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Care from the heart & soul

2/10/2021

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Spiritual Care and Indigenous Wellness Teams. Left to right, Annella Wehlage, Suzan Heavyshields, Sylvia Ann Fox, John Moerman.
As COVID rages on we regularly see TV footage of health care professionals in hospitals. Yet barely visible is a small group of essential caregivers, often volunteers, who provide care for the soul, the Spiritual Care Teams. 
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I recently met some of these caregivers inside the Chinook Regional Hospital (CRH) in Lethbridge. After navigating entrance protocol to rival a military base, I was met by Annella Wehlage, the Roman Catholic Spiritual Care Coordinator. She guided me to her office in a quiet section of the ‘tower’ office block. There I met John Moerman, the Hospital Chaplain, and the Indigenous Wellness Core, comprised of Sylvia Ann Fox/”Singing Alone From Above” (Traditional Wellness Coordinator) and Suzan Heavyshields (Indigenous Hospital Liaison). This small group explained how they work together to provided spiritual care needs to patients, and how COVID has changed what they do.  

Wehlage has been a volunteer since 2015 following a long career as a nurse. She outlined her daily routine which used to begin with a list of patients who designated a religious affinity on their admittance paperwork. She and the team would discuss a plan and then begin what Moerman referred to with a smile as ‘rounds’, or personal visits to each patient desiring spiritual care. However, COVID has changed all that.

Now the imperative to prevent cross-contamination has reduced visitors to just one per patient, usually a family member. A second professional visitor is permitted in certain circumstances, e.g., a legal counsellor or a priest. And a limited number of additional visitors are permitted in end-of-life situations.

So now the Spiritual Care Team can only visit a patient when specifically referred by family or nursing staff, or in an end-of-life situation. Wehlage is saddened by the loss of her four-person team of volunteer Eucharistic ministers who used to faithfully help her to bring the Eucharist to everyone who wanted it. Now Wehlage’s main responsibility is arranging for a priest to visit when requested. This she does with the help of a weekly roster and an ‘on-call’ list for weekends and evenings. There is always a priest available 24/7.  

The six priests on the list work tirelessly to bring the Sacrament of the Sick and the Sacrament of Reconciliation to patients, sometimes visiting the same person more than once. Their presence in the hospital is a blessing for more than just the patients. Not infrequently, a family member will also ask for a sacrament. The day I visited, Wehlage paused at a coffee kiosk in the hospital atrium where the barista told her how gratifying it was for her to simply see a parish priest walk by because her shift schedule made it impossible to attend Mass.

Another uplifting aspect of Spiritual Care at CRH is how First Nation’s spirituality is often combined with Catholicism, for First Nations patients. Team member Fox explained, “Some people, their parents were strong Catholics and their grandparents were strong in our traditional ways.” So team members offer both forms of religious care concurrently. Moerman added, “That’s how God created us, with a traditional background, a family background, a cultural background, all together.”

The CRH Spiritual Care Team and the Indigenous Wellness Core are clearly cohesive. “We’re friends outside of work”, Wehlage said, “We support one another.” They also work together to accomplish some extraordinary feats. Fox told of one gravely sick man whose wedding plans were interrupted by his illness. When she visited she found his fiancée present. She asked if there was anything she might help them with and they answered, “We’d like to get married this afternoon!” Fox and Wehlage executed a frenzy of arrangements from legal paperwork, securing a priest and arranging a special exemption for two family witnesses. Then they peeked in from the hallway to watch two people realize a dream that COVID couldn’t take from them.

More commonly the teams deal with end-of-life situations. “Sometimes if patients get a difficult diagnosis nurses will request a spiritual care visit,” Wehlage said. She also makes a point of accompanying the priest in cases where the Sacrament of the Sick is administered, especially if it was requested by family members who aren’t permitted to visit due to COVID restrictions. “If a patient sees a priest arrive unannounced at their bedside, they may get scared,” Wehlage said. The teams have many times sat with a person during their final hours. Fox explained softly, “Nobody wants to be alone when they’re going.”
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Wall mural in Chinook Regional Hospital
When asked how else COVID has changed their work, the teams agreed that the hospital was much quieter with fewer visitors. That makes the teams’ work more important than ever. “Patient care can’t be done from home,” Moerman said. He added, “I don’t treat a patient with COVID any differently.” Nevertheless, additional precautions are necessary both at work and when returning home. Moerman said, “Early on I had a knot in my stomach, especially as my wife was baby-sitting our grandkids at home. I would put my clothes in the laundry as soon as I got home. I still do.” He admitted to turning off the news some days as well, “You have to limit COVID news or the fear can rise in you.” Wehlage spoke of baking as a stress-reliever and Fox had taken up traditional beading and making moccasins. 

Asked if they have a message for the readers of Faithfully, the teams had excellent suggestions.

“Follow best practices, listen to the advice of professionals so we don’t overwhelm the 14-bed ICU at our hospital.”
“If you know of somebody who’s Catholic and in hospital, notify their parish priest because the person might not have been at church for some time and their family might be too distracted to think of it.”
“Check in with your extended family, just to talk, a wellness check.”
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It’s obvious that, both on and off the job, caring is deeply engrained in the nature of spiritual caregivers. Let us remember and pray for them in a special way this month.   

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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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World Day of the Sick 2021

2/2/2021

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Resources

"The celebration of the XXIX World Day of the Sick on 11 February 2021, the liturgical memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Lourdes, is an opportunity to devote special attention to the sick and to those who provide them with assistance and care both in healthcare institutions and within families and communities. We think in particular of those who have suffered, and continue to suffer, the effects of the worldwide coronavirus pandemic." ~ Pope Francis.

The theme of this year’s message is “You have but one teacher and you are all brothers" (Mt 23:8), which encourages a trust-based relationship with the sick and the nurturing of integral human healing. Please find here some resources for the World Day of the Sick (Feb. 11) this year:
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  • Pope Francis' Message for the XXIX World Day of the Sick - English | French
  • Some themes for our reflection on World Day of the Sick - Download 
  • Liturgical notes for World Day of the Sick in the Diocese of Calgary - Download
  • World Day of the Sick resources (prayers, petitions, graphic/poster etc.) you can use: 
    • Prayer of the Faithful
    • Prayer and Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes

Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD)

We would also like to direct your attention to the updated Bill C-7 webpage, and ask that you continue to pray and voice your concern on MAiD. "May our Lord both inspire and bring to accomplishment our efforts to embrace and protect the suffering and vulnerable, and to honour and uphold our rights and freedoms." ~ AB & NWT Bishops See webpage  
  • Statement by the group of disability advocates opposing Bill C-7. Read here
  • Calgary Catholic Medical Association (CCMA) is a lay association with a mission to foster personal and professional formation of healthcare professionals, in accord with the magisterium of the Catholic Church. Read an article from CCMA's website regarding the consultations on expanding MAiD here. What physicians are saying about the dangers of the euthanasia expansion. Read here 
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COVID-19
  • To get the latest update on COVID-19 Pandemic in the Diocese, click here
  • Revised article with notes from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith re COVID-19 vaccination. Read here
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A hug from God

11/24/2020

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Sharon Hagel. Photo credit: Kia Nishiguchi.
​“It’s like getting a hug from God!”

​That’s how Sharon Hagel describes the experience of receiving a hand-knitted ‘prayer shawl’. These beautiful wraps aren’t simply warm they are also imbued with prayers for the comfort and assistance of whoever ends up wrapped in their folds. So whether the recipient is a grieving widow or a sick child, they get a card explaining how they were prayed for and how God is an ever-present help in times of trouble.

Hagel and a dedicated group of knitters have been meeting at the Martha Retreat Centre in Lethbridge for longer than Hagel can remember. For two hours, over six to ten weeks, they knit, pray and converse. Even when Covid restrictions limited the size of the group, they welcomed new members to this ecumenical endeavour. Hagel says, “We’re all there for the same purpose, to support the needy.” During the group’s biannual sessions many prayer shawls are completed because participants often work on knitting at home too.

For Hagel it has become a regular part of her prayer life. “I sit with the Lord and I knit,” she says. “I say, OK Lord, whoever this is for, be with this person.” Many hundreds of wraps later, Hagel and the informal group of knitters continue to offer a tangible sign of God’s love to those in need of a loving embrace.    
A key pillar of the diocesan I Am Blessed campaign is to act decisively in aid of the needy. While most Catholics do this sporadically, a few go above and beyond. Recently, I spoke with two such women in Lethbridge who have quietly spent decades helping others by sharing their talent for knitting and crocheting. As I spoke with Sharon and Jenny, I was moved to consider how I might use my own modest talents in a pro-active way, not simply to amuse myself and my friends, but to further the coming of God’s kingdom on earth. I hope these stories might inspire others too.

For over 15 years, Jenny Feher has been crocheting afghans for residents of long-term care homes. “It began when Fr. Ed Flanagan mentioned there was a need in the hospital,” Feher says. “I stopped for a while but then, after my husband died, Fr. Wilbert Chin Jon suggested I might start again. The need was still there.”

Feher, a lively member of All Saints Parish in Lethbridge, prefers to work on her craft while watching TV. “If I wasn’t doing this I’d go bonkers,” she says with a laugh, “I don’t sit there feeling sorry for myself, I’m too busy counting!”

Feher’s practical ministry has produced scores of colourful lap blankets over the years. Most are distributed over the Christmas season with a message of love and hope for the recipients. Visitors to local care homes can testify to how many of these striped treasures endure, and are seen tucked into wheelchairs or across bed covers. Grateful family members sometimes send thanks to the parish, never knowing who made the gift which warms their loved one. Feher is matter-of-fact about her outreach. “Everybody’s got their talents,” she says humbly while crocheting on.

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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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Mental health matters

4/22/2020

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Catholics across the Diocese of Calgary are looking for ways to de-stress from the distress. Adjusting to the new normal foisted on the global community by COVID-19, a disease that didn’t even have a name just weeks ago, thousands are live-streaming daily and Sunday masses. Others turn to traditional Catholic prayers like the rosary and Divine Mercy chaplet, seeking grace for the dead, the sick, their families and caregivers. 

Sr. Donna Marie Perry, FCJ, knows the news is bad. But the Calgary-based social worker and psychotherapist wants people to remember that the steps we take to stay “physically healthy should also include a focus on our mental and spiritual well-being.”

That earns a quick nod from Dr. Peter Doherty, an associate professor of psychology and family studies at St. Mary’s University in Calgary. Dr. Doherty, whose work focuses on the integration of psychology and spirituality, agrees people should take mental health issues seriously in times of crisis.
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Mental health matters
Sr. Perry is the clinical director of Insight Counselling and Therapy Centre. This not-for-profit offers long-term counselling at sliding rates as low as $5 a visit. Insight delivers care through practicum students supervised by Sr. Perry. All of the students are finishing master of counselling programs with various universities. The organization is one of the community-based organizations that benefits from Together in Action, an annual fundraising campaign by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Calgary. Given the imperatives of “social distancing” during the pandemic, Insight’s students currently offer support via phone. 

Sr. Perry herself lives in a seniors’ residence with strict pandemic protocols. With St. Mary’s University shuttered, Dr. Doherty is also staying close to home. They offered readers of Faithfully some ideas about how to make mental health a priority in trying times.

Stay informed. Make healthy choices. “Fear is a healthy response to the situation, and it makes sense to stay informed. But let’s be smart about how much news we watch and read,” says Sr. Perry. She recommends people listen to morning updates and check in again in the afternoon or evening. A 24-hour news cycle includes a lot of recycled information and “when you’re hearing the same news all the time that increases stress,” says Sr. Perry.

Hoarding items as basic as toilet paper shows “an emotional response to the crisis that doesn’t make rational sense,” adds Dr. Doherty. He also shakes his head when he sees examples of people not following recommendations for safe social interaction. 

One of the healthiest ideas he’s seen to date suggests people “not act as if you’re afraid of getting the virus. Instead, act as if you are trying to protect other people from getting it. The best information we have says most people who get this virus will survive. But we need to protect those who are vulnerable.” People who follow that advice should take mental comfort in knowing they are doing the right thing, says Dr. Doherty.

Strengthen family ties. The social distancing protocols recommended by public health officials isolate family units. Sr. Perry’s urges families to use the time to your family’s advantage. Play games. Share meals. Go for walks where you can be 2 m from other people. If you have a backyard, use it. 

Reach out. “It’s like we are disconnected, together,” says Dr. Doherty. Since our own mental health benefits when we interact with others, this is a good time to phone, text, email, FaceTime or Skype with people we haven’t heard from in a while, “especially if we know people who might be alone.” 

This is also a good time to reach out to people whom we’ve hurt and vice versa. The words, “I forgive you,” are a way to free ourselves from the heavy, energy-sapping emotional burdens we carry when we haven’t let go of real or imagined hurts, says Dr. Doherty. This kind of pain bleeds into how we interact with others and how we handle strife. “It can keep us from handling unrelated situations well.”

Pray. Pray together. Dr. Doherty encourages people of faith to use prayer as a conduit to deeper conversion. When we pray for the isolated, for those who’ve lost jobs and for people on the front lines of health care, prayer becomes a way to reach past ourselves to Christ, says Dr. Doherty. This can be helpful for people who grieve the fact that they cannot attend mass to receive the Eucharist. 

Family prayer is also helpful, says Sr. Perry. Praying for others teaches children that prayer is a way of helping others—and it reminds adults of the same thing.  “It’s really important not to get caught up in ‘self’ and to keep looking outward,” says Sr. Perry.

“Prayer can be very relaxing, too,” notes Sr. Perry. Following the Jesuit tradition of her charism, she uses her evening prayers “to look back on the day, to think about what went well and what didn’t go as well and to give thanks to God for the day.” 

She’s added more Hail Marys to her day by reciting that prayer while she lathers her soapy hands for the requisite 20 seconds (as recommended by public health), prior to rinsing off the soap with water. Sr. Perry says the Hail Mary is a good replacement for singing the ABCs or Happy Birthday songs.
 
Listen. Talk. Be kind.
People manage stress differently. If you see more anger than you’re used to, remember that unresolved fear may be expressed as anger, explains Sr. Perry. She encourages parents to listen when their kids talk about their fears. Be open to their questions and offer age-appropriate responses. “Let them know that you don’t know everything, but you will figure it out together.” 

Also, remember that children internalize messages from the external world and believe that everything that happens relates to them. It’s a matter of maturity, not selfishness, says Sr. Perry. “Children internalize information to make sense of their environment with limited experience. They use that information to make decisions about themselves and the world. They build what we call a script, and we live out of those childhood beliefs.”

Laugh often. Love much. With so much doom and gloom, Sr. Perry suggests people who are feeling sad work some comedy into their screen time. 

She and Dr. Doherty admit they are especially worried about individuals and families who did not go into the current pandemic in strong mental health. “Not all families are healthy,” says Sr. Perry. She urges people who see others struggling to reach out with kindness. Where appropriate, you can also recommend they access support from community-based organizations. 

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Calgary Distress Centre Helpline: 403-266-HELP (4357)

Written by Joy Gregory for Faithfully
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​Photo: Lightstock
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Caring for the sick in this world

2/11/2020

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Our Lady of Lourdes. Photo credit: Dennis Jarvis.
The 28th World Day of the Sick was celebrated on February 11, 2020.  Saint John Paul II initiated the World Day of the Sick to encourage the faithful to pray for those who suffer from illnesses and for those who care for and minister to them. February 11 is also the Optional Memorial for Our Lady of Lourdes.

In 1858, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared many times to St. Bernadette in the hollow of the rock at Lourdes.  Since then, there have been many miraculous cures and conversions attributed to the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Lourdes.  

The Roman Catholic Church has a long history of founding and engaging in the provision of healthcare rooted in a faithful response to the Gospel call.  “After this the Lord appointed seventy others  … Whenever you enter a town and its people welcome you, eat what is set before you; cure the sick who are there, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’” (Luke 10: 1, 8-9.)  
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The Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) reiterates this call and says, "Heal the sick!" The Church has received this charge from the Lord and strives to carry it out by taking care of the sick as well as by accompanying them with her prayer of intercession. She believes in the life-giving presence of Christ, the physician of souls and bodies.”  (CCC, 1509.)
The Pastoral Letter for Catholic Health Care issued by the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops offers eight guiding principles:  
  • First, the health care ministry of the Church is rooted in and modeled after the person and compassionate healing ministry of Jesus Christ, the “Divine Healer.”
  • Second, like Jesus, the healing ministry of the Church is aimed at the health and well-being of the whole person: physical, spiritual, mental, emotional and even social.
  • Third, the ministry of health and healing is an unmistakable sign that the Reign of God is close at hand, present in the very midst of our wounded and vulnerable humanity.
  • Fourth, the healing ministry keeps every Christian in close touch with the deep mystery of suffering. In the presence of this mystery, every Christian is invited to become a sharer in the redemptive suffering of Christ.
  • Fifth, there is a spiritual affinity between prayer and healing. Praying for those who are sick or suffering goes to the very heart of the healing ministry and thus to the heart of every Christian.
  • Sixth, yet another essential feature of the healing and caring ministry of the Church is a deep and uncompromising respect for human life – from its very conception to its natural death – and an equally deep reverence for the dignity of every person.
  • Seventh, the Church’s ministry of healing goes beyond the healthcare of individuals as such; it extends to the physical and social environment in which people live and work. This means that every Christian is called upon to be an advocate of justice and to help redress those unjust social structures that cause suffering to the disadvantaged groups in society.
  • Eighth, compassionate generosity is also an important dimension of the Church’s far-reaching ministry of healing. Christians are expected to give generously whenever people in distant lands suffer some unspeakable natural disaster, a tragic pandemic infection, or a severe human deprivation. Charity begins at home, but it must never stop there! 

    (Catholic Health Ministry in Canada, A Pastoral Letter by the Permanent Council of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, 2005.)

​Throughout Canada’s history, many women and men, clergy, religious and lay, have dedicated themselves to living out these principles by providing medical and spiritual care for the sick. In Alberta, communities of religious women founded the provincial hospital system and delivered quality healthcare with a preferential option for the poor.  The first hospital in this province was established in 1863 by the Sisters of Charity (Grey Nuns) in St. Albert.  The founding of the hospitals spread from this beginning and fostered the hospital system we enjoy today.  We are all indebted to this rich legacy of faith, fortitude, perseverance and care of the sick.   

Pope Francis’ Message for the World Day of the Sick, “Come to me, all you who labour and are burdened, and I will give you rest” (Mt 11:28), offers comfort to the sick saying “brothers and sisters who are ill, your sickness makes you in a particular way one of those “who labour and are burdened”, and thus attract the eyes and heart of Jesus. In him, you will find light to brighten your darkest moments and hope to soothe your distress.” 
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Pope Francis also offers timely encouragement to healthcare providers, “may you always strive to promote the dignity and life of each person, and reject any compromise in the direction of euthanasia, assisted suicide or suppression of life, even in the case of terminal illness.  I echo Pope Francis’ message and encourage healthcare providers “to be consistent with your “yes” to life and to the human person. Your professionalism, sustained by Christian charity, will be the best service you can offer for the safeguarding of the truest human right, the right to life.”

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​Written by Most Rev. William McGrattan, Bishop of Calgary
February 2020
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A community of faith to surround the dying

2/11/2020

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My hope is that our society – and each of us – will better recognize the profound human-ness of the tremendously important phase of life that we know as ‘end of life’ or palliative.  It might seem to be normal to fear this time, and perhaps to seek to avoid the experience of living when dying is inevitable due to an illness.  While we understand as compassionate humans the natural grief and concern that accompanies the possibility of dying, there are other ways to experience it – and I have seen these other ways in countless individuals. 

Those people have taught me that the time prior to their natural deaths can be a time of growth, of healing of relationships, of seeking and giving forgiveness, of preparation of hearts and souls for meeting their God, of internal reflection and openness, of teaching those around them through their example, even a time of profound peace and joy, and certainly a time of giving love unreservedly, and of accepting loving care from others while vulnerable and frail.

Society’s response to suffering is to enact a law that allows physicians and nurse practitioners to deliberately end a person’s life through the provision of chemicals that are specifically meant to cause death.  But suffering - whether physical, mental or emotional - can and should be a trigger for our spiritual and human selves to respond differently based on compassion.

All of us can protect and support those who are particularly vulnerable and who might otherwise choose assisted death as a way to stop their suffering because they cannot access society’s resources due to their vulnerability.

We should not be afraid to support conscience rights for people in medical professions.  We want people who are engaged in challenging health care tasks to be able to honour moral commitments for at least two reasons: a) so that they are not morally harmed by being forced to do things against their conscience; and b) so that they can do their best work for all the people they care for, by being whole to the deepest parts of their beings.  Since conscience rights are not absolute rights that prevail in all circumstances, supporting conscience rights can be done without impairing patient access to needed services.

Those of us who are able to, have a duty to advocate with decision-makers to minimize the harms of assisted death and to reject the further expansion of the criteria for assisted death eligibility.

We must do what we can to promote widespread availability of expert end of life care. The focus of this care is to reduce suffering from symptoms and also to assist people to live as well as they can as they approach the end of their natural lives. Palliative, end of life care has been so positive and helpful for so many people and simply should be universally available.

The very human act of dying and of preparing for death while we live demands a response that does not seek first to snuff out life, but rather that brings out our love for each other and communal support while we acknowledge the human conditions of frailty, vulnerability, uncertainty and eternal Hope.

Written by Dr. Eric Wasylenko, a palliative care physician and clinical ethicist. The Bishop’s of Alberta and Northwest Territories have written a pastoral letter on the proposed expansion of Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD). They encourage Catholics to write a letter to their members of parliament to share their opposition to euthanasia/assisted suicide.
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Peace in the parks

1/15/2020

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“Pilgrimage, Sanctuary and Peace in the Parks”: A research snapshot and public talk on parks and nature at the end of life.

We all feel it – whether looking outside, in a field, at a beach, or on a mountain – nature gives us perspective about life and death. There is growing evidence of how natural environments impact our physical, mental and spiritual well-being. Little is known, however, about the place of parks and nature at the end of life, or the impact of parks and nature on quality of life during palliative care or in grief and loss…until now! 

A recent 2018 study discovered that experiencing “Peace in the Parks” was an opportunity for: Personal Exploration, Social Discovery and Institutional Transformation. Despite the challenges to get to parks and natural places, it was always “worth it.” Even brief opportunities were an opportunity to “park palliative care”, and to have sanctuary from the stream of appointments and persistent identity as a “dying patient” or “caregiver.”  

Research participants shared, “here [in the park] we can just be ourselves”.  The experiences were both calming and energizing – providing patients and family members a sense of their strength and the courage to take other journeys they had been previously cautious about undertaking. Everyone can make the connection with nature. Ultimately there is value in even parking or sitting in areas with views of nature or short walks or strolls with a stretcher or adaptive equipment. 

Access does take planning, information and communication, and the research team discovered that supporting access to parks and nature for those in palliative care and caregivers is not a call for a new program per se, but rather an invitation, and a mindset that can be influenced by training, information and coordination of services. Further program and study is underway now to extend and expand the discoveries made – the pilgrimage and the pursuit of sanctuary continues.
By Dr. Sonya Jakubec

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To learn more about Parks & Nature at the End of Life, to hear the stories and to be inspired by the pilgrimage of palliative patients and caregivers to Alberta Parks, join Dr. Sonya Jakubec (MRU) and co-researcher Jennell Rempel (Alberta Parks) for a free 
public talk and short documentary film screening with the Calgary Public Library on Thursday Jan 23, 2020 from noon to 1:30 pm at the Central Library’s Patricia A. Whelan Performance Hall. 
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​A time for healing, community and renewed strength

12/4/2019

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Parishioners of St. Paul’s Roman Catholic Church on the Piikani Nation will arrive at the Christmas Eve mass a bit early; the church is relatively small and the place is likely to be packed. Upon entering the wooden building, the faithful will pause near the front door, using their hands to waft sweet grass smoke over their heads and arms. Smudging is an indigenous spiritual practice that’s used to bless or purify people before meaningful ceremonies. At St. Paul’s, the smudge bowl is side-by-side with the holy water. It is a practice Fr. Roy Jayamaha embraced when he arrived at the country church nearly four years ago.

Having worked in Catholic communities in Pakistan, where more than 98 percent of people practice Islam, the Sri Lankan-born priest knows that meaningful inter-cultural dialogue requires action. “I feel the main pastoral work here is to lift high the spirit of our people and respect their rich culture, I  always try to find connections to meet them with Creator."

St. Paul’s is located in Brocket, a rural community about 20 km from Pincher Creek. Since Fr. Roy’s arrival, the church has added a tipi-shaped tabernacle. Other altar and church hall adornments also feature the work of local indigenous artists.

Parishioners appreciate the integration of their cultural practices and symbols, says Vera Potts, who has served as parish council chair since Fr. Roy arrived. A mother of three, grandmother of seven and great-grandmother of 11, the 80-year-old Potts takes that same attitude of a willing servant to work with her every day at the local health clinic, where she still works full time.

A residential school survivor, Potts admits she can be overwhelmed by fearful memories of that experience. “I’ve learned to forgive. But being human, it’s hard to forget and a lot of triggers happen still today.” Nevertheless, her faith provides consolation and hope. “I can trust in the Lord. He’s the only one in the world who could pull me through what I experienced.”
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Building community

Once open mostly for Sundays and funerals, St. Paul’s began offering Sunday and daily masses when Fr. Roy arrived in 2016. While this country pastor typically celebrates the 5 p.m. daily mass alone, people are coming to the Sunday service. Many of them stay after mass to share food and fellowship in the basement hall. These informal gatherings include full meals after masses that celebrate major feast days or important events. The potlucks attract Catholics and non-Catholics alike and all the food is donated. “In our culture, the elders teach us never to be stingy with food. We share food. We live by that,” says Potts, noting that Christ taught the same.
Parishioners also volunteer their time to maintain the church and grounds, which includes a grotto and a small-scale replica of the first church that once served a Catholic residential school located about 7 km from present-day St. Paul’s.

Since Fr. Roy’s arrival, St. Paul’s has upgraded the church, liturgical items, put a new roof on the replica church, renovated the church hall and painted the rectory. All of the work was financed by parish fundraisers, Mission Council, good friends and generous benefactors. This fall, parishioners raised $2,000 towards the church insurance bill by volunteering with a local catering company. Earlier in the year, they added another $1,000 by hosting a giant garage sale.
 
“Father Roy makes us really work,” says Potts with a laugh. “All of what we have is through fundraising. We’re not a rich reserve, but we take a lot of pride in what we have.”

Like Fr. Roy, Potts is pleased that 19 Piikani children received First Communion at St. Paul’s in 2018. Another four were confirmed by Bishop William McGrattan in 2019. With time, Potts is hopeful more people will bring their children to mass and receive the sacraments. “We need parents to be really taking responsibility for teaching their own children the importance of Christianity.”

Her comments mirror Deacon Thomas O’Toole’s thoughts about his work at St. Paul’s. O’Toole, who also serves as a deacon at St. Peter’s in northwest Calgary, admits some might note the differences between the parishes he serves, one in a First Nation community of 3,500 people, the other in a suburban neighbourhood of Alberta’s largest city.

O’Toole focuses on the similarities. He hopes parishioners at both churches “grow together in love for Jesus, Mary and Joseph such that they will be a light for others.” Like Potts, he also wants Catholics “to engage with the sacraments and come to know the great love God has for us.”
           
For Fr. Roy, a willingness to be a witness of Christ’s love sometimes means inviting locals, including some homeless men, to share a meal with him at the rectory. He also takes homeless men with him when he participates in an annual highway cleanup day and offers a hot meal in exchange for their labour and company. “As far as I know, our parish is the only parish that goes for highway cleanup with their pastor and the deacon,” says Fr. Roy.
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Drop by drop, a river forms

That same spirit of sharing what you have prompted Potts to suggest an addition to this year’s Christmas Eve mass. Earlier in the year, Fr. Roy gave jars to parishioners. Since then, each family has “put coins in there and at midnight mass they can put their jars at the crib,” says Potts.

The offerings, made with love and humility, show the community’s love of Christ and its appreciation for their church. “The sacred rituals and the holy place are so dear to their hearts,” says Fr. Roy.

The little country church he shepherds also hosts AA meetings, gospel music nights and interdenominational healing services. Plans are underway to restore and preserve the Our Lady of Lourdes grotto built at the residential school some 75 years ago. Every year, St. Paul’s holds an outdoor mass at that grotto, which many locals visit as a pilgrimage. The annual mass attracts residential school survivors who attended Catholic and Anglican schools in the area.

Fr. Roy is hopeful that recent changes at St. Paul’s are evidence of what Pope Francis has called the Church to do. Speaking at the closing mass of the Amazon Synod held in October, the Pope said, “how many times, even in the Church, have the voices of the poor not been heard and perhaps scoffed at or silenced because they are inconvenient.”

Reflecting on his time at St. Paul’s, Fr. Roy says faith and fellowship are fueling positive change at Piikani Nation. “Drop by drop, it’s becoming a river.”
Written by Joy Gregory for Faithfully
Photos submitted by St. Paul's in Brocket.
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Faithfully remembered

11/7/2019

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Fr. Michael Storey knows he might not be able to attend a formal Remembrance Day service this November 11. As a hospital chaplain in the Diocese of Calgary, the Catholic priest could find himself beside a hospital bed when other Calgarians pause in reverent silence at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month. But make no mistake. While Fr. Storey may not be able to hear the dying notes of the Last Post, he will feel the lament in his heart. And he will remember. November 11, for this priest, is a matter of country, family and faith.

Fr. Storey’s dad and brother served the Canadian navy in the Second World War. During the same conflict, where 42,000 Canadians died and another 55,000 were wounded, his uncles were soldiers in the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF). 

Having grown up in a family that sacrificed so much for so many, Fr. Storey admits it wasn’t difficult to step up when a friend and Calgary-based reservist mentioned the need for a military chaplain in Calgary. “I realized that military personnel needed spiritual support. I was also working at St. James parish, so it was easy for me to go back and forth between the parish and Currie Barracks.” Fr. Storey served that role in Calgary from 1987 to 1999.
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Fr. Sajo Jacob, parish priest at Mother Teresa Syro Malabar Church in Calgary, assumed the military chaplaincy about two years ago. He was introduced to the ministry by students he met while serving as the campus chaplain at SAIT and Mount Royal University, a role he held from 2009 to 2019. Some of the students he met there joined the military and invited Fr. Jacob to bring his ministry there. Two years into the role, he’s grateful for the chance to serve military personnel, many of them young people, as they encounter the challenges of military service in defense of the country. “They are often away from their homes, they face personal crisis, they sacrifice for the country and people, and I felt a calling that I will be able to help them.”

A ministry of presence
Unlike more typical priestly ministries which focus on bringing sacraments to the faithful, military chaplaincy is a “ministry of presence.” As a chaplain, Fr. Storey met military personnel at formal events. He also dropped by places like a military rifle range if he knew soldiers and reservists were there to practise. “You do what you can to remind them that you are there if they need you,” he explains.
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His formal role also included being one of two uniformed military officers who made next-of-kin calls to the families of military personnel who died in service to their country. “I was on three of those calls during my 12 years in the service. It was humbling,” he recalls.

The chaplain’s role is akin to “being a guide and mentor,” adds Fr. Jacob. “Sometimes you become a point of contact at a time of crisis and challenges. It is a vocation where you journey with people and you become God’s instrument to share peace and love.”

Whereas parish priests serve Catholic congregations, campus and military chaplains work in secular and interfaith spaces. “Chaplains are there for everyone and we guide and support whoever seeks help, regardless of religion, or orientation,” explains Fr. Jacob. His faithful presence in personal crises has included talking to people contemplating suicide. 

There is no question that military chaplains witness Christ for others, adds Fr. Storey. He remembers being touched by the words of a former altar boy who attended an event to commemorate the priest’s 40th anniversary in the priesthood. “He told me, ‘I was so proud of my parish priest when I saw him in his uniform,’ That meant a lot to me.”

He and Fr. Jacob both view military chaplaincy as service to their nation. “It is my role in the nation-building process,” explains Fr. Jacob, himself an immigrant from India. In addition to serving military personnel as a spiritual guide and mentor, Fr. Jacob helps organize religious services and advises commanding officers in matters of religious accommodations and spiritual and ethical issues. 

This Remembrance Day, Fr. Jacob will officiate at a November 11 ceremony. He says the events do more than remember fallen soldiers and veterans, they also inspire young Canadians in their message of service. 

Written by Joy Gregory for Faithfully
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The spirituality of dementia

10/2/2019

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Four years ago my mother had a stroke. Now she has vascular dementia. It is not exactly the same as Alzheimer’s. There is a tendency to lump all dementia together as Alzheimer’s, but there are actually several kinds of memory loss. Vascular dementia distinguishes itself because its progress is neither predictable nor consistent. Cognitive changes occur in steps. There are plateaus where the person’s memory holds steady followed by sudden changes. During each plateau I accustom myself until a new step occurs, inviting a new grief. 

Most difficult for me has been the loss of abilities that, to my mind, most clearly identify my mother. For example, my mother can no longer remember how to bake the German cakes, which for decades have marked the seasons of our family life – Schwartzwälderkirchtorte on my birthday, Sachertorte on my father’s. These cakes symbolized her love for us. What happens to my mother’s love now that the symbol of that love is gone? Loss of memory can feel like the loss of a person, a death before death. In fact, the social worker assigned to help me calls it ‘ambiguous grief’ because the losses occur repeatedly without finality. 

Recently, I attended a liturgical congress for which the theme was anamnesis or liturgical remembering. My earlier reflections on memory had to do with the memorization of liturgical texts and how the things we remember become part of us and identify us with certain cultures and communities. I found myself wondering: if my mother no longer remembers the things that identified her, who and whose is she? 

One of the papers at the conference, given by Rev. Prof. Liam Tracey (OSM), was about worship in the age of dementia. Tracey referred to the practical theology of John Swinton, who proposes that we are not what we remember rather, God remembers us. Although it may be satisfying to use memory to construct our own identity and to connect with others, Tracey explained that God’s memory is not a neurological act; we are not as we think. One of the things experts say is that when you visit people with dementia you have to enter into their reality. While I tend to identify my mother in relation to how I remember her, a spirituality of dementia invites me to consider instead how God remembers. 

When we recall God’s saving deeds in the Eucharistic Prayer of the Mass, we fulfil Christ’s command to “do this in memory of me.” This anamnesis is distinct from non-liturgical recollection in that it actually makes the past events of salvation present again. It is not our individual memory of what God did for us in Jesus Christ, but God’s memory given to us in the liturgy that continues to save us. Although I grieve the changes in my mother’s cognition, her being is not ultimately determined by what she can remember. Losing memory does not have to mean a loss of identity because, for Christians, it is God who remembers. 

Written by Dr. Simone Brosig, Liturgy Consultant / Director, Diocese of Calgary
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My pastoral journey

10/1/2019

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I was born in Glace Bay, Cape Breton, N.S. May 25, 1936.   At the age of 14, I moved to Montreal to live with my sister and brother-in-law.

After my school and college years, my first employment was with United Amusement Corporation where I was an assistant manager in the Van Horne Theatre.  During my teen years in Montreal, I experienced a collapsed lung and was taken to the Royal Victoria Hospital.   It was during my convalescence, I would visit other patients.  And after my discharge, I continued to visit patients.

During my time in Montreal, I would visit St. Joseph’s Oratory.   My young heart was touched when I saw the prosthetics, canes and wheelchairs that were left behind by people who had been healed by their belief in God and trust in the power of prayer.

I traveled to Calgary in 1958 (population 447,000).  When I was settled, I started visiting the Children’s Hospital, the General Hospital and the Colonel Belcher Hospital. I played pool, cards, and other board games with the patients. I also visited the Holy Cross Hospital where my training in spiritual care began.  The order of Grey Nuns instructed me on how to visit with patients.  In the early 60s we were entrusted by the diocese to distribute Holy Communion.  I was employed in sales and marketing until my retirement in 2000. 

In 1980, my wife Marie and I moved to Canyon Meadows and attended St. Gerard’s.  In 1983, we moved to Midnapore and attended St. Patrick’s Parish.   Our Pastor Fr. Joe Rigby asked me to start up a Pastoral visiting team advising me of a new program that was approved by Bishop Paul O’Byrne.   Five of us parishioners signed up for the new pastoral visitation program lead by Brother Leon Jensen and Mrs Halina White. Today, we have more than 40 active Pastoral Care volunteers. Upon completion of the course, I was assigned to the Rockyview General Hospital.  

I was honored to be assigned to visit Bishop Paul during his two years at the Beverly Nursing Home up to the last half hour before his passing.

June 20, 2013, during the Calgary Flood I was going into the Shawnessy Library when a number of our hospital patient transport vans and ambulances started to arrive.  One of the hospital representatives recognized me and asked if I had my hospital ID.  I retrieved it from my car and was sequestered for the next few days moving residents who were arriving from nursing homes in the flooded areas. We set up tables; served food, took residents for walks and for rides, watched movies in the library and prepared their beds.  After the residents were relocated,  I went to High River.   One of my duties was to pass out bottled water and supplies with the Red Cross.

This year, 2019, is my 61st year of visiting the sick in our diocese. That’s 32 years at the Rockyview Hospital and five years at the new South Health Campus Hospital. After giving my notice to Alberta Health,  I am still continuing my pastoral visits in our community and I look forward to many more years of service in the Pastoral Care ministry.           

Your Brother in Christ, 
Michael McDougall
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Filipino beauty queen finds purpose through Elizabeth House

9/5/2019

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Jeanne Harn and her daughter Gabby, at 2 days old. Photo: Colette.
I lived at Elizabeth House in July 2009. I was initially staying with my Mom’s third cousin in Calgary as I needed to be away from the dad of my kid. We had been together for six years on and off as I always caught him cheating and was emotionally manipulated. 

After my US trip, we didn’t see each other for three months and as usual, he was trying to win me back and I thought he changed. It was a one-time deal and then I got pregnant. It was not great news for both of us, since I had just passed on my crown as a national beauty queen in the Philippines, having represented the country in the international pageant of Miss Earth and won Miss Photogenic.
 
I had also just started my job in the Nestle Philippines when we found out I was pregnant. As usual, he would still have girls around and still be so sweet to me. I realized it was not a healthy situation as he was not committed, and he would always hold me back. He tried to win me back so many times, but as he was not fully committed to me, I knew I had to help myself. So, I left him knowing I would be in a better place.
 
But living with relatives is harder than I thought. Especially when there’s judgment in the situation and if they don’t understand the many changes in pregnancy. It wasn’t healthy anymore in that house. I even reached a point when I wanted to leave the world, but no, I couldn’t do it because I had my daughter inside of me. So, I remained strong and fought hard. I asked our Parish priest, Father Edmund Vargas, who is also a Filipino, for help. He recommended Elizabeth House.
 
After being accepted, I found peace. The House was equipped and the people were warm. I like the division of tasks in cleaning, cooking and also the seminars and events every week. I found my family in Canada. Elizabeth House helped me focus more on my pregnancy and prepare for my delivery as well as for motherhood. The social workers were so helpful. 
 
I am so glad that there’s a place like this. 
 
In the Philippines, we don’t have much help like this. That’s the reason why it has been my dream since that time (10 years ago) to put up my own Elizabeth House. And indeed, after 10 long years, I have finally started and our House is now being built. 
 
I believe that there’s a reason for everything and nothing is an accident. This happened to me, so I would know my purpose. I have goosebumps as I write this, but I believe I have finally found my purpose. To build this House that could help many women in crisis. I know what they go through, I know their challenges, I know how to help. And, finally, I can help. 
 
No one thought I would end up being a single mom, I was not the type. But like I said, there’s a reason for everything. I also believe that our worst moments give birth to our most amazing moments. 
 
This amazing moment in my life includes giving birth to a beautiful baby girl, whom I love and cherish the most. I believe she is my greatest achievement, and now this opportunity to launch Elizabeth House Foundation Philippines.
 
Again, many thanks to you all! May you continue to help women and make them stronger in facing motherhood. Praying for you all and our mothers in the House, always!
 
We Love you!
 
Jeanne and Gabby
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Gabby as 3 months old.
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Gabby after winning the Little Earth Angel-Air 2019.
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A Special Mass in Calgary with the Autistic Priest

7/2/2019

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“Father, can I tell you a question?” Nervous giggles whisper about the church. It is always a tad risky for a Catholic priest to invite children to sit quietly near the altar during a homily. This particular moment seems more fraught than usual. Rain pounds the roof at St. Patrick’s church in southwest Calgary. The lights in the nave are dimmer than one might expect. The pews are a bit more restless. This is the regular 5 pm mass at St. Patrick’s Church in Shawnessy. Truth told, there is little regular about this mass—and that’s why most of the 200-plus people are there on Sunday, June 22. 

Catholics the world over are accustomed to bringing their individual petitions to mass. But this mass at St. Patrick’s is different. This is a Special Needs Mass. Lest there be any confusion over what that means, this mass is for people whose special needs require medical, mental or psychological support. The pews are mostly populated by families with children whose normal behavior would raise the eyebrows (and sometimes the ire), of other churchgoers. An adult man in the front pew talks, out loud, through the service. When he needs a washroom, a fellow parishioner helps him find his way.
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Fr. Matthew Schneider, LC at the Special Needs Mass, St. Patrick's Church, Calgary
For parents like Brenda-Lee Kearney, the mass is delightfully chaotic, yet peaceful. She and her husband Mike have an 11-year-old son with FASD, Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder. They love Jacob and they love their church. But bringing Jacob to mass is difficult and after Kearney approached her parish priest with an idea, the Special Needs Mass began.

The once-monthly, then bi-weekly masses became a regular 5 pm Sunday mass after pastor Fr. Jerome Lavigne moved to St. Pat’s in 2018. And the Kearneys are grateful. With a mission to create a loving, supportive and compassionate community that renews and restores faith and hope to families and children with special needs, the mass shows “God is really at work here in our parish,” says Brenda-Lee Kearney. Parents with special needs children often stay after mass for welcome fellowship. While most participants are from the parish, others attend as word of the mass spreads. “I believe most of us are parenting our kids in a community that doesn’t understand our reality. We are understanding of each other because we are living it.”

That message resonates with Fr. Matthew Schneider. “There is a natural sense of community when we come together to worship. Where possible, it’s nice to be able to add elements that make worship more meaningful to certain groups of people,” says Schneider, who said the Special Needs Mass at St. Pat’s on June 22. 

A former Calgarian now living in Washington, D.C. where he’s working on a Doctorate in Theology, Schneider says one Catholic church in Washington hosts a regular mass that features an interpreter for the deaf. Other masses are conducted in languages other than English. He likes what St. Pat’s has consciously done to accommodate a group of believers often marginalized in the greater society.

In addition to the dimmer lights, the 5 pm Sunday mass features visual “cue cards” that tell parishioners went to sit, kneel or stand. The pictures show the appropriate action along with a simple message such as, “Please kneel for the communion rite.” 

“Typically, we have the same songs at these services. It’s all part of dialing back on the sensory experience. Many of these children benefit from a very calm environment,” explains Kearney. ​
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Left to right: Tony Makowski, Breanda-Lee Kearney and Fr. Matthew Schneider.
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Fr. Matthew Schneider, LC during the interview with Joy Gregory.
The autistic priest

Fr. Schneider’s appreciation for the Special Needs Mass is more than professional. Diagnosed as autistic three years ago, Schneider went public with his diagnosis on World Autism Day this past April. The diagnosis came after Schneider, then in his mid-30s, reached out to medical professionals for help understanding why one of his first priest assignments was terminated one year into a three-year post.

What he learned helps Schneider make sense of how autism impacts his social interactions. For Schneider, autism manifests as an inability to decipher the social cues most people use to ease interpersonal interaction. “Let me give you an example. When you see someone smile, how do you know if that smile is real? Most people understand that subconsciously. I don’t. I have to really think about it. I have to make decisions about what I think I am seeing.”

Less than three months after going public with his diagnosis, Schneider has more than 50,000 followers on Twitter and Instagram. He writes about the intersection of autism and spirituality and argues for inclusion of what some define as the neurologically-diverse. 

At St. Pat’s, that same approach to inclusion is present in the weekly Special Needs Mass, says Kearney. “This is good for us as parents. It is also good for people like our Jacob. The Mass has given families a place to worship together, a place their children can deepen their personal encounter with Jesus, a place to claim their own faith.”

The Special Needs Mass is held at St. Patrick's, Calgary every Sunday at 5 pm. Follow Fr. Matthew Schneider, LC, @Autistic Priest

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Written by Joy Gregory for Faithfully
Photography by Karla Subero, St. Patrick's Church
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Sawbonna: Another route to forgiveness

3/5/2019

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From the day my Father, Theodore was brutally and callously murdered in Toronto, on Easter Monday, March 27, 1978, I wanted to meet his killer. I wanted to know how it was possible to do such a horrific thing. I wanted to know how he felt about destroying the lives of so many; my family’s, and his own. 

We did meet. The meeting occurred in July of 2007. Because of reading about an award I received for my Therapeutic Writing Workshops and the publication of my books about healing, voice, and agency, he emailed me. Our meeting, our reconciliation, even those many years after that dark, dark day, was a rich blessing in my life and proved helpful for him too.

The word forgiveness is one that can lead to great suffering for victims and offenders alike. Victims are told that if they do not forgive, they cannot heal. Offenders are told that if they are not forgiven, they cannot move on from the crime they have committed. Forgiveness is a loaded word, with as many understandings, expectations, and definitions as there are experiences of savage loss, savage grief, savage pain.

In 2012, after too many years of thinking that my life did indeed end with my Father’s, I completed a Master’s Thesis. The title: Sawbonna-Justice as Lived-Experience. Sawbonna means shared-humanity. It also means I see you, you see me. 

Sawbonna means that no one is better in the eyes of God. It means that we are good, bad, ugly, amazing, loved, loving, and free. Free to know that whether we can forgive or are forgiven by another human being, we are deeply known, cared-for, and embraced by God. A God who invites us, gently and generously directly back into our very own hearts. Hearts of love. Hearts of justice. Hearts of Sawbonna. We are seen. We each matter.
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Margot Van Sluytman

​Sawbonna: A New Model of Restorative Justice, CBC 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmkuZkkh-D8

©Margot Van Sluytman, February 2019.
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Code name Project Rachel: The woman behind post-abortion healing ministry.

3/5/2019

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If you ever wonder what God can do with a little help from the willing, look no further than to the example of Vicki Thorn—wife, mother, grandmother and foundress of the large, and still-growing post-abortion healing ministry, Project Rachel. Thorn is a well-educated, faithful, woman from Milwaukee, Wisconsin and has for over 30 years spearheaded the healing of thousands of people around the world. 
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She was inducted into the Pontifical Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre, a Roman Catholic order of knighthood under the protection of the Holy See, as Lady Vicki Thorn. Over her life, she has received many awards and accolades including the People of Life Award from the Pro-Life Secretariat of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops for her pro-life service to the Church. She has also been recognized as a “Woman of Faith” from the Sisters of the Divine Savior. In humility though, she continually gives credit to God for her life’s work.
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Vicki Thorn
About God’s Work

As a testament to what a determined woman can do with God’s help, Thorn began Project Rachel while raising her family of six children. Project Rachel began as a diocesan initiative in 1984, and from there it gained momentum and widespread support across the United States and then Canada, which includes the Diocese of Calgary. 

She recalls at that time there were no experts to call upon when she developed Project Rachel. However, she was convinced then and still now practises a post-abortion healing ministry that offers anonymity, has a strong spiritual element and includes a psychotherapeutic component. The name Project Rachel is inspired by Scripture: “Rachel mourns her children, she refuses to be consoled because her children are no more” (Jeremiah 31:15).

Thorn knows that mothers of aborted babies go through different types of grieving and often seek forgiveness in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. They are not the only ones who are traumatized from the loss of their child. Fathers who didn’t want the abortion, grandparents and siblings who later learned about it are also devastated. 

Thorn has travelled to 28 countries speaking to thousands about not only the impact of abortion on men, women and on our culture but of what God’s ultimate plan is for humanity revealed to us through the science of the human body. 

Family Matters

Thorn takes great joy in seeing her children value life. Now they’re all grown, and there are 14 grandchildren for her and her husband to enjoy. Each of her kids, she says, along with their loving partners and her grandchildren “are just a delight to my heart.”

Despite needing to lay low for health reasons, she said she’s still busy looking to expand and develop a framework for post-abortive healing in places around the world because, she explained, “you can’t just use an American model in other countries.” Her research has led her to seek communities of sisters who are already, as she said, “the boots on the ground” serving the people where they are. 

In Milwaukee she says, she’s running a program for African American pastors who want to learn about post-abortive healing. There is a great need but “not a lot of help.” 

Theology of the Body

This March, she’ll find herself at the Theology of the Body Conference in Calgary to speak to attendees about the science that undergirds the Theology of the Body, much of what she says is “well researched, but not well known.”

We have been seeing the effects of the sexual revolution since the 1960s culminating in what many in the Church refer to as a culture of death. Thorn spends a lot of her time explaining the wounds many of us experience as a result, with scientific studies to help her show the audience hard facts. 

What we will hear from her is much deeper than what we heard from high school sex education. 

Armed with the facts of male and female biology, the science of attraction and the biochemistry of sex and conception, Thorn will take us through the beauty of God’s plan for the human body.

“We haven’t really understood how awesome we are in terms of our sexuality,” she said, adding that over time the wonder and beauty of sex have been lost. What she’ll share with us will be concrete, uniting what the Church teaches with scientific fact, which will further our knowledge of what she says is “God’s intentional plan.”

Looking at all she has achieved and the ministry she continues to grow, attendees to the upcoming conference will be blessed to be part of her journey and work.

Written by Jessica Cyr
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Retirement home sweet home

2/6/2019

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From the moment Phyllis and Clem Steffler walked into Evanston Summit, they knew it was destined to be their new home. “Phyllis was ready to move in the next day,” laughs Clem. Retired and living in Airdrie, the couple was seeking greater ease in their lives, without the worry of maintaining a home and cooking their meals. They’d been looking at options when Judy, from Covenant Living’s Evanston Summit, met them at their local church and invited them to a BBQ. They walked in and immediately loved the welcoming, attractive front entrance.

Their instinct was confirmed several months later when their daughter, a public health nurse in Toronto, was in town. “We took her to several retirement residences,” Phyllis recalls. When they got to Evanston Summit, she turned to her parents and said, “Dad and Mom, this is the place for you.” The couple moved in on July 18, 2018.
Seven months later and they are completely settled and content in their two-bedroom suite. The staff are kind, generous, and thoughtful, “just like Judy,” they say. Friendships are borne over home-cooked meals served in a common dining room, and there are plenty of activities to keep them busy. They especially enjoy the Tuesday afternoon spiritual discussion where readings are the foundation to delve into questions that help them better know each other and themselves. “Opening up to one another makes for a closer-knit community,” says Clem. The couple appreciates the weekly outings that are organized by the residence and the convenience of walking from their home to several amenities including a drug store, hair salon, doctor’s offices, grocery stores, and banks.
 
Phyllis and Clem chose a life lease, selling their house and investing the funds into the cost of their suite at Evanston Summit, paying only a monthly amount that covers meals and amenities. Those funds are in a trust, and they are guaranteed a 99% return when the suite is vacated. The life lease model offers three levels that reduce monthly fees and generates a return on investment that is over 5%, which is better than what is offered at banks. Renting suites is also an option.
 
“This works right out for us,” says Phyllis. “We are happy, and our children are happy that we are in such a wonderful place.

​Written by Salima Bandali
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Phillys and Clem Steffler

Covenant Living is part of the Covenant family of three non-profit Catholic organizations. Rooted in a 150-year legacy, the Covenant families are leaders and innovators in their fields, being of greater service and transforming the health system to create vibrant communities of health and healing.
http://covenantcare.ca
World Day of the Sick 2019 Resources: 
  • Letter from Bishop McGrattan re: Catholic Healthcare - Download 
  • Pope's Message for the 2019 World Day of the Sick - Download 
  • Reflection for World Day of the Sick from Dr. Moira McQueen - Download
  • Covenant Care & Covenant Living Poster - Download 
  • Diocesan World Day of the Sick | Poster | Prayer Card

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Movie Review: Fatal Flaws

2/5/2019

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Are euthanasia and assisted suicide laws leading society down a dangerous path? 

Over the past two years, Canadian filmmaker Kevin Dunn has travelled throughout Europe and North America to ask one of the most fundamental, philosophical questions of our time: should we be giving doctors – or anyone – the right and law to end the life of another human – and how do these laws affect society over time? Kevin investigates how euthanasia and assisted suicide laws are shaping the culture around us and what we can do to stem the tide. The film features powerful testimonies from patients, doctors, lawmakers and advocates from both sides of the debate. Produced by DunnMedia in association with the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition. 

Fatal Flaws is more than just a great documentary film. It is a clarion call to restore decency to the House of Medicine. For every doctor or patient who wants to understand the difference between medical killing and medically-responsible caring, this humane and sensitive film is a must-see.
~ 
Ronald W. Pies, MD (Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry, and Lecturer on Bioethics, SUNY Upstate Medical University; Editor-in-Chief Emeritus, Psychiatric Times). 

A groundbreaking film. The assisted dying movement is trying to redefine the ethics of medicine while the doctor-patient relationship hangs in the balance.
~ Steven S. Sharfstein, MD (Former President of The American Psychiatric Association) 

Written by David Krebes

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​You are invited to Fatal Flaws film screening on Thursday, Feb. 21 Holy Spirit Catholic Church (10827 24 St. SW Calgary) at 7 pm. 

Watch the trailer here: www.fatalflawsfilm.com 
For further information contact David Krebes 
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In memory of Micheline Paré

2/5/2019

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​Laura Tysowski pays homage to her late role model  and author of The Passion of Loving, Micheline Paré. In her letter Laura shares what she learned from the book and what she wished she told Micheline before her death. Micheline Paré worked as a Compassionate Care Consultant and as the Diocese of Calgary Pastoral Care Coordinator at Rockyview Hospital. Her message of love and hope is something we all could benefit from at a time of loss.

My Dear Micheline.  

When we met for the first time somehow our souls locked. I was sitting in the front row and you came up to me with a smile and touched my hand and whispered in my ear "You are beautiful". It's been months since we last talked. I'll never forget the day we first met at St. Cecilia's Roman Catholic Church.  It was May 17, 2018 at the Diocesan Pastoral Care Course #84. "Caring with Compassion".

I sincerely apologize for not getting back to you sooner. As Benjamin Franklin once said, "Don't put off until tomorrow what you can do today. From this I learned the value of time; snatch, seize, and enjoy every moment of it.  No idleness, no laziness, no procrastination:  never put off till tomorrow what you can do today.

I was wanting to go and have coffee with you at the Rockyview General Hospital and maybe I could volunteer with you in working with the elderly.  I did complete the course, "Caring with Compassion" and now I'm an Exemplary Pastoral Minister.

I have the two books titled "The Compassion of Loving" you signed and gave me during the course. I have two because I promised that I would get one signed by the Honorable Senator Dan Hayes who wrote the preface to your book "The Congruent Compassionate Approach".  
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I did indeed get this done but not soon enough. On December 7, 2018 my mentor Rita Gerwing, advised her ministers of your passing.  Coincidently that same day Kathy Hays dropped off the autographed books. As I wasn't home she left them by the door. My husband, Bert went out to retrieve something from the front porch and found the books. When he gave them to me I couldn't believe my eyes. I knew then that you were trying to tell me something.
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I listened and read your book "The Passion of Loving".   I have this picture of who I am and ultimately who I would like to be. It consists of my goals and ambitions and is forever changing. I have a positive attitude and I'm full of energy. When I see people I see "LOVE". 
Your book literally touched my heart. In some of your excerpts I felt as if you were talking about me. In my teens I volunteered in a Nursing Home helping to feed people unable to feed themselves. They so wanted to eat but there were so few people to assist. Later in my life, my father, Guido was in a nursing home before he passed. He was, oh so lucky, as he had nine children, including his immediate family who would attend his every need and if not just sit and be there with him. I would usually take him to supper with the other residents. I can't tell you how many times I'd meet your "John" there. For no reason, than to help, I always tried to attend to their needs. Now I know why.  

I so agree with you when you say "illness or age makes the task of daily living, and the quality of the relationship between the resident and the caregiver presents one of the most pressing challenges, but also one that is among the most satisfying".
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These words bring tears to my eyes. My husband, Bert, who is a gentle soul, got sick in 2015 and it's been the most challenging years of my life. We would have these fights and to relieve the stress I would leave the house for a while and cry. I've spent a lot of time trying to figure out a way of dealing with this so that both our needs are met. What I didn't know then was what was inside your book.  

The transformation in our relationship after reading your book has been nothing but a miracle for me, and I'm so grateful. Although I was compassionate and caring, I was also so very angry inside. I would see him cross the room and notice how frail he's getting and it would break my heart.  To change and be able to show him compassion, sympathy, empathy, considerateness, tenderness, kindness, sensitivity and my unconditional love that I feel for him has changed our lives.  

Today I am now the Coordinator at Swan Village Evergreen, and I cherish every minute of my Ministry. I have a mentor, Rita and a helper, Editha. They are both beautiful souls. Together we say the rosary and do Communion Services with the Seniors every week. Once a month Father comes from St Patrick's Parish to do a full mass.  

Now finally we have come full circle. "The Passion of Loving" has given us the expertise, understanding and all the lessons we can take and cherish from your book. You were an exemplary role model, and your dedication was so admirable that others would do well to copy it. 

For me, a lesson learned. For the rest of my days, I will try to emulate you. I know I have big shoes to fill so I may need a nudge once in a while. I heard what you were trying to tell me. 

I shall keep you close, Micheline Paré, in my heart and prayers always.  

Thank you for sharing.
​
Laura Tysowski
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When grief hurts: coping with loss

1/16/2019

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There are days Annemieke Henri has to make herself leave her home in Bowness. Widowed just months ago, she knows that it’s important for her to be around other people. She knows it’s good for her to get her own groceries, attend Mass and meet up with long-time friends to golf, bowl or snowshoe, activities she enjoys. Henri also knows that her forays into the world sometimes do little to stem what can feel like a rising tide of sadness. Grief is like that. Even when you have others to grieve with, you grieve alone.

Henri’s husband, the beloved Deacon Albert Henri, died August 28, 2018. Diagnosed with stage four lung cancer just 48 days earlier, “he’d never been sick before, never been in hospital,” recalls Henri. A mother and grandmother, she grieves Albert’s loss in her family. “I also grieve his loss as a deacon’s wife. We were deeply connected to the parishes of St. Bernard’s and Holy Name.”

Does Henri take comfort in her faith? Absolutely. “At this point, I hope and believe that Albert is in heaven; that he is home. Without my faith, I would have been really lost.” But make no mistake; while faith gives Henri a kind of life raft, there are days—and moments in almost every day— when it doesn’t feel like the raft will hold. 
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When grief fuels despair

Peggy Tan knows what it feels like when grief fuels despair. Several years ago, Tan lost her mother and father-in-law in close proximity. “It was devastating to our family.” Struggling through the intense emotional pain, she joined a grief support group at her parish, St. Michael’s. 

Now known as Grief Share, the program runs for eight weeks beginning in January and September. Those who need more immediate support are linked to a companion program. “We are not counselors, but we listen. It’s good for the person who is grieving to know they are not alone,” says Tan, one of the three parishioners who coordinate grief support at St. Michael’s. 

While most GriefShare participants are Catholic, many begin the program angry with God. Following a Christian program developed in the U.S., GriefShare uses prayer to help participants rekindle their trust in God, says Tan.
Seeking support

Annemieke Henri hasn’t ruled out joining a support group in the future. For now, she seeks comfort in family and long-time friendships, including one with the widow of another deacon. She is also learning that it’s okay to sometimes want to be alone in her grief. On Christmas Day, for example, Henri took a few hours away from family to be alone. “I started fretting about that first Christmas alone way before Christmas. I took some time that day to feel that deep loss, to want it to wash over me and to feel my connection with God.”

As grief is a profoundly personal experience, it’s not uncommon for people to reach out for grief support years after a loss, says Tan. “People have to be ready and the Holy Spirit will guide them.”

Written by: Joy Gregory
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For information on a grief support program in your parish, contact your parish office.

​The Catholic Diocese of Calgary also offers support through its Office of Health Care & Pastoral Care programs.
2 Comments

Looking forward with hope in the new year

1/16/2019

2 Comments

 
We all face moments of discouragement, doubt and anxiety when life presents challenges that seem overwhelming. Unfortunately, at such times, the virtue of hope can be misunderstood and greatly underestimated. Some believe it is merely a positive attitude or being optimistic.  The secular world suggests that hope is found in the things of this world thinking that they will bring happiness. 

​Pope Francis reminded the Church that true hope is not built on human words or assurances but on God’s Word and His promise of salvation and eternal life.  In his General Audience of February 1, 2017, he defined Christian hope as “… having the certainty that I am walking toward something that is, not something that I hope may be. Christian hope is the expectation of something that has already been fulfilled and which will certainly be fulfilled for each one of us.”  


Hope is the unshakable trust that the promises of God will be fulfilled. This unshakeable hope is what the Church must rediscover now, hope in what God has done for us in His Son Jesus Christ, through His life, death, resurrection and ascension. Like the faith received and lived in the Church, hope is not a human attitude, but it is a gift of the Holy Spirit, a gift of grace. 

In the Letter to the Ephesians St. Paul prays, “… that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, …” (Ephesians 1: 17-18) 

May this prayer echo in the Church in these most challenging of times to inspire us to place our hope in the noblest and beautiful truths of our Faith. Through the Holy Spirit, may we trust His purification and renewal by embracing Christ more faithfully and living in hope.

Most Reverend William T. McGrattan, D.D.
Bishop of Calgary

January 16, 2019  
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Most Rev. William T. McGrattan, Bishop of Calgary
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Unleashed - A book review

1/14/2019

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​People seek out therapy for a variety of reasons including: a crisis, increasing dissatisfaction, increasing emotional distress or a repetitive experience of being unable to overcome a destructive pattern in their lives.  Sonja Corbitt, in her book Unleashed, eloquently describes how God utilizes these sequences or “patterns” in our lives to create a journey in which we can experience His healing.  These patterns typically have a dark emotion driving it like anger, shame or fear.  “Salvation in the scriptures is synonymous with shalom, or peace.  It’s a great big, full, unleashed word, meaning integration wholeness, fulfillment, and sanctification.  Not merely about behavior, salvation, and peace involve motivations, and often these are buried deep in denial and the subconscious” (p.11).  This was the quote in Unleashed that hooked me to read the whole book - only 8 chapters long but each sentence appears carefully crafted and directs us to the teachings of the Church and Sacred Scripture.

Reading this book was the result of a series of patterns in my own life.  The first pattern was an emotional one.  In the last 2 years a persistent frustration had been growing and spreading to multiple areas of my life indicating that development needed to occur and my own strength was insufficient.  The second pattern was directional.  I was not sure where to begin in the busyness of my life, and someone shared and encouraged me to read Unleashed (btw - thank you), but I had not prioritized it.  Then in a recent confession, the priest, who was unfamiliar to me,  recommended I complete some reading as part of his spiritual direction, but the chosen book did not arrive in time for the Christmas break.  Unleashed did.  
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Unleashed by Sonja Corbitt Ave Maria Press, Notre Dame, IN - 2015. Reviewer: Eunice Peterson.
Sonja Corbitt’s personal transparency of her humanity and wounds invites the reader to consider their own families of origin and subsequent life choices.  Each of us have wounds and our protective responses created hurdles to the healing Christ longs to give us through the gifts of the Holy Spirit, Sacred Scripture, his Mother Mary and the Church.  Often these hurdles will present themselves as patterns as God, our creator, is a God of order.  They have value in our spiritual growth as our predominant fault will be revealed providing opportunity for the Holy Spirit to heal.  The revealing, though painful and humbling, allows for us to see and experience the tenderness and persistence of our Lord.  He desires wholeness for us.  It is through cooperating with his grace we let go of fear, learn to trust, and He tenderly releases us from destructive relationships, habits, circumstances and desires.

However, Ms. Corbitt does not delude the reader into thinking this will be a quick fix.  She recognizes that God allows patterns to reveal exactly where He wants to work.  Ms. Corbitt recognizes the courage and challenge required of the reader to identify the worldly comforts that have become unsatisfying but provide an illusion of control or protection.  Her heart-felt examples articulate her understanding of suffering and the hope it brings when God’s mercy is allowed to mold it and we submit to his timing.  Furthermore, she is delightfully brash in encouraging us to ask of God and seek the desires of our heart. 

Ms. Corbitt presents a solid foundation and understanding of scripture, church teachings, and lives of Saints on which to build the map to “unleash” the reader from the “patterns” which have become destructive.  The Holy Spirit works with us - as is - and through the Word.  He creates order from disorder.  “The Holy Spirit works outward to inward and in an upward spiral to God” (p. 37).   Ms. Corbitt is gifted as a writer, and intertwines personal narratives, scripture and teaching. Therefore, one reading will not be sufficient to fully comprehend her message.  Ms. Corbitt finishes each chapter with a review and invitation to guide the reader to deeper understanding and healing.  This book could be utilized as a devotional, reference or group study.

The new year encourages us to reflect and pursue newness, change or growth.  Even if you are not at a point of dissatisfaction or crisis, but you have come across this brief review - consider it an invitation to explore your spiritual development.  If like myself there has been a pervasive experience that is demanding change, or begging for healing - grab a copy of Unleashed, cooperate with the Holy Spirit, risk trusting and embrace the journey of healing.
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​​​Eunice Peterson is a Registered Psychologist in private practice.  Her practice’s primary focuses includes: trauma integration from a neurobiological perspective, disorders on the anxiety spectrum, grief and loss and life transitions.  She, her husband and five children have resided in Calgary since 2010.
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7 Keys to Spiritual Wellness - A book review

1/14/2019

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Society has conditioned us to seek instant gratification, even in matters of spirituality. We see store shelves lined with quick self-help books promising wealth and happiness in ‘four easy steps’. Ultimately, though, these formulas lead to disappointment, disillusionment, and distorted notions of how spiritual well-being is truly fostered. The beginning of a new year is a perfect time to take a step back and appreciate that the spiritual path is, truly, a journey of a lifetime. It rightly calls for the virtues of patience and grace, for critical reflection and self-examination – all of which can only emerge from everyday moments of conversion and growth.

With this in mind I encourage us to take a look at a book written a few years ago by Joe Paprocki, entitled ‘7 Keys to Spiritual Wellness’ (Loyola Press, 2012). Now, right away it’s important to think of each key not as ‘quick fixes’ to spiritual issues, but more as guiding principles to help us navigate the complex landscape of our spiritual journeys. Each principle Paprocki offers serves to keep us alert to signs that we are on a healthy path. In a fresh and engaging style, he relates each key to what he calls “the seven most provocative and important questions you will ever ask yourself.” 
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7 Keys to Spiritual Wellness, Joe Paprocki (Loyola Press, 2012). Reviewer: Dr. Lance Dixon
Through insightful illustrations and applications, Paprocki helps us orient ourselves to seeking the good of others, of recognizing and setting limits, of rediscovering the beauty in the ordinary, and seeing ourselves as we truly are; mortal human beings unconditionally loved by our Creator.

​Perhaps fittingly, the most insightful question Paprocki challenges us to reflect on is in the final chapter. Like the disciples on the road to Emmaus, Jesus challenges us to see ourselves within the story of Scripture, to open our eyes to the mystery of God’s presence, and let our hearts be kindled for the journey ahead. Paprocki asks us, ‘What sparks a fire within your heart?’ then leaves us with these words; “The God we seek is on fire, has a mission, and invites you and me to be a part of it. Imagine that.”


Dr. Lance Dixon currently serves as Director of Campus Ministry at St. Mary’s University. Formerly an Anglican priest in Toronto, Lance moved to Alberta with his wife and children when he became a Catholic educator with Christ the Redeemer school division, and most recently with Calgary Catholic school district. He is passionate about the new evangelization of the Church for mission in today’s world.
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Dr. Lance Dixon currently serves as Director of Campus Ministry at St. Mary’s University. Formerly an Anglican priest in Toronto, Lance moved to Alberta with his wife and children when he became a Catholic educator with Christ the Redeemer School Division, and most recently with Calgary Catholic School District. He is passionate about the new evangelization of the Church for mission in today’s world.
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A hot meal with a side of faith, hope and charity

12/12/2018

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

12/12/2018

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

12/12/2018

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

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

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

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

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