Congratulations to all the graduates of 2005 – high school, college and university. God bless you all as you endeavour to serve the Lord with the gifts and talents with which you have been blessed. God bless the parents too! (Our eldest son Jeremy just graduated from St. Peter Catholic High School. He’s off to Carleton in September to study Aerospace Engineering. We will have a rocket scientist in the house!)

Re: Ipsos Reid online poll

Folks,

It takes a moment to go to the sight and register your vote either way.

You can also view the percent results of previous voters, and other polls done (various subjects).

Question:

   Ipsos Reid online poll: "Would you favour a national referendum on same sex marriages?"

Go to: www.i-Say.ca  (referendum on marriage)

We May Have Lost a Battle,
But We Can and MUST Win the War!

Dear Friend of Marriage and the Family in Canada:

While it is a defeat, we have by no means lost the war. And if we care about our future and future generations, we certainly cannot afford to give up. We must win!

We and other pro-family groups are already planning our next moves in the effort to preserve this fundamental institution. I hope you will continue to stand with us in this vital effort.

There are several thoughts about the vote tonight that I hope you will keep in mind.

• At 158 to 133 the vote was relatively close. A switch of only 13 votes among those voting and the bill would have failed.
• It is clear that if the government had allowed a true free vote C-38 would certainly have been defeated. An issue such as this, with such profound implications for our future, should have been put to a direct vote of the people by referendum, as so many tens of thousands of Canadians called for. Barring that, the government should have allowed a true free vote.
• Anything that has been done legislatively, such as passing this bill, can be undone legislatively. It appears certain that we will go to a national election within a year, and Opposition Leader Stephen Harper has already pledged to revisit this issue if he forms the next government.
• This clearly will be an issue in the next election. Not only because the Conservatives have vowed to make it so, but because the government has consistently and flagrantly misrepresented the issue, the ruling of the Supreme Court which never ruled that traditional marriage violate the Charter, and what C-38 does and does not do. They must be held accountable.
• By their vote tonight for C-38, I predict that a number of MPs have ended their political careers. If we are to preserve a democratic government in Canada, the will of the strong majority of the people who oppose legalizing same-sex marriage cannot and must not be ignored with impunity by their elected representatives.

No society has ever done what the majority in the Commons voted to do tonight and survived. Unless we can restore the traditional definition of marriage, we are making our children and grandchildren “guinea pigs” in a radical social experiment. When we finally see the inevitable negative impacts, it will be too late to turn back the clock and reverse the damage.

Thank you for what so many of you have already done in the fight to protect marriage.

I hope that you will join with us as we fight on until we win this war. We will regularly keep you informed of important developments and what you can do to help.

We can and we must win because the very future of Canada is at stake. I look forward to working with you until we achieve that victory.

Sincerely,

Hon. Dr. Grant Hill, P.C.
Coordinator, Defend Marriage Canada Project

P.S. You can help even more by passing this alert on to others and by making a contribution to support our efforts. We need your support now more than ever.

You can send cheques to:

United Families Canada
1111 Davis Drive Unit #1 Suite #248
Newmarket, Ontario L3Y 9E5

Thank you for whatever support you can provide!

Fw: A personal note from Steve Bell

Steve Bell

 - in support of the Make Poverty History Campaign.

Hello all - this email is a bit lengthy I know, but it concerns a matter of utmost concern to us all. I would be grateful if you would take a moment for a careful read.

Just before heading off with my wife Nanci to Guatemala in March, a friend of mine gave me a stack of Time Magazines to read on the plane. Perhaps because of our destination I was immediately drawn to the cover of the March 14/ 05 edition, titled How to End Poverty, which featured an article by Jeffrey Sachs on the issue of extreme poverty in the world.

Quick Facts:

● There are presently 1.8 billion people living in extreme poverty. These are people living on less than one dollar a day. Extreme poverty is described as "poverty that kills."

● About 30,000 children die every 24 hours from preventable causes and disease. This means that every three seconds, a child dies. (As an exercise, snap you fingers every three seconds for a couple of minutes and let the reality of what that means sink in.)

The article tells of the grinding poverty in areas like Africa's Sub Saharan Malawi; families ravaged by the "perfect storm of human deprivation, one that brings together climactic disaster, impoverishment, the AIDS pandemic and the long-standing burdens of malaria, schistosomiasis and other diseases." These stories are hardly new to anyone who watches television or reads the news. But the article does not tarry long on these familiar, depressing descriptions before moving on to a visionary discussion of the complexity of poverty, exposing as false the popular myths of poverty's root causes (laziness, corruption, misrule, etc.) as well as the prevailing myth of Western generosity.

Jeffrey Sachs is an American economist who has traveled the world, from Bolivia to Malawi, and seen poverty at its worst. He has been an economic adviser to many foreign governments. From his academic base as director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University, he is a close associate of Kofi Annan, secretary general of the United Nations, and key figure in the UN Millennium Project to combat global poverty.

U2 fans would be interested to know that Jeffrey Sachs is the man Bono chose to teach him the nuances of global economic dynamics implicated by the Aids pandemic and the world's poor.

Consider a statement that has kept me awake into the wee hours of many a morning since: "We are the first generation with the plan, the technology and the money to end world poverty. What we don't have is the will."

Since reading the article I sought out the wisdom of Stuart Clark who is the Senior Policy Advisor at the Canadian Food Grains Bank. Stuart patiently explained to me that although individuals in the west are quite generous when faced with these issues, direct money and food aid is only temporarily helpful. In fact, sometimes it is more harmful than good. What is necessary is a concerted, intelligent and thoughtful effort by the world's richest nations to eradicate poverty by promoting:

● Fair Trade (as opposed to Free Trade)

● The total elimination of insurmountable third world debt (many developing countries have debt with annual interest payments that exceed the country's total health and education budget combined.)

● More and better aid from the world's richest countries (the kind of money needed here is roughly a yearly increase of 50 billion per year. By way of contrast, the world's governments invested 900 billion in arms in 2003.)

 What Stuart was helping me to understand, is that it doesn't help to finger wag and brow beat individuals into giving more to charities - although individual giving is an extremely important thing. Temporary relief remains temporary if the blocks to development are not systematically removed. What we need is for the citizens of the wealthy countries to insist their governments carry through on the promises made at the 2000 UN Millennium Summit where 191 countries met and agreed to practically address and eradicate extreme poverty by adhering to and implementing the 8 Development Goals set out by the summit. (For a list and brief description of these goals visit www.millenniumcampaign.org

Anyway, the reason I am writing here and now is that one of the commitments made was that the richest nations of the world would contribute annually 0.7% of their Gross National Income to finance the development goals. So far, Canada has yet to meet half of that target. Actually, Canada currently gives only 0.3% of Gross National Income to foreign aid. That is only 1/3 of a penny for every dollar earned. The US has done no better. Denmark, Norway, Sweden, the Netherlands and Luxembourg have all exceeded their commitments.

Recently in Ottawa, finance minister Goodale met with Jeffrey Sachs and in conversation admitted that although Canada can certainly afford to honour its 0.7% GNI commitment, there simply isn't the political will to do so.

That's where we come in. This is where our vote matters. This is where the world begins to hear that preventable poverty is not only a moral outrage but a primary Christian concern as well.

Recently reading through the gospels I find it rather compelling that the conception of Christ in the womb of Mary signals the leveling of power and economic disparity: "How he scatters the proud and the haughty ones! He has taken princes from their thrones and exalted the lowly. He has satisfied the hungry with good things and sent the rich away with empty hands." Later, when John the Baptist is heralding the coming reign of God and his hearers are moved to respond, John uses re-distributivist language to define proper preparation: "If you have two coats, give one to the poor. If you have food, share it with those who are hungry." Then, shortly after his desert trial, at the onset of his ministry, our Lord says of himself "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has appointed me to preach Good News to the poor..."

In his most famous sermon Christ insists his followers display a rather unlikely largess toward enemies and even the ungrateful. In the end, his teaching is clear, those who are friends of Christ are known as such by their disregard for their own security, "don't worry about having enough food or drink or clothing," and for practical acts of kindness and compassion, "when you do it to the least of these, you do it unto me."

Recently I was encouraged to learn that Rick Warren (Purpose Driven Life), Billy Graham and John Stott have publicly endorsed the Make Poverty History campaign - as have the likes of Jim Wallis (Sojourners magazine) and Brian McLaren (A New Kind of Christian).

In an email Rick Warren recently sent to 800,000 folks on his list, he wrote, "I deeply believe that if we as evangelicals remain silent and do not speak up in defense of the poor, we lose our credibility and our right to witness about God's love for the world: "If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?" (1 John 3:17, NIV)

He continues, "We are blessed to be a blessing to others, and certainly America, as the most blessed nation on our planet, has the greatest obligation to help those who are stuck in poverty around the world."

This July 6-8 at the 2005 G8 Summit, hosted by the British government in Gleneagles, Tony Blair has promised to make the Millennium Development goals a primary topic. Before then, governments need to hear from their citizens that these are concerns we expect them to address. There are many ways to do this, here are four:

● The most important thing to do right now is to log on to the Make Poverty History and Micah Challenge websites listed below and register your name in support of the world's poor. Governments take notice of people movements.

● Start reading. The resources listed below are full of nuanced information to help us understand the complexity of poverty as well as the achievable solutions to an unacceptable situation.

● Develop awareness among your friends and social groups, churches and e-community. Feel free to quote this letter, in part, or in its entirety. Encourage individuals to visit these sights to register their names. Governments do respond to these things.

● Order white arm bands from www.makepovertyhistory site and give them to friends to wear for the next several months.

Here are some helpful websites - make sure you sign on to any petition offered:

Action

www.makepovertyhistory.ca  (Canadian) www.one.org  (US)

      The Canadian site offers prewritten emails and letters to government MPs and the Prime Minister. It will even find your MP and his or her email address for you when you type in your postal code. Be sure to watch the 30 second movie they've produced AND order white armbands to wear and give to your friends.

www.micahchallenge.ca  (Canadian)  www.micahchallenge.org/USA  (US)

      These sites are the Canadian and American sites which represent the coalition of Evangelical Christians who endorse the Millennium Development Goals and the Make Poverty History campaign. Please find and sign the petition.

Information

www.mcc.org

            This is the best site I've found for a quick educational overview of the Make Poverty History Campaign. Click on the link for the campaign and follow the side bar issues. You can also find a quick two person skit that can easily be performed at your Church on a Sunday morning as part of an awareness campaign.

www.bread.org  

            This is home for the Bread For The World Institute, a Faith based group seeking justice for the hungry by engaging in research and education on policies related to hunger and development. Click on "who we are" on the sidebar, then click on "Receive our free 12 page booklet: What You Can Do to End Hunger." This would be a great resource to pass on to friends and pastors.

www.earthinstitute.columbia.edu/endofpoverty

            This is Jeffrey Sachs' site. It is full of good information. I also encourage you to purchase and read his recent book, The End of Poverty. It is a lengthy read, but well written, terribly interesting and aimed at folks like me who don't have a lot of background in global studies.

www.millenniumcampaign.org

            This is the UN's site dedicated to the Millennium Development Goals. At the site, click on "The Goals" at the top bar and read what follows. At the bottom you can select the goals individually for more detail.

            Thanks for taking time to read this through. Besides your own personal giving to good charities, a few moments of your time to sign on to the various petitions at the above sites will send a powerful message to our governments about how we expect our nations to be compassionate world citizens. Please resist cynicism. We simply need to speak out on behalf of those whose voice is not being heard.

Peace,

Steve Bell

Ps: I would appreciate public response to this email. You can go to my website at www.steve-bell.com , click on "conversation" and make comments, suggestions, and report creative ways you may have for spreading information about this campaign.

Yesterday, only one pro-family Liberal MP had the courage to vote according to his principles, even though it cost him his cabinet seat. This is in stark contrast to others who had voted in favor of conventional marriage in the past, but chose to "play dead" yesterday.

That MP was Joe Comuzzi, Thunder Bay.

I am trying to organize a show of support for Mr. Comuzzi. If you haven't already done so, please send him a short e-mail thanking him for his courage and integrity. Also, please pass this message on to others.

This is an excellent opportunity to demonstrate to Mr. Comuzzi, that we genuinely care about those who fight for family values in the public arena.

Mr. Comuzzi's e-mail address is: Comuzzi.J@parl.gc.ca

Thank you and God bless,

Steve Rolfe

We have endeavored as rarely as possible to send out mass-emails. They really don't have a very personal touch, and it is difficult to share news and such, once again in a "personal" manner, when the message is addressed to such a varied group of individuals covering a range of those who are dear, almost lifelong friends to others who have heard of us but whom we've never actually met. None the less, in this particular case this can't be helped. We ask your pardon and understanding (and thank you for it in advance).

This email is to officially inform you that as of 6:00 p.m. Atlantic Time (5:00 p.m. Eastern daylight time) on Monday, June 27th, 2005, we will no longer be on the Internet. The reason is a simple one...personal finances.

As many of you know, our line of work is seasonal (parish life being rather inactive after Pentecost), making it difficult to budget long term. Further, from our experience in Catholic circles, lay ministry is less known and still at times misunderstood. One of the consequences of this is that over the past three years (particularly during the summer "drought") we have had some difficulty making ends meet financially. This past year we actually began to incur a debt. And finally, in the recent months that debt has almost doubled with no sign of any imminent reversal.

Therefore, in an effort to live within our means we are discontinuing our second "ministry" phone line and Internet service. The combined savings can then more practically be directed to basic needs.

We continue to be hopeful that the house will sell before too long, thus enabling us to clear up our debt and move back home to Ontario. The exact location and proximity to Ottawa has yet to be determined (for obvious reasons!).

We would humbly ask you to continue keeping us in prayer. We certainly feel the need of it, and know that, but for the grace of God...well, let's just say, "Praise God for His sustaining grace!"

In the meantime, we are keeping a personal phone line (with voice mail) and do have a mailing address (see below) should anyone desire to reach us or simply keep in touch. For those of you who have received our "Magnificat Mission Information" package please make note of this information, and please pass it on to anyone who may desire to contact us to explore the possibility of hosting a mission or seminar. For that we thank you in advance!

Well...I guess that's it! Thank you to everyone who has kept in touch with us, via Internet and otherwise since our move to New Brunswick. It has been a lifeline for us. God willing we'll soon be settled somewhere in Ontario before the snow flies (2005)!

Grace and peace to you all!

In His service,

Marcel & Linda Dion

King's Grant

127 Days Corner Road

Lower Greenwich, New Brunswick

E5K 4J8

(506) 757-8523

p.s. Please feel free to forward this info to anyone you think might be interested.

(Editor’s note: As Jim used to say “What will you do?” Marcel and Linda need some help. Their lives have touched many lives near and far. Pray and see what you are led to do.)

Re: Catholic Christian Outreach support request

Hello

I am currently studying at the University of Ottawa and have been involved with Catholic Christian Outreach (CCO) on my campus for about two years. In CCO, I have had wonderful opportunities to learn about Christ, share Him, and grow.  

I have been selected as one of a few young adults from across Canada to participate in an eight-month service opportunity called the Vancouver V.I.N.E. (Volunteers in the New Evangelization) program with CCO. CCO is a university student movement dedicated to evangelization and leadership development. We offer small group Bible studies, retreats and conferences, personal leadership training, social activities, sporting events and summer mission projects. You can get more info on CCO at www.cco.ca. 

Yes! For eight months (August–April), I will be serving as a full-time lay missionary in campus ministry!   After the wonderful experience I have had serving in CCO as a student leader, I felt called to do something concrete for Christ and the Church. I feel the Vancouver V.I.N.E. program will enable me to do just that. This is a great opportunity to give generously to Christ while I am still young enough and free enough to serve in this capacity.  In Vancouver, we will spend time living in community, receive training in campus ministry, grow in our faith through spiritual formation and work full-time in campus ministry. In doing so, I feel I will be responding to John Paul II’s call for young people to become “a new generation of builders.” What better place to build a civilization of love than the university campuses of our country: the factory of our country’s future leaders. John Paul II urged that, “young people are and ought to be encouraged to be active on behalf of the Church as leading characters in evangelization and participants in the renewal of society.” !   

I have a great opportunity to be a part of this wonderful project. I’m excited to be challenged in my faith and to be better equipped to serve the Church when I return. I know that this experience will be a great spiritual investment in my life, and I am looking forward to it.   To participate in this project I am responsible to raise $5200 or $650/month through tax-deductible donations. I ask you to prayerfully consider helping me by making a donation either as a one-time gift or by committing to a monthly gift for eight months. I hope you will see this as a wonderful opportunity to invest in the spiritual and leadership development of young people.  If you have any questions, please write to me at black_maria@hotmail.com.  Thank you and God bless!

Joanna Jablonski

From Katrina Zeno

Dear Family and Friends,

ourfatherswillcommunications.com

The cost is $9.95. I'm hoping we can effect a quiet revolution with this book by making it successful via word of mouth (word of email???). I would be greatly indebted to you if you would pass this email on to anyone in your address book you think would be interested. Here are some people's kind thoughts on the book:

"This book not only describes every woman's journey, but models it. Katrina's warm and witty personality radiates through every page as she shares the fruits of her own spiritual journey interwoven with profound wisdom and practical insights. This book will be a tremendous encouragement to women of all ages and states in life." - Mary Healy, PhD, pastoral administrator

"Reading this book was life changing. I was inspired in my passionate love for the Lord and it helped me see my overall purpose for living. The real life stories of hurt, pain, and joy were so encouraging" - Judy Corasaniti, insurance broker
 
Thanks for your help. I hope this book inspires you on your own personal journey!

Joy and Blessings,
Katrina J. Zeno
Women of the Third Millennium
www.wttm.org