St. Leonard Catholic Parish
M
anotick, Ont
"Celebrating 50 Years as a Catholic Community
"
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Monthly E-Newsletter for Feb 1st
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Welcome to the St. Leonard monthly E-Newsletter.
Anchored by Valentine's Day on February 14th and Family Day on February 18th, February is often thought to be the month of love and a time to reflect on the important relationships in our lives. As we start to
prepare for the season of Lent, we also focus on the topic of worship through the great gift of the sacrament of the Holy Mass.
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Pastor's Message for Feb 1st
Growing as Disciples: A Personal Challenge
This June will mark my sixth year as pastor here at St. Leonard. As a new year begins and our attention is focused on the future, I would like to reflect on where we have been and issue a challenge for the season of Lent that is fast approaching.
In my first couple of years as the Pastor at St. Leonard my focus was on getting to know the parishioners and the overall community. I suppose, in the same way, it took some time for you to get to know me! Our initial focus was placed on trying to become even more welcoming and friendly so that we could continue to make St. Leonard's a special place along the shores of the beautiful Rideau River for all to come and seek communion and solidarity with Jesus.
In 2015 in response to the Church’s call for a New Evangelization and Pope Francis's call to "be a church that finds new roads", we established an evangelization and planning team to study and implement new ways that we could bring more people into a personal relationship with Christ and His Church. We studied some of the new strategies that were being used in parishes in North America (i.e., Divine Renovation, Rebuilt) and in 2016 we put forward an update to our Parish Plan that we hoped would take us from being a "maintenance parish" to a "missionary parish".
At the center of our 2016 plan was a revised Parish vision that was based on “growing disciples, where every member is committed to worship, to grow, to serve, to connect, to love and to give.”
Since that time, we have rolled out multiple new programs and initiatives in support of this plan. These include a framework for personal growth (7 steps to discipleship) measured by our “love of neighbour”, a Parish Prayer, a new youth Mass, enhanced training for Mass ministry volunteers, an online program for faith development (FORMED) and volunteer recruitment and Coffee Sunday to foster greater fellowship. We have updated our children’s sacramental preparation programs and rolled out adult faith formation programs to support discipleship growth (Alpha, Forgiveness, Evangelization, The Presence). We have augmented our ability to communicate with our community and potential new members through an enhanced website, an E-Newsletter, and new social media applications (i.e., Facebook). Your increase in financial offerings has allowed us to upgrade our Altar area (new cross, new candles), enhance our sound system, put in a new heating system and renovate our Parish Hall to make it more welcoming to our visitors. And while all of this has been taking place, our outreach to those less fortunate has continued through Amor Dei, Multi-Faith Housing, Peace and Development and the good works of our Catholic Women’s League and Knights of Columbus. Together, and with many blessings from the Holy Spirit, much has been accomplished over the last 5 years.
This year, as we continue to celebrate our 50th year as a Parish, our central focus has been on community. Catholic community binds us together in love for Jesus and each other and is centered on the Holy Eucharist. It brings joy, strength, and encouragement to live our lives as committed disciples of Christ. Moving forward, it is time for us to bring others to Christ and the best way to do this is one person at a time.
This upcoming Lent I would like to issue a personal challenge to each of you to grow as disciples. Instead of giving up candy or chocolate, make a commitment to do two things; 1) Attend at least one week-day Mass during Lent and 2) Bring a friend or family member to Church this Lent. In doing so, you will grow closer to Christ and our community will grow as well.
God bless you and those you love, Father Titus
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Pastor's Annual Nigerian Visit 2019
Pictures: 1) Fr. Titus, with his mother and Fr. Emeka, 2) at the
Umuoji
orphanage with some of the children and staff and 3) visiting with his brothers.
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Both the Christmas Hamper program and the Adult Winter Coat drive, managed from St. Leonard Parish, were a resounding success. Fourteen families were served with hampers and more than 50 wonderful winter coats, and some hand made hats were received for distribution within our local community. Amor Dei extends a very sincere thank-you to all the volunteers and donors, including our community schools (St. Leonard, St. Jerome and St. Mark), as well as Dymon Storage for their charitable support of numerous plastic bins for temporary coat storage. It is abundantly clear that the kindness and generosity of our St. Leonard community is alive and well.
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Lent 2019 begins on Wednesday, March 6
and ends on Thursday, April 18 with Holy Thursday and the start of the Easter Triduum.
Wednesday 9:00 am followed by Adoration
Thursday 9:00 am
Friday 6:15 am followed by Rosary
9:30 am Children's Mass
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Watch the Holy Mass Online
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It is easy to watch Holy Masses online from different parishes all around the world. When you
click here
you will see the calendar with the Catholic Holy Masses live online. Click in the chosen hour when you want to see the Holy Mass online and the broadcast website opens automatically. Then you can watch the Holy Mass live online. This website was created for the sick, home bound and for those who, due to other important reasons, could not go to Mass; or those who, due to their locations, do not have Churches to go to.
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What is the Liturgical Calendar?
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The Liturgical Calendar begins every year during the month of November on the First Sunday of Advent and runs through to the Solemnity of Christ the King.
The "Lectionary," the Mass readings from the Holy Bible, follows a Sunday cycle and a weekday cycle. The Liturgical Calendar follows a three-year cycle, each year being represented by the letters, A, B, and C. During the year A cycle, the Gospel of Matthew is the primary Gospel that is used for the readings. In year B, Mark is the primary Gospel. In year C, Luke is the primary Gospel. The Gospel of John is proclaimed on particular Sundays in each of the years. This year we are using Cycle C and on Feb 1st, as the calendar indicates, we are in Ordinary Time.
In each cycle of the Liturgical Calendar, you will find six Seasons:
- Advent
- Christmas
- Lent
- Triduum
- Easter
- Ordinary Time
During the year, in addition to the Sunday worship, the Church also celebrates Solemnities, Feasts, and Memorials, which may be on any day of the week. These occur during the year to commemorate special events or persons that are highly revered by the Catholic Church.
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1) All Sundays of the year
2) Christmas Day (Dec 25)
3) The Feast of Mary, Mother of God (Jan 1)
The feasts of the Epiphany (Jan 6), the Ascension (May 30), Corpus Christi (June 20) are transferred to the following Sunday.
The following 5 Holy Days are no longer considered Holy Days of Obligation
*Why it Matters: On Sundays and other Holy days of obligation the faithful are bound to attend Mass." Catechism of the Catholic Church 2180
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f you are new to FORMED, to get ongoing FREE ACCESS to all programs and downloadable PDF guides, movies and e-books please
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Virtual Marriage Retreat: National Marriage Week 2019
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Join in celebrating National Marriage Week (February 7-14, 2019) by taking a few moments each day, together with your spouse, to reflect and pray. This year’s theme is Marriage: Made for a Reason. This retreat will help you further reflect on what makes marriage unique as established by God, between a man and woman, as the basis for family and society.
Click here to view the retreat materials.
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Evangelization is about Relationship
1)
Build a friendship on a human level
2)
Share about your friendship with Jesus
3)
When the time is right, ask if the person wants to be introduced to Jesus
Evangelizing is walking the journey with someone!
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How to Make a Disciple
1)
Be motivated by love
2)
Take the initiative to share Christ
3)
Rely on the Holy Spirit
4)
Have great expectations
“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations”
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Reprinted from Gaudium magazine.
Gaudium is the new evolution of the Companions of the Cross quarterly newsletter.To sign up for a free subscription to this magazine devoted to the New Evangelization visit
http://www.companionscross.org/gaudium
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Get Involved in our Community!
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Wed. Feb. 6 Pastoral Council Meeting 7:00 p.m.
Thurs. Feb. 7 Baptismal Preparation Session 7:00 p.m.
Tues. Feb. 12 First Reconciliation 7:00 p.m.
Wed. Feb. 13 Knights of Columbus Meeting 7:00 p.m.
Tues. Feb. 19 First Reconciliation 7:00 p.m.
Mon. Feb. 25 Confirmation Session 6:30 p.m.
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After the 9 am and 11 am Sunday masses in February coffee will be served in the Parish Hall. Click on the
Parish Calendar
for a full listing of upcoming meetings and events.
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Parishioner Feedback: We Love Your Input!
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Dear Parishioners we are very interested in your feedback. If have any comments and/or suggestions as it relates to any of our Parish activities, including the E-Newsletter, please
click here.
If you would like a direct response to your suggestion, please include your email address.
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St. Leonard Parish
office@stleonardsparish.ca
www.stleonardsparish.ca
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