James 1:17

Fr. Raymond J. de Souza

Monday, August 29, 2005

Last week, upon his return from Cologne, Pope Benedict XVI remarked upon one particular meeting he had asked for -- an encounter with seminarians: "I wished to have a specific time dedicated to them, to highlight also the vocational dimension typical of World Youth Day. Not a few vocations to the priesthood and to the consecrated life have flowered in these 20 years [of World Youth Days]."

Seminaries are bursting in Africa and in parts of Asia and Latin America. The total number of Catholic seminarians today is up almost 75% since 1978, when Pope John Paul II was elected. But the situation in North America is rather bleak. The catastrophic decline in priestly vocations here means that many dioceses face a not too distant future in which Catholic life will be severely enervated for lack of priests. Even more remarkable, this situation is regarded with amazing nonchalance by more than a few bishops and priests across the country.

One priest who has done something about it will be feted tonight in Ottawa on the 50th anniversary of his ordination. Father Robert Bedard, an Ottawa priest, founded a new priestly community 20 years ago. If you want to see where priestly vocations have flowered these past 20 years, look to his Companions of the Cross. Starting from scratch in 1985, they already have some 30 priests, and a still greater number of seminarians. Attention should be paid. There are lessons to learn here.

Father Bob, as everyone calls him, isn't a religious founder from central casting. He is not a firebrand like Ignatius of Loyola, nor has he charted a radical new course like Benedict of Nursia. All of which is reasonable enough, because Robert of Ottawa never set out to found a religious community of priests in the first place. Back in 1985, he was looking for a practical solution to a real problem. Many of the priests of his generation had left, and those with newer vocations were finding it difficult. He started meeting with three men preparing for the priesthood on a weekly basis, simply to pray and to encourage each other as sources of mutual support.

Soon they figured out -- they would say that the Holy Spirit illuminated them -- that what they were creating was something for the wider Church. Their vision was priests living together for mutual support and common prayer, while serving parishes as part of a new evangelization. Today the Companions have 10 households, in Ottawa, Toronto, Halifax and Houston.

What attracts them? A combination of the old and the new. They are orthodox in both Catholic doctrine and devotional life, and follow a serious regimen of prayer. That's not surprising. The only religious communities in North America attracting new vocations are orthodox; those that have chosen another path are dying.

But their spirituality is something rather new in the Church. Their prayer and worship is of "charismatic" inspiration, wherein the gifts of the Holy Spirit are emphasized. It's not for everyone. I remember visiting one of their houses for dinner and was at a loss at grace before meals -- not usually a challenge for a priest. Awaiting the recitation of the traditional formula, briefly recited and followed by a simple blessing, I was instead confronted with all present murmuring various invocations of the Holy Spirit. Head bowed, I added a short prayer that the dining would not be long delayed.

But the Church is more than big enough for all that. And the Companions have very usefully exploded the liberal-conservative dichotomy that too often constrains our thinking. They are wholly a creation of the post-Vatican II renewal, and in no way could be considered conservative. They are living the Catholic tradition in a very 21st-century way, and that's the point -- they are living it, not abandoning it.

There have been growing pains, which is to be expected. The Church has a long history of eruptions of the Holy Spirit that make life difficult for her bishops and pastors. That still happens, and it is not rare to hear complaints that the explosive growth of the Companions is causing problems here and there. Sometimes the Companions are at fault. Sometimes they are not. But it would be a very strange reaction to prefer the tranquillity of decline and decay to the tensions of dynamism and growth.

I have only met Fr. Bob on a few occasions, and never for any great length of time. But the impression he gives is of one rather bemused at what the Lord has wrought through him. He, least of all, would have thought himself cut out for such things. But he is a true Canadian success story, achieving in 20 years something that is rare not only in Canada, but throughout Western Europe and North America. For both Christians and non-Christians who care about the evangelizing mission of the Church, Fr. Bob's 50th is an occasion to celebrate. And for Canadians, a little parochial pride is in order, too.

© National Post 2005

SITE of the WEEK: http://www.newmanhouse.ca/desouza/

Cyril Dowling

Jim, can you please post another appeal VM website? Thanks.

Please have people call the school and make arrangements with Gerry.

Subject: Another Appeal

I hope you received my last appeal for donations to the new Catholic school in Ottawa (Maryvale Academy).  However, I am sending out one more appeal because I know how desperately this school is needed in our region and also how much we still need to make it a success. The school is up and running with four certified teachers and about 41 students

(Gr.1-8). 

Once again, I will give you a list of needed items, but if you think you have ANYTHING the school might need, please consider donating it to this very worthwhile venture.  The school has charitable status and may issue tax receipts for items over $10.  Below is a list of requested items.

Thanks and God bless.  P.S.  Sadly, I forgot to mention the most important and easiest thing to contribute.... your prayers!!!

WHAT CAN YOU DO TO HELP???

There's so much potential for this school.   But we have such a long way to go.  This school has many ideals but is still short on resources.

John Paul II said that, "Affordable Catholic education is a right, not a privilege" and this is certainly what those involved with Maryvale believe.  The school should be affordable!  There are so many Catholic parents like us who, because of their loyalty to the teachings of the Church, have larger families and who must be extra prudent in how/where they spend their money.  A private school education is almost impossible without help.

We need the following donations to help keep our tuition costs reasonable:

- Financial Donations (Please consider becoming a monthly contributor of $25, $50, or even $100.)

-  Students (We still have room for up to 30 students)

-  Books (Home schooling textbooks and classics/children's books like the

Narnia series, Charlotte's Web, Black Beauty etc.)  

Any books not used by the school will be donated to a Community Living

Centre for the mentally disabled.

- Bibles (pref. new American) and Atlases

- Furniture (MVA wants to have a comfortable 'book corner' in every classroom to promote reading.): chairs, rugs, small couches, bookcases, bookshelves

- Supplies (paper, rulers, pencils, binders, posters, microscopes, labcoats/glasses, computers etc.) 

If you've got it, we might need it!

- Volunteers (full-time, part-time, occasional)

- Did I mention money??

If you or anyone you know can help out in any way, please do so and please pass this information on to everyone who may be interested. If you are interested in learning more about the school, e-mail me

gerryk@maryvaleacademy.ca, or visit our website: www.maryvaleacademy.ca .

Regards,

Gerry Kupferschmidt

Author Michael O'Brien will be giving two public talks in Ottawa on Tuesday September 20 and Saturday October 1.   Mr. O'Brien is author of several books, notably a six-volume series of novels published by Ignatius Press, including the novel Father Elijah.   Please see below for details about the talks and a link to Mr. O'Brien's website.

On Tuesday September 20 at 7:30 pm Mr. O'Brien will be giving a talk on the topic "Are We Living in Apocalyptic Times?". It will be held in the conference room (scavi) in the lower level of St. Patrick's Basilica, Ottawa, corner of Kent and Gloucester (please use Gloucester Street entrance).  Admission is free but a free-will offering will be taken.

On Saturday October 1 at 7:30 pm Mr. O'Brien will be giving a talk on the topic "Sign of Contradiction: the Christian Writer in an Age of Unbelief".  The talk is sponsored by Augustine College and will be held at St. Barnabas Church, Ottawa, corner of Kent and James.  Admission is free but a free-will offering may be taken.

For further information about Mr. O'Brien and his literary and artistic works or to subscribe to his free monthly e-mail newsletter, please visit his website at:

Diane Naipaul

Dear friends in Christ,

We invite you to join us in Prayer and Fasting for the spiritual success of our conference, which takes place this weekend as per the attached Flyer, and for all of Father Mathew's Conferences across Canada.  If you are unable to fast, perhaps you can offer up one of your Masses, an hour of Adoration, a Rosary, or even one Hail Mary.  Every prayer helps.

Please also keep the Team and Musicians in prayer on Friday as they travel to Ottawa.  May God generously multiply for you, whatever you offer up for us.  Thank you, and please know that all of our efforts are made always,

FOR THE GLORY OF GOD!

P.S. Please remember to invite everyone you know to share in this Banquet at the Table of the Lord.

Ted & Joanne Sabourin

Mass Police by Thomas Rutkoski

It was last summer that the Vatican released a document titled Redemptionis Sacramentum. The purpose of the document was to stop the sacrilege and liturgical abuse running rampant throughout the Catholic Church.  It was not the priests, the bishops or the cardinals who had complained about the constant abuse, but the laypeople.  It was tens of thousands of complaints from laypeople flooding the Vatican that finally got the official Church to respond with the badly needed corrections.

Reports flooded the Internet of how upset the bishops were by the new tactic employed by the Vatican , that is, releasing the document publicly rather than issuing it to the bishops and expecting dissemination and implementation. That scenario failed far too often in the past.  These days, it seems, as hard as the Vatican tries to keep the Vessel of Salvation upright, there are those who demand and implement their own ideas which subsequently cause the shipwreck of the faith. The Vatican witnessed for itself too many times when corrective action was ordered to be taken, those corrections never saw the light of day. We are at a point in history where there are many popes.  It is gone so far that some bishops have stated the Holy Father is only the bishop of Rome. Which means to them that the pope is not the bishop of their dioceses. In essence, they are warning the Holy Father to stay out of their business.

So these same bishops claim the title Holy Father for themselves. When Redemptionis Sacramentum was issued, there was a half-hearted attempt by some bishops to implement the fifty-two page document; some ignored it completely.  There were those dioceses that were a bit more responsive that held deanery meetings, calling together all the priests, extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion, and those interested, to have the document explained, page by page.  I was impressed when our diocese did that, but much to my chagrin, I witnessed a remarkably poor turnout.  I

personally know several priests who did not attend. Later I was shocked to discover that I was the only one offering them the information outside the deanery meeting.  And, of course, receiving something from a layman is no encouragement at all for implementation.

At the deanery meeting, I was only an interested party, but I listened attentively.  One request by the director of religion for the diocese was for all in attendance. This request was that we not consider ourselves "Mass Police" by going into the diocese and demanding adherence to these far-from-new guidelines. I, not wanting to be one who would go against the diocese, have bitten my tongue many times since in trying not to be a "Mass Policeman."  I did slide a copy of the document under the door handle of my pastor's rectory, knowing he had not been present at the meeting.  I chose to slide the document under the door handle because this had been a parish that previously suffered extreme liturgical abuse.  The new and present pastor solved a lot of those problems, but chose not to bring the parish under the guidelines of Redemptionis Sacramentum. To this day, extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion, which are hardly extraordinary anywhere, are strolling up to perform their duties while the consecrated Host is being held high and the priest is saying, "through Him, with Him, in Him," a point of the Mass when all should be on their knees in adoration of Jesus Christ.  The new document says that no extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion are to be on the altar until after the priest receives Communion.

One reason for the Vatican insisting that lay ministers are not to be on the altar until after the priest receives is that the abuse was becoming so bad that there were, and are still, priests who distribute Holy Communion to the extraordinary ministers before receiving themselves. This allows the extraordinary ministers to elevate their hosts with the priest (as though they were priests themselves) as the priest proclaims, "through Him, with Him, in Him . . . ".  Both scenarios, people walking up to the altar at such an important moment in the Mass and extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion elevating the hosts along with the priests, are sacrilegious.

There are pious Catholics around the globe involved in first Saturday devotion in reparation for such sacrileges performed in the Mass. The root problem is twofold: one - the outrageous ignorance of extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion as to what their ministry involves, the rules they are to follow, and the pious lives they are to lead.  Two is the outrageous amount of disobedience, pride and arrogance that has befallen the religious.  The previous words about the religious are not mine but those of the document, Redemptionis Sacramentum.

We surely live in a time when the ignorance of the congregation is at an all-time high and so we perform at a level that is insulting to our Lord and Savior.  Scripture warned us that a day would come when “we would be taught by wolves in sheep's clothing - ravenous wolves that would devour the flock” and I believe we now find ourselves in the fulfillment of that Scripture.

I would suggest to extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion to first learn what the word extraordinary means.  Then I would suggest that they stop considering themselves Eucharistic ministers and use the term demanded by the Vatican.  To go further, I suggest they stop being extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion if their priests demand they insult God or perform a sacrilege.  It would be a shame to believe you are in the service of God while all the while you were insulting Him. As for the suggestion by the diocese that we not become Mass Police - a recent trip to Brazil demonstrated just how badly we need some. Not only did I witness, extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion performing the aforementioned elevation of the Host, but also self-intinction. And just when I've convinced myself that I have seen everything regarding Eucharistic abuse, one pair of priests actually dipped the Host into the Precious Blood and proceeded to administer Communion under both species in the hand!

There are more examples, but it doesn't get any better. It was the tens of thousands of faithful Catholics who helped bring about this document via their complaints to the Vatican and it may take tens of millions complaining to actually bring about its implementation. The time for Pollyanna attitudes is over. It is time to stand up and defend the faith.  We are wandering farther and farther from the truth.  We have wandered so far from our tradition that the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, says it would be impossible to return to the authentic tradition and cites the massive schism that it would cause to justify the hopelessness.  A sad day for the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church. Much of this confusion has been caused by a false impression that the Catholic Church is a somehow a democracy where one's opinions count, and a false teaching, popularized in the Pieta prayer book, instructing that Catholics must never correct a priest. Catholics, in actuality, have the responsibility to correct the pope, himself, if he were in error, and so we are all supposed to be Mass Police of one kind or another.  But before we can police a Mass, we must police our own lives. In doing so, the holiness that this would bring about would actually make Mass Police unnecessary.

As Scripture puts it, remember to get the plank out of your own eye before you help your brother get the speck out of his.

Mathias Wuhr

Hello Everyone

Hope you are all having a good summer.

Just to remind you about the next Men's Breakfast at St. Augustine's Church (next to Myers Motors at Baseline and Merivale).

Fr. Vince the pastor at St. Augustine's will be speaking at the next breakfast SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 24

He will be speaking about Overcoming Obstacles to Grow in the Christian Life.  The breakfast will start at the usual time 8:00 AM.

Cost will be $4.00 at the door or only $3.00 with if you reserve a ticket. 

You can reserve a ticket by sending me a return email to tom.gleeson@sympatico.ca

Hope to see you there.  Tom Gleeson

We have just missed Ted and Joanne Sabourin’s anniversary.  Next week, this section will be a lot larger, with one anniversary and at least three birthdays