Pope Francis on Serving People, not Ideas

During his first homily in Cuba, the Pope reflected on the primacy of the flesh-and-blood person Christians are called to serve, as opposed to an ideology. http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/homilies/2015/documents/papa-francesco_20150920_cuba-omelia-la-habana.html

Mission Appeal 2015

Fr. Nichola N. Mauro Iko (of St. Alphonsus' Parish, Windsor) will be coming to our parishes on the weekend of November 7-8^th to make an appeal for the Diocese of Torit in South Sudan, his home. The world's newest country has some unique challenges facing it, and with the world's attention focused on the Refugee Crisis in Europe, South Sudan risks sliding further into violence, hunger & death.

Fr. Nichola has produced a booklet on Torit, with limited numbers available at the door of the church.

The following editorial from the New York Times (August 29, 2015) serves as a handy summary of the current situation in South Sudan. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/30/opinion/sunday/a-peace-plea-for-south-sudan.html?_r=0

The BBC provides a timeline of developments (both pre- and post-independence) of South Sudan at http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-14019202 .

The United Nations describes 1/5 of the population of South Sudan as being in "food crisis": http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=50016#.Vhbk_pflw24

Fr. Nichola N. Muro Iko Information Sheet on South Sudan

 

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B75ByFfEgtmGdDUxUW1qU3BtTEU

 

Refugee Crisis: Letter from the President of the CCCB

Click on this link http://www.cccb.ca/site/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4302:bishops-of-canada-urge-national-political-leaders-and-catholics-throughout-the-country-to-take-action-on-refugee-sponsorship&catid=23:media-releases&Itemid=1636 for Bishop Crosby’s letter to the Leaders of our Canadian Political Parties. Remember our bishops’ call to donate generously to Development + Peace (via our Parish Office) to help these suffering families.

 

 

An Introduction and Guide to the Book of Gospels

http://nlo.cccb.ca/images/stories/BoG_print_brochure.pdf

 

 

Homily Source: The Bishops & Andrew Coyne on the Lack of Big Ideas in our Coming Federal Election

The first link below is our Canadian Bishops' statement on Assisted Suicide, and the appalling lack of discussion on this life-and-death issue thus far in our federal election campaign; the second is Andrew Coyne's take on the shortcomings of pragmatism in Canadian politics.
http://www.cccb.ca/site/eng/members/annual-plenary-assemblies/282-plenary-assembly-2015/4282-statement-on-assisted-suicide-issued-by-the-plenary-assembly-of-the-canadian-conference-of-catholic-bishops

http://news.nationalpost.com/full-comment/andrew-coyne-tory-campaign-would-be-in-a-better-place-if-it-had-any-life-in-it

Vatican II's Lumen Gentium re: the Lay Faithful

Chapter IV (#30-38) of Lumen Gentium explores the Church's call to all the Laity. The quotation I used at Mass is found in #36. http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_const_19641121_lumen-gentium_en.html