DATE: October 9, 2020
FROM: Marie C. Rackley, national chairperson of community life
TO: Parish chairpersons of community life
My dear League sisters,
I pray this memo finds you and your council ready to start another year of service for your community. It will be completely different from previous years, but we can still reach out and help those in need. COVID-19 has certainly upset the world as we knew it, but we are thankful for living in such a wonderful country.
Day of Prayer for Christians in the Holy Land
On September 21st, members celebrated the League’s first annual National Day of Prayer for Christians in the Holy Land. I received many positive comments from members across Canada. Below is one of the e-mails forwarded to me by national office.
“I am thrilled to report that 10 of our members gathered today, outdoors for a socially distanced, masked prayer service for Christians in the Holy Land. We chose to do Mary’s Way of the Cross because she was a woman and she walked those paths in the Holy Land.
It was most effective and meaningful with each of us participating by reading a station & all of us responding at each station. As you suggested, we finished by singing Peace is Flowing Like a River.
Thank you for the incentive. We are speaking of having a pie sale after thanksgiving with the apples used to decorate the altar, those funds going to both CNEWA & CMIC on top of our usual annual donations.”
Betty Anne Brown Davidson President, St. Gregory the Great Council, Kingston Diocese, Ontario
On Thursday, September 24th, I attended the Archdiocese of Toronto’s “Faith in the Public Square” webinar on Christian persecution. Present were Carl Hétu, director of Catholic Near East Welfare Association (Canada), Marie-Claude Lalonde, national director of Aid to the Church in Need and Deacon Rudy Ovcjak, director of the office for refugees at the Archdiocese of Toronto.
The webinar was overwhelming with information on the persecution of Christians throughout the world today. Approximately 300 million Christians are being persecuted around the world. There is also concern that the federal government needs to do more to help persecuted Christians whether they live in the Middle East, Pakistan, Nigeria or North Korea.
If you are interested in watching the webinar, it is available at youtu.be/_vtFXh49Y_s.
Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops and Development and Peace
I am overjoyed to announce the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace (CCODP) have reached an agreement. The League can now reinstate its 1% Program. Parish councils can now collect and submit 1% of all revenue earned to the national voluntary fund for CCODP.
In closing, I would like to share this quote from Pope Francis, “With the eyes of faith, we can see the light which the Holy Spirit always radiates in the midst of darkness” (Evangelii Gaudium).
May Our Lady of Good Counsel continue to bless each of you as you serve the people of God.