Only Two Weeks Away

The excitement is building and here are the details for our awesome celebration weekend on November 21/22, 2009 - Feast of Christ the King

PARISH CENTRE DEDICATION WEEKEND
November 21/22, 2009
A Time to Celebrate - Abundantly!

Mass of Dedication - November 21, 2009,
at the 5:00 p.m. Mass with Bishop Bergie.
Reception to follow in the Parish Centre.

Parish Breakfast - November 22, 2009
after the 8:00 a.m., 9:30 a.m. & 11:00 a.m. Masses
at the Knights of Columbus Hall.

- JOIN US! -

★ 9:30 a.m. Mass - Kids Klub Members will be doing the readings and our Kids Khior will lead us in song.
★ 11:00 a.m. Mass - We will formally welcome 11 adults who wish to be members of the Catholic faith and who are participating in the R.C.I.A. process.
★ After each Mass - Members of our High School Youth Group - Da Crew - will be selling handmade Advent Wreaths which they made last weekend during Da Nerve to Serve Weekend

IT WILL BE AN ABUNDANT WEEKEND OF CELEBRATING !

All Saints Day

The Gospel for the Solemnity of All Saints is the Beatitudes from Matthew’s narrative. In eight great statements, Jesus declares blessed the poor in spirit, the mourners, the meek, the merciful – so many of those whom the world holds in contempt. Each of them will receive the kingdom, expressed in a wonderful variety of ways: they will be comforted, satisfied, shown mercy; they will inherit the land, they will see God, they will be children of God. The Beatitudes show us the way to holiness in an incredibly simple yet challenging way. The last of the Beatitudes is perhaps the most challenging of all. “Blessed are you,” Jesus says at last, when you are persecuted and falsely accused. Rejoice and be glad. For then, you most closely resemble the saints. Today’s solemnity reminds us that the saints are beyond all counting: God is generous. Among them are surely members of our families and friends who have helped us on our way to faith. Let us remember them today and always. Saints of God, pray for us.

On Monday, November 2, the Church celebrates the Commemoration of all the faithful departed. This feast, as we know it, can be traced to Abbot Odo of Cluny (France) in the tenth century, but prayer for the dead has been our custom from the earliest days of the Church. The belief that our prayers can be of assistance to the dead is a treasured tenet of our Catholic faith. All Souls Day commemorates all those who have died, who, we pray, may one day join the saints in the heavenly kingdom. These are the faithful departed who, we pray to God, in his great love and mercy, takes to himself. On this day we pray for all the dead. We pray that they be admitted to the banquet of heaven with all the saints in glory.

Our annual Parish Memorial Mass will be offered at 7:00p.m. on Monday, November 2 - all are welcome to join us.

Now for a few pictures of our Parish Centre

We Are Getting Excited

There is excitment in the air at St Mary of the Visitation Parish - we are entering our few weeks and soon our Parish Centre will be open - all in time for our dedication on November 21st. We will let the pictures - lots of them this week - do all the talking ....enjoy !

The countdown is on !

The Countdown is on to the Official Opening of our new Parish Centre - scheduled for November 21st during our 5:00p.m. Mass. Bishop Bergie will be with us. We are very much looking forward to this evening as we open our Place for Everyone !

We recently launched our Parish Centre "Living Tree". This is an opportunity for parishioners to make donations either in the name of deceased loved ones, themselves or others, with a decorative plaque to be placed in our Parish Centre to remember both the legacy of faith of the pioneers of our community, as well as our own current contribution to building our community. Please see the special forms at the Church Entrance and consider being a part of building a place for everyone.

Here are a couple of photos from this week; this coming week we are moving into "high speed" with some painting, new doors and lots more indoor work - so check for more photos next week.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving !

Check it out !

Check out the great progress being made; and check out our new sidewalks !

Progress continues

The wonderful progress continues on our Parish Centre project. The inside is our focus now, though new side walks are coming outside this week too, here is a peak inside as we prepare to open the new door way from the new parish centre narthex into our current beautiful parish church - it is getting exciting !

Back to School Time

I offer my prayerful best wishes to all who are resuming school this week, especially those who are doing so for the first time at new schools, colleges and universities.

Blessed are you, Lord God,
creator of body and mind and heart;
you have sent the Spirit of wisdom and knowledge
to guide your people in all their ways.

At the beginning of this new school year,
we implore you to bless the students and staff
of our Parish Schools of Our Lady Fatima, St. Elizabeth and St. Benedict;
may we together grow in faith, hope and love.
Bless our young adults who are off to College and University; may they learn how to follow your Son Jesus in Truth.

Expand the horizons of all our minds,
that we may grow in wisdom,
understanding and knowledge.
Deepen our commitment to seek your ways;
and enliven our faith to reach out to those in need.

Glory and praise to you, Lord God,
in the Church and in Christ Jesus forever and ever.

Amen.