Category: Pastoral Renewal

Mass at Calgary hospitals resumes

12/4/2023

First Sunday of Advent at Peter Lougheed Hospital Chapel, Dec 3, 2023.

Great news! The celebration of Sunday Mass has resumed at three hospitals on the First Sunday of Advent in the City of Calgary. Patients, family members and friends, and hospital staff are now able to avail of this pastoral outreach in the following facilities:

Sundays at 3:30 pm - Foothills Hospital Chapel
Sundays at 3:00 pm – Peter Lougheed Hospital Chapel
Sundays at 3:30 pm – Rockyview Hospital Chapel

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Focus on Christ

12/3/2023

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Each year the season Advent becomes a spiritual doorway through which the Church enters a new liturgical year. On the first Sunday of Advent, we hear from the Gospel of Mark where Jesus tells the disciples “Be watchful! Be alert! You do not know when the Lord of the house is coming. What I say to you, I say to all: ‘Watch!’”

This is a reminder that our spiritual life as Christians must always be focused on the coming of our Lord. To be spiritually watchful and alert is to be open and to desire this daily encounter with Him.

The season of Advent is a time of preparation for such a spiritual renewal to rediscover and to put into practice what it means to watch in this way. Our being alert and watchful however, does require some effort and preparation on our part. It begins with the desire of our heart, to anticipate the desire of Christ revealed in his first coming to meet us, for He has embraced all peoples in his becoming human. This is the mystery of his incarnation; it is the Christian belief which surrounds the deeper spiritual meaning and celebration of Christmas.

Christ’s coming into the world, his continued presence occurs in our personal lives each day when through faith we see in a new way. It is a spiritual focus that is watchful of our human experience, to see our relationship with others, and to enter into our daily activities in a way that anticipates and is alert to the divine presence of Christ in all things.

Jesus has come; in his humanity he has shared our life with its many blessings, challenges, and has revealed to us our hope in the resurrection. It is also true that Jesus will come again, in glory at the end of time to embrace all of humanity, those who have anticipated and prepared for His final coming. As St. Augustine once stated, “we are to live our lives each day between these two comings of Jesus”. To be spiritually alert and watchful to his divine presence here and now, each day.

This is the spiritual focus of Advent to be waiting for the Lord who desires to find us attentive. The effort that we make to pray and to reflect on the Word of God helps to prepare us to be more Christ like, to become a reflection of Christ’s presence and to be the light of Christ to others on a daily basis. However, we all know how difficult it is to mirror the light of Christ when we have become disillusioned with life, content in seeing the shadowy existence of the world, or in accepting a degree of emptiness when we choose to follow paths that do not lead to Christ.

Advent reminds us that we must be ready to meet the Lord at any and every moment of life. Just like the house alarm that wakes up a homeowner, Advent is intended to wake us up as Christians who may have become drowsy or who are in danger of being asleep to the very presence of God in our lives.

For what or for whom are we waiting in life? What virtues or gifts of the Spirit are we praying to receive? Do we long for healing and reconciliation in broken relationships? What meaning and understanding do we desire to have in the midst of our own darkness, sadness, and mystery? What qualities of Jesus are we seeking in our own lives this Advent?"

This year as we enter into this Advent season in the Diocese of Calgary, we have also begun our Pastoral Renewal. It is a time of preparation of opening our eyes, focusing our vision, paying attention, and discovering the desire to live our faith in ways that can renew the witness of Christ’s presence in the world, in our own lives and in the life of our parishes.

This Advent our renewal priority is to become a Church of Encounter by extending an invitation for others to ‘come home’ to the Church this Christmas. As a practical step we are offering a diocesan webinar – Welcome Home: How to make our parishes more inviting. It will be held on Thursday, December 7, 2023 on Zoom.

It is a reminder to everyone that they are the parish, that they are called, they matter and that they belong. No one initiative, program or resource can make our parishes more welcoming. No vision or mission statement can renew our parishes or convey fully the experience of encountering Christ.

As Pope Benedict XVI once wrote, “It is the beautiful task of Advent to awaken in us memories of goodness and thus open doors of hope.” This Advent let us awaken in others such memories of goodness and faith by inviting them to come home this Christmas to the Church and to encounter Christ. Let this be a sign of hope in our Diocese and the initial fruits of the Pastoral Renewal in our parishes.

A message from
Most Reverend William T. McGrattan
Bishop of Calgary
Dec. 3, 2023

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Take smaller steps, but walk together

11/4/2023

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The 16th General Assembly of the Synod on Synodality in Rome was truly an unprecedented experience for me. We began with a three-day retreat, time for personal prayer, and orienting ourselves to the method of having a conversation in the Spirit. Then the themes of communion, mission and participation were introduced in each successive week beginning with a spiritual and theological reflection, followed by testimonies which demonstrated the worldwide reality of the Church.

Each day we sat at 35 circular tables in Paul VI Hall. There was prayer, the sharing of our insights on the themes, a process of mutual listening in communion with the Holy Spirit and of making room for silence. This process reflects a path of discernment which provided moments of pastoral conversion. It was evident that there was a deep desire and commitment discern the “sensus fidelium” to hear the voice of the baptized, both men and women, and through this encounter to experience the complementarity of the vocations and charisms that are found within the life of the Church.

I encountered brother bishops from South Africa, Sudan, Nigeria and the Congo, Germany, the Netherlands, Ireland, Scotland, New Zealand, Australia, the Cook Islands, Japan, and the United States. Our conversations often led to sharing about the nature of our dioceses, the challenges that we face, what keeps us up at night but always with a good sense of humor and laughter.

As was noted in the Letter to the People of God the Synod took place amidst the unfolding of a world crisis which continues today. The violence of war, acts of aggression and injustices prompted the delegates to be a witness of solidarity through prayer for the victims of deadly violence around the world. We gathered in moments of silent vigil, processions through St. Peter’s Square and the Basilica in praying the rosary and in adoration before the Blessed Sacrament.

It was a privilege for me to be present at the Synod, it was definitely a learning experience, but one that was also very ascetical. Day by day there was a discipline that was required which was both physical and spiritual similar to what is required when entering into a time of retreat. It was also a very long time to be away from the Diocese of Calgary despite trying to stay in touch through zoom meetings that resulted in several late evenings in Rome. The opening of the Synod in Rome on October 4th coincided with the decision to launch our Diocesan Renewal on the Memorial of St. Francis of Assisi and during the Calgary Priest Study Days in Canmore.

Our Diocesan Renewal – You are Called-You Matter-You Belong is the result of our walking together during the phase of diocesan synodal listening. This was followed by a year-long period of prayer, of further listening and discernment with a group of 25 individuals’ representative of the laity, religious, priests, deacons and myself the bishop. This two-year process of synodality has resulted in three pastoral priorities which we will focus on in the next five years:

Forming Missionary Disciples in Christ;
Being a Church of Encounter and Witness; and
Strengthening the Family.

At the heart of this renewal is the invitation to conversion, to a renewed encounter with Christ which can transform our lives as individuals, families and parish communities. This is the witness of the Gospel and the ministry that Christ entrusted to the Church.

We have heard in our diocesan phase of listening that some want the Church to change, to be relevant, to deal with the issues they believe are important. This was also present on the Synod floor. Yet the Christian life and the vocation of each of us is to develop a deeper relationship with Christ. This will change the Church and provide us with pathways to pastorally meet the issues that are important for our people.

#RenewalGathering in Calgary

On Saturday, at Mary Mother of Redeemer Parish in Calgary, we held our first Diocesan Renewal Gathering. The enthusiasm for this event meant that we had to close registration early in the week. Those in attendance were in excess of 480 which was more than on the Synod floor in Rome! I won’t fail to mention this to Pope Francis when I meet with him the next time in Rome!

These diocesan gatherings began with Mass, followed by an experience of communion, of coming together in faith to pray and reflect on the Word of God, to see how the encounter of Zacchaeus with Jesus could transform our lives. I did share some of my experiences of the Synod but wanted to show that the synodal path of listening and discernment have been guiding our initiatives of renewal in the Diocese of Calgary.

We continued to hold two more Diocesan Renewal Gatherings in Lethbridge and High River, and then this Monday, Nov. 13 in Medicine Hat (register here). I encourage all of the faithful to become engaged and to learn more about this renewal in this orientation phase.

As one bishop stated at the Synod with respect to pastoral renewal and change “it is better to take smaller steps with more people that to take larger steps with fewer people”. In a similar way and guided by the Holy Spirit “let us take smaller steps but walk together” on this path of renewal for our Diocese.

PHOTOS FROM THE RENEWAL GATHERINGS

A message from
Most Reverend William T. McGrattan
Bishop of Calgary
Nov. 9, 2023

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Mass at Calgary hospitals resumes

Focus on Christ

Take smaller steps, but walk together

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