Today is ShareLife Sunday

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Working wonders in our livelihoods…

“The services provided by ShareLife agencies are lifesaving and life-restoring to those who regularly rely on them. Families are working through crises and are healing. People with developmental challenges are supported as they experience a sense of self-worth and fulfillment in their daily activities. Seniors are living independently, with access to the care and services they need. Refugees and new Canadians are guided toward a stable, productive livelihood in their newfound home. Sometimes the results are obvious and sometimes they’re invisible but, always, they make a tangible difference.”

—Thomas Cardinal Collins, Archbishop of Toronto

Today is ShareLife Sunday

Please give generously. You can work wonders!

Pope Francis offers Mass for the twenty-one Coptic Christians martyred for their faith

Pope Francis offered Mass Tuesday morning for the repose of the souls of the twenty-one Egyptian Coptic Christians killed by ISIS jihadists in Sirte, Libya. They were martyred for their faith in Christ. The Mass was attended by the Pope’s personal secretary, Abuna Yoannis Lahzi Gaid, who is Coptic Catholic. As he prepared to begin Mass in the Santa Marta Chapel, the Pope invited the congregation to join him in prayer for ‘our Coptic brothers, whose throats were slit for the sole reason of being Christian, that the Lord welcome them as martyrs, for their families, for my brother Tawadros, who is suffering greatly’. He then prayed: “Be my protector, O God, a mighty stronghold to save me. For you are my rock, my stronghold! Lead me; guide me, for the sake of your name”. Monday evening the Pope had made a personal phone call to Patriarch Tawadros, who is the Coptic Orthodox Patriarch of Alexandria, to express his sorrow at the brutal murder. During his homily the Pope spoke of man’s capability for evil and destruction and condemned what he termed ‘merchants of death’, business people who sell arms to those at war, furthering a cycle of hate, fratricide and violence.

Man is capable of destroying fraternity

Pope Francis pointed out that in the first chapters of the Bible we find many examples - Sodom and Gomorrah, the Tower of Babel - in which man reveals his wickedness. "An evil that lurks in the depths of the heart”. The Pope noted some people would urge him not to be so negative, but – he continued – “this is the truth. We are also capable of destroying fraternity: Cain and Abel in the first pages of the Bible. They destroy fraternity. This is where wars begin. Jealousy, envy, so much greed for power, to have more power. Yes, this sounds negative, but it is realistic.  Let us offer our Lenten prayers, sacrifices and almsgiving for all those who throughout the world are persecuted because of their attachment to Christ.  May the intercession of countless new martyrs give them strength!       

Novi Martyres Coptici – Ora te pro nobis.

New Coptic Martyrs – Pray for us.

ASH WEDNESDAY Holy Mass & Distribution of Ashes Schedule Ash Wednesday Masses this year will be held on: FEBRUARY 18th at 7am, 8:30am, 12:15pm and 7:00pm LENTEN FASTING & ABSTINENCE    In preparation for the Solemn Feast of Easter, the faithful do penance through fasting, almsgiving, prayers, works of mercy and abstinence from meat.  All Fridays are days of abstinence from meat, but in Canada, Catholics may substitute special acts of charity or piety on this day.  The law of abstinence binds those who are 14 years of age and up. Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are mandatory days of fasting.  On fast days Church discipline permits one to take a main and two lesser meatless meals which do not equal the main meal.  The law of fasting binds those from 18 – 59 years of age.

WORLD DAY OF THE SICK: FEBRUARY 11

The 23rd World Day of the Sick will be celebrated, as it is every year, on February 11, 2015, the memorial of Our Lady of Lourdes. This year, the Holy Father's Message is entitled: "I was eyes to the blind, and feet to the lame" (Job 29.15). In his Message, Pope Francis invites the ill, the professionals and volunteers in the field of the health care, and all of us to reflect on the wisdom of the heart (sapientia cordis) "This 'wisdom' is not theoretical, abstract knowledge, the product of reasoning. Rather, it is, as Saint James describes it in his Letter, 'pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, without uncertainty or insincerity' (3.17)".

“…I entrust this World Day of the Sick to the maternal protection of Mary, who conceived and gave birth to Wisdom incarnate: Jesus Christ, our Lord.

O Mary, Seat of Wisdom, intercede as our Mother for all the sick and for those who care for them!  Grant that, through our service of our suffering neighbours, and through the experience of suffering itself, we may receive and cultivate true wisdom of heart!

ePope Francis (From the Vatican, 3 December 2014)