Saturday, December 17, 2011

Run With Life: Pro-life experts need not apply

Run With Life: Pro-life experts need not apply: The government agency Echo, has decided Ontario women need more access to abortions in a report called: Recommendations to Improve Abortion ...

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Run With Life: Ontario abortion doctors very busy in 2010

Run With Life: Ontario abortion doctors very busy in 2010: I recently submitted a Freedom of Information request to the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-term care for 2010 abortion OHIP billing in...

Friday, November 4, 2011

40 Days for Life Fall 2011 Campaign Closing Rally

Closing Rally

Location: St. Patrick's Basilica

Date: Sunday, November 6, 2011

Time: 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM

40 Days for Life campaign ends with a closing rally on Sunday November 6. Join us, beginning with Vespers at St. Patrick?s Basilica, 220 Kent Street at 7:00 pm., presided by Archbishop Prendergast. Afterwards, we will walk in a candlelight procession to Ground Zero (Bank and Sparks Sts.) for the wrap up. For more information call Campaign Life Coalition, 613-729-0379 or visit website www.40daysforlife.com/ottawa. All are welcomed to attend.





Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Father Bob Bedard Has Passed Away

From the Companions of the Cross website, http://www.companionscross.org/


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Our Beloved Founder, Fr. Bob Bedard has passed away

Remembering Fr. Bob Bedard

We mourn the loss of our beloved founder, Fr. Bob Bedard. He passed away peacefully on October 6, 2011.

Schedule of Events

We will be commemorating our founder in the following ways:

Wake - Tuesday, October 11

10:45am - Wake begins in St Mary's Church, 100 Young St., Ottawa.

A reception will be held downstairs in the parish hall throughout the day, concurrently with the wake. All are welcome.

12:00pm - Rosary

3:00pm - Divine Mercy devotions

3:30pm - Church closes to public

5:30pm - Church reopens; wake resumes

7:30pm - Vigil liturgy

9:00pm - Wake ends



Funeral Mass - Wednesday, October 12

2:00 pm - Funeral Mass at Notre Dame Cathedral, 385 Sussex Dr., presided by Archbishop Terrence Prendergast, SJ.

4:00 pm (approx) - Rite of Committal at Hope Cemetery, 4660 Bank St.



Friday, September 16, 2011

40 Days for Life, Fall Campaign 2011, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

40 Days for Life Fall 2011 



September 28th to November 6th 2011 

Key Dates
September 25th, 2011 at 7:00PM: Kick off Rally on Parliament Hill. Evening Prayer led by Marcel Dion followed by a candlelight procession to abortion facility at 65 Bank Street. ( Ground Zero)


October 16th 2011 at 7:00PM: Mid Point Rally at Ground Zero


November 6th 2011 at 7:00PM: Closing Rally - Vespers at Saint Patrick Basilica by candlelight procession to Ground Zero ( 65 Bank Street)

Monday, July 25, 2011

Hold Truth in Holy Respect

“Hold truth in holy respect; fear to offend it, to betray it. Impose upon yourself the discipline of silence, of moderation, of patience. Truth seeks only to be proclaimed in its entirety.”


Blessed Pope John XXIII (1881-1963AD)
Mini-Bio: pope: (1958-1963) Italian; He advanced cooperation with other faiths and traditions including Protestant and Greek Orthodox. Doubled the number of cardinals, making the college the largest in history and convened Vatican II, on 11 October 1962.



Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Vigil hour at the abortion site

Vigil hour at the abortion site



With Msgr. Latour's approval, Melanie Strittmatter has arranged for Annunciation of the Lord Parish
to have a vigil hour at the abortion site at 65 Bank Street while the sidewalk councillors are present.


The date is Friday 24 June and our time slot is from 12 noon to 1:00pm.
We are asked to quietly pray the Rosary during this time.


There is metered onstreet parking along Queen,Albert and Slater or people can take the bus downtown.
There is usually some parking available at the adult school next to St. Pats.


The sign-up sheet and poster will be on the main parish bulletin board under the ProLife Section.


Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Outlawing Abortion: Making the Case for an Incremental Approach

from lifenews

http://www.lifenews.com/2011/05/23/outlawing-abortion-making-the-case-for-an-incremental-approach/


Outlawing Abortion: Making the Case for an Incremental Approach

by Gerard Nadal, Ph.D.
Washington, DC
LifeNews.com
5/23/11 12:00 PM

There is a discussion on FB about Texas passing a sonogram bill that does not protect certain groups of preborn babies, such as those conceived in rape, incest, or those with fetal anomalies. My friend Juda Myers is a pro-life warrior who was conceived in rape, and is understandably let down by these exceptions. This has reignited the ongoing debate within the pro-life community regarding incrementalism vs. unconditional surrender. I believe that we can all get to the finish line together. What follows are modified comments I left on FB this morning:

One abortion is one too many. On this all pro-lifers agree. I’ve been party to this discussion with several pro-lifers from around the country, so let me explain the incrementalist’s position and its internal logic. For more click here

I  just found out that Dr. Nadal has a terrific blog. If you go to the link below you can join in on a very interesting discussion on the topic.
http://gerardnadal.com/2011/05/23/outlawing-abortion-making-the-case-for-an-incremental-approach/

Saturday, May 14, 2011

March For Life, Ottawa Canada, May 12, 2011

I made a slide show of some of the photos I took and uploaded it to you tube, complete with music from the Saint Louis Jesuits in the background.
Maureen



Monday, May 9, 2011

The New Face of the Pro Life Movement - from Faith Today

http://www.evangelicalfellowship.ca/page.aspx?pid=7614

"Young, Female – and Pro-life By Alex Newman

The Canadian movement advocating for the sanctity of life from conception until natural death has a refreshing – and some may find surprising – face today."

You can read a digital version of the cover-story at this link:
http://digital.faithtoday.ca/faithtoday/20110506/m2/Page.action?pg=18&pm=2&u1=friend




Monday, April 4, 2011

Pro-Life Mass & Rosary Procession

Helpers of God's Precious Infants (Ottawa-Gatineau)


Pro-Life Mass & Rosary Procession

From St. Patrick's Basilica to
abortion facility at 65 Bank St.
Lead by Fr. Daryl Kennedy (associate Rector Saint Patrick's Basilica)
Saturday April 9th, 2011
Times (approx.) are as follows:
8:00 am Holy Sacrifice of the Mass
Offered by Fr. Daryl Kennedy at St. Patrick's Basilica (corner of Kent and Nepean Streets)
8:30 am Holy Rosary Procession
Prayerful and peaceful procession to abortion facility at 65 Bank St.
Holy Rosary, Prayers and Hymns (Total walking approx. 12 blocks)
10:00 am Eucharistic Benediction
Return to St. Patrick's for Benediction of the Most Blessed Sacrament



Refreshments and social to follow.
Please join us - you really do make all the difference. Bring a friend. Those who are unable to join the procession may remain in the church for Eucharistic Adoration.


For further information contact:
The Helpers of God's Precious Infants (Ottawa-Gatineau)
info@helpersottawa.org
http://www.helpersottawa.org/
by phone - contact Campaign Life Coalition (613) 729-0379

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Congressman Chris Smith's speech in support of the Peace Amendment to defund Planned Parenthood

www.catholic.org)

Chris Smith quotes from Abby Johnson's book "Unplanned" (she's a former PP employee and assisted in abortions; she is now pro-life). It is difficult to read some of this stuff, but so important.....
...
http://www.catholic.org/national/national_story.php?id=40442&wf=rsscol

Congressman Chris Smith: 332,278 Babies Exterminated in Planned Parenthood's Abortion Clinics in 2009 Alone

Mr. Chairman, it's time Americans, especially policymakers, health officials, the media, and law enforcement, took a second and critical look at Planned Parenthood.

Not only does Planned Parenthood vigorously lobby and litigate against parental notification and parental consent laws, thus enabling secret abortions for very, very young girls to be procured in their clinics, but now we've learned from recent undercover taped investigations at several of its clinics that Planned Parenthood employees were found to be more than eager to assist people posing as sex traffickers to procure abortions for underaged girls.

As a prime sponsor of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, I found it appalling to watch Planned Parenthood personnel again and again and again offer to provide and facilitate abortions for hypothetical sex trafficking victims as young as 13. In light of a recent comprehensive study suggesting that 100,000 American girls, mostly runaways, are forced into prostitution each year, average age 13, the videotapes of Live Action, the NGO headed by a courageous young woman, Lila Rose, that did the undercover work, is an engraved invitation for serious investigation by the Attorney General of the United States and law enforcement everywhere.

It further begs the question: Why are taxpayers giving hundreds of millions of dollars each and every year to Planned Parenthood?

Despite the best and slickest market branding money can buy, the stubborn fact remains that Planned Parenthood clinics are among the most dangerous places on Earth for a child. Planned Parenthood's own personnel are now taking a second look--many of them--and, thanks to ultrasound, are clearly seeing what is being done to millions of children in the womb, like the 332,278 babies exterminated in Planned Parenthood's abortion clinics in 2009.

One of those abortion providers who took a second look and walked away is Abby Johnson, a former Planned Parenthood abortion clinic director. In her book ``Unplanned,'' Abby Johnson exposes the duplicity and cruelty of what really goes on behind closed doors at a

Planned Parenthood clinic. In it she writes how she witnessed and assisted in an abortion of a 13-week-old baby by holding the ultrasound probe, and as she pointed out in the book, it was the first ultrasound-guided abortion at that facility.

She writes in the book: ``The details startled me. At 13 weeks you could clearly see the profile of the head, both arms, legs, and even tiny fingers and toes. With my eyes glued to the image of this perfectly formed baby, I watched as a new image emerged on the video screen. The cannula, a straw-shaped instrument attached to the end of the suction tube, had been inserted into the uterus and was nearing the baby's side. It looked like an invader on the screen: out of place, wrong. It just looked wrong.''

She goes on to write: ``My heart sped up; time slowed. I didn't want to look, but I didn't want to stop looking either. At first, the baby didn't seem aware of the cannula. It gently probed the baby's side, and for a quick second I felt relief. But I couldn't shake an inner disquiet that was quickly mounting to horror as I watched the screen.'' Remember, this is an abortion clinic director saying this.

``The next movement was a sudden jerk of a tiny foot of the baby as he started kicking, as if trying to move away from the probing invader.''

``As the cannula pressed in, the baby began struggling to turn and twist away. It seemed clear to me that the fetus could feel the cannula, and it did not like the feeling. And then the doctor's voice broke through, startling me: `Beam me up, Scotty,' the abortionist said lightheartedly to the nurse. He was telling her to turn on the suction, in an abortion the suction isn't turned on until the doctor feels he has the cannula in exactly the right place.

This abortion clinic director went on to write: ``I had a sudden urge to yell, Stop; to shake the woman and say, Look at what's happening to your baby. Wake up; hurry. Stop them. But even as I was thinking those words, I thought of my own hand and saw my own hand holding the probe. I was one of them performing this act'' of abortion.

``My eyes shot back to the screen. The cannula was already being rotated by the doctor and now I could see the tiny body violently twisting with it. For the briefest moment it looked as if the baby was being wrung like a dishcloth, twirled and squeezed. And then the little body crumpled and began disappearing into the cannula before my eyes. The last thing I saw was the tiny perfectly formed backbone sucked into the tube. And then everything was gone. The image of that tiny dead baby mangled and sucked away kept replaying in my mind. What was in this woman's womb just a moment ago was alive. It wasn't tissue. It wasn't cells. This was a human baby, fighting for life. A battle was lost in the blink of an eye.

``What I have told people for years''--8 years as a clinic director at a Planned Parenthood clinic--``what I have told people for years,'' Abby Johnson continues, ``What I believed and taught and defended is a lie.''

I ask Members to read this book, ``Unplanned,'' and realize the scandal of the killing of these unborn children and calling it choice.

Mr. Chairman, there is nothing whatsoever benign or caring or generous or just or compassionate or nurturing about abortion. Earlier one of our colleagues called abortion healthy for the child. Abortion dismembers children piece by piece. Planned Parenthood's own fact sheet talks about D&E abortions done during the second trimester period. Have you ever seen what a D&E is? The doctor goes in with forceps and this device and literally hacks that baby to death. Planned Parenthood itself says it takes 10 to 20 minutes to literally dismember that child.

Then there's the shots in the heart. There's a doctor right here in this area, that on perfectly healthy babies gives them cardiac sticks with either feticide poison or a burst of air which kills the unborn child. So it is not healthy for children and we know for a fact it is not healthy for women, either.

Mr. Chairman, the Pence amendment simply seeks to end U.S. taxpayer complicity with this massive violence against children. Who we back, who we subsidize does matter. Not just what but who.

Planned Parenthood does more than 332,000 abortions each and every year. They are the largest provider; about a fourth of all the abortions in the United States. It is child abuse. It is time to take a second look at Planned Parenthood, Child Abuse, Incorporated.

Support the Pence amendment!

----------------------------

Historic amendment to defund Planned Parenthood passes overwhelmingly in House

by Kathleen Gilbert

• Fri Feb 18, 2011 14:13 EST

February 18, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) - In a historic vote Friday afternoon, the US House voted to strike all federal funding for the Planned Parenthood Federation of America. Every year the abortion giant receives hundreds of millions of dollars in taxpayer funding.

The congressional body voted 240-185 in favor of the amendment, introduced by Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN), to the 2011 Federal Spending Bill.

Immediately after the vote Rep. Pence released a statement saying: “This afternoon’s vote is a victory for taxpayers and a victory for life. By banning federal funding to Planned Parenthood, Congress has taken a stand for millions of Americans who believe their tax dollars should not be used to subsidize the largest abortion provider in America.

“I commend my colleagues in both parties for taking a stand for taxpayers and a stand for life.”

The amendment will now go before the Senate.

The vote came after a heated debate in the House. It also comes in the wake of an explosive series of videos released over the last two weeks by the pro-life organization Live Action, which showed Planned Parenthood staff repeatedly willing to aid and abet the trafficking of underage “sex workers” by offering advice to an undercover investigator posing as a “pimp” on how to obtain secret abortions, contraception, and STD tests.

In a web page released right after the vote, Planned Parenthood called the legislation “the most dangerous legislative assault in our history, and it cannot go unanswered.” In an open letter to Congress that the organization is asking supporters to sign, the abortion giant says: “To every member of Congress, know that we stand together today against this outrageous assault, and together we will not lose.”

Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, blasted the vote.

“The new anti-choice House leadership promised a jobs agenda and is now waging a war on contraception,” Keenan said. “These lawmakers are out of control, and we will hold them accountable for their actions.”

In a statement Tony Perkins of Family Research Council congratulated the House and Rep. Pence: “Planned Parenthood, a scandal-plagued abortion organization, must be held accountable for abusing innocent young victims while receiving hundreds of millions in federal dollars each year.”

“The fact that Planned Parenthood not only left minor girls trapped in prostitution, but encouraged it, shows an incredible lack of humanity on their part. What goes on behind the windowless offices of Planned Parenthood, as Live Action’s videos show, is both saddening and shocking, but the fact that it has often been done with taxpayer dollars is indefensible.”

Lila Rose, the President of Live Action, issued a statement turning the attention of pro-life advocates to the coming battle in the Senate. “The case to cease funding is crystal clear,” she said. “But for any Senator who remains unsure, imagine explaining to your constituents that you voted to keep sending $350 million of their tax dollars to an ‘non-profit’ that puts young girls in harm’s way and made $63 million in profits by performing over 300,000 abortions last year. It’s time once and for all to stop financing these activities.”

At some times poignant, at others openly bitter, House lawmakers on Thursday night went head-to-head over the momentous amendment.

Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), a top pro-life leader in the House, described the conversion of former Planned Parenthood director Abby Johnson when she was confronted with the reality of how an abortion kills a child.

“Despite the best and slickest market branding money can buy, the stubborn fact remains that Planned Parenthood clinics are among the most dangerous places on earth for a child,” said Smith. “Not only does Planned Parenthood vigorously lobby and litigate against parental notification and consent laws—thus enabling secret abortions for very, very young girls—but now we‘ve learned from recent undercover taped investigations at several of its clinics ... that Planned Parenthood employees were found to be more than eager to assist people posing as sex traffickers to procure abortions for underage girls.”

In an emotional rebuttal, Democrat Rep. Jackie Speier of California said that she “lost a baby” to “that procedure that you just talked about,” and that “to suggest as you have that somehow this is a procedure that is either welcomed, or done cavalierly, or done without any thought, is preposterous.”

“Planned Parenthood has a right to offer abortions. Last time I checked, abortions were legal in this country,” she said in a speech that won applause.

A number of other pro-abortion Democrat House lawmakers defended the abortion giant, saying that stopping its taxpayer funding “will risk the lives and safetly of millions of American women.” Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-CA) argued that stripping family planning funds was actually detrimental to taxpayers.

“For every dollar invested in family planning services, taxpayers save four dollars,” said Slaughter, presumably following the same logic as PPFA president Cecile Richards and former Democrat House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who have argued that allowing fewer people to be born means less cost to the government to support them.

The amendment’s future remains uncertain: while the majority of the U.S. Senate remains in Democrat hands, some moderate members may be persuaded to side with the funding cut. Following the amendment’s success in the House, Rep. Pence called on members of the upper chamber to finish the job. “I encourage my colleagues in the Senate to support this legislation and end federal funding of Planned Parenthood once and for all,” he said in a statement.

Monday, February 14, 2011

Choose Life

This was the first reading for last Sunday Mass. I love this reading
Maureen

If you will, you can keep the commandments,
and to act faithfully is a matter of your own choice.
He has placed before you fire and water;
stretch out your hand for whichever you wish.
Before a man are life and death,
and whichever he chooses will be given to him.
For great is the wisdom of the Lord;
he is mighty in power and sees everything;
his eyes are on those who fear him,
and he knows every deed of man.
He has not commanded anyone to be ungodly,
and he has not given anyone permission to sin.
Sirach 15. 15-20

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Vigil for Victims February 14, 2011 at 12 Noon

Just received this message from Dave Bereit, 40 Days for Life



Maureen

I just shot a very important 2-minute video for you outside the Washington, D.C. Planned Parenthood with
Lila Rose -- whose organization brought to light the institution-wide scandal that is rocking the entire Planned Parenthood abortion chain..

The video was just posted online minutes ago, and you can be the first to watch it at: http://exposeplannedparenthood.com/vigil

Please spread the word, and forward this message to everyone you possibly can. We have a narrow window of opportunity to strip Planned Parenthood of its $363 million in annual taxpayer funds -- but we need to act this Monday!

For Life,
David Bereit
National Director
40 Days for Life



P.S.- On the same page as the new video is more information about the vital project I'm asking you to
participate in -- if at all possible. Watch the video and learn more at:
http://exposeplannedparenthood.com/vigil



Thursday, February 10, 2011

Mass for the Healing of the Nation of Canada

Mass for the Healing of Canada


"If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land."
2 Chronicles 7:14

We invite you to join in the celebration of
-A MASS OF REPENTANCE-
FOR THE HEALING OF THE NATION OF CANADA
on Saturday, March 19th, 2011
At – Saint George's Church – 10:00 a.m.
Celebrant: Father Bob Poole
415 Piccadilly Ave., Ottawa
Our Speakers for the Day will be Dr. Carlos Muira and Mr. Marcel Dion

The recitation of the Divine Mercy Chaplet will follow the Mass.
“Mankind will not have peace until it turns with trust to my Mercy.”
Diary of Saint Faustina #300

The Celebrant for the Mass will offer prayers for the
Healing of the Family Tree, as it is our families who comprise the Nation.

Please join us in praying a Novena to St. Joseph beginning on March 10th, for the Healing of Canada, and a Novena of Thanksgiving, from March 19th.

CANADA NEEDS OUR PRAYERS!!!
St. Joseph, Patron of Canada and Protector of Families, pray for us.

Saturday, February 5, 2011

Three More Videos Show Planned Parenthood Helping Sex Traffickers | LifeNews.com

from Steve Ertelt
http://www.lifenews.com/

Live Action released today three more videos from the undercover investigations it conducted earlier this month of Planned Parenthood abortion centers helping alleged sex traffickers obtain abortions for underage girls.
The three new videos, covering Planned Parenthood centers in Virginia, join the two other videos the group has released of a Perth Amboy, New Jersey abortion business and a Planned Parenthood center in Richmond, Virginia — both of which had staffers helping the alleged sex traffickers find information on how to obtain abortions without facing scrutiny and get STD testing for the girls. To continue click here

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Beatification of Servant of God John Paul II

from the Congregation for the Causes of Saints (January 14, 2011)
http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?recnum=9518

An original pencil rendering of Pope John Paul II
by Paula Maloney of Osgoode Ontario






Sunday, January 16, 2011

Pope John Paul II Beatification

Excerpt of Decree for John Paul II's Beatification

"Sign of the Depth of Faith and Invitation to a Fully Christian Life"

VATICAN CITY, JAN. 14, 2011 (Zenit.org).- Here is an excerpt of the decree written by the Congregation for Saints' Causes regarding the beatification of Servant of God John Paul II, published today by Vatican Radio. The prefect of the saints' causes dicastery is Cardinal Angelo Amato.

The full text can be found on ZENIT's Web page: www.zenit.org/article-31459?l=english

* * *
Beatification: Sign of the depth of faith and invitation to a fully Christian life

The proclamation of a Saint or of a Blessed by the Church is the fruit of putting together various aspects regarding a specific Person. First, it is an act which says something important in the life of the Church herself. It is linked to a "cult," i.e. to the memory of the person, to his full acknowledgment of him in the awareness of the ecclesial community, of the country, of the Universal Church in various countries, continents and cultures. Another aspect is the awareness that the "presentation on the altars" will be an important sign of the depth of the faith, of the diffusion of faith in the path of life of that person, and that this sign will become an invitation, a stimulus for us all towards a Christian life ever more profound and full. Finally, thesine qua non condition is the holiness of the person's life, verified during the precise and formal canonical proceedings. All this provides the material for the decision of the Successor of Peter, of the Pope in view of the proclamation of a Blessed or of a Saint, of the cult in the context of the ecclesial community and of its liturgy.
John Paul II's pontificate was an eloquent and clear sign, not only for Catholics, but also for world public opinion, for people of all color and creed. The world's reaction to his lifestyle, to the development of his apostolic mission, to the way he bore his suffering, to the decision to continue his Petrine mission to the end as willed by divine Providence, and finally, the reaction to his death, the popularity of the acclamation "Saint right now!" which someone made on the day of his funerals, all this has its solid foundation in the experience of having met with the person who was the Pope. The faithful have felt, have experienced that he is "God's man," who really sees the concrete steps and the mechanisms of contemporary world "in God," in God's perspective, with the eyes of a mystic who looks up to God only. He was clearly a man of prayer: so much so that it is from the dynamism of his personal union with God, from the permanent listening to what God wants to say in a concrete situation, that the whole of "Pope John Paul II's activity" flowed. Those who were closest to him have been able to see that, prior to his meetings with his guests, with Heads of State, with Church high officials or ordinary citizens, John Paul II would recollect himself in prayer according to the intentions of the guests and of the meeting that was to come.

1. Karol Wojtyla's contribution to Vatican II Council

After Vatican II, during the pontificates of Paul VI and of John Paul II, the manner of presentation, and thus of self-presentation of the papacy, has become quite expressive. On the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the pontificate of John Paul II, the Italian Minister for Foreign Affairs published in 2004 a book entitled "Go Forth in the Whole World." Giancarlo Zizola, a "vaticanist," remarked on the fact that "the papacy has conquered its citizenship in the realm of public visibility, breaking away from the siege of worship marginalisation where it had been kept by decree of secular society, in the name of a militant vision of the liberal tenet of Separation of Church and State" (p. 17). A German historian, Jesuit Klaus Schatz, speaking of Paul VI and of John Paul II, underlined the meaning of the "papacy on the way" -- thus in conformity with Vatican II -- more in the manner of a missionary movement than as a static pole of unity. Schatz refers to the manner of interpreting the papal mission as a challenge to "confirm the brothers in the faith" (Luke 22:32), in a way tied to structural authority, but with a strong spiritual and charismatic hint, in link with the personal credibility and rooted in God himself.

Let us pause a moment to consider Vatican II. The young archbishop of Cracow was one of the most active Council Fathers. He made a significant contribution to the "Scheme XIII" which was to become the Pastoral Constitution of the Council "Gaudium et Spes" on the Church in the Modern World, and to the Dogmatic Constitution "Lumen Gentium." Thanks to his studies abroad, bishop Wojtyla had a concrete experience of evangelisation and of the mission of the Church, in Western Europe or in other continents, but above all of totalitarian atheism in Poland and in the other countries of the "Soviet Block." He brought all this experience to the Council debates, which were certainly not like drawing-room conversations, extremely courteous but void of contents. Here was a substantial and decisive effort to insert the Gospel's dynamism into the conciliar enthusiasm rooted on the conviction that Christianity is capable of furnishing a "soul" to the development of modernity and to the reality of the social and cultural world.

All this was to be of use in preparing for the future responsibilities of the Successor of Peter. As John Paul II said, he already had in his mind his first encyclical, "Redemptor Hominis," and brought it to Rome from Cracow. All he had to do in Rome was to write down all these ideas. In this encyclical, there is a wide invitation to humankind to rediscover the reality of Redemption in Christ: "Man (…) remains a being that is incomprehensible for himself, his life is senseless, if love is not revealed to him, if he does not encounter love, if he does not experience it and make it his own, if he does not participate intimately in it. This, as has already been said, is why Christ the Redeemer 'fully reveals man to himself.' [...] man finds again the greatness, dignity and value that belong to his humanity. In the mystery of the Redemption man becomes newly 'expressed' and, in a way, is newly created. [...] The man who wishes to understand himself thoroughly -- and not just in accordance with immediate, partial, often superficial, and even illusory standards and measures of his being -- he must with his unrest, uncertainty and even his weakness and sinfulness, with his life and death, draw near to Christ. He must, so to speak, enter into him with all his own self, he must 'appropriate' and assimilate the whole of the reality of the Incarnation and Redemption in order to find himself (No. 10). [...]

"This union of Christ with man is in itself a mystery. From the mystery is born 'the new man,' called to become a partaker of God's life, and newly created in Christ for the fullness of grace and truth. [...] Man is transformed inwardly by this power as the source of a new life that does not disappear and pass away but lasts to eternal life. [...] This life, which the Father has promised and offered to each man in Jesus Christ (…) is in a way the fulfilment of the 'destiny' that God has prepared for him from eternity. This 'divine destiny' is advancing, in spite of all the enigmas, the unsolved riddles, the twists and turns of 'human destiny' in the world of time. Indeed, while all this, in spite of all the riches of life in time, necessarily and inevitably leads to the frontier of death and the goal of the destruction of the human body, beyond that goal we see Christ. 'I am the resurrection and the life, he who believes in me ... shall never die'" (No. 18).
--- --- ---

On ZENIT's Web page:

Full text of decree: www.zenit.org/article-31459?l=english

Saturday, January 15, 2011

Homily by Fr. Tony Van Hee, Pro Life Mass, Assumption Parish, January 8, 2011

The Pilgrimage of Masses, January 8, 2011, 10 a.m., Assumption Parish


Homily by Fr. Tony Van Hee

As I see it, worldwide abortion, is the greatest single evil, in all of human history, apart from the death of Christ. Not this abortion, or that abortion, or many abortions, but worldwide abortion. And the greatest external force we are fighting against in this struggle, on the human level, in my opinion, is the mainstream media, which forms public opinion, for good or ill.

In regard to worldwide Christianity, and Western Civilization, the greatest threat seems to be, a lack of faith, a lack of belief in God, atheism in all its forms. But neither the mainstream media, with its lies and propaganda, nor atheists with their unbelief, and their hatred of the God they say does not exist, are the real enemy. The real enemy is Satan, “a murderer from the beginning …[a deceiver] … a liar and the father of lies” (8:44), and with him a whole host of fallen angels.

“For”, as St Paul says, “we are not contending against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Eph 6:12).

The mainstream media, the unbelievers, and all others who are fighting against us, are not the enemy. They are only misguided and deceived pawns, in the hands of Satan and his fallen angels.

So we have to use discernment. We want to encourage and cooperate with all that is good in the mainstream media, and in unbelievers, but firmly oppose and reject all that is not good.

Because this is a cosmic struggle far beyond our very limited capacities, we must remember the greatness of our God, who only allows evil, in order to bring about a greater good. We don’t always see the greater good, so we have to have faith and trust. In order to encourage this faith and trust in God, we must keep in mind the greatness of our God, who created the whole universe, which I am told, has a hundred billion galaxies, such as our Milky Way Galaxy, and in each of these galaxies, a hundred billion stars.

In each of our bodies, I am told, we have a hundred trillion cells, and the Bible tells us, that this great God of ours has numbered the hairs on our head, and the sands on the sea shore.

Yet, God is greater than all of His creation, the whole of the universe, angels and mankind included, so we have nothing to fear, if we have faith and trust in Him. It is His household, so to speak, that is all messed up, and as head of His household, He is not losing sleep over it. He has it all in hand.

He grieves because of our suffering, and our stupidity, and our sinfulness, but He is bringing good out of it all. He has it all in hand. If He can keep an ever expanding universe, a hundred billion galaxies, each with a hundred billion stars, swirling around in space, in mathematical precision, and number the hairs on our head and the sands on the seashore, He can surely bring about good in all that is happening to us here and now, to us, the Mystical Body and Beloved Bride of His Son.

If He allowed the crucifixion of His own Son, the greatest evil in all of human history,in order to bring about the greatest good in all of human history, our redemption and our salvation, He can surely bring good out of “this present darkness”.

And what is our part in all of this? Well, pretty small, but absolutely essential. We, ourselves, are pawns in this cosmic struggle between Satan and his fallen angels, and St Michael and his good angels, including each of our guardian angels. Our part in this cosmic struggle is, as it were, merely to show up for work each day, whatever that work may be, trusting that God will use us and our works, keeping in mind that each and every one of our least thoughts, words and actions, when united with His Son’s, is of infinite value, and will live on eternally, whether it be gathered up in an eternal symphony of love and praise, or whether it be included and preserved insome other magnificent way, eternally.

Nothing is lost to God. Nothing is wasted. And nothing can alter the victory that has already been won for us, over all these evil forces,

Friday, January 7, 2011

Saint Brother Andre, Mass of Thanksgiving, Notre Dame Cathedral January 6 2011

Well like I said I was so looking forward to taking lots of pictures but unfortunately one of the ushers asked me not to take any pictures during the mass . Since I didn't get very many pictures I included one of my sister at the Restaurant before mass and the last two are a couple of photos I took on my way home of the Christmas Lights on our street.





















Thursday, January 6, 2011

January 6th: Feast of the Epiphany and of Saint Brother Andre

Diocesan Celebration of thanksgiving

The Archbishop invites all to attend the diocesan Eucharistic celebration which will be held on the first feast day of St. Brother Andre, on Jan 6, at 7:30 pm at Notre Dame Cathedral.
I am surely going and will take loads of pictures.

Vigil for Nascent Human Life at Notre Dame Cathedral in Ottawa 2010 (Eng...

Saturday, January 1, 2011

Happy New Year!

In the Church Calendar, January 1st marks the Feast Day of Mary the Mother of God. May the words that Mary spoke to Saint Juan Diego give you comfort and hope during this new year.

"Let not your heart be disturbed. Do not fear that sickness, nor any other sickness or anguish. Am I not here, who is your Mother? Are you not under my protection? Am I not your health? Are you not happily within my fold? What else do you wish? Do not grieve nor be disturbed by anything."
(Words of Our Lady to Juan Diego)