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July 26, 2023
In this summer edition of Good News notes, we are featuring two original resources that are now available. Both were created by the Pastoral Services Team and are free for your use. You can access them directly from this email by clicking on the images. If you have any questions about them, please feel free to reach out.
The Season of Creation is the annual Christian celebration to pray and respond together to the cry of Creation: the ecumenical family around the world unites to listen and care for our common home.
The Season “Celebration” begins 1 September, the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, and ends 4 October, the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of ecology.
This year we will unite around the theme, “Let Justice and Peace Flow.”
The resource is a summary that will assist you as you incorporate the message in your ministry during the timeframe. It includes:
- Notes from Pope Francis' message for the Care of Creation
- Connections in the Liturgical Calendar during the Season of Creation
- Practical Ideas to Respond to the Call of the Earth and of the Poor
Pastoral Services has developed a resource to use as a prayerful reflection to discern how we may implement this approach in our own ministry. It is an excellent way to open a meeting. It could be used as a staff, parish council, ministry meeting, or small group.
In the resource, the Road to Emmaus Story is broken into 6 steps that Jesus takes in His accompaniment of the disciples. They are:
- Encounter
- Asking Questions
- Conversing
- Staying With
- Breaking Bread
- Responding
In the reflection, participants are encouraged to look at Jesus' example and find ways it may be practical in their own lives and ministries.
Along with the one page reflection, there is a document to assist you in using it which can be found here.
- Hat Trick: Eliminating Confusion Around the Many Roles of a Leader - Amazing Parish Webinar Recording
- Pope: Without the Holy Spirit, Evangelization is Empty Advertising - Detroit Catholic
- Leadership Books for Leaders - Tilma
- Secret Ingredients of Great Hospitality - Will Guidara Ted Talk
- Music That Stirs the Soul - Rebuilt Webinar Recording
- Five Books to Read for Making and Breaking Habits - Blessed is She
Important Dates in August 2023
Click the links for more information about the saint or occasion.
4 - St. John Vianney
6 - Transfiguration of the Lord
8 - St. Dominic
10 - St. Lawrence
11 - St. Clare of Assisi
14 - St. Maximilian Kolbe
15 - Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
21 - St. Pius X
22 - Queenship of Mary
24 - St. Bartholomew
27 - St. Monica
28 - St. Augustine
29 - Passion of St. John the Baptist
Joe Bezzina - Director of Pastoral Services
Claire Bondy - Director of Ongoing Formation & Lay Ecclesial Ministry
Chrisandra Skipper - Pastoral Services Coordinator
Christine Coyle - Family and Youth Ministry Specialist
Olwyn Supeene - Administrative Assistant
Outreach Ministries:Refugee Office
Migrant Worker Ministry
Ministry for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing
Holy Family Retreat House
If you have a Good News Story from your Family of Parishes, please share it with us! We have an online form available for staff, volunteers, and parishioners to share the Good News happening in their communities!
Diocese of London Pastoral Services:
1070 Waterloo St
London, ON N6A 3Y2
Canada
