Thank you to all who attended our initial Christmas Bazaar meeting on 16 July. So many imaginative ideas were shared that evening as well as discussions on how to build upon the success of the Christmas Bazaar program. Thank you to all who attended and thanks to all our parishioners for your donations and support for this annual parish event. Please be watchful for additional news about the Bazaar as well as opportunities for volunteering at the Bazaar. The Bazaar will be conducted at Nelson Hall of the Notre Dame de Lourdes campus from Friday 14 November through Saturday 15 November. New this year will be the addition of a third day for the Bazaar – Sunday 16 November – our traditional Coffee Sunday on the third Sunday of the month, after the 9:30 am Mass, will be conducted on that date at Nelson Hall.
Speaking about being watchful, information about the annual Parish census and Block Collection will be sent to you by the end of summer. The annual Block Collection enables the parish to address facilities upgrades and improvements, thank you for your generosity. Census information assists us with our awareness of your needs as well as having the correct information about you and your household. This information includes correct e-mail addresses and cell phone numbers for you and for every adult member of your household. Sacramental information about you, your spouse, and your children also helps to keep our records accurate.
Please be attentive that your adult children, who are residing in your household, are receiving the Sunday envelope package. Also, your adult children who have moved but still consider themselves to be members of our parish, should register with the parish so they too can receive pertinent parish information. Please feel free to contact the parish office should you wish to check your registration information or to make any necessary adjustments. Also, please know that online parish registration is available on our parish website.
Sponsor eligibility letters to be a godparent are based on current parish registration. These letters serve as our confirmation to another requesting parish community that the intended sponsor resides within our parish and practices their faith through consistent Sunday Mass attendance. A sponsor letter is not a declaration of your reception of Sacraments. The eligibility letter assumes that the person being asked to serve as a godparent, or a Confirmation sponsor is a fully initiated Latin Rite Catholic. Full initiation means that you have been baptized, received First Eucharist, and have been confirmed. While the parish where you currently reside may be the parish where you received your Sacraments of Initiation (Baptism, Holy Eucharist, Confirmation), the sponsor letter is a testament of your current spirituality and practice of the faith that you were chosen to share with the child you will sponsor and accompany on their faith journey.
We are at the mid-point of our Summer Benediction Series – Harbors of Hope. These gatherings at Our Lady of Peace Church each Tuesday at 6:30 pm throughout the summer focus on the theme of the Church’s Jubilee of Hope through the eyes of the Communion of Saints – the witnesses of Hope. Our series so far has explored the vision of Hope with the Blessed Mother, St. Junipero Serra, St. Bonaventure, and St. Mary Magdalene. This week will feature Jesus’ friends from Bethany – Saints Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, as well as Bethany as the Place of Hope. Future presentations are:
5 August – The Transfiguration: The Promise of Hope
12 August – St. Jane Frances de Chantal: The Peace of Hope
19 August – St. John Eudes: The Edge of Hope
26 August – Saints Monica, Ambrose, and Augustine: The Strength of Hope
Father in heaven, may the faith you have given us in your son, Jesus Christ, our brother, and the flame of charity enkindled in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, reawaken in us the blessed hope for the coming of your Kingdom.
May your grace transform us into tireless cultivators of the seeds of the Gospel. May those seeds transform from within both humanity and the whole cosmos in the sure expectation of a new heaven and a new earth, when, with the powers of evil vanquished, your glory will shine eternally.
May the grace of the Jubilee reawaken in us, Pilgrims of Hope, a yearning for the treasures of heaven. May that same grace spread the joy and peace of our Redeemer throughout the earth.
To you our God, eternally blessed, be glory and praise for ever. Amen.
- Pope Francis