| Stan-e5 |
With
all the bleak economic and political news which we experienced
at the close of 2008, we thought it appropriate to start the
2009 season with four new entries on the Lighter
Side link: the perks of being over 50, a bit of Zen
sarcasm, an intriguing math quiz and finally a computer virus
which many of us may have.
40
Days for Life: Latest
Update on
planning for next campaign
Liturgical
Overview of the month of January (dedicated to the Holy Name of Jesus).
Fr.
Richard Neuhaus RIP...a lot of info on the extraordinary Canadian born priest
who has had a tremendous impact mainly in the US.
More
Great Spiritual Reading by the late Fr. John Hardon ….article
on How to Believe
in the Real Presence was added
Pope’s
Game Plan for 2009 – what Pope Benedict plans to emphasize in the coming
year
Two
thoughtful Youtube Videos in this issue
Thoughts
on Restoring the Catholic Culture
A
Very Powerful Prayer given by a Protestant Minister to the Kansas Senate
upset a few, pleased many and had an incredible impact.
A
link to Dr Michael Heller’s (eminent cosmologist, mathematician
and priest) Ottawa lecture is provided
Prolife
Corner – Rod Bruinooge, an aboriginal MP and new chair of the pro-life
Freedom
of Conscience: some recent articles dealing with this subject
Links
to Theology of the Body videos
Upcoming
Events of Note:
·
Saturday
January 17th, next Men’s Breakfast at St. Augustine Parish
·
January
30th to February 1st, annual Men’s Weekend Retreat
at Maison de La Providence. Fr. Terry Donahue CC is the retreat
master
·
January
30-31 Conference of Dignity co-sponsored by the Laurentian Leadership Centre
and the Christian Labour Association of Canada. Fr Raymond
de Souza will be one of the speakers
·
Thursday
Feb 5th, 12th and 19th – compelling Adult Faith Education series
comes to St.
Augustine
·
May
4th to May 16th – Spring trip to Medjugore
·
November
27-28th, Fr. Benedict Groeschl from EWTN comes to St.
Pat’s Basilica
|
| John |
It’s
official, the next 40 Days for Life campaign will start
on February 25th (Ash Wednesday) and end
April 5th (Palm Sunday). It will take place in
four Canadian cities (Ottawa, Toronto, Winnipeg and Montreal), as well as numerous
American locations.
Preliminary
planning for the Ottawa campaign is already underway and a General
Information Meeting will take place on Tuesday February 3rd
at St. Patrick's Basilica 220 Kent Street in the basement Scavi
(enter by one of the side doors) beginning at 7 pm….details to
follow.
On
December 26, David Bereit, 40 Days for Life's national campaign
director, was interviewed on the nationally syndicated Sean Hannity
radio program. David provides a brief history of the 40 Days,
as well as insights as to why it’s so successful. You can listen
to the entire 11-minute segment here: http://www.40daysforlife.com/blog/audio/hannity.mp3
For
more information of the Ottawa 40 Days for Life Campaign,
please contact Wanda Hartlin or Paul Lauzon from
Campaign Life Coalition 613-729-0379 or email 40daysforlifeottawa@gmail.com
US
40 Days for Life Blog: http://40daysforlife.com/blog/
Canadian
40 Days for Life Blog: http://40dayscanada.blogspot.com/ |
| Jeff
Mirus |
January
2009
Thou shalt call His Name Jesus,
for He shall save His people from their sins.
The
month of January is dedicated to the Holy
Name of Jesus , which is celebrated on January
3rd. The first 11 days of January fall during the liturgical season
known as Christmas
which is represented by the liturgical color white. The remaining
days of January are the beginning of Ordinary Time. The liturgical
color changes to green — a symbol of the hope of reaping the eternal
harvest of heaven, especially the hope of a glorious resurrection.
Liturgical
overview of month including Papal intentions, click HERE. |
| |
Richard
John Neuhaus, 1936–2009
Our
great, good friend is gone.
Neuhaus
began his adult life as a Canadian (born in the Ottawa Valley), a left-winger,
and a Lutheran. He never lost his love for his country of birth
— he spent six weeks of every year vacationing, reading, and
reflecting in the Quebec countryside — his respect for a liberalism
shaped by charity, or his admiration for the Lutheran tradition.
He became nonetheless an American, a conservative, and a Catholic.
And from these three conversions he forged for himself a distinctive
religious identity that was conservative and generous, traditional
and open, charitable and — yes — combative. He was also one
of those rare theologians and spiritual leaders whose influence
vastly exceeded the boundaries of their religious community….Click
HERE
and THERE
to read more.
Fr.
Richard Neuhaus wrote an article on dying…click on Born
Toward Dying
A
Compeling Youtube video where Fr. Neuhaus voices his opinion
about Canadian politics…click HERE.
He was a priest who was not afraid to call a spade a spade and
to dialogue with the secularist milieu on their own territory.
|
| Graham
C |
Remembering
Fr. Richard John Nehaus on EWTN
On this week's episode of "The World Over"
program on EWTN TV, George Weigel and Michael Novak will join
host Raymond Arroyo in remembering Fr. Richard John Neuhaus, who
died on Thuesday Jan. 8, 2009 at age 72.
The program will be aired lived on Friday Jan.
9, 2009 from 8 to 9 pm and repeated on Saturday at 1 am, Sunday
at 4 pm and Monday at 10 am and 11 pm. When the program is being
aired on EWTN TV it can also be viewed on-line by going to EWTN
multimedia webpage at the following link:
http://www.ewtn.com/audiovideo/index.asp
An archived version of the program will be available
for viewing on-line by going to the webpage for The World Over
(see first link below) and clicking on "Past programs"
or simply by clicking on the second link below.
http://www.ewtn.com/worldover/index.asp
http://www.ewtn.com/vondemand/audio/SeriesSearchprog.asp?SeriesID=-6892288&NewList=&T1=world~over |
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Pope’s "game plan" for 2009
On
December 22nd, Pope Benedict gave his annual pre-Christmas
address to the Roman Curia at which he typically outlines what he plans to emphasize in the coming year.
See Pope’s ‘game plan’ for 2009. Finishing the Pauline Year
with St.
Paul’s
own emphasis on evangelization is at the top of his list.
|
| |
Video of the Issue
Fr.
Ignatius
A
family with a good sense of humour sings to the tune of "The
12 Days of Christmas" some the things said to them when
in public with their seven children.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xaD8xat6VDw
Their
situation is a common experience for large families. Perfect
strangers showing visible incredulity or disgust, intentionally
making condescending remarks within earshot, or coming up and
boldly asking inappropriate questions. I should qualify
my statement: It is a common experience for white families.
I doubt too many large black or Muslim families hear these remarks
(although other things are probably said behind their backs).
I suspect that those who make such remarks are intimidated and
angered that couples of their own generation, racial group and
cultural background are not following the contemporary norm
for families: 0, 1, 2 or 3 children. The hypocrisy of
this fanned shock is that many of my generation grew up in large
families or had relatives or friends who did. We have
experienced such things before, often lived it firsthand.
We simply pretend it is foreign and unbelievable.
|
| Dick
Fiala |
At
a meeting of the AARP (American Association of Retired People)
they showed a video that was submitted in a contest by a 20 year
old. The contest was Titled 'u @ 50'.
This video won second place. When they showed it, everyone in
the room was awe-struck and broke into spontaneous applause.
So simple and yet so brilliant. Take a minute and watch it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42E2fAWM6rA |
| Jeff
Mirus |
Restoring a Catholic Culture
Phil
Lawler and I
have been thinking a great deal about this problem, especially
over the past few months, and we are increasingly attempting
to articulate key cultural concepts on THIS
SITE. We wrote two essays during the holidays which
address different aspects of the culture question, essays which
I intended you to see on the 30th.
Just before Christmas, Phil (who is the Director of our Catholic
Culture Project) gave his fullest
explanation yet of what we need to do, where
we're going, and why all of us need to join together to do it:
Restoring a Catholic Culture: Where do we start?
Then, shortly after Christmas (while this year's stomach flu
was coming on and after it began to fade away), I worked up
a fuller explanation of what I mean when I say that Catholic
culture is profoundly
sacramental. See Toward an Incarnational Culture.
|
| |
A Very Powerful
Prayer
It seems prayer still upsets some people. Please
read....
When Minister Joe Wright
was asked to open the new session of the Kansas Senate, everyone
was expecting the usual generalities, but this is what they heard:
'Heavenly Father,
We come before you today
To ask your forgiveness
and
To seek your direction and
guidance.
We know Your Word says,
'Woe to those who call evil
good'
But that is exactly what
we have done.
We have lost our spiritual
equilibrium
And reversed our values.
We have exploited the poor
and
Called it the lottery.
We have rewarded laziness
And called it welfare.
We have killed our unborn
and called it choice.
We have shot abortionists
And called it justifiable.
We have neglected to discipline
Our children and called
it
Building self esteem.
We have abused power
And called it politics.
We have coveted our neighbor's
Possessions and called it
ambition.
We have polluted the air
With profanity and
Pornography and called it
Freedom of speech and expression.
We have ridiculed the time
Honored values of our Forefathers and called it enlightenment.
Search us, Oh, God, And
know our hearts today; Cleanse us from every sin
And set us free.
Amen!'
The response was
immediate. A number of legislators walked out during the prayer
in protest.
In 6 short weeks, Central
Christian Church, where Rev. Wright is pastor, logged more than
5,000 phone calls with only 47 of those calls responding negatively.
The church is now receiving
international requests for copies of this prayer from India ,
Africa and Korea
Commentator Paul Harvey
aired this prayer on his radio Program, 'The Rest of the Story,' and received a larger response
to this program than any other he has ever aired.
With the Lord's help, may
this prayer sweep over our Nation and wholeheartedly become our
desire so that we again can be called 'one nation under God.' |
| |
Dr. Michael Heller’s Lecture
in Ottawa
The
Sir John Templeton Foundation which awards grants to encourage
scientific discovery on the “big questions” in science and philosophy)
awarded the 2008 prize do Dr. Michael Heller, who is a cosmologist,
mathematician and Catholic priest.
For
more information on the Templeton prize and Fr. Heller including
a fascinating BBC interview (what!...a priest
and a scientist?) …click HERE
For
those of you he missed Fr. Heller’s talk (or would like to re-hear
it), we are fortunate in that Ottawa's St. Augustine College (who co-sponsored this
event) recorded the talk entitled “Did it start with a BANG”.
You can listen to it via THIS LINK which also includes his slides.
|
| Barb |
Pro-life Corner
Over the Christmas holidays, Aboriginal MP Rod Bruinooge (the new chair of the pro-life Parliamentary Caucus made headlines
by declaring that there is a new commitment in the pro-life community
to have a strong and intelligent debate on whether it should be
legal for a child to be aborted up until birth. Click HERE to read pertinent articles.
Read
also Abortion
is not a decided issue
And
Fate
unclear for Liberals backing anti-abortion cause
-----------------------------------------------------------
Best Website to stay up to date with latest
Pro-life/ Pro-family developments: http://www.lifesitenews.com/
Best Blog Sites:
|
| Barb |
And Our Medical
Professionals
|
| Jim Meuse |
Theology of the Body
A
few months ago we completed the 8 week series about Theology of the Body by Christopher West entitled
" Created
& Redeemed " at both Annunciation &
St. Augustine parishes.
Below
is a link to video # 7 of the series called, " A Living Morality ", which
we believe, pardon the pun, is where the rubber hits the road.
We
hope you will be blessed when you view this important teaching.
http://dev.annunciation-ottawa.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=853&Itemid=154
This
video is 58 minutes in length (48 minutes if you exclude the Q's
and A's). IMHO, the teaching should be mandatory from Senior High
School onwards in order to be able to confront the prevailing
culture where narcissistic indulgence is the norm. Everyone regardless
of his or her age group can profit greatly from it.
The
whole series of eight DVD lectures is available for a limited
time on the following site: http://dev.annunciation-ottawa.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=category§ionid=22&id=114&Itemid=154 |
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|
| Tom Gleeson |
Next Men’s Breakfast
at St. Augustine Parish
Saturday January 17th /
8:00 to 10:00 am
Saturday
January 17th: Next Men's Breakfast at St. Augustine Parish 08:00
to 10:00 am . The speaker will be Garry Mellor, a retired
school teacher. The title of his talk will be: "Retirement
in the Lord ". Details to follow.
|
| Ed
O'Connell |
OTTAWA MEN’S WEEKEND RETREAT ASSOCIATION
(Jan30th
to Feb 1st)
Arrangements
have been completed for our next retreat on the weekend of January
30th to February 1st, 2009 at Our Lady of Providence House,
(Maison de la Providence), 1754 St. Joseph Blvd, (intersection
of Forest Valley Drive) Orleans, Ontario (Tel. 824-1610).
Our
Retreat Master will be Fr. Terry Donahue, CC. He is their
Director of Lay Formation and Chaplain to the Lay Associates
for the Companions of the Cross. He has worked in youth evangelization
and coordinated the Companions School of Evangelization. As
a graduate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Fr.
Terry also has a strong background in science and technology.
Calling
or emailing me, as soon as possible can confirm your attendance.
Would you also please contact me,
even if you are unable to attend, as this will save
me calling you, the week before the retreat, to check on your
attendance status?
For more info…click HERE.
*****************************************************************************
To register
If
you have e-mail,
please send me your response (coming or not coming) by e-mail,
so that I can also update my retreat
contact list.
My
email address is ed-oconnell@sympatico.ca
Otherwise
call me @ 613-521-6851
(Home)
|
| Clement
Ng |
Dignity Conference
Below
is a notice for an upcoming conference on the meaning of human
dignity in an increasingly globalized world. It is co-sponsored
by the Laurentian Leadership Centre and the Christian Labour
Association of Canada and will feature the National Post columnist
Fr.
Raymond de Souza as a guest speaker.
The
event runs from January 30 to 31 and is free to attend.
Guests
are asked to register by January 19. The sessions details
are available at
http://www.clac.ca/dignity/DiginityConferenceSessions.pdf
and the registration form at http://www.clac.ca/dignity/registrationform.pdf.
|
| Stan-e5 |
Adult Faith Education
at St. Augustine Parish
Thursday
February 5th, 12th & 19th: ADULT FAITH EDUCATION SERIES
at St. Augustine
Parish with Dr.
Lau : THE
GOD DELUSION and other errors in logic. Is the
belief in God a delusion? Is religion the reason we go
to war or the root of all evil? Does evolution exclude God?
Is God a ‘blind’ watchmaker? Are we nothing more
than cells in the service of some ’selfish’ genes? What does
it mean to be human? The answer to these questions and
many more will be discussed in a 3 week series.
For details including agenda, please click HERE …all are welcome.
|
| Tim Dooling |
Spring 2009
Trip to Medjugorje:
May 4th to May
16th
Tim Dooling,
Pilgrimage co-ordinator
Our Pilgrimage
to Medjugorje this May, includes Mother's Day,
For more information
please contact Tim at:
613-722-9594, or
timdooling@rogers.com
Thank you and God
bless you! |
| Fr.
Lindsay |
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