This week, Graham provides an article on "fasting"; Cindy updates us on her recovery, with a touching story about God's wings; Dan gives part two to his "art of letting go. Cyril's golf page still has a prize for the contest - be sure to go visit all of our regulars! 

This week's lighterside contribution comes from Mary Rose Chan.

Please turn up your DAILY prayers for Our Holy Father!

And go to our "Prayer Requests" page.  This may be the week, that we have had the most prayer requests. Deaths, sickness, operations, and just the general need for all of us Hounds of Heaven to get on our knees!

You have indicated an interest in quality, wholesome, family entertainment - like the movies Joshua and I Am David.  Last Friday, February 18th another true family film came to theatres nationwide:  Because of Winn-Dixie.

Click here to read all about the movie.  By the way, you will see that it is playing at Ottawa's best kept secret in a few weeks.

SITE of the WEEK: http://www.familycinema.org/

I hope that in one of the next few weeks - we show you a picture and story about this great organization.

Mark your calendars… Friday, March 18th 7:00pm, we will have a fundraiser, trying to help equip our kitchen at St Mary's church with an industrial dishwasher. Come see Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera.  For tickets in advance - and remember it will be the first come - first served … contact Joan Surette at joansurette@virtualministry.com , who has limited seats!

One week later - on GOOD FRIDAY (March 25th), as per Father Mark's lead … we will go as a parish to see The Passion of the Christ. YES, I know that many of you have it on DVD or VHS and that all of you have seen it multiple times. BUT we will go see it all together.  Folks - I am certain that we will fill the theatre, so let me know ASAP (Always Say A Prayer - lighterside).

Ticket prices for this event - will be the very best that you have paid - for such a quality movie in public.

And see the next entry - for the fundraiser for Holy Family Institute

Oscars this weekend - go Mel Gibson!!!

http://www.theresemovie.com/

"Be not afraid to tell Jesus that you love Him; even though it be without feeling, this is the way to oblige Him to help you, and carry you like a little child too feeble to walk." St. Therese of Lisieux

I will SAY that there will be a showing as a fundraiser for the Holy Family Institute, which was Virtual Ministry's SITE of the MONTH for Nov / Dec: http://www.holyfamilyinstitute.ca/

This fundraiser - will be after the movie leaves the main theatres, some time in April. SEE it this weekend, and come back and see it for a good cause, later!

Remember, last week - I sent you the time sensitive email about contacting your MPP? (thank you Aidan Reid). Here, one of our VM family has sent you a letter:

Guy & Christine Dacquay

Jim,

I'm livid at what is going on with our democratic institutions!  I contacted my MPP Phil McNeely yesterday morning....but he did not return my call.  My wife Christine promptly forwarded an email in the morning urging him not to vote against this bill...again, no response.  Finally, I got to talk with Mr. McNeely last night in Orleans at a Federal/Provincial/Municipal "Town Hall" meeting with our local representatives.  He told me that he did not go to Toronto for this vote, hence he abstained.  I asked him why the vote was not recorded, why he did not go, and how he would have voted had he gone...he vacillated on this question, though he gave me the impression that deep down, he favours traditional families and values.  He admitted that it was a very sensitive issue for which their phones had been ringing non-stop, all day!!! He admitted that it had not been a good day. I asked him if he was afraid to get "booted" out by his party if he had gone to vote...there was no direct reply. 

It is clear, basic democracy has been undermined by a very well-orchestrated pro-gay and anti-traditional family agenda.  The trouble is, we the people appear to no longer hold any real power to influence such critical decisions...the manner in which this vote was taken and speed at which this issue was pushed through at Queen's Park, is shocking and deeply disturbing to say the least!!! The future at the moment does not look bright in our land for those who support traditional christian family values...what are we leaving our children and grandchildren? I urge everyone to write to the Premier, Dalton McGuinty about this and express their views.

Regarding last night's Town Hall meeting, I only heard about this 2 days before it was held and scrambled to arrange to attend.  Regrettably, there did not seem to be a large amount of pro-traditional family supporters...I would have expected many more!  Overall, I'd say that there were about 50 or 60 people in attendance.  I believe at least 6 or 7 people spoke up (including myself) in defence of upholding the definition of traditional marriage, or spoke on the use of Charter's preamble clause which refers to the "supremacy of God" as well as the use of proper democratic actions for addressing sensitive and fundamental issues (i.e., use of national referendum).  A number of gay and lesbian couples were in attendance and about 4 or 5 people spoke out in support of the Government's actions.  Judging from the sound of "claps" of hands following each intervenor, I'd say the group was evenly split.  

The Liberal MP, Mark Godbout (who is a member of my parish) indicated that he supported the protection of gay/lesbian minority rights in regards to marriage.  He openly stated that he was practicing Catholic but that he respectfully held different views from his fellow parishoners on the topic.  He also indicated that had been working hard to protect the rights of Church priests and ministers from being forced to marry same-sex partners, and was directly involved in working in these changes.  I indicated during my presentation that whereas it is good to protect our clergy, the Church is made up of all of its members and, as such, all Christians need protection. To demonstrate the shallowness of the Government's legislation, I asked how it would support a Catholic parents right to teach their children, or have their Catholic school teach about the traditional definition of marriage?  Given the recent "Hate Crimes" legislation, I'm not certain the re-definition of marriage legislation would provide any real protection for catholic parents. I also asked about what protection might be affored to a person who decides to give up their child for adoption but to only a traditional family of their choice?  Will these rights be guaranteed?  No real assurances were given in response... 

I know that another ''town hall'' style meeting was held last week between Mr. Godbout and many church clergy, ministers, and other representatives (which included some Knights of Columbus from my community).  I understand that many interventions were made in defence of traditional marriage and that Mr. Godbout was strongly urged to act in support of preserving the current definition.  Mr. Godbout made reference to this meeting last night and indicated that he is working with the information which was provided.  

Following the meeting, several of us Christians present were approached individually by gay and lesbian couples who provided personal comments directly to us...they were respectful in my case and I exchanged on a few points with them, asking God to bless them as they left me.  They were using the opportunity of this meeting of course to support their cause, but to influence the perception that they are also a normal part of the community. Their efforts to convince the populace seem to be paying off, at least with many of the politicians who hold all of the power!  

All I can say at this point is that I believe our efforts have been effective but we need many more voices to come out to these meetings to speak out!   I feel even smaller than David and this fight seems to be even bigger than Goliath, but I do believe that our Lord Jesus is hearing our prayers and firmly trust that He is helping us in this battle...our victory in this cause can only come through Him!  Let's keep up our efforts, prayers and sacrifices!

God Bless,

Guy

Jim,

I have evaluated these two sites on behalf of my kids prior to letting them use it.  They are two very good, loyal, and what appears at least on the surface to be very good, solid resources of the Catholic church for kids in Grades 1-6 (MyFriend), and youth in Grades 6-12 (DisciplesNow).  I recommend them for VM families who need an extra boost and to give something "GOOD" for the kids who just wanted to surf.

http://www.disciplesnow.com/

http://www.myfriendmagazine.com/  (Daughters of St. Paul)

God Bless

Cyril

Steve and Debbie Daigle

and

Alex Varga

Get ready folks. It is only a matter of time before it reaches us.

Lawsuit filed against priest for denying communion to gay activist

Madrid, Feb. 17, 2005 (CNA) - A parish priest in Spain, the second in recent weeks, has become the object of a lawsuit alleging "public humiliation" of a militant homosexual who desired to receive Communion.

Father Domingo Garcia Dobao, pastor of the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Jaen, Spain, has been sued by Juan Diego Fuentes Medina after the priest publicly denied him Communion for registering his gay union with Angel de los Reyes with local officials.

Father Garcia explained his decision by pointing out that by making formally public a situation the Church is against, "they cannot receive Communion."  "I have only applied ecclesiastical norms," he added.

"What I did," said Father Garcia, "was fulfill my obligations, as this is what the Church teaches. A Christian cannot receive the sacraments when he or she is officially living in a non-marital union with someone else."

Father Garcia reminded reporters that Fuentes had been administered Communion at Mass on various occasions before formalizing his homosexual union, but that the decision to publicly register the union with the government obliged him to make his decision.

This information is from Catholic News Agency http://www.catholicnewsagency.com

Hi Jim:

There will be a FREE men's breakfast

April 2nd at St. Mary's after the 9a.m. Mass

Speaker will be Cyril Dowling.

CONTACT Don: dwade@virtualministry.com

It will be in the bulletin as well.

Although the tickets are free, IT IS necessary to have one  to attend  

A free will offering will be collected.

Brothers - this is the fourth generation of men's breakfast at St Mary's, please help my brother Don, get your tickets early, so that the orders for food can be made.  This is the first of what will become regular.

And speaking of breakfasts:

Men of the Ottawa Diocese

I am writing you to extend an invitation to you to join us for a Men's

Breakfast at Annunciation of Our Lord Parish in  on March 12, 2005 at 8:30 - 10:30 am.   Our speaker is Fr. Thomas Rosica the co-ordinator of the 2002 World Youth Day held in Toronto and founder of the Salt & Light Catholic television network.

I had the privilege of meeting Fr. Tom at a conference I attended in Toronto over the Christmas holidays at which time I asked him to be our guest speaker for our first breakfast.  In addition to being a great man of God and a real visionary, he is also a gifted speaker. I have enclosed an attachment with all the particulars. In case you are unable to open it, the breakfast will cost $10 for adults and $5 for students (13 & up). The breakfast itself will run from 8:30 - 10:30 and music will be lead by the Annunciation Youth choir from the 6:00 pm mass.

We fully expect this event to be a SOLD OUT event.  We will have limited seating but encourage you to invite a guest, and we encourage you to register in well in advance to avoid disappointment.  Tickets will be scarce and unfortunately we cannot guarantee tickets to be available at the door due to the planning required for preparing breakfast etc.

You will however be able to pay at the door once you have sent your RSVP. Attendees will also be given preferential registration privileges for the next breakfast event.  Please act today to respond to this email in order to register or you can also use one of  the other methods referred to in the brochure attached.

Yours in Christ, Jim Meuse

Greetings everyone,

I, along with four other people of the March4Marriage committee, met with the Archbishop last Friday.  I believe we made a good impression about the proposed March.  I was hopeful when I left about getting the Archdiocese's endorsement.

The Archbishop told us that he would give us an answer yesterday or today.  I have still not heard his answer.  I suspect there is major spiritual warfare going on.  I was sent on a mission yesterday to deliver the rally details to Bishop Fabro (of London) yesterday who was speaking at the University of Ottawa.  I don't know how I got there or why I did it, except that I believe I was being led.

Please pray for both Bishops that somehow, someway, we get the endorsement of the Church.

Our Lady of Perpetual Help. Pray for us.

Regards in the Lord, John Pacheco March4Marriage

Heard this afternoon (Feb. 22) from Deacon Gilles that the Archbishop would give me a decision later on in the week. I consider this a positive development. Keep praying. It's working. Momentum is building on other fronts. The day of the hobbit is close at hand.

Feb. 23 - The day of the hobbit has now arrived. Read here

especially for you Lord of the Rings fans that are having withdrawals!

This story about:

NBC - TV, Neanderthalic Blasphemy for Catholic bashers TV

And this also:

Get a load of this barn burner from an acquaintance of mine...

John,

I read the exchange between Hubbard and Macklin on consanguinity. The point of interest was that the Canadian tables of consanguinity in the Marriage (Prohibited Degrees) Act were changed in 1990 to say that cousin-cousin or uncle-niece / aunt-nephew marriages were no longer prohibited, apparently with little controversy at the time. In other words, only parent-child and sibling-sibling marriages (now of either sex) are prohibited in Canada. But, other than removing gender distinctions, there is no further weakening of the consanguinity laws in this act.

However, another interesting point was raised with me yesterday by Daniel Cere of the Institute for Marriage and Family at McGill. The consequential amendments in the bill remove child support obligations for natural parents of children, replacing all references to "natural" parents (which implies heterosexuality) with "legal" parents. In other words, guys who knock up girls outside of marriage are now legally off the hook for child support forever. I'm going to need to do some more research on this, but this is a major angle that nobody has explored yet. (Dan Cere has got a lawyer doing a briefing note on it.)

VMers - you will see that Daniel (I believe that he is a friend to most of the Barrett's) gets a mention below from Gerry Turcotte.

Do you know about this? Are you on a mailing list?

Friends,

It was mentioned that the Citizen wasn't giving the same amount of space to Stephen Harper's speech in Parliament this week as it did to Martin's.

For your reading pleasure over the weekend, in today's Ottawa Citizen
on-line they published his full speech (attached), in case you didn't see it.  I think he makes some interesting and valid arguments. Taken from Mr. Harper's speech to Parliament on Feb. 16, 2005. Harper's full speech (why same-sex marriage can be a civil union...)

Considerations Regarding Proposals To Give Legal Recognition To Unions Between Homosexual Persons (a papal document)

And she also sent the following:

Hello....,

My name is William Stephenson; I am the son of Tom and Faith. A group of friends and I recently formed the Youth League for Marriage in order to counter our government's attempt to redefine marriage.

I was wondering if you could send the information below to the Cursillistas on your list, so that we can get as many people as possible out to show our government that the definition of marriage must remain the same: to wit, the union of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others.

Thank you very much!

In Christ,

William Stephenson

Organiser

The Youth League for Marriage is a group of young people who believe in and wish to uphold to uphold the natural definition of marriage. YLM formed because we felt the need to defend marriage and the family, which are now under attack because of government legislation condoning same-sex marriage.

- - - -

Here is our poster:

SUPPORT THE NATURAL DEFINITION OF MARRIAGE!

Join us on Parliament Hill on Sunday March 6th, 2005 to show that the

natural and traditional definition of marriage is important to you.

WHO ARE WE?

We are a group of young people, organizing a demonstration to counter the government¹s attempt to re-define marriage. We believe that marriage is the union of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others. People of every age are welcome to join us: the more the better.

WHEN:     March 6, 2005

WHERE:    The Flame on Parliament Hill

WHAT TIME:    1:30-4:00 p.m.

Signs will be provided.

Greetings friends, click here for the updates on:

Lenten Mission at the Church of Saint Paul, Ham Lake, MN:

Sale of King's Grant: My mom's recovery:

Thanks again! Your prayerful support and encouragement are invaluable to us.

"Duc in altum..."   Marcel & Linda

United Mothers & Fathers  

Special Bulletin

Dear Supporter,

The last time we asked our supporters to spread the news on some facts that the biased media wasn't covering, we estimate that the information got out to over 500,000 people. We need to do it again with this critical info...

One thing that I keep wanting to have in Virtual Ministry, is some kind of book review / critique area.   Until that happens, I would like to share a couple of tidbits.  Marc Gauthier's book "A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing", is one that I refer to often. I have also given out Carlisle Adams' "My Body, My Blood"  - A Biblical Perspective on the Real Presence.

Then this week, after Aidan Reid's head's up about Queen's Park, http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2005/feb/05022307.html

our brother Gerry Turcotte sent: "I've sent an email to Jim Watson suggesting he read "Divorcing Marriage" by Daniel Cere of McGill. Emails will be handled by his staff (he may get thousands) but it may get through since  I personally know Jim and say so in the message. Secondly, I'm praying! Jesus is still Lord!" Gerry

Have you read this book yet? Go get it.

THE LAST WORD THIS WEEK - Linda Ganly sends the following

Vatican II Rites -- Are they valid?

by

Eugene A. W. Howson

Surrey, England

addendum by Gordon Cardinal Bateman

Hey VMers - Discerning should never be done alone, especially when we are all called to be church I am seeking a few good people to volunteer to read this document for me / with me , and then give me your thoughts.  Is that you?

This is a story about four people named EVERYBODY, SOMEBODY, ANYBODY, and NOBODY.  There was an important job to be done and EVERYBODY was asked to do it.  EVERYBODY was sure that SOMEBODY would do it.  ANYBODY could have done it, but NOBODY did it.  SOMEBODY got angry about that, because it was EVERYBODY's job.  EVERYBODY thought ANYBODY could do it but NOBODY realized that EVERYBODY wouldn't do it.  It ended up that EVERYBODY blamed SOMEBODY when NOBODY did what ANYBODY could have done.

this is a story about the BODY family.  they are named EVERY, SOME, ANY & NO

we are all part of the BODY of CHRIST