Wednesday Weekly April 22, 2015 Print Version
1. World Day of Prayer for Vocations
The Message from Pope Francis for the World Day of Prayer for Vocations is attached. Please share the following message from Bishop Jensen in parish bulletins:
In the Gospel for “Good Shepherd Sunday”, Jesus tells us: “I know my own and my own know me.” In the language of Scripture, this knowing is more than information: the Good Shepherd’s knowledge of us is an invitation to a deep, life-giving relationship with him.
Since the call of the apostles, the Lord invites men to follow him as priests and be his collaborators (co-labourers). The Church reminds us to pray for those young men in our parishes who have vocations to the Priesthood. The Good Shepherd never fails to invite; we should pray that those he is calling may hear and answer.
A “Discernment Weekend” will be held at Camp Morice May 15 – 17 for men and women seeking to know the vocation God has in mind for them. Let us encourage and pray for them, especially those the Good Shepherd asks to know and serve him as priests.
Bishop Stephen Jensen
Message from Pope Francis for the World Day of Prayer for Vocations
2. Pastoral Appointments and Changes
Attached is an announcement from Bishop Jensen on pastoral assignments effective August 1, 2015.
Effective August 1, 2015, the following Oblate of Mary Immaculate priests will be moving to new assignments outside our diocese: Frs. Richard Beaudette, OMI; Fr. Nestor Silva, OMI and Fr. Robert Smith, OMI. Our thanks go to them for their generosity in sharing their priestly ministry in the diocese.
Fr. Roger Lavoie and Fr. Thomas Shymko will be retiring from active ministry effective August 1, 2015. We are very grateful to both priests for their many years of service.
3. Northern Catholic News Deadline
The Northern Catholic News is looking for articles from our parishes and schools to publish in its Summer edition. Did your parish or school celebrate a special occasion or event for the Year of Consecrated Life? Did someone in your organization receive special recognition? Please let us know about it! Did you have an inspiring and informative guest speaker? Our readers would love to hear about it! Contact Mary-Anne Lewis Jamin at majamin@pgdiocese.bc.ca or 250-964-4424 extension 234 with your stories and pictures. The deadline for this edition is May 15th, 2015.
4. Beatification of the Venerable Elisabeth Turgeon
The Papal Legate, His Eminence Angelo Cardinal Amato, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints, will preside at the Beatification of Elisabeth Turgeon on April 26, 2015, in Saint-Robert-Bellarmin Church, Rimouski. It is the first time that such a ceremony will be celebrated in Quebec and a Canadian Diocese.
The principal charism of the Sisters of Our Lady of the Rosary (in French, the Les Sœurs de Notre-Dame du Saint-Rosaire) is Christian education, including catechetics, pastoral work, and ministry with children, youth and their parents. In addition to their presence in the Archdiocese of Rimouski and the Diocese of Gaspé, as well as elsewhere in Quebec, the Sisters have served on the Lower North Shore and in Newfoundland and Labrador (1972-1998) as well as Maine. They have done missionary work in Haiti (1970), the Dominican Republic (1974), and Africa (1970 -1993), and continue to have missions in Honduras, Peru, Guatemala and Nicaragua. They are now also in Lebanon. The Congregation today has a little more than 300 religious and about 460 associates.
This Beatification is a significant moment for the Church in Canada, not only as part of the Year of Consecrated Life, but also as one more reminder of how all the baptized are called to evangelize today, finding inspiration for proclaiming the Good News in the missionary examples of earlier generations of Canadians.
Further information on preparations for the Beatification is available on the Congregation’s website at: http://www.soeursdusaintrosaire.org/ or the CCCB website at: http://www.cccb.ca/site/eng/. Prayer cards are available for purchase from CCCB Publications.
5. Appeal Update
