I think St. Michael looks like a modern day SuperHero!
Thank you Knights of Columbus!
Friday, 23 June 2017
New Stained Glass Window
There is a new stained glass window at St. Michael Secondary School. This window is through the generosity of our Knights of Columbus Council!
Thursday, 22 June 2017
In Preparation for the Synod next Year - 2018
LETTER OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS
TO YOUNG PEOPLE ON THE OCCASION OF THE
PRESENTATION OF THE PREPARATORY DOCUMENT
OF THE 15th ORDINARY GENERAL ASSEMBLY
OF THE SYNOD OF BISHOPS
My Dear Young People,
I am pleased to announce that in October 2018 a Synod of Bishops will take place to treat the topic: “Young People, the Faith and Vocational Discernment.” I wanted you to be the centre of attention, because you are in my heart. Today, the Preparatory Document is being presented, a document which I am also entrusting to you as your “compass” on this synodal journey.
I am reminded of the words which God spoke to Abraham: “Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you.” (Gen 12.1). These words are now also addressed to you. They are words of a Father who invites you to “go”, to set out towards a future which is unknown but one which will surely lead to fulfilment, a future towards which He Himself accompanies you. I invite you to hear God's voice resounding in your heart through the breath of the Holy Spirit.
When God said to Abram, “Go!”, what did he want to say? He certainly did not say to distance himself from his family or withdraw from the world. Abram received a compelling invitation, a challenge, to leave everything and go to a new land. What is this “new land” for us today, if not a more just and friendly society which you, young people, deeply desire and wish to build to the very ends of the earth?
But unfortunately, today, “Go!” also has a different meaning, namely, that of abuse of power, injustice and war. Many among you are subjected to the real threat of violence and forced to flee their native land. Their cry goes up to God, like that of Israel, when the people were enslaved and oppressed by Pharaoh (cf. Ex 2:23).
I would also remind you of the words that Jesus once said to the disciples who asked him: “Teacher [...] where are you staying?” He replied, “Come and see” (Jn 1:38). Jesus looks at you and invites you to go with him. Dear young people, have you noticed this look towards you? Have you heard this voice? Have you felt this urge to undertake this journey? I am sure that, despite the noise and confusion seemingly prevalent in the world, this call continues to resonate in the depths of your heart so as to open it to joy in its fullness. This will be possible to the extent that, even with professional guides, you will learn how to undertake a journey of discernment to discover God's plan in your life. Even when the journey is uncertain and you fall, God, rich in mercy, will extend his hand to pick you up.
In Krakow, at the opening of the last World Youth Day, I asked you several times: “Can we change things?” And you shouted: “yes!”. That shout came from your young and youthful hearts, which do not tolerate injustice and cannot bow to a “throw-away culture” nor give in to the globalization of indifference. Listen to the cry arising from your inner selves! Even when you feel, like the prophet Jeremiah, the inexperience of youth, God encourages you to go where He sends you: “Do not be afraid, [...], because I am with you to deliver you” (Jer 1:8).
A better world can be built also as a result of your efforts, your desire to change and your generosity. Do not be afraid to listen to the Spirit who proposes bold choices; do not delay when your conscience asks you to take risks in following the Master. The Church also wishes to listen to your voice, your sensitivities and your faith; even your doubts and your criticism. Make your voice heard, let it resonate in communities and let it be heard by your shepherds of souls. St. Benedict urged the abbots to consult, even the young, before any important decision, because “the Lord often reveals to the younger what is best.” (Rule of St. Benedict, III, 3).
Such is the case, even in the journey of this Synod. My brother bishops and I want even more to “work with you for your joy” (2 Cor 1:24). I entrust you to Mary of Nazareth, a young person like yourselves, whom God beheld lovingly, so she might take your hand and guide you to the joy of fully and generously responding to God’s call with the words: “Here I am” (cf. Lk 1:38).
With paternal affection,
FRANCIS
Given at the Vatican, 13 January 2017
There is a questionaire that Youth are invited to fill out.
it can be found HERE
Saturday, 3 June 2017
From "The Price of Sugar" to the cost of no water!
Fr. Christopher Hartly came to our attention through the documentary called the Price of Sugar - a documentary readily available on YouTube that details the abuses of the Haitian Refugees in the Dominican Republic by the Sugar Plantation Owners.
Fr. Hartly came and spoke at St. Michael's School 5 years ago. He had to leave the Dominican Republic because of Death Threats. He is now working in the community of Gode in Ethopia - in a mission there. He sends updates regularly - I am on his email list.
This letter came in at the beginning of Lent:
Dear Friends of the Mission,
For the last year and a half, not a drop of rain has fallen in Gode and the Somali region of Ethiopia.
Here everything is dying.
It is dramatic to see people arrive at the rickety hospital of Gode, by any means of transport, including carts driven by donkeys, carrying squalid and dying patients.
People arrive with their last breath and sometimes they die within in a few minutes, in the hands of helpless doctors because of the magnitude of the tragedy.
It is so sad and heartbreaking to see the fields devastated by the drought. Here nothing grows, neither corn, nor soybeans, no cereals, here everything is swept away by gusts of wind in giant clouds of dust that soil and clothes it in coats of gray.
Every morning when I leave the house, before dawn, to celebrate the Holy Eucharist, I see the dead cattle on the roadside… cows, goats, sheep ... The stench is dreadful and the spectacle so terribly sad.
At this time, all that Gode breathes is death and desolation.
For a few months now, we have had a young English doctor working with us. He spends mornings and afternoons at the public hospital. Thanks to him we are receiving firsthand information on the magnitude of the drama that these people are experiencing.
Last Thursday, March 2, he warned us that an unusual number of patients were dying (in fact, the first six of them died in the Gode hospital that afternoon), brought from the Afder area, whose capital is Hargele.
We soon learned that the problem was that, because of the desperation to bring water in trucks to the most remote villages, some NGOs had taken water from a dam near the city of Hargele, which was completely polluted and infected.
That same night I loaded the off-road vehicle of the mission with all the medicines that we had at that moment at our disposal and at 5:00 am last Friday I went to Hargele. It was 230 kilometers of terrible road. Before 10 in the morning, I was already in the hospital of the city. I met the medical director and gave him the medicine. It was very sad to hear this man, Abdisalem Mohamed, to tell the tragedy of all those hundreds of people who came every day infected with terminal typhus.
In these days when the whole Church, as a faithful bride of Jesus Christ, accompanies his way of the cross through the countless painful paths of this world, it is not difficult to recognize the face of the passion of Christ in the small macerated bodies of these children.
By mid-morning, I decided that it was imperative to look for the villages from where the sick people arrived, to really understand the problem. What no one had told me was that there was no real roadway to get to those settlements. So, with the 4x4 ready and gritting our teeth, we went trudged those 40 endless and unforgettable kilometers.
We finally arrived drowned in dust from head to toe and scorched with heat. The people immediately swirled around us to tell us about their tragedy. We went to the polluted well and saw the putrid water, that had caused so much death and desolation.
Fr. Hartly came and spoke at St. Michael's School 5 years ago. He had to leave the Dominican Republic because of Death Threats. He is now working in the community of Gode in Ethopia - in a mission there. He sends updates regularly - I am on his email list.
This letter came in at the beginning of Lent:
When Even the Camels Die of
Thirst
Dear Friends of the Mission,
For the last year and a half, not a drop of rain has fallen in Gode and the Somali region of Ethiopia.
Here everything is dying.
It is dramatic to see people arrive at the rickety hospital of Gode, by any means of transport, including carts driven by donkeys, carrying squalid and dying patients.
People arrive with their last breath and sometimes they die within in a few minutes, in the hands of helpless doctors because of the magnitude of the tragedy.
It is so sad and heartbreaking to see the fields devastated by the drought. Here nothing grows, neither corn, nor soybeans, no cereals, here everything is swept away by gusts of wind in giant clouds of dust that soil and clothes it in coats of gray.
Every morning when I leave the house, before dawn, to celebrate the Holy Eucharist, I see the dead cattle on the roadside… cows, goats, sheep ... The stench is dreadful and the spectacle so terribly sad.
At this time, all that Gode breathes is death and desolation.
For a few months now, we have had a young English doctor working with us. He spends mornings and afternoons at the public hospital. Thanks to him we are receiving firsthand information on the magnitude of the drama that these people are experiencing.
Last Thursday, March 2, he warned us that an unusual number of patients were dying (in fact, the first six of them died in the Gode hospital that afternoon), brought from the Afder area, whose capital is Hargele.
We soon learned that the problem was that, because of the desperation to bring water in trucks to the most remote villages, some NGOs had taken water from a dam near the city of Hargele, which was completely polluted and infected.
That same night I loaded the off-road vehicle of the mission with all the medicines that we had at that moment at our disposal and at 5:00 am last Friday I went to Hargele. It was 230 kilometers of terrible road. Before 10 in the morning, I was already in the hospital of the city. I met the medical director and gave him the medicine. It was very sad to hear this man, Abdisalem Mohamed, to tell the tragedy of all those hundreds of people who came every day infected with terminal typhus.
In these days when the whole Church, as a faithful bride of Jesus Christ, accompanies his way of the cross through the countless painful paths of this world, it is not difficult to recognize the face of the passion of Christ in the small macerated bodies of these children.
By mid-morning, I decided that it was imperative to look for the villages from where the sick people arrived, to really understand the problem. What no one had told me was that there was no real roadway to get to those settlements. So, with the 4x4 ready and gritting our teeth, we went trudged those 40 endless and unforgettable kilometers.
We finally arrived drowned in dust from head to toe and scorched with heat. The people immediately swirled around us to tell us about their tragedy. We went to the polluted well and saw the putrid water, that had caused so much death and desolation.
On the way, we saw many animals that had died of thirst and starvation. People said to us: "Abba (Father), when the camels are dying of thirst is when we do not have much life left."
I asked to visit the sick who were too seriously ill to be taken to Hargele Hospital. They showed me a cabin in which several sick people lay on the ground.
There were two very young boys in a ragged white nurse robes. I asked them about the symptoms. "Do they have a fever?" I asked. One bowed his head in embarrassment and said, "We do not know because we do not have a thermometer."
I gave them the few medicines we still had and some clean water. We had to return to Gode and we had more than five hours of road. You feel so powerless, so disturbed inside when you see these scenes ... You simply ask "Why?"
Some of our Confirmation Collections will match the Money raised at St. Michael Secondary School and be sent over to Fr. Hartly's Mission.
Friday, 2 June 2017
Pentecost 2017
to wear RED clothing
Sunday June 4th
as we celebrate
the feast of Pentecost.
You probably wear your favorite sports team's colors or logo. Or wear red & white on Canada Day. What about "Christmasy" clothes around Christmas or green on St. Patrick's Day?
Think of red as being the colour of the Holy Spirit.
Think of red as being the colour of the Holy Spirit.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)