Category Archives: Diocese of Pembroke

Allumettes Island, Bishop Guy Desrochers, Catholic Women's League, Chapeau, Diocese of Pembroke, Fr. Tim Moyle, Parish Bulletin, Parishes of the Upper Pontiac, Sheenboro, St. Alphonsus Parish, St. Joseph's Parish, St. Joseph's QC, St. Paul the Hermit, Uppontiac

Parish Bulletin – 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time – 8 November 2020

November 7, 2020 Catholic Parishes of the Upper Pontiac Leave a comment

Parish Bulletin – 32^nd Sunday in Ordinary Time – 8 November 2020

Masses for the Week of November 10th – November 15th

STREAMED MASSES:

TUESDAY:* 10 AM Theresa Gagnon – Lynn Laureaul & Family

WEDNESDAY:** 10 AM Margaret Maloney – Betty Morris

THURSDAY:* 10 AM Andrew Joseph Donnelly – Frank & Janet Retty

FRIDAY:*** 10 AM Ken & Mae Conroy – Rose & Paul Stebby

SUNDAY: 10:30 AM Missa Pro Populo

*These Masses will be streamed online, but all parishioners are welcome to attend. All weekday Masses are celebrated in St. Joseph’s Church.

** Includes public recitation of the Rosary during Exposition

*** Includes public recitation of the Chaplet of Divine Mercy during Exposition

LIVE MASSES:

Sheenboro: (Saturday) 5 PM

Leo Downey & Deceased Parents & Family – Teresa Downey

St. Joseph: (Sunday) 9 AM

1) Iveagh & Harold Duff – Atje & Leonard Duff and Family

2) Molly Montgomery – Dennis and Family

Chapeau: (Sunday) 10:30 AM

1) Deceased CWL Members

2) Jack & Helen Hill

PLEASE REMEMBER… If you are sick or have a cough, please do not attend. Remember, the Bishop has suspended our obligation to attend a Sunday Mass until further notice so please stay home so as to not make others sick.

Collections:

St. Paul the Hermit: $ 520.00

St. Joseph’s: $1570.00

St. Alphonsus: $2193.00

Total Online Donations to Date: $ 8689.10

THANK YOU!

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

1) The video course studying Jesus of Nazareth by Pope Benedict XVI continues on Tuesdays at 7 pm. The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis course continues on Thursdays at 7 pm. Contact Fr. Tim for more information if you are interested in joining in.

2) “Are you called to join other Canadian Catholic women learning how your leadership has the power to transform where you work, volunteer, and live? Applications are now available for the 2021-2022 Catholic Women’s Leadership Foundation Program. The in-person and online program, facilitated by the Providence School of Transformational Leadership and Spirituality at Saint Paul University (Ottawa) runs from April/21 to May/22. Visit www.cwlfcanada.ca Application deadline November 20, 2020″

3) Thank You: “Thank you for all your kindness and emotional support offered to us in the wake of our mother, Lorena Picard’s final illness and death. Your thoughtfulness and support were greatly appreciated. The Picard Family

4) Our prayers and sympathies go out to the family of Brigitta Gottfried, wife of the late Andre Gottfried of Pembroke, and mother of Margo and Kathleen, whose funeral was celebrated in St. Joseph’s Church on Saturday. May God grant peace and comfort to her family and a merciful judgment for her soul.

5) Bishop +Desrochers is asking all Catholics of the Diocese to please write to your local Member of Parliament to express your concerns about the proposed changes to Canada’s euthanasia laws. The Federal government is proposing to expand those who may be killed beyond those who are facing an imminent death. Disabled groups and associations are deeply alarmed with this change as they believe it poses a particular danger to their members. There is a website you can go to which provides more information on this subject as well as a link to use to write and share your objection with the government which I have posted below. Please do what you can to ensure that the government does not enact these changes. http://www.canadiansforconscience.ca/federal_government

6) Celebration of Confirmation and First Communion: Due to the requirements of the COVID virus we are unable to hold any large celebrations, so Bishop + Desrochers is suggesting that each parish celebrate the sacrament at an evening Mass on a weeknight. He has extended the right for all the parish pastors to celebrate the Sacrament of Confirmation for this year. We will take his advice and schedule such a Mass for those who were prepared last school year to be confirmed.

As regards those who are waiting for the celebration of their First Communion and Confession, I have been waiting to see if the arrival of a vaccine would come before the end of this school year so that we would be able to offer a celebration at one of our weekend Masses. Given that we should know in January 2021 if such a vaccine will be available, I intend to wait until then to make any decision as to when and how these sacraments will be offered. IF it becomes clear that a vaccine isn’t going to be widely available in time, then we will have to schedule a few smaller celebrations for a few students at a time on a school night as we are going to do for confirmation. Stay tuned for further developments. They will be posted here, on Facebook and on the parish blog (https://uppontiacparishes.com/) once it becomes clear how to best proceed.

7) There will be a meeting of the combined parishes Finance & Property Committee on Wednesday, November 25^th at 7 pm in the St. Joseph’s Rectory. I ask the members to please confirm whether or not they will be able to attend. Thanks to those of you who have already RSVP’d your attendance.

8) Our chief Cookie Elf of Chapeau and Chichester (Bernie Hendry) has organized another year of Christmas treats to be delivered to the seniors and shut-ins of St. Alphonsus Parish. She is asking that you call her (819-689-5332) or the parish office to leave a message if you are either willing to become a cookie elf in your own right or if you know of someone who might appreciate a package from one of her delivery elves. The date for receiving the cookies, preparing them into packages, and delivering them is December 15th. Due to the restrictions demanded due to the COVID pandemic, all deliveries will be of the ‘non-contact’ variety and all the packages will be disinfected before they’re dropped off. Let’s all do our part to help make the Christmas season a little brighter after this year of hell we’ve all gone through in 2020.

Scriptural Reflection of this Weekend’s Readings

Encountering Christ:

1. Prudence: “The first of the four cardinal virtues, and the rule for the other three, is prudence. Now it goes against the grain of present-day thinking [as of 1951] to see in prudence a virtue, let alone the first of the four cardinal virtues. The reason for this is that we often have an entirely wrong idea of the virtue of prudence. “Prudence as virtue has nothing to do with […] the timorous attitude of undue caution […]. Prudence is the quality of clearsightedness. The prudent man approaches each decision with his eyes open, in the full light of knowledge and faith. He discerns reality objectively, sizes up a factual situation for what it is, and weighs the real value of things. Only after careful consideration does the prudent man make his decision” (Josef Pieper, What Catholics Believe, 73).

2. Foolishness: Today’s Gospel passage weighs prudence against foolishness. At first glance, the mishap that befell the five foolish virgins might seem coincidental. However, in the light of the explanation of prudence above, we can appreciate that the situation around the virgins’ shortage of oil was preceded by two sets of behavior, by two decision-making processes, and two ways of approaching reality: “Whoever follows the impulse of his will before appraising the facts and the circumstances of a situation accurately and objectively is imprudent and unwise” (idem).

3. “Behold, the Bridegroom!”: “Virtue is the utmost of what a man can be; it is the realization of the human capacity for being” (Josef Pieper, A Brief Reader on the Virtues of the Human Heart, 9). If the clear-sighted virtue of prudence is imperative in daily life in order to “realize the human capacity,” in today’s Gospel, Jesus teaches us that it is even more imperative for the spiritual life. Much like the maids-in-waiting, we know that the Lord will come. To be prudent in our spiritual life means that today we “size up this situation for what it is, and weigh the real value of things” in its light.

Conversing with Christ: My Lord, today you invite me to grow in prudence. Help me to approach each situation with my “eyes open, in the full light of knowledge and faith.” Give me the grace to discern proper actions and then follow through for your glory.

Resolution: Lord, today by your grace I will practice the cardinal virtue of prudence by taking a minute before making a decision to consciously discern its implications in the light of faith and reason.

Allumettes Island, Chapeau, Diocese of Pembroke, Fr. Tim Moyle, Parish Bulletin, Parishes of the Upper Pontiac, prayer request, Sheenboro, St. Alphonsus Parish, St. Joseph's Parish, St. Joseph's QC, St. Paul the Hermit, Uppontiac

Parish Bulletin – 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time – 25 October 2020

October 23, 2020 Catholic Parishes of the Upper Pontiac Leave a comment

Masses for the Week of October 26 – November 1/2020

STREAMED MASSES:

TUESDAY:* 10 AM NO MASS

WEDNESDAY:** 10 AM Claire Gleason – Francis Downey

THURSDAY:* 10 AM Loretta Reid – Vince & Lorna Agnesi

FRIDAY:*** 10 AM Danny Kelly – Faye & M.J. Culleton

SUNDAY:* 10:30 AM Missa Pro Populo

*These Masses will be streamed online, but all parishioners are welcome to attend. All weekday Masses are celebrated in St. Joseph’s Church.

** Includes public recitation of the Rosary during Exposition

*** Includes public recitation of the Chaplet of Divine Mercy during Exposition

LIVE MASSES:

Sheenboro: (Saturday) 5 PM John Jack Jennings – Janet & Frank Retty

St. Joseph: (Sunday) 9 AM Danny Kelly – Liz Kelly

Chapeau:(Sunday)10:30 AM 1) Verna Sullivan – St. Alphonsus Choir

2) Jack & Helen Hill – The Family

Collections:

St. Paul the Hermit: $ 226.00

St. Joseph’s: $1050.00

St. Alphonsus: $ 653.00

Total Online Donations to Date: $ 8236.05

THANK YOU!

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

1) The video course studying Jesus of Nazareth by Pope Benedict XVI continues on Tuesdays at 7 pm. No one has registered for the The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis course so I am going to move it to Thursday evenings at 7 pm. The second course will begin this Thursday October 30^th. It’s never too later to register! Please email me at frtimmoylepp@gmail.com so that I can send you the link required to join in either conversation.

3) CHAPEAU R.A.: The Annual General Meeting took place on Wednesday, October 21st & the results are as followed:

President: Karie Bissonnette-Sullivan
Vice President: Shelley Conroy-godin
Secretary: Julie Angela (Venasse)
Treasurer: Karolann Fleming
Social Media: Rikki-lee Allard
Grant Co-ordinator: Marielle Lair

Other Current Active Members include: Mariette Sallafranque, Nicole Fleury, Natalie Sauriol, Jennifer Schryer-Godin, Kel Day (Kelly Gagnon-Dayment), Lise Vaillancourt & Krystal Landry

4) (UPDATED) I have received 5 responses so far to help to offer Catechetical classes online. We need at least one more person to be able to offer the course for all the students from Gr. 1 to Gr. 6. Please consider helping out with this initiative so that the children of our parishes can receive their Sacraments this year together with those who missed out on last year’s due to the COVID19 lockdown at the start of 2020.

5) We’ve come up with a plan to help recoup some of the revenues we’ve lost with the cancellation of our parish suppers in Chapeau and St. Joseph’s. We’re calling it our ‘Staying Warm this Winter‘ Initiative. We are going to ask every household on the Island to consider making a one-time donation to the parish equal to the amount they would have spent if we could have held them this year. (ex: $15 for each adult and $7.50 for each child under the age of 10 years of age living at home. Of course, people are always welcome to add more if they would normally have spent money on our various draws, silent auctions and games of chance too!)

Every family that makes such a donation will have their name thrown into a drum for a chance to win a handmade quilt! We thank Sylvia Dungeon for donating one to St. Alphonsus and Ethel Jones for donating one for St. Joseph’s. We have had three face-cords of wood donated to our prizes offered in support of the Chapeau Parish as well! (valued at $330) The prize includes free delivery if the winner lives on Allumette Island. If the winner lives off-island, it can be delivered for a small delivery fee. Our thanks goes out to J.P. & Jennifer Allard for this generous donation.

The draws will be held in each respective Church on the last Sunday of November (29/11/2020) at the end of Mass. You can make your donation either through the parish blog at http://uppontiacparishes.wordpress.com, by mailing it via Canada Post (P.O. Box 40, Chapeau, QC. J0X1M0) or by dropping it off during business hours at either of the two parish offices. Or, you can drop your donation in a separate envelope in the collection basket at any Sunday Mass up to 22 November 2020. PLEASE JUST DO NOT INCLUDE IT IN YOUR REGULAR SUNDAY OFFERING ENVELOPE as 10% of those funds go to our diocese. If it comes separately, we can keep all 100% to help in paying our winter heating bills for the rectory and both Churches.

Thank you for your anticipated participation and support to help us get through these difficult and chilly financial times.

Fr. Tim

5) Attention Sheenboro Parishioners: Billy Brennan has accepted to serve on the Parish Pastoral Council for Sheenboro. So, we are looking for at least one more person to step up and serve as well. If you are interested, please contact Fr. Tim directly or speak with one of the existing members. Thank you.

6) Speaking of committee members, we are (STILL) in need of one more person to step up and join the Joint Finance Committee to represent St. Alphonsus Parish. Sue Collin has accepted to take one position and we thank her for doing so. Sue brings years of financial experience from her career at the Caisse Populaire and will no doubt be a great asset to the committee and parishes. So, we just need one more. The committee meets two or three times a year to review parish expenses and revenues as well as to discuss needed repairs or renovations to our buildings and property. Please call Fr. Tim if you’re interested.

7) And while we’re on the topic of money… I have posted the Financial Statements for each of the three parishes both on our Parish blog and on our Facebook page. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to give the office a call. If I cannot answer your question immediately, I promise to research it and respond asap. Thank you for both your interest and continuing financial support of all our Churches. It is greatly appreciated, especially in these difficult times brought to us by the COVID shutdowns.

8) Congratulations to Tyler James (T.J.) Farrell and Charleen Rourke who were married last weekend in the Sheenboro parish! May God grant them a long and happy union.

9) We ask your prayers for the repose of the soul of Mr. Edward Carroll (formerly of Chapeau) and for the consolation of his family during their time of bereavement and grief. May God grant him a merciful judgment and comfort to those who have suffered his loss.

10) My thanks to Fr. Tom Fitzpatrick for replacing me this weekend in Sheenboro as I will be away celebrating the funeral for my aunt who recently passed away in Peterborough.

Scriptural Reflection of this Weekend’s Readings

There is always the danger that when we hear a song too often that we become complacent and take it for granted. The same can happened with the readings and gospels we hear when we come to mass. Perhaps this is one of those gospels. We have heard it some often that is no longer has any impact on us.

No one ever said the being a follower of Jesus was going to be easy! We are not only asked to have a relationship with God, we are also called and challenged to be aware of and concerned about those with whom we live and work. We are to love our friends and family as we love God and ourselves. We are reminded of this when we read in the bible, how can we love God whom we cannot see and not love our brother or sister whom we do see?

Being a Christian and a follower of Jesus is about relationships. Being a disciple of Jesus is about how I live my daily life in relation to others and God. It is not private thing between God and me. If I say I love God but do not take the time to be aware of and concerned about around those me, then something very important is missing. If I pray, but then ignore those around me at home or in work that need my help, what is the point of me praying? Praying is not about pleasing God or making myself feel better. Prayer is about me nurturing and nourishing my friendship with God. Then, having prayed and precisely because I have prayed, I am asked and called to turn my attention to those around me who need my help, support and love.

In Matthew’s gospel, Jesus reminds that whatever we do for each other, we do for and to Jesus himself. Whatever we fail to do for each other, we fail to do for Jesus. The smallest gesture of love can often have the greatest of impacts.

It is often through very small seemingly unimportant deeds, actions and gestures of love that our love for others and our faith can be seen and made visible. One poet wrote that God is the bits and pieces of every day. We should never underestimate the power of a small gesture such as a smile, a hand on a shoulder or a kind word. These small acts of kindness are how in our daily lives how we love God and our brothers and sisters and ourselves with all our heart, mind and soul.

This week, may we be more aware that God is in the bits and pieces of our ordinary daily lives. May we love God with all our heart, soul and mind. May we love our neighbours as we love ourselves.

Allumettes Island, Chapeau, Diocese of Pembroke, Fr. Tim Moyle, Parish Bulletin, Parishes of the Upper Pontiac, Sheenboro, St. Alphonsus Parish, St. Joseph's Parish, St. Joseph's QC, St. Paul the Hermit, Uppontiac

Parish Bulletin – 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time – 18/10/2020

October 16, 2020 Catholic Parishes of the Upper Pontiac Leave a comment

Parish Bulletin – 29^th Sunday in Ordinary Time – 18 October 2020

STREAMED MASSES:

TUESDAY:* 10 AM Sharon Sullivan – Al Kennedy

WEDNESDAY:** 10 AM Lucy & George Sullivan – Paulette Demmons

THURSDAY:* 10 AM Terry Morris (ann.) – The Family

FRIDAY:*** 10 AM Brandon Perrault – Sheila Greenough

SUNDAY: 10:30 AM Missa Pro Populo

*These Masses will be streamed online, but all parishioners are welcome to attend. All weekday Masses are celebrated in St. Joseph’s Church.

** Includes public recitation of the Rosary during Exposition

*** Includes public recitation of the Chaplet of Divine Mercy during Exposition

LIVE MASSES:

Sheenboro: (Saturday) 5 PM M/M Regis Venasse – Dianne Mainville

St. Joseph: (Sunday) 9 AM Andrew Gribbon – Colleen & Family

Chapeau: (Sunday) 10:30 AM 1) Leo Beaulieu – Lorraine, Eric Demers & Family

2) Helen & Joseph Donlan – The Family

Fever greater or equal to 37.8 Celsius,

new or worsening cough,
Shortness of breath.
Sore throat,
difficulty swallowing,
changes in sense of smell or taste,
nausea,
vomiting,
diarrhea,
abdominal pain,
runny nose or nasal congestion (different than usual allergy symptoms).

Atypical signs and symptoms of COVID-19 should be considered, particularly in children:

Unexplained fatigue,
malaise or muscle aches,
delirium (acutely altered mental status),
unexplained falls or functional decline,
exacerbation of chronic conditions, chills,
headaches,
croup,

If you have any of the above symptoms, please stay home! God will understand!!

Collections:

St. Paul the Hermit: $ 285.00

St. Joseph’s: $ 830.00

St. Alphonsus: $ 950.00

Total Online Donations to Date: $ 8236.05

THANK YOU!

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

1) The video course studying Jesus of Nazareth by Pope Benedict XVI continues on Tuesdays at 7 pm. No one has registered for the The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis course so I am going to move it to Thursday evenings at 7 pm. This second course will begin on Thursday October 30^th. It’s never too later to register! Please email me at frtimmoylepp@gmail.com so that I can send you the link required to join in either conversation.

3) CHAPEAU R.A.: Annual General Meeting on Wednesday October 21^st at 7 pm. This meeting will be held virtually this year due to the COVID19 virus on Zoom. Anyone who wants to join into the meeting can contact Karie Bissonnette (613-401-2850) and she will send you an invitation link to the meeting via your email address.

4) I have received two responses so far to help to offer Catechetical classes online. This isn’t enough!!! We need at least four more people to be able to offer the course for all the students from Gr. 1 to Gr. 6. Please consider helping out with this initiative so that the children of our parishes can receive their Sacraments this year together with those who missed out on last year’s due to the COVID19 lockdown at the start of 2020.

Every family that makes such a donation will have their name thrown into a drum for a chance to win a handmade quilt! We thank Sylvia Dungeon for donating one to St. Alphonsus and Ethel Jones for donating one for St. Joseph’s. The draws will be held in each respective Church on the last Sunday of November (29/11/2020) at the end of Mass.

You can make your donation either through the parish blog at http://uppontiacparishes.wordpress.com, by mailing it via Canada Post (P.O. Box 40, Chapeau, QC. J0X1M0) or by dropping it off during business hours at either of the two parish offices. Or, you can drop your donation in a separate envelope in the collection basket at any Sunday Mass up to 22 November 2020. PLEASE JUST DO NOT INCLUDE IT IN YOUR REGULAR SUNDAY OFFERING ENVELOPE as 10% of those funds go to our diocese. If it comes separately, we can keep all 100% to help in paying our winter heating bills for the rectory and both Churches.

Thank you for your anticipated participation and support to help us get through these difficult and chilly financial times.

Fr. Tim

ADDENDUM: We have had three face-cords of wood donated to our prizes offered in support of the Chapeau Parish! (valued at $330) The prize includes free delivery if the winner lives on Allumette Island. If the winner lives off-island, it can be delivered for a small delivery fee. Our thanks goes out to J.P. & Jennifer Allard for this generous donation.

5) Attention Sheenboro Parishioners: We are looking for two people to accept to serve on the St. Paul the Hermit Pastoral Council. Joann McCann has retired from her position after serving for the past 7+ years and we thank her very much for her service. If you are interested in joining the P.C., please call Fr. Tim or one of the existing council members to let them know.

6) Speaking of committee members, we are in need of one or two people to step up and join the Finance Committee to represent St. Alphonsus Parish. The committee meets two or three times a year to review parish expenses and revenues as well as to discuss needed repairs or renovations to our buildings and property. Again, please call Fr. Tim if you’re interested.

7) And while we’re on the topic of money… we will be posting a financial report for each of the three parishes on Tuesday of this coming week on the parish blog. But it isn’t happy news. The revenue gap we experienced during the four months of the government-imposed shutdown has created a massive hole in all three parishes. While we have been able to continue to ensure that all the bills have been paid for each, it was done by Chapeau assuming sole responsibility for what are normally shared expenses like salaries and office expenses. As a result, both St. Joseph’s and St. Paul the Hermit now owe a considerable amount to St. Alphonsus. Our ‘Keep Warm this Winter’ campaign is generating some funds for St. Joseph’s to use to pay their bills this winter but we need to come up with some way of raising funds for Sheenboro to be able to do the same. Given their generous support in helping to raise the funds for the church repairs that were completed this summer and fall (thank you once again!!), I have no doubt or concern that they will rise to the occasion again, and I look forward to working with the parishioners in Sheenboro in raising the needed funds. And let’s all continue to pray that we won’t face another shutdown in the near future. Put simply, none of the parishes could afford it! I thank you for your ongoing and future support of our churches.

8) Our sympathy and condolences go out to the family of Mr. Dan Kelly of St. Joseph’s whose funeral was celebrated this Friday. Please join your prayers with mine to ask God to grant to his family the gifts of peace and comfort during their time of bereavement.

9) I will be away from the parishes next Saturday to attend the funeral of my aunt in Peterborough, Ont. I will return late that evening to be here to celebrate the regular Sunday Masses in Chapeau & St. Joseph’s. Fr. Tom Fitzpatrick will celebrate the Saturday evening Mass in Sheenboro.

Scriptural Reflection of this Weekend’s Readings

Some once said that the only things certain in this world are death and taxes. And it appears from our gospel that at the time of Jesus, taxes had to be paid then also!

The Pharisees never missed and chance or opportunity to try and trap Jesus. They were always hoping that he would say or doing something that would trap him and make him look foolish in front of his friends and followers.

Just because we are followers of Jesus, it does not mean we exempt from living in the real world. We go to work, earn our wages and spend our hard-earned money on the things we need to stay alive. Bills have to be paid and we too today have to pay tax to keep our economy going.

People often misquote this saying for the New Testament; money is the root of all evil. The correct saying in the Letter to Timothy is the love of money is the root of evil. There is nothing wrong with money in itself. It is how use, misuse and even abuse money that matters.

In a book called The Little Prince, it says it is with the heart that one can truly see, what is essential and invincible to the eye. In our own daily lives, we need to be aware of what we consider being essential. Is it having more money so that we can spend it on things that we want rather than need? The newspapers and the television constantly bombard with us advertisements. They offer us the message that if we buy a certain phone, drive a certain car and wear certain clothes, we will be happy, secure and fulfilled. This is not true. This is definitely fake news. The real good news is that our dignity does not come from spending money on things we don’t actually need. Our dignity and value come from be created, loved and known by God. The Prophet Isaiah reminds us that we are precious in the eyes of God. This is good news that will last. It is not some trendy statement that will go out of fashion.

Perhaps we need take some time this week to reflect on our daily lives to discover what is truly and deeply essential to us. According Jesus and the gospel what is essential is love, forgiveness, peace, justice and concern for the poor. As we do this, may the words of Jesus from to today’s gospel stay with us; give to Caesar what is due to Caesar and give to God what is due to God.

Parish Bulletin – 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time – 11 October 2020

October 10, 2020 Catholic Parishes of the Upper Pontiac Leave a comment

Parish Bulletin – 28^th Sunday in Ordinary Time – 11 October 2020

STREAMED MASSES:

TUESDAY:* 10 AM Loella Meehan – Betty Morris

WEDNESDAY:** 10 AM Margaret Gleason – Sonia & Harry Duff

THURSDAY:* 10 AM Mary Lapierre – Margaret & Cecil Raymond

FRIDAY:*** 10 AM Brandon Perrault – Sheila Greenough

SUNDAY: 10:30 AM Missa Pro Populo

*These Masses will be streamed online, but all parishioners are welcome to attend. All weekday Masses are celebrated in St. Joseph’s Church.

** Includes public recitation of the Rosary during Exposition

*** Includes public recitation of the Chaplet of Divine Mercy during Exposition

LIVE MASSES:

Sheenboro: (Saturday) 5 PM Victor Gagnon – Raymond Morris

St. Joseph: (Sunday) 9 AM Mary Spence – Sharon Spence & Family

Chapeau: (Sunday) 10:30 AM 1) Mike Allard – Patsy Allard & Family

2) Clora Fleury – Harold & Marilyn Morris

Fever greater or equal to 37.8 Celsius,

new or worsening cough,
Shortness of breath.
Sore throat,
difficulty swallowing,
changes in sense of smell or taste,
nausea,
vomiting,
diarrhea,
abdominal pain,
runny nose or nasal congestion (different than usual allergy symptoms).

Atypical signs and symptoms of COVID-19 should be considered, particularly in children:

Unexplained fatigue,
malaise or muscle aches,
delirium (acutely altered mental status),
unexplained falls or functional decline,
exacerbation of chronic conditions, chills,
headaches,
croup,
If you have any of the above symptoms, please stay home! God will understand!!

Collections:

St. Paul the Hermit: $ 1115.00

St. Joseph’s: $ 1040.00

St. Alphonsus: $ 1604.00

Total Online Donations to Date: $ 7,773.84

THANK YOU!

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

1) The video course studying Jesus of Nazareth by Pope Benedict XVI continues on Tuesdays at 7 pm. No one has registered for the The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis course so I am going to move it to Thursday evenings at 7 pm. This second course will begin on Thursday October 30^th. It’s never too later to register! Please email me at frtimmoylepp@gmail.com so that I can send you the link required to join in either conversation.

2) Congratulations to Madeleine Lois Dawson, infant daughter of Mallorie Chartrand and Spencer Dawson who was baptized last weekend in Chapeau.

4) I’ve been giving a lot of thought to how we can still offer Catechetical Instruction for the youth of our parishes and have concluded that we need to take a page out of the new protocols followed by schools and offer it online. So, we require the assistance of a few Catechists who would be willing to work with me in putting the material they traditionally use online so that they can be distributed electronically to the students. These are uncharted waters for us but there is a wealth of material online that we can use to create our own program to meet our local needs. If you are at all interested in helping either to prepare or teach these video sessions with our Catholic children, please contact me as soon as possible so we can decide whether or not to proceed this way or simply take a year’s pause and wait for the pandemic to finally pass us by and in-person classes can resume as before. Thank you.

Addendum: I have received two responses so far to help to offer this important service online. We need at least four more people to be able to offer the course for all the students from Gr. 1 to Gr. 6. Please consider helping out with this initiative so that the children of our parishes can receive their Sacraments this year together with those who missed out on last year’s due to the COVID19 lockdown at the start of 2020.

Every family that makes such a donation will have their name thrown into a drum for a chance to win a handmade quilt! We thank Sylvia Dungeon for donating one to St. Alphonsus and Ethel Jones for donating one for St. Joseph’s. The draws will be held in each respective Church on the last Sunday of November (29/11/2020) at the end of Mass.

Thank you for your anticipated participation and support to help us get through these difficult and chilly financial times.

Fr. Tim

6) Please note that our offices will be closed this Monday for the long Thanksgiving weekend.

7) HAPPY THANKSGIVING! 2020 hasn’t really given us much to be thankful for, what with the COVID pandemic and all, but at least there’s one thing we can give thanks for this weekend: Thank God you weren’t born a turkey or a moose!

8) Don’t forget to pray for the safety of all our various hunters who have gone into the bush this weekend with the opening of the moose hunt. Let’s pray that everyone comes home safe and sound… and with a moose in the back of the truck!

9) Our prayers and sympathy go out to the families of Donald St-Cyr and Therese Gagnon whose funerals were celebrated in the Chapeau Church this past week.

Scriptural Reflection of this Weekend’s Readings

Encountering Christ:

1. Accepting the Gift: God is never outdone in generosity. How consoling to know his generosity is not dependent upon what we deserve but rather on his abundant goodness, love, and desire for our happiness. No one who had been invited to the feast was there because of merit or status, but purely by decree of the king’s initiative. Christ himself is the banquet of divine life and abundant grace. We don’t deserve to receive him (“Lord, I am not worthy,” Matthew 8:8). It is his longing to share the joy of his existence with us that overflows in bountiful generosity. Our first duty in response to God’s loving generosity is to accept his gift of grace. Let us run forward, embracing the opportunity to receive grace through the regular reception of the Eucharist, frequent confession, and openness to his will.

2. Called and Chosen: Three times, the king dispatched servants to extend his invitation far and wide to anyone interested. We see that many were foolish and self-absorbed, preoccupied with their worldly pursuits. Attached to good things (work, well-being, and profitability), they sadly rejected the opportunity for something far better. Here lies the mystery and drama of our human freedom. We overlook admitting how indebted we are to God’s goodness as the cause and purpose of our very being. In our own lives, self-reliance, distraction, and busyness can lead us to consider God’s plans an interruption to our own, and forget that ours have no meaning if not centered and focused in his. The possibility that we could reject God’s invitation should motivate us to continually care for our life of grace in friendship with Christ and share with others an invitation to the feast.

3. Christian Joy: Wedding feasts are a time for great joy, celebration, and happiness. Jesus often used this favored image for heaven—for his kingdom. It describes what he longs to share and promises to us if we follow the way of faithful obedience to his will. The joy that awaits us will far exceed and outlast any suffering we may carry in this life. Hope in the Resurrection and life with God for all eternity should fill us with overwhelming joy and happiness. How does my faith and hope for heaven influence my witness to living as a joy-filled Christian before the challenges in this fallen world?

Conversing with Christ: My Lord, you want to offer me every good gift and grace I need to draw closer to you as the source of my happiness. You offer your intimate friendship to every single person. Your goodness, love, and mercy are for everyone, including me. Please forgive me for the moments I have rejected you out of foolishness over my own concerns. You know how hard it is for me to overcome attachments to seeking security in my achievements, in how others perceive me, and in worldly comforts. Help me to respond freely to seeking your grace and expressing my gratitude with a generous and joy-filled heart each day.

Resolution: Lord, today, by your grace, I will spend a moment contemplating and fostering my longing for heaven. With hope in the Resurrection, I will seek to give witness to living with Christian joy in responding to any challenge today.

For Further Reflection: The Kingdom Without End: A Retreat Guide on Christ the King (https://rcspirituality.org/retreat_guide/the-kingdom-without-end-a-retreat-guide-on-christ-the-king/).

Allumettes Island, Chapeau, COVID-19, Diocese of Pembroke, Fr. Tim Moyle, Parish Bulletin, Parishes of the Upper Pontiac, Sheenboro, St. Alphonsus Parish, St. Joseph's Parish, St. Joseph's QC, St. Paul the Hermit, Uppontiac

Parish Bulletin – 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time – 04/10/2020

October 2, 2020 Catholic Parishes of the Upper Pontiac Leave a comment

Parish Bulletin – 27^th Sunday in Ordinary Time – 4 October 2020

STREAMED MASSES:

TUESDAY:* 10 AM Mary Lampkin – Angie Retty

WEDNESDAY:** 10 AM Sharon Sullivan – Peggy Nadeau & Brenda Collver

THURSDAY:* 10 AM Loella Meehan – Betty Morris

FRIDAY:*** 10 AM Mary Lapierre – Margaret & Cecil Raymond

SUNDAY: 10:30 AM Missa Pro Populo

*These Masses will be streamed online, but all parishioners are welcome to attend. All weekday Masses are celebrated in St. Joseph’s Church.

** Includes public recitation of the Rosary during Exposition

*** Includes public recitation of the Chaplet of Divine Mercy during Exposition

LIVE MASSES:

Sheenboro: (Saturday) 5 PM 1) Lloyd Parsons – Doreen & Brennan Family

2) Miles & Willis Venasse – Dianne Mainville

St. Joseph: (Sunday) 9 AM Glenn Lapierre – Heather Lapierre

Chapeau: (Sunday) 10:30 AM 1) Patsy Gagnon – Mike & family

2) Jack & Helen Hill – The Family

ATTENTION: The Québec government has changed the rules once again. We can once again have up to 50 people attend Mass in Sheenboro and St. Joseph’s and 140 people in Chapeau. However, you now need to provide either an email address or a phone number when you sign in at Church. PLEASE REMEMBER… If you are sick or have a cough, please do not attend. Remember, the Bishop has suspended our obligation to attend a Sunday Mass until further notice so please stay home so as to not make others sick. Here is a list of common symptoms of the COVID19 virus.

Fever greater or equal to 37.8 Celsius,

new or worsening cough,
Shortness of breath.
Sore throat,
difficulty swallowing,
changes in sense of smell or taste,
nausea,
vomiting,
diarrhea,
abdominal pain,
runny nose or nasal congestion (different than usual allergy symptoms).

Atypical signs and symptoms of COVID-19 should be considered, particularly in children:

Unexplained fatigue,
malaise or muscle aches,
delirium (acutely altered mental status),
unexplained falls or functional decline,
exacerbation of chronic conditions, chills,
headaches,
croup,

If you have any of the above symptoms, please stay home! God will understand!!

Collections:

St. Paul the Hermit: $ 260.00

St. Joseph’s: $ 660.00

St. Alphonsus: $ 690.00

Total Online Donations to Date: $ 7,581.33

THANK YOU!

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

1) The video course studying Jesus of Nazareth by Pope Benedict XVI continues on Tuesdays at 7 pm. No one has registered for the The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis course so I am going to move it to Thursday evenings at 7 pm. It’s never too later to register! Please email me at frtimmoylepp@gmail.com so that I can send you the link required to join in the conversation.

2) Congratulations to Johnathan Duff and Stephanie Rosien who were married this weekend in our St. Joseph’s Church. Please pray for them to have many happy and healthy years together as a married couple.

3) Congratulations also go out to Charles Michael Carroll, infant son of Cody & Andrea (England) Carroll (in Chapeau) and to Claire Darcy Pasch, infant daughter of Josh and Molly (McGuire) Pasch (in St. Joseph’s) who were both baptized last Sunday. Again, I ask your prayers for these newest members of our Catholic community.

4) On behalf of the parishioners of St. Paul the Hermit Parish in Sheenboro I wish to extend our thanks and appreciation to Fr. Tom Fitzpatrick who has offered Mass there on Saturday evenings since our churches came out of the lockdown. We are very fortunate to have access to Fr. Tom whenever the need arises so please remember to pray for his health and welfare. I will be resuming the celebration of the Saturday evening Mass in Sheenboro effective this weekend.

5) MOVING SALE: 11 Rochon Street in Chapeau (home of Sheila Stacey) this Saturday, October 3^rd from 9 am to 4 pm.

6) CHAPEAU R.A.: Annual General Meeting on Wednesday October 21^st at 7 pm. This meeting will be held virtually this year due to the COVID19 virus on Zoom. Anyone who wants to join into the meeting can contact Karie Bissonnette (613-401-2850) and she will send you an invitation link to the meeting via your email address.

7) I’ve been giving a lot of thought to how we can still offer Catechetical Instruction for the youth of our parishes and have concluded that we need to take a page out of the new protocols followed by schools and offer it online. So, we require the assistance of a few Catechists who would be willing to work with me in putting the material they traditionally use online so that they can be distributed electronically to the students. These are uncharted waters for us but there is a wealth of material online that we can use to create our own program to meet our local needs. If you are at all interested in helping either to prepare or teach these video sessions with our Catholic children, please contact me as soon as possible so we can decide whether or not to proceed this way or simply take a year’s pause and wait for the pandemic to finally pass us by and in-person classes can resume as before. Thank you.

8) We’ve come up with a plan to help recoup some of the revenues we’ve lost with the cancellation of our parish suppers in Chapeau and St. Joseph’s. We’re calling it our ‘Staying Warm this Winter Initiative. We are going to ask every household on the Island to consider making a one-time donation to the parish equal to the amount they would have spent if we could have held them this year. (ex: $15 for each adult and $7.50 for each child under the age of 10 years of age living at home. Of course, people are always welcome to add more if they would normally have spent money on our various draws, silent auctions and games of chance too!) Every family that makes such a donation will have their name thrown into a drum for a chance to win a handmade quilt! We thank Sylvia Dungeon for donating one to St. Alphonsus and Ethel Jones for donating one for St. Joseph’s. The draws will be held in each respective Church on the last Sunday of November (29/11/2020) at the end of Mass. You can make your donation either through the parish blog at http://uppontiacparishes.wordpress.com, by Canada Post (P.O. Box 40, Chapeau, QC. J0X1M0) or by dropping it off during business hours at either of the two parish offices. Or, you can drop your donation in a separate envelope in the collection basket at any Sunday Mass up to 22 November 2020. PLEASE JUST DO NOT INCLUDE IT IN YOUR REGULAR SUNDAY OFFERING ENVELOPE as 10% of those funds go to our diocese. If it comes separately, we can keep all 100% to help in paying our winter heating bills for the rectory and both Churches. Thank you for your anticipated participation and support to help us get through these difficult and chilly financial times.

Fr. Tim

Scriptural Reflection of this Weekend’s Readings

Matthew 21:33-43
In this section of the gospel, which follows directly from last week’s parable of the two sons sent to tend their father’s vineyard, Jesus is again caught up in controversy with some of the Jewish leaders. He offers them a much more pointed story that the previous one. It begins like Isaiah with the planting and fencing of a vineyard and building a ‘tower’ as a winepress. Jesus then goes in a different direction from Isaiah, not focusing on the failures of the vines. New actors are the tenants to whom the owner gives the care of the vineyard. This agricultural practice would have been a recognisable situation at the time, and he seems to have had no trouble drawing the listeners into his story.

To work on the land at that time, arrangements were made for the sharing the proceeds of a successful harvest. So far, so expected. But when the owner sends his servants to collect his share, the tenants refuse to pay up and mistreat the servants. Such a case of injustice leads the listeners to feel indignant. Finally, the owner sends his son, whom he expects will be respected as his personal representative. Instead the son is thrown out and then killed. Their hope of inheriting seems odd by legal practices of our times, but there is historic evidence that then land left without heirs could be taken over by the tenants.

The listeners have been drawn into the story and pass the obvious judgment that the tenants should be dismissed, and the land given to others. Jesus does not directly tell the Jewish leaders of the time that they are the ‘wretches’ who have not been worthy of trust. Instead he quotes Psalm 118/119 which speaks of God choosing what people have rejected, something totally unexpected. (The ‘keystone’ is the one that holds the whole stone building together.) The prediction is that a new people will become God’s chosen community, based on Jesus as its foundation.

This is a more of an allegory than many of Jesus’ parables, with a precise meaning for the various details. The servants who come to the tenants are the prophets and teachers God has sent in the past – like Isaiah – to warn and counsel. ‘The son’ is a veiled indication that Jesus is God’s son who will be rejected and killed. Some commentators also see the reference to ‘outside the vineyard’ foreshadowing the crucifixion outside the city of Jerusalem.

At least some of the point was taken by those to whom the story was directed, for immediately following the story, there is the conclusion which is not read in the liturgy: ‘When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they saw that he was speaking about them, but when they tried to arrest him, they feared the crowds who considered him a prophet.’

The Christian reader already knows that eventually the enemies will find a way around the ‘crowds’ who supported Jesus and carry out the death foretold in the parable. But we also know God will bring the reversal of the Resurrection and the new community he predicted.

Allumettes Island, Bishop Guy Desrochers, Chapeau, COVID-19, Diocese of Pembroke, Fr. Tim Moyle, Parish Bulletin, Parishes of the Upper Pontiac, Sheenboro, St. Alphonsus Parish, St. Joseph's Parish, St. Joseph's QC, St. Paul the Hermit, Uppontiac

Parish Bulletin – 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time – 27 September 2020

September 26, 2020 Catholic Parishes of the Upper Pontiac Leave a comment

Parish Bulletin – 26^th Sunday in Ordinary Time – 27 September 2020

STREAMED MASSES:

TUESDAY:* 10 AM Rose Mary Gaudette McKay – Alice Roy

WEDNESDAY:** 10 AM Margaret Maloney – Lorne & Vince Agnesi

THURSDAY:* 10 AM Yvonne O’Brien – Sharon Gribbon

FRIDAY:*** 10 AM Carl Bowers – The Lapierre Family

SUNDAY: 10:30 AM Missa Pro Populo

*These Masses will be streamed online, but all parishioners are welcome to attend. All weekday Masses are celebrated in St. Joseph’s Church.

** Includes public recitation of the Rosary during Exposition

*** Includes public recitation of the Chaplet of Divine Mercy during Exposition

LIVE MASSES:

Sheenboro: (Saturday) 5 PM Teresa McDonald – Harold & Marilyn Morris

St. Joseph: (Sunday) 9 AM Lorette Reid – Mike & Lise Gallagher

Chapeau: (Sunday) 10:30 AM 1) M/M Carmen Keon – Lois & Barry Ferguson

2) Lucille Vaillancourt – Eric, Lorraine Demers & family

Please remember to call the Parish Offices to reserve a space at any live Masse for all three Churches as attendance is capped at 25 people (including priest). If you are sick or have a cough, please do not attend. Remember, the Bishop has suspended our obligation to attend a Sunday Mass until further notice so please stay home so as to not make others sick. Here is a list of common symptoms of the COVID19 virus.

Fever greater or equal to 37.8 Celsius,

new or worsening cough,
Shortness of breath.
Sore throat,
difficulty swallowing,
changes in sense of smell or taste,
nausea,
vomiting,
diarrhea,
abdominal pain,
runny nose or nasal congestion (different than usual allergy symptoms).

Atypical signs and symptoms of COVID-19 should be considered, particularly in children:

Unexplained fatigue,
malaise or muscle aches,
delirium (acutely altered mental status),
unexplained falls or functional decline,
exacerbation of chronic conditions, chills,
headaches,
croup,

If you have any of the above symptoms, please stay home! God will understand!!

Collections:

St. Paul the Hermit: $ 802.00

St. Joseph’s: $ 915.00

St. Alphonsus: $ 618.00

Total Online Donations to Date: $ 7,458.08

THANK YOU!

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

1) The video courses studying Jesus of Nazareth by Pope Benedict XVI (Tuesdays at 7 pm) or The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis (Fridays at 2 pm) begin this week. It’s not to later to register! Please email me at frtimmoylepp@gmail.com so that I can send you the link required to join in the conversation.

2) Message from Bishop Desrochers to the clergy and faithful in the Quebec sector of the diocese:

This afternoon, the Quebec Minister of Health advised people to avoid voluntarily all “social gatherings” as a means of stemming the spread of COVID-19.

I would personally encourage you to keep the churches open, unless there is some future directive to the contrary. The Mass and the other Sacraments are not “social gatherings” where people are sitting closely together and talking loudly. Hand-sanitizing, physical distancing, and the wearing of masks at least when physical distancing is a challenge have been effective in ensuring that no outbreak has occurred in Quebec as the result of a church service.

The dispensation from the Sunday obligation remains in effect. Please exercise your good judgment. If you feel sick, please stay home.

At this time, I repeat the urgent request that you receive Communion in the hand rather than on the tongue.

Let us pray that a safe and ethical vaccine will soon be found.

With the Lord’s help, we will get through this.

+ Guy Desorchers, C.Ss.R.

Bishop of Pembroke

Message de Mgr Desrochers aux membres du clergé et aux fidèles du secteur québécois du diocèse :

Cet après-midi, le ministre de la Santé du Québec a conseillé aux gens d’éviter volontairement tout « rassemblement social » afin d’endiguer la propagation de la COVID-19.

Je vous encourage personnellement à garder les églises ouvertes, à moins d’une directive contraire à l’avenir. La messe et les autres sacrements ne sont pas des « rassemblements sociaux » où les gens sont assis ensemble et parlent fort. La désinfection des mains, la distanciation physique et le port de masques, au moins lorsque la distanciation physique est un défi, ont permis de s’assurer qu’aucune éclosion ne s’est produite au Québec à la suite d’un service religieux.

La dispense de l’obligation du dimanche reste en vigueur. Veuillez exercer votre bon jugement. Si vous vous sentez malade, veuillez rester à la maison.

Je vous réitère la demande urgente que vous receviez la communion dans la main plutôt que sur la langue.

Prions pour qu’un vaccin sûr et éthique soit bientôt trouvé.

Avec l’aide du Seigneur, nous nous en sortirons.

+ Guy Desorchers, c.ss.r.

Évêque de Pembroke

3) The following is a report explaining the repair work that has been done of St. Paul the Hermit Church in Sheenboro. Our deepest thanks and gratitude to Martin Flood for generating this report as well as overseeing the entire project from start to finish. His efforts saved our parish literally tens of thousands of dollars!

St Paul the Hermit Church Repairs

September 2020

Summary

Total Expenditures to 20/09/2020 $28,968.79

Additional to be expended (approximately) 1,000.00

_________

Total Cost of Repairs $29,968.79

Total Funds Collected to 20/09/2020 $24,662.35

Total Funds Still Needed to be raised $5,306.44

Details of Expenditure

Re-glaze and paint exterior window frames $ 2,056.39

Repair & paint ceiling & ductwork on ceiling $3,736.69

Repair and paint wall inside front entrance.

Outside updating & Repairs $4,354.50

Purchase and installation of new fire door

Purchase and installation of ice guard on roof to protect

electrical stack

Repair of framing and soffit under electrical stack

Repair of soffit at front door

Install aluminum cladding on one outside window frame to

Prevent further rot

Rebuild retaining wall & installation of outside stairs $10,025.84

Purchase of outside stairs and railing $ 1,958.65

Repointing of exterior walls of Church $ 6,837.56

Repointing yet to be completed $ 1,000.00

________

Total $29,968.79

Funds Collected to September 20, 2020

Toonie Collection $ 8,662.35

Special Donations in memory Hayes Estate $10,000.00

Teresa & Elmer Hayes and parents

Parish Wood Lot $ 6,000.00

($4,800.00 sold and paid plus $1,200.00

Cut and waiting on landing as of June 2, 2020) _________

Total $24,662.35

Toonie Collection as Reported in Parish Bulletin

October 6, 2019 $ 122.00

October 15, 2019 $ 143.00

October 20, 2019 $ 158.00

October 27, 2019 $ 1,101.00

November 3, 2019 $ 20.00

November 10, 2019 $ 93.45

November 24, 2019 $ 94.00

December 1, 2019 $ 119.00

December 8, 2019 $ 74.00

December 15, 2019 $ 235.00

December 22 $ 87.90

January 12, 2020 $ 5,798.00

January 19, 2020 $ 61.15

February 2, 2020 $ 69.10

February 9, 2020 $ 70.00

February 16, 2020 $ 91.00

February 23, 2020 $ 77.30

March 1, 2020 $ 70.70

March 13, 2020 $ 87.75

March 20, 2020 $ 90.00

Total $8,662.35

4) We will be publishing a financial report for all three parishes in a couple of weeks. Watch for it here in the bulletin as well as an individual post on the parish blog. A couple will also be put up on the bulletin board of each church. Unfortunately, we cannot print out copies for people to take home from church as we still don’t have permission in Québec to distribute paper items in Church due to the COVID restrictions.

5) I’ve been giving a lot of thought to how we can still offer Catechetical Instruction for the youth of our parishes and have concluded that we need to take a page out of the new protocols followed by schools and offer it online. So, we require the assistance of a few Catechists who would be willing to work with me in putting the material they traditionally use online so that they can be distributed electronically to the students. These are uncharted waters for us but there is a wealth of material online that we can use to create our own program to meet our local needs. If you are at all interested in helping either to prepare or teach these video sessions with our Catholic children, please contact me as soon as possible so we can decide whether or not to proceed this way or simply take a year’s pause and wait for the pandemic to finally pass us by and in-person classes can resume as before. Thank you.

Scriptural Reflection of this Weekend’s Readings

“What do you think? A man had two sons; he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ He answered, ‘I will not’; but later he changed his mind and went. The father went to the second and said the same; and he answered, ‘I am on my way, sir’; but he did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him; and even after you saw it, you did not change your minds and believe him.

Introductory Prayer: In you, Lord, I find all my joy and happiness. How could I offend you by chasing after fleeting success and lifeless trophies? I believe in you because you are truth itself. I hope in you because you are faithful to your promises. I love you because you have loved me first. I am a sinner; nevertheless, you have given me so many blessings. I humbly thank you.

Petition: Lord, help me to follow you, regardless of circumstances and times.

1. A Higher Authority: Jesus is in Jerusalem, exchanging words with the Pharisees. They have tried to trap our Lord by asking him where he gets his authority. Our Lord, in his wit, turns it back to them. He asks them a question which brings them to accuse themselves of lacking fidelity to God. Jesus is looking for faith. Faith is the attitude that searches for authority in life higher than one’s own. When God calls us to live his will, we should in faith accept it and live it. Even if it seems inconvenient or uncomfortable to us, we should not look for ways to live outside it. It is very important that we bypass inauthentic outlooks on life.

2. Christ’s Mentality: If we are to understand this Gospel passage, we must make an effort to rid ourselves of the “modern mentality.” In the modern mentality, we do whatever we please as long as we don’t step on anyone else’s toes. Jesus proposes a different mentality. Jesus suggests that we not only listen to but also do the will of God in our lives. Neither son in this parable was perfectly in tune with Christ’s suggestion, but at least one of the sons came to his senses and repented for his stubbornness of heart.

3. An Apparent Defeat: Many of us reading through this scene would congratulate Jesus for putting down his enemies and winning the debate. We would toss confetti at the Lord for his wisdom and knowledge in getting out of this predicament. This, though, wasn’t the case. Jesus felt it as a loss. He did not care about appearing better than the others. He left this encounter saddened because he truly desired that the Pharisees believe him and accept his saving message. We ought not to try to shine over our foes. Instead, we should work hard to help them see the light.

Conversation with Christ: With even a little of your charity, I could certainly be a son of two “yeses.” Help me to say “yes” when you ask me something and also to do it immediately – without hesitating for even a moment. Lord, may your will be done!

Resolution: This week, when the alarm goes off early to start my day, I will make an effort to be diligent and punctual for love of God’s will.

Allumettes Island, Chapeau, COVID-19, Diocese of Pembroke, Fr. Tim Moyle, Parish Bulletin, Parishes of the Upper Pontiac, Publication of Marriage Banns, Sheenboro, St. Alphonsus Parish, St. Joseph's Parish, St. Joseph's QC, St. Paul the Hermit, Uppontiac

Parish Bulletin – 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time – 20 September 2020

September 19, 2020 Catholic Parishes of the Upper Pontiac Leave a comment

Parish Bulletin – 25^th Sunday in Ordinary Time – 20 September 2020

STREAMED MASSES:

TUESDAY:* 10 AM NONE

WEDNESDAY:** 10 AM In Thanksgiving to God & St. Teresa for a Favor Received

THURSDAY:* 10 AM Loella Meehan – Norman & Heather Lempke

FRIDAY:*** 10 AM Mary Lampkin – Raymond Morris

SUNDAY: 10:30 AM Missa Pro Populo (Note time change)

*These Masses will be streamed online, but all parishioners are welcome to attend. All weekday Masses are celebrated in St. Joseph’s Church. Each Mass is followed by Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament with Benediction at 10:55 am.

** Includes public recitation of the Rosary during Exposition

*** Includes public recitation of the Chaplet of Divine Mercy during Exposition

LIVE MASSES:

Chapeau: (Tuesday) 11 AM Funeral Mass for Cathie Fleury Davidson

Sheenboro: (Saturday) 5 PM Rhea Vaillancourt – Betty Morris & Family

St. Joseph: (Sunday) 9 AM Merrill Allard – Jerry & Louise Gallagher

Chapeau: (Sunday) 10:30 AM 1) Deceased Family Members of the Mercier Family – Art & Frances Fleming

2) Theresa & Florian Allard, Laurette & Rene Picotte – Annette & Roger Allard & Family

Please remember to call the Parish Offices to reserve a space at the live Masses for St. Joseph’s and Sheenboro only as attendance is capped below the new government limits due to the constrictions of social distancing and the size of the buildings. We will be able to accommodate 150 people in the Chapeau Church. If you are sick or have a cough, please do not attend. Remember, the Bishop has suspended our obligation to attend a Sunday Mass until further notice so please stay home so as to not make others sick.

Collections:

St. Paul the Hermit: $ 260.00

St. Joseph’s: $ 870.00

St. Alphonsus: $ 995.00

Total Online Donations to Date: $ 7,331.08

THANK YOU!

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

2) Did you know that there have now been eight new cases of COVID infection in the Pembroke region over the past seven days with an outbreak being declared at Fellows High School? Please be certain to practice all of the requirements as requested by our Public Health officials (hand hygiene, masks, limiting time in the public square, avoiding large crowds, etc.) both for your own safety and for the safety of those you love. Don’t let your guard down now. If we fail to stop this most recent rise in the virus’ spread in our area, we will face another government ordered shut down of our parishes once again. Let’s all do our part to ensure this doesn’t happen again.

3) Congratulations to Beau Fredrick Paul Morin, infant son of Ali Chalmers and Eric Morin who was baptised in St. Alphonsus Parish last Sunday.

4) Please remember to pray for the repose of the soul of Cathie Fleury Davidson whose funeral will be celebrated in Chapeau this week. Cathie is the wife of Sheldon Davidson and mother to Kyle Davidson. She is the sister to Mariette Sallafranque Fleury, Wayne Fleury, Kevin Fleury, Carl Fleury, and Brenda Fleury Wescome.

5) Our weekend Streamed Mass from St. Joseph’s is now available on both Facebook (on my timeline and the Catholic Parishes of the Upper Pontiac Page) and on my YouTube channel (Search Fr. Tim Moyle to find the channel on YouTube) as of 10:30 am on Sunday morning. Our continued thanks to Louis Schryer for his help in providing this service for all our shut-ins.

Scriptural Reflection of this Weekend’s Readings

Encountering Christ:

1. Gratitude: In this passage the workers became jealous when they saw that others who worked a shorter shift received the same daily wage. This passage is an invitation to grow in personal gratitude for the work we are called to do. It is a blessing to have a job, to be chosen for a task and to contribute to a cause. Work is gratifying, even though it can also be tiring and hard. In the words of St. John Paul II, “Work is a good thing for man–a good thing for his humanity–because through work man not only transforms nature, adapting it to his own needs, but he also achieves fulfilment as a human being and indeed, in a sense, becomes “more a human being”(Laborem Exercens). Let us thank God for the work he places in our hands and accomplish it to the best of our ability for his glory.

2. Freedom from Comparison: Our hearts can easily move from gratitude to indignance when someone receives more than we judge is his or her due. Let’s look at the situation of the latecomer to the vineyard. Did he spend anxious hours looking for work before he was hired? Was he passed by earlier because he was older, handicapped, or dealing with a sick child at home? We can never fully comprehend the plight of another. In addition to personal gratitude for our own situation, we are called to have empathy for others. Comparing ourselves to others blocks our ability to see things from their perspective—the basic requirement for empathy.

3. Rejoicing in Another’s Good Fortune: Blessed be God, who distributes gifts according to a purpose (see Romans 12:6). We can always trust God’s good judgment. Only when we are firmly grounded in the knowledge that we are loved by God can we truly rejoice at another’s good fortune. If we labor all day as faithful disciples in his vineyard, blessed be God. If we find our meaning and purpose in God later in life, blessed be God. Either way, our reward for a job well done far surpasses our human efforts. We will never deserve heaven. It is God’s free gift given to those who know, love, and serve him in this world.

Conversing with Christ: Dear Lord, I am grateful for the ability to work in your vineyard, spreading the good news to the souls you place in my life. Please help me to grow in compassion and empathy for those in need of conversion. I want to be your emissary in this suffering world and reach out to meet the spiritual, emotional, and physical needs of others.

Resolution: Lord, today by your grace I will practice gratitude for the work you have given me to do.

For Further Reflection: Laborem Exercens, by St. Pope John Paul II.

Parish Bulletin – 24th Sunday In Ordinary Time – 13 September 2020

September 12, 2020 Catholic Parishes of the Upper Pontiac Leave a comment

Parish Bulletin – 24^th Sunday in Ordinary Time – 13 September 2020

STREAMED MASSES:

TUESDAY:* 10 AM Raymond Gleason – Sheila Greenough

WEDNESDAY:** 10 AM Florian Allard – Michel and Roma

THURSDAY:* 10 AM Brandon Perrault – Earl Lepine

FRIDAY:*** 10 AM Mary, Dave, Judin & Family – Gen Keogh

SUNDAY: 9 AM Missa Pro Populo

** Public recitation of the Rosary during Exposition

*** Public recitation of the Chaplet of Divine Mercy during Exposition

LIVE MASSES:

Sheenboro: (Sat) 5 PM Iona Morris – Teresa Downey

St. Joseph: (Sun) 9 AM Dean & Diane – Sharon & Helen Fitzpatrick

Chapeau: (Sun) 10:30 AM 1) Tom & Mary Carroll – The Family

2) Alvin Lepine – Andy & Bev Fleury

Collections:

St. Paul the Hermit: $ 864.00

St. Joseph’s: $1020.00

St. Alphonsus: $ 955.00

Total Online Donations to date: $ 7,138.58

THANK YOU!

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

1) If you are interested in participating in the video courses studying Jesus of Nazareth by Pope Benedict XVI (Tuesdays at 7 pm) or The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis (Fridays at 2 pm), please email me at frtimmoylepp@gmail.com to register. This is necessary so that I can send you the link required to join in the conversation.

2) Did you know that there have been four new cases of COVID infection in the Pembroke region over the past seven days? Please be certain to practice all of the requirements as requested by our Public Health officials (hand hygiene, masks, limiting time in the public square, avoiding large crowds, etc.) both for your own safety and for the safety of those you love. Our region was basically spared from the virus’ first wave across our country. We won’t be so fortunate if we let down our guard now. If we fail to stop this most recent rise in the virus’ spread in our area, we may face another government ordered shut down of our parishes once again. Let’s all do our part to ensure this doesn’t happen again.

3) Congratulations to Theo Michael Donnelly, infant son of Stephanie Gagnon and Jeremy Donnelly who was baptised in St. Alphonsus Parish last Sunday.

4) We continue to battle with our internet provider to address the issues that have been hampering our live streamed Masses. Your patience is appreciated. If we cannot soon rectify the situation, we will explore other options and services that might better suit our needs. If you too are having issues with the service you are receiving from Reseau Picanoc, especially since their sale to Maskatel, I encourage you to contact both Andre Fortin (MNA) and Will Amos (MP) and register your complaint with them. We deserve far better service than we have been receiving and they are the two individuals who can be of the most assistance in obtaining it in our corner of the province.

5) Our sympathies and consolations go out to Pauline Lepine Godin (our parish secretary) and her children upon the death of her brother-in-law, Murray Godin this past week. Please keep Murray’s soul and the consolation of those who loved him in life in your prayers.

Scriptural Reflection of this Weekend’s Readings: Encountering Christ:

1. A Priceless Debt: We could never pay back the debt on our own for our sins. Some sin can cost us our very lives, “for the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). This is why God the Father sent his beloved Son to ransom us. Christ literally paid the price for our sins with his own blood: “…you do not belong to yourself. You have been purchased at a price” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). None of us are exempt from the need for God’s mercy: “…all have sinned and are deprived of the glory of God. They are justified freely by his grace through the redemption in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as an expiation, through faith, by his blood” (Romans 3:23-25). How cognizant are we of the price Christ paid for our sinfulness?

2. Justice and Mercy: Because God is love, the Justice we deserve is overcome by his mercy. Pope Francis said, “Justice and mercy in God are one thing. Mercy is just, and Justice is merciful.” There at the cross, justice and mercy met in the person and sacrifice of Christ. Jesus endured the punishment we deserve and paid every ounce of the penalties we deserve to pay. Because we all have sinned, we have therefore received the gift of God’s mercy; we are called to act accordingly by being merciful and compassionate, like God (see Psalms 103).

3. Choose to Forgive: When we forgive others, even and especially when they cannot make amends for how they have hurt us, we are acting in imitation of Christ: “[And] be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving one another as God has forgiven you in Christ” (Ephesians 4:32). We must choose to forgive whoever has wronged us. Forgiveness is not a feeling; it is an act of the will. What happens when we do not choose to forgive? We run the risk that our own sins will be held against us. Our first reading for Mass today considers this point: “Forgive your neighbor the wrong done to you; then when you pray, your own sins will be forgiven. Does anyone nourish anger against another and expect healing from the Lord? Can one refuse mercy to a sinner like oneself, yet seek pardon for one’s own sins?” (Sirach 28:2-4).

Conversing with Christ: Dear Jesus, thank you for paying the price for my sins with your own precious body and blood. Help me to remember that I belong to you, and to live with gratitude for that fact. Help me to choose to forgive others, as you have forgiven me.

Resolution: Lord, today, by your grace, I will choose to forgive someone for a wrong they have done to me. I will pray and ask God to help me to forgive that person fully and with my whole heart.

For Further Reflection: Read St. Thomas Aquinas’s writing on justice and mercy here: Summa Theologiae I, q. 21. Or, read all of Psalm 103, meditating on God’s kindness, mercy, and compassion.

Allumettes Island, Chapeau, COVID-19, COVID-19 Church reopening, Diocese of Pembroke, Fr. Tim Moyle, Parish Bulletin, parish suppers, Parishes of the Upper Pontiac, Sheenboro, St. Alphonsus Parish, St. Joseph's Parish, St. Joseph's QC, St. Paul the Hermit, Uppontiac

Parish Bulletin – 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time – 06/09/2020

September 5, 2020 Catholic Parishes of the Upper Pontiac Leave a comment

Parish Bulletin – 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time – 6 September 2020

Streamed Masses:

Tuesday 10 am. No Mass due to the ordination of Fr. Michael Coyne

Wednesday 10 am. Lorna Brazeau – The Gaudette Family

Thursday 10 am. No Mass due to Council of Priests Meeting

Friday 10 am. Bernice Battis – Gene & Eddie O’Brien Family

Sunday 9 am. Missa Pro Populo

Live Masses:

Sheenboro Saturday 5 pm. Carmelita Gleason – Jimmy and Elie Sullivan

St. Joseph’s Sunday 9 am. Loretta Reid – Brian Gallagher

Chapeau Sunday. 10:30 am. (1) Joan Turner – Gail, Cecil & family

(2) Rhea Vaillancourt – Jerry & Marie Paule Muldoon

Collections from Last Weekend:

Sheenboro: $220.00

St. Joseph’s: $720.00

Chapeau: $957.00

THANK YOU!

—————————————————————

Announcements:

Rev. Mr. Michael Coyne is to be ordained a priest of our Pembroke Diocese this week on Tuesday in St. Francis Xavier Church in Renfrew. I ask you to join your prayers with those of the Pembroke priests and Bishop that Fr. Mike’s priestly vocation will be fruitful and holy for many years to come. Ad multos annos Fr. Mike!

Last Sunday two new members where added to our number with the baptisms of Rhea Adele Demers and Noah Bechamp. Rhea is the daughter of Jennie Mainville and Jason Demers. Noah is the son of Jessica Lepine and Nicholas Bechamp.

Are you interested in registering for either of the two Zoom projects I’ve announced during which we will study the first volume of Pope Benedict’s series, ‘Jesus of Nazareth’ on one day and C.S. Lewis’ ‘The Screwtape Letters’ on another? If you are, please send me an email at frtimmoylepp@gmail.com so that I can forward you the required link to participate in the conversation in real time on zoom.com as well as instructions on how to join in with your own questions and insights. The Jesus study will give us both valuable insights into how to interpret sacred scripture from one of the greatest theologians of our time as well as improve our understanding of the truths taught to us by Christ through the four Evangelists and St. Paul while Lewis’ Screwtape book will help one to learn about the nature of good and evil as lived out in our daily lives. Through the use of a published study guide for each, each course will probably run for about 8-12 weeks, depending upon how quickly we can move as a group in reading both works. Hopefully we will be able to begin both studies during the week of September 21st with the Jesus study beginning on Tuesday 22/09/2020 at 7 pm and Screwtape running on Fridays at 2 pm beginning on 25/09/2020. All are welcome to participate so please share the word to anyone you think might benefit from joining in and learning more about our Catholic faith.

Sadly, during these COVID19 times, it is impossible for us to host our annual parish suppers in either Chapeau or St. Joseph’s this year. This is a problem for both parishes because we depend on the funds raised by those events to pay for the heating and lighting those churches throughout the winter months along with helping to pay for other major expenses like insurance bills etc. Bottom line: We need to come up with some way to replace these lost dollars so that we can keep functioning. So I am asking you to use your creative instincts and start proposing other ways in which we can raise the money we need to keep functioning on a full-time basis in the years to come. Feel free to email me (my address is listed in the previous announcement) or speak to me on the phone or in person if you have any suggestions as to how we can best solve this problem. Other parishes in the northern corners of our diocese organize and annual ‘Door to Door’ collection campaigns where volunteers go out to ask for funds from those who don’t normally attend to our services. In the short run such programs have proven quite effective in raising funds, but they have proven insufficient over the long-term as people get tired of being asked for funds year after year if the church is not an important part of their life. If we could assume that once the COVID crisis is past (hopefully sooner rather than later) that people will return the full practice of their faith as before the virus )with a concomitant rise in collection donations), a short-term boost in finances might be all that we will require. Alas though, I fear that many people might have become used to having their Sundays free to themselves and their own devices and might not resume the discipline of regular Mass attendance once the danger from the virus is vanquished. So a short-term solution, while helping us in this immediate crisis, might only delay an inevitable point in the future where we regularly run short in our capacity to pay our bills. So it is with a degree of pastoral urgency that I think we need to address this issue before it becomes an unsolvable dilemma for we Catholics of the Upper Pontiac. If you are interested in studying this problem together, please contact me so that I can coordinate our efforts in finding a solution to this funding problem. Thank you.

Scriptural Reflection on this Weekend’s Readings:

Jesus said to his disciples: “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have won over your brother. If he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, so that ‘every fact may be established on the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ If he refuses to listen to them, tell the church. If he refuses to listen even to the church, then treat him as you would a Gentile or a tax collector. Amen, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again, amen, I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything for which they are to pray, it shall be granted to them by my heavenly Father. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”
Introductory Prayer: Lord Jesus, I come to you once again in prayer. Even though I cannot see you, my faith tells me that you are present. You are ready to listen and desire to speak with me. Your presence gives me hope because you are the all-powerful God, the creator of heaven and earth. You are the source of all that is good in my life. Nothing happens to me without your knowing and permitting it. My hope leads me to love. I want to be one with you in mind and heart, identifying myself with your will and your standards.
Lord, send your Spirit upon me to better comprehend your words. You tell me that deciding to follow you on the way of the cross is an arduous task. Give me the hope and confidence that you will be there with me, strengthening my weak will. Make love the motor that moves me to renounce my disordered attachment to creatures, even the most precious ones, and especially to forget about myself in order to serve you, my supreme Love.
Petition: Strengthen me with your grace, Lord, help me to grow in my love for the Church and for souls..
1. Go to the One Who Sins Against You: Today’s text is part of a larger discussion that includes the preceding parable of the lost sheep. God wants us to love as he loves, even loving those whose sins may have directly harmed us in some way. This is hard. Sometimes we are not particularly forgiving and merciful towards those who sin. We can easily look down on them and imagine that we are much better than they, or we can become impatient that they are not like us. When someone sins against us, we have to look beyond our pain. Indeed, we have to embrace that pain in the redemptive way that Christ shows on the cross and in the Eucharist. We should not write that person off as lost, turn our back, or walk away. We should go to the one who sins against us and seek in love to bring him home to the Father’s love.
2. Reconcile Them to the Church: God’s love for the fallen sinner should not only be evident in our lives but should also live in our local churches. Is our parish open and inviting to sinners, or has it become the last refuge for the saved? Does our church go and seek that lost sinner, or do we expect the lost sheep to find its own way to us? God wants us to go to the lost sinner and seek to bring him home to the Church. This means that we need to live as missionaries, as evangelists going out to the street corners and public squares, wherever the lost sinners may be. God loves them and wants to reach them through us. We are his hands and his feet; he wants to speak his words through our lips. How does God want me personally to become involved in this mission of the Church in my local parish?
3. I Am in the Midst of You: As we go out to fulfill Christ’s mission toward lost sheep, he goes with us. We are not alone. He promised his disciples that he would be with them to the ends of the earth. This should give us confidence. Jesus is with us, and he is going to help transmit his love for some lost soul through us, through our words and gestures. He will give us the strength to carry on his work. There is also some benefit when we gather together with others in the Church as well. Jesus is present in the Church, where two or three are gathered in his name. We are with him to the degree we are united to the Church. As we become committed and involved in our local parish, we are closer to Jesus.
Conversation with Christ: Lord, move me to conquer my fears and complexes, my laziness and indifference, and to become engaged in the Church’s mission to save souls. Don’t let me blindly walk by the ones you love, the ones you shed your blood to redeem. Don’t let my heart harden against them, but help me to go to them with your love and forgiveness.
Resolution: I will find a way to become engaged in the Church’s mission of evangelization.

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Parish BUlletin – 22nd Sunday in Ordinary times – 30/08/2020

August 29, 2020 Catholic Parishes of the Upper Pontiac Leave a comment

PARISH BULLETIN: 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time – 30/08/2020

Streamed Masses:

Monday: 10 am. NO MASS

Tuesday: 10 am. Brandon Perrault – Gene & Eddy O’Brien

Wednesday: 10 am. In Thanksgiving to God/St. Theresa – Marilyn

Thursday: 10 am. Mary Lapierre – Stanley, Diane, Sheen, & Christian McGuire

Friday: 10 am. NO MASS

Sunday: 9 am. Missa Pro Populo

Live Masses:

Chapeau: Friday at 11 am: Funeral for Mr. Gilles Groulx

Sheenboro Saturday 5 pm. John (Jack) Jennings – Janet & Frank Retty

St. Joseph Sunday 9 am. Merrill Allard – Leonard & Ate Duff & family

Chapeau Sunday 10:30 am. Lucille Vaillancourt – St. Alphonsus CWL

Rhea Vaillancourt – St. Alphonsus Choir

Collections:

Sheenboro: $ 745 St. Joseph: $860 Chapeau: $535

Thank you / Merci

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

This week will be the last week of my summer vacation so I will stream weekday Masses from my cottage at 10 am on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Because of the funeral scheduled for Friday morning in Chapeau (for Gilles Groulx, recently deceased companion of Sheila Stacey) there won’t be a streamed Mass on that day.
Well, last Sunday we live streamed our Mass from St. Joseph’s via YouTube and Facebook. Unfortunately, the quality of the internet stream has been problematic lately as Picanoc seems to having some difficulty. If you have trouble viewing at 9 am. The complete video will be available for uninterrupted viewing at 10:30 am on YouTube. Just search for my channel (Fr. Tim Moyle) and you will find the Mass there. Hopefully Picanoc will soon resolve their service issues and everyone will be able to watch in real time asap.
The funeral services for Gilles Groulx will be celebrated in Chapeau on Friday September 4th at 11 am. Again, we extend our sympathy and prayers to his family and friends.
It is my intention to continue to livestream weekday Masses exclusively on Facebook from St. Joseph’s Church rather than resuming their celebration in Chapeau. This will permit us to maintain social distancing for those who want to attend in person while simultaneously serving those who prefer not to venture into a public gathering. Each Mass will be integrated into a Holy Hour with Eucharistic Adoration, Benediction, the recitation of the Rosary (Wednesdays), and the Divine Mercy Chaplet (Thursdays).
We will also be starting two online course offerings via zoom.com that will be offered on Tuesday evenings (7 pm) and Friday afternoons (2 pm) beginning on the week of September 14th. On Tuesdays we will study ‘Jesus of Nazareth’ by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger and on Fridays we will begin a journey through ‘The Screwtape Letters’ by C.S. Lewis. Please email me with your interest in registering in either program and I will forward you a link which will permit you to participate online at the appointed time.
Here are the MAXIMUM numbers of parishioners who can attend in each of our churches to comply with the requirements of social distancing. Chapeau: 150; St. Joseph’s: 65; Sheenboro: 50. If people from the same household sit together in the same pew, it will sometimes be possible to accommodate a few more.

SHEENBORO CHURCH NEWS:

Please be advised that the Church will be open for people to enter on Saturday afternoon at 4:40 pm. We ask everyone to please wait until then before entering as it gives time for the screeners who need to take temperatures and ensure other required procedures are completed to get everything in place.

We are looking for two or three more volunteers to step forward to help with wiping down the pews after each Mass. Please contact either Joann McCann, Rosemary Brisson, or Janet Retty if you are willing and able to assist with this necessary work if we want to keep our building open during these pandemic times.

ST. PAUL THE HERMIT MEMORIAL WALL: The Celtic cross at the back of the church forms part of the memorial wall to commemorate donations made in memoriam and proceeds have and will continue to pay for the church repairs. Beautiful individual wood shamrocks will be placed around the Celtic cross and each shamrock will have the name of the person honoured by the donation. If you made a donation in the past year towards the capital repairs, a member of parish council will contact to confirm the name of the person that you are honouring. There is no deadline for your donation as we can continue to add shamrocks to our memorial wall. We are hoping for a minimum donation of $250 per shamrock. If you have any questions, please contact Rosemary Flood at 613 433-4891.

ST. JOSEPH’S NEWS:

It seems almost criminal to use this word, but we are looking for someone who would be interested in shovelling the snow off of the walks for this coming winter. The walks and doorways must be cleared of snow and sanded at least one hour before Masses. Please contact Fr. Tim if you are interested in this position. We are willing to pay up to $20 per hour to have this work done. Thank you.

GOSPEL REFLECTION:

Jesus as a TRUE FRIEND

Jesus Christ loves us enough to tell us the truth about ourselves.

Those who selfishly use other people instead of seeking their authentic good rarely tell them hard truths.
It’s too risky.
Pointing out their failings may result in offense and rejection – like the parents who are afraid to discipline their child.
But love will take the risk, because love always goes after what is best for the beloved.
A true friend will tell you when you’re wrong, so that you can straighten out.

Christ is a true friend, and he shows it in this conversation with St Peter.

Jesus just finished elevating Peter to a position of prominence in the coming Kingdom (the passage we just listened to follows immediately the one where Christ dubs him the “rock” upon which he will build his Church).
But then Jesus makes the shocking announcement that he is going to suffer greatly and be killed – he predicts his passion.
Peter, puffed up with naïve self-importance, takes the Lord aside and disagrees with him.
That’s when Christ comes down hard on him – very hard, calling him “Satan” and telling him that he is thinking like a pagan, not like a Christian.
Only a true friend would do something like that.

Not everyone liked Jesus.

Many Pharisees and Scribes positively hated him and had been plotting his death almost since the beginning of his ministry.
When Jesus made his speech about the importance of the Eucharist (John 6), of eating his flesh and drinking his blood in order to receive eternal life, most of his followers walked out on him.
Here too, by being so firm with Peter, he was risking a walk-out.
But in every case, Jesus cared less about personal popularity than about the saving truth.

He is a friend we can count on.

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