memory,
My understanding,
And my will.
All that I have and cherish
You have given me.
I surrender it all to be guided by Your will.
Your grace and love and wealth enough for me.
Give me these, Lord Jesus,
And I ask for nothing more. Amen
.
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I’d never heard Saint Ignatius of Loyola’s prayer until Father Raul Hernandez, former pastor of St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Brooks, introduced me to it. It’s a prayer that I hold dear to my heart; it’s the prayer that I turn to most often, especially when I’m experiencing something uncomfortable or discouraging. 

I’m writing about a mountaintop experience, which juxtaposes quite jarringly with the valleys my soul had been experiencing as of late. I’d been suffering from bouts of crippling anxiety since school let out. When I’m not teaching, my mental health tends to take a dip - I slug through the valleys of dark days, sustained prayer and platitudes (as well as adherence to exercise and diet.) God has given me many tools to help me keep my head above water when anxiety sets in. 

When I’d finally made it to the top of the hill, I realized that I wasn’t alone: having neglected a good dose of Deet, I was joined by mosquitos, happy to keep me company as I attempted to pray and settle quietly into God’s presence. It was almost laughable - I’d stolen a moment to myself to be still, and I was busily swatting away the most loathesome of insects. It was tempting to sink into defeat, something that anxiety preys on greedily, but my repeated dedication to Jesus kept me mountaintop for over an hour. Praying… and swatting. 

I watched the sandstone ground warm from grey to brown as the slow light began spreading its way westward over the hills, painting everything the colour of morning. I listened to coyotes howl from the south, answered by packs from the north. I watched a flock of Canada geese in their V formation, and listened to birds honk along the shores of the Red Deer River. I sank into the majesty of God’s kingdom here on Earth. Mosquitoes and all, it was a literal mountaintop (okay, hilltop) experience. 

On August 6, we celebrated the Feast of the Transfiguration. After I shared that I was writing about my mountaintop morning, a dear friend of mine noted how, when prompted by Peter to set up camp at the top of the mountain, Jesus and His disciples came back down shortly after. They didn’t even stick around much longer after God acknowledged His Son. “We can’t stay in the mountaintop experiences. Even the disciples didn’t,” she noted sagely. She then asked, “what kind of transfiguration did you experience that morning?”

My mountain morning allowed for a transfiguration of my hurting heart. Anxiety doesn’t just slip away at will, but God always brings me back to His love, despite the temptation to despair. Climbing the mountain may not have entirely quelled my anxiety, but I was reminded of God’s great love for me as He painted the skies, and I returned to my family with an assuaged soul (and a million mosquito bites.) His grace and his love were in abundance that morning. Give me these, Lord Jesus, and I ask for nothing more. Amen.


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Written by Olivia Liboiron for Faithfully. Olivia is a committed Catholic educator, wife and mother of two precious children.  She has been in the community of Brooks since 2007.  She currently teaches at Christ the King Academy, Brooks’ Catholic middle school. Olivia’s passion for Catholic education makes her an ideal advocate; her strong and obvious faith allows her to witness to each student, colleague and parent she encounters.
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We are the Church #walkingtogether

7/31/2022

2 Comments

 
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The Francis Family of Calgary upon arrival at Commonwealth Stadium, Edmonton
I remember the day a girl about my height with jet black hair bounded up my driveway asking to play. I was about five years old and shy. Lori was a high energy, outgoing six-year-old and we quickly became friends. For the next three years we had adventures, playing hide and seek and other childhood pastimes, sometimes getting into mischief together.

In upper elementary, I remember finding out that the reason Lori acted differently is because she had fetal alcohol syndrome. But as young children that difference never factored in, in fact, in my eyes she was exciting and fun to be around. 

Knowing Lori was a gift I received early in my life. I’ve carried the memories we made together with me ever since. And I carried her in my heart as I made the pilgrimage from my home in Calgary to Edmonton for the Papal Mass on July 26, 2022. 

I prayed for Lori, one of my first best friends, an Indigenous girl who was innocently sentenced to a life clouded by the effects of a preventable syndrome. Lori was adopted and while she never attended residential school, it’s likely someone from her family tree had spent time at one of these schools. To me, her situation is an example from my own lived experience of the repercussions of residential schools felt through the generations. 

When we arrived at Commonwealth Stadium, the first thing we did was take a family photo to remember our family pilgrimage as we will continue to unpack its significance in the years to come. 

Next we found our seats, and while waiting for the Papal Mass to begin I noticed four middle-aged women sitting behind me wearing Every Child Matters orange and black t-shirts. Among them was Kelly Spooner who was not herself Indigenous, but came to honour the memory of her uncle (through marriage) who died in 2019 and attended residential school for six years. 
​

“I came for strength and to renew my spirit. It’s a part of history today,” said Kelly Spooner. 

Not long after, the Pope rode around the stadium greeting the crowd. Kelly ran down to the front gate to get a closer look. After he passed by she came back in tears, saying “I’m so happy he’s here.” ​
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Juan and Lupita Artega and their children holding signs to welcome Pope Francis along his route
PictureAmber Franco of Calgary with her family
​As the pre-Mass program was wrapping up, emcee Janelle Reinhardt asked the crowd to keep a prayerful silence. 

“The stadium truly became silent, it was powerful and profound, you could only hear the humming of the buildings. It was impressive in a crowd so large,” said Amber Franco, reflecting on this poignant moment. She drove from Calgary to Edmonton with her husband Mike and seven children.   

Calgary Bishop William McGrattan also took note of the prayerful atmosphere as he looked up into the crowd from ground level.  

“When we entered in the procession for Mass and I saw the number of people on the field and in the stands you had this sense of the presence of Christ in those who had gathered to be with the Holy Father,” said Bishop McGrattan. 

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Bishop McGrattan during the processional rite at Papal Mass
The Papal Mass was celebrated on the feast of St. Joachim and St. Anne – the grandparents of Jesus.  Pope Francis used this opportunity to speak about the importance of grandparents and family cohesion during his homily. 

“This message was simple, but one that everyone could receive and appreciate,” said Bishop McGrattan. “The message of a pastor who himself was advanced in age and not afraid to show the signs of declining mobility, and the need for assistance, which is experienced in every family.”  

Like any good pilgrimage, there are challenging moments and as we sat in the bleachers listening to Pope Francis our children began to get a bit restless in the blistering heat. I turned my own discomfort into a small offering toward reconciliation, all the while my heart growing in gratitude for the heroic effort of our 85-year-old pontiff. 

I thought this was a generous gesture toward reconciliation simply by showing up and “taking the heat” with us in every sense of the phrase. But I was also humbled by the elders some 80 years and up who had made the pilgrimage from various parts of the country also suffering their own discomforts in an attempt to heal and move forward.  

My own father Deacon Richard Loftson accompanied a group of Indigenous pilgrims from Manitoba on behalf of the Archdiocese of St. Boniface. He ministers to the St. Kateri Tekakwitha Indigenous Parish in Winnipeg. 

“They were thankful for the apology. They were emotional, in tears many of them. They had been waiting for so long,” said Deacon Loftson.

Bishop McGrattan also sought feedback as he encountered people affected by residential schools. 

“In talking to some survivors at the various events, it was difficult for some to hear and relive these memories. For others, there was a sense of recognition that they were listened to by Pope Francis and that his words and actions were genuine in their eyes,” said Bishop McGrattan. 

Like many things, the future lies with the children in hopes they will learn from history and build a more just and merciful society where no child will ever again suffer the consequences of being forced to leave their family and lose their culture and heritage. 
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Calgarians Jason & Michelle Widmeyer and their family
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John Macdonald of Sundre, AB with his sons Joseph and Fulton wearing a Métis sash to honour their heritage.
PictureKonrad & Alissa Paley with their daughters
This is why our friends Alissa and Konrad Paley of Calgary also made the pilgrimage with their three young daughters (six years and under) to the Papal Mass with the same intention as our family: to build a culture of goodwill and reconciliation in their home. 

“Participating in this particular Papal Mass was really important as a Catholic and a Canadian,” said Alissa Paley. “The Church is made up of the people, we are the people of the Church. In order for the Church to work towards reconciliation we must show up.” 

“I was honoured to bring my daughters with me. I know that they currently don’t understand the gravity of this event, but I hope as they grow up they may continue to pray for the journey toward reconciliation in this country.”    

My thoughts have turned toward the child during this pilgrimage. Just like my friend Lori who did nothing to deserve the circumstances she inherited as a child, neither did I deserve the family and opportunities I have been afforded. Everything is a gift. In gratitude, I left Edmonton pondering how I can use the time I have left to seek holiness by laying down my life for my friends. 

== More photos from our Diocesan families during the Papal Mass (click "all comments")



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Written by Sara Francis for Faithfully. Sara is a writer living in Calgary with her husband Ben and their six children. They attend St. Bernard's / Our Lady of the Assumption Parish. 

​
All photos are used with permission. 
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How do we take part in the World Day for Grandparents & the Elderly 2022?

7/24/2022

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SUBMIT YOUR PHOTO HERE
Let us minister together to ensure no one lives in isolation and loneliness. This Sunday, July 24, we invite you to take a step forward in co-creating compassionate communities that see relationship and accompaniment with the elderly and grandparents as a normal part of family, neighbourhood, parish, and communal life.
Share your visit with us and get a gift!
This World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly 2022, we invite parishioners and families to participate in the following activity: Make plans to visit grandparents and/or elderly individuals in your family, neighbourhood, or parish community on Sunday, July 24, the World Day of Grandparents and the Elderly. Consider taking with you some pastry, coffee, and/or flowers, and/or a handmade card with your child(ren). Ultimately, it’s about the gift of time and presence.
  • Share a picture from your visit and receive a gift that you can give back! Submit your photo (with caption) by emailing it to communications@calgarydiocese.ca or use this Diocesan form, and receive a beautiful gift for your grandparent(s) or the elderly you visit! 
  • Curious about the gift? Sacred Artist Debbie Thompson Wilson (Sacred Arts Guild of Alberta member, and professional Illuminator) will be creating a beautiful illuminated print of Sts. Anne & St. Joachim  for this special occasion. Limited number of prints will be given to those sharing photos from their visit on the World Day of Grandparents and the Elderly. 
SUBMIT YOUR PHOTO HERE
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4 practical things parishes can do
  1. Promote the World Day of Grandparents and the Elderly in the parish bulletin and/or parish announcements, and encourage parishioners to join any special activity in the parish (if available), or to visit their grandparents or the elderly on that day.
    • Download and display the Diocesan poster about World Day of Grandparents and the Elderly with your parishioners 
    • Let parishioners know about the opportunity to get a beautiful gift of printed icon of Sts. Anna & Joachim, by sharing photos from their visit with the Diocese. See poster for more information on how to submit photo. 
  2. Promote the Plenary Indulgence promulgated by the Apostolic Penitentiary
    • ​Encourage individuals and families to invite and assist an elderly person to come to Sunday mass celebrated on the occasion of the Day. 
      • Consider hosting a special chat & coffee/cake, barbecue or pancake after the Mass. We have a poster template to help you advertise the event - contact us at communications@calgarydiocese.ca
    • Encourage individuals and families to participate with a homebound elderly individual in mass through television, radio, or online.
  3. Incorporate the suggested Prayer of the Faithful (see pg. 7) into the Sunday Mass and use the final blessing at the end of mass.
  4. With the support of Lay Associations in the Parish, organize a fund-raiser selling flowers that would then be presented to Grandparents and/or elderly in families, parish community, and/or neighbourhood.
SUBMIT YOUR PHOTO HERE
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3 Practical things families and individuals can do
  1. Visit your grandparents or elderly in your community on or around July 24
  2. Pray a rosary for the Pope's intention in July 2022 (for the elderly); intentions of grandparents, elderly in the family, neighbourhood, parish on or around July 24
  3. Do a trip down memory lane with your child(ren), looking at pictures of grandparents, great grandparents, and/or elderly individuals who had a significant impact in your life and family of upbringing, like teachers, aunts and/or uncles, mentors.   
SUBMIT YOUR PHOTO HERE
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Can I get a Yahoo?

7/15/2022

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Sean Lynn at Stampede 2022
PictureSt. Paul's Church in Brocket
I just finished working the first three days of The Calgary Stampede as a police officer and it was packed! It amazed me to see the number of serving members who take annual leave to volunteer to help out at the stampede. This event attracts 2500 volunteers to work long days to pull off the World’s Greatest Outdoor Show!

We need that volunteer spirit to bring our diocese and parishes into the vibrant church community that God wants us to have. God Squad has chosen the mission of inviting men into God’s work in Canada. To make it clear, we are not asking you to join under the God Squad banner but rather to work collaboratively with us to encourage men to be part of the fabric of the Church’s mission. We would love to hear what is happening in your parish regarding ministry to men and how we can help. Please contact admin@godsquad.ca

To this end I would like to invite the men of the Diocese of Calgary to join us in painting St Paul’s Church in Brocket on Saturday August 27, 2022, weather permitting. Note that family and friends are welcome to volunteer as well. ​This is an excellent opportunity for us to strengthen our relationship with our First Nations brothers and sisters and to beautify the Lord's dwelling place.

​Please consider joining us and partake of our Barbecue Outreach for some great food, fellowship and community service. 


Submitted by Sean Lynn, God Squad Canada
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