Newsletter 2018 Mar-Apr

Posted On 4th Apr 2018

““Do you know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?”” Corinthian 3:1

As we continue to go through our 40 days of Lent we are reminded of the suffering and death of Christ for us. How much more can we give of ourselves to our brothers and sisters who are suffering in so many ways. We learn to have compassion, suffering, sharing, patience, weakness, sinfulness, pain, and other emotions, but at the same time we need to focus and experience the unconditional love God has for us. How can we share of ourselves, have compassion for the less fortunate, be less judgemental, be present for the suffering, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, shelter the homeless, visit the sick…. be actively involved, give thanks for all that we have and turn away from sin.

We are continually trying to find ways and events to keep our members interested, but it‟s up to you to participate in these events in-order to keep the momentum of the success and longevity of St. Joseph Highland Creek. There are a number of activities listed in this newsletter which you can actively participate. The Council belongs to all of us and we all need to use the gifts we have been given to share with others joyfully….so get involved!

My personal prayer:

Father, teach me to respond to the needs of others, remind me that all the gifts you have bestowed on me are to be used with love to accomplish your work while still on this earth. To be your disciple and healer to those who need my healing touch, words and actions.

“Work is love made visible”

– Kahlil Gibran

Welcome our new members

Ruth McDonnell

Toronto Diocesan Development Day was attended by over 325 members from across Toronto. The speaker focused on the new National theme with discussion and workshop. Keynote speaker was Trena Finnegan on the topic of “Responding to God‟s Call to Serve Joyfully”. Our Parish was represented by 4 of our members: Lucia, Mary, Tina and Nancy Jane.

Scarborough Region Spring Meeting – Tuesday March 13th 7:00 p.m.

This CWL meeting of the Scarborough Region will take place at Precious Blood Parish (1737 Lawrence Ave. E.). All members are welcome and encouraged to attend and be counted. Meet the members of the 10 Councils in the Scarborough Region as well as the Toronto Diocesan Council Executives and hear all about the Toronto May Convention.

Our Lady of Good Counsel Mass & New Members Ceremony and Luncheon Saturday April 28th

We will be celebrating the feast of our Patroness, Our Lady of Good Counsel, with mass celebrated by our Spiritual Advisor, Fr. Oliver Iwuchukwu, at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday April 28th at St. Joseph’s Parish. At this event we will also welcome 9 members to our Parish Council. Show your support and solidarity to all, especially the new members by attending our special mass for our Patroness. A catered hot lunch will be served following the mass. Tickets to attend the luncheon are $20 each, members and guest are welcome. Speaker is Shirley Coughlin of the “Downsizing Diva”. To avoid disappointment purchase your ticket early as space and tickets are limited. For tickets call: Lucia Vacca 416-283-3536 or Ingrid Hart 416 282-8775

97th Toronto Diocesan Convention – Thursday May 3rd & Friday May 4th

“Inspired by the Spirit, Women Respond to God’s Call” This is the theme for the 2018 annual Toronto Diocesan Convention which will be held at the Marriott, 901 Dixon Road on Thursday, May 3rd and Friday, May 4th. There will be speakers Deacon Robert Kinghorn and Nick Beckett. Topic: “The Many Faces of Homelessness”, Business Reports, Presentation of Youth Awards, Elections of New Toronto Executives and lots of spirituality, learning more about the League and sisterhood, with masses (opening Mass Thursday May 3rd at 1:30 p.m.), readings, Regional Hospitality Rooms and Closing Mass at 3:00 p.m. on Friday & a ticketed Banquet etc…. The Resolutions Dialogue will take place on Thursday May 3rd at 9:30 a.m. it is a very popular portion of this convention, please register early if you are interested to learn more and participate in this process and attend any portion of the convention.

Attending convention with your League sisters from across Toronto Diocese is a wonderful opportunity to spend time with like-minded women in an atmosphere of unity, love for the League and sharing in the great work we do “For God and Canada”. The cost to attend this convention is covered for you by our council. If you are interested in attending either both days, one day or the banquet only, please call Marla at 416- 209-8659 ASAP so we can get you registered early. Registration deadline is April 10th, 2018.

Line Dancing

This popular event continues every Wednesday (check the Schedule in the Narthex). Come and join us for some exercise, social time and friendship building.

“Early on the first day of the week, while it was sill dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.”

The Empty Tomb.* John 20:1-2

FEAST OF ST. JOSEPH, the Patron Saint of our Parish and Canada, will be celebrated on Monday, March 19, 2018 at 7:30 pm.

Feast of Our Lady of Good Counsel Televised Mass

The taping of the Feast of Our Lady of Good Counsel Televised Mass will take place at Loretto Abbey, 101 Mason Boulevard North York, on Wednesday April 18, 2018 at 5:00 pm. The mass will be televised on Vision TV April 26, 2016. All CWL council members are encouraged to attend and to wear their CWL scarves.

Our Lady of Good Counsel Story and Novena – April 18th to April 26th

Holy Virgin, moved by the painful uncertainty we experience in seeking and acquiring the true and the good, we cast ourselves at thy feet and invoke thee under the sweet title of Mother of Good Counsel. We beseech thee: come to our aid at this moment in our worldly sojourn when the double darkness of error and of evil plot our ruin by leading minds and hearts astray.

Seat of Wisdom and Star of the Sea, enlighten the victims of doubt and of error so that they may not be seduced by evil masquerading as good; strengthen them against the hostile and corrupting forces of passion and of sin.

Mother of Good Counsel, obtain for us our most urgent need….. (here mention your request) and secure for us from thy Divine Son the love of virtue and the strength to choose, in doubtful and difficult situations, the course agreeable to our salvation.

Supported by thy hand we shall thus journey without harm along the paths taught us by the word and example of Jesus our Savior, following the Sun of Truth and Justice in freedom and safety across the battlefield of life under the guidance of thy maternal Star, until we come at length to the harbor of salvation to enjoy with thee unalloyed and everlasting peace. Amen

Say the Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory Be, three times each.

RESOLUTIONS: There is a new CWL draft resolution being discussed in the Toronto Diocese CWL councils. The resolution is as follows:

TDC2018.01 Develop National Standards for Levels of Pharmaceuticals in Canada’s Water Supply.

This resolution was proposed by the CWL council of St. John Chrysostom CWL of Newmarket, a parish in the North York region.

As access to clean drinking water becomes more difficult for many communities, we start to consider how pharmaceuticals in drinking water can affect us and future generations.

At present, there are no urban water supply systems testing for pharmaceutical contamination despite the wide variety of prescriptions taken by Canadians for their ongoing health. Many of these pharmaceuticals can be present in bodily waste thus making it to our Wastewater Treatment facilities and the bodies of water into which they discharge. Some pharmaceuticals will break down into basic chemicals quickly; others can linger in the environment for decades.

This resolution will undergo discussion and voting at the Diocese level at the convention in May, and hopefully will be discussed at the Provincial Conference in the summer.

LEGISLATION

Two items of Good News, brought to our attention by our National Legislation Chairperson and reported in the Toronto Diocesan Council‟s recent newsletter.

Bill C-233 National Strategy for Alzheimer‟s Disease and other Dementias Act was passed by the Senate and House of Commons and received Royal Assent on June 22, 2017

Bill C-51 The House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights reversed the course of the governments efforts to repeal section 176 of the Canadian Criminal Code by voting to retain the provision (with ammendments). Section 176 prohibits activity that obstructs or interferes with religious officials seeking to perform their religious duties. Bill C-51 will no longer attempt to remove protections in law for clergy and worship services.

The last several months Environment Canada had issued several cold weather alerts. The city was faced with crises of lack of shelters for the homeless, due to shelters closing and the remaining ones overflowing. In Ontario, we have over 170,000 households on the waiting list for affordable housing, with the average waiting time of four years. Governments are challenged with this economic crisis. The needs of the poor and most vulnerable are of great risk.

Research has shown that long term approach to ending homelessness are more cost effective than emergency responses. Investing in affordable housing today means enabling more people to realize their full potential in the future. Let us reach out and help the marginalized and vulnerable and pray that the Ontario Government continues with its ambitious long term goals to end homelessness.

Used Stamps for Development and Peace

We are accepting your contribution of used stamps as our ongoing commitment. Remove the stamps from any mail received without damaging the perforations and bring them in to us. These stamps will be sent to Development and Peace who in turn will sell them to stamp collectors. The proceeds will go to help fund development projects in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Please spread the word with your relatives and coworkers to help us with this project. A box will be placed at our General Meetings for collecting the stamps.

Mary Mathews Public Speaking Contest

Congratulations go to Carmen Kalo a grade 8 student from Cardinal Leger School, the winner of the Parish level Mary Matthews Public Speaking Contest. Carmen spoke to us about “How Technology is Changing the World”. Carmen is now preparing to represent our Parish at the Scarborough regional level contest which will take place March 17th at St. Joseph‟s at 1:00 p.m. Our second runner up was Ethan Alvares from Dominic Savio School and his topic was Racism. All CWL members are invited to attend and lend their support to this brave and very capable student. We are very proud of all of the six students who participated at St. Joseph‟s Level.

St. Michael’s College scholarship

This $3000 Scholarship is open to any young woman of Catholic Faith who is applying to St. Michael„s College as her first college of choice for post-secondary education. Deadline for application is May 31st 2018.

CWL National Bursary

This bursary is open to members who are pursuing studies in adult faith formation or youth ministries. Applications must be submitted to the CWL National office by May 31st 2018. Application forms are available at www.cwl.ca under resources/forms. For further details on criteria and guidelines and application forms, please call me at 416 287 1231.

Canadian Blood Services – it’s in you to give: The Catholic Women‟s League of Canada is a sponsor of the Canadian Blood Services Partners for Life program. To register for the Partners for Life program:

Visit www.blood.ca/joinpartnersforlife Complete the registration form by using the League‟s partner ID number CATH011269.

Once registered, the Canadian Blood Services will track your donation under the CWL ID#. Blood donors are being asked to consider registering in this program to increase the profile of the League and help members to take part in this worthy cause

Ordinandi Bouquet

Our initiative on January 25th to collect prayers after masses was very successful and I‟d like to thank everyone who helped by adding their prayers and by collecting prayers on the weekend. So far we have collected the following: 1,499 Masses, 1,372 Communions, 2461 Rosaries, 228 Eucharistic visits 195 Visits to the Blessed Sacrament, 141 Stations of the Cross, 371 Sacrifices, 1,668 Prayers and 244 other. A grand total of: 109,732 pledges. Thank you so much for your participation of this annual offering of prayers.

We will be offering these prayers along with those from the rest of the Toronto Diocese as a gift to the Ordinandi on Ordinandi Dinner which will take place on March 7th. Thanks everyone for your contributions of prayers and help!

Go to the National Website www.cwl.ca under Letters to see what the National President Margaret Ann Jacobs has sent to our Prime Minister in regards to the Canada Summer Jobs https://www.cwl.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/20180217-Canada-Summer-Jobs-to-Justin-Trudeau.pdf

Also, have a read at the Christian Family Life Communique #6 in the www.cwl.ca for additional information.

Here is one of the articles: Marriage and Family: The National Week for Life and the Family will be celebrated May 13- 20, 2018 and the theme is “Love: Encountering the Other” The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) website www.cccb.ca/site/eng/media-room/4814-2018-national-week-for-life-and-the-family

The following are a reminder of what the League is all about.

MISSION STATEMENT: The Catholic Women’s League of Canada is a national organization rooted in gospel values calling its members to holiness through service to the people of God.

OBJECTIVES: The Objectives of the League are to unite Catholic Women of Canada:

to achieve individual and collective spiritual development.
to promote the teachings of the Catholic church.
to exemplify the Christian ideal in home and family life.
to protect the sanctity of human life.
to enhance the role of women in church and society.
to recognize the human dignity of all people everywhere.
to uphold and defend Christian education and values in the modern world.
to contribute to the understanding and growth of religious freedom, social justice, peace and harmony.

FORMED.ORG – A wonderful opportunity to bring a touch of spirituality into our living rooms! Formed.org is almost like the Netflix of Spirituality and is a service that brings an interesting selection of Catholic videos and other media to us in a wonderful blend of technology, entertainment and spiritual reflection.

And here‟s the best part: Our parish has subscribed to Formed on our behalf so all parishioners of St Joseph‟s parish can access the content without charge. All you need is the parish access code which is made available to you through your tax receipt envelope. In case you did not receive one you can also call the parish office to get your access code. Visit Formed from our parish website or at https://Formed.org

DID YOU KNOW?

Last fall we kicked off the milk bag collection event at my school by having Lucia come and show both the pillows and the 2 different size mats. She spoke about how the completed mats are sent to Dr. Simone here in Toronto then shipped down to El Salvador. One of the wonderful things about the mats is they do not decompose and would otherwise be polluting the environment and damaging wildlife. However, by using the milk bags you transform this durable product into a waterproof and bug resistant sleep mat. These mats will be used in people‟s homes, but also will be used by health professionals as emergency surgical mats where resources and supplies are scarce. It takes about 300 milk bags to make one adult size mat. Since October I am proud to announce that Glamorgan Junior Public School student body has collected 3,778.00 milk bags. Our deepest appreciation to our weavers at St. Joseph‟s who create the mats for the people of El Salvador and African areas. Respectfully submitted, Nancy Jane Martineau, St. Joseph CWL Member.

We are collecting the following items:

Donations of extra blank cards and blank birthday cards are welcomed and appreciated.
Donations of your extra Rosaries are welcomed.
Milk bags are being collected to be used in the project of making sleeping mats for people in Africa.
Your used postage stamps are being collected to mail to Development and Peace to help fund projects in Africa, Asia and Latin America
Campbell Soup Labels
Pop Tabs for Wheelchairs

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March 13 (Wednesday)|Scarborough Region Spring General Meeting –Precious Blood -7:00 p.m. mass followed by meeting – all are invited and encouraged to attend this meeting.
March 14 (Wednesday)|Line Dancing – St. Joe Hall 7:00 p.m.
March 17 (Saturday)|Scarborough Regional Mary Matthews Public Speaking Contest 1:00 p.m. St. Joseph Highland Creek – all invited to attend
March 25 (Saturday)|Toronto Diocesan Council – Mary Matthews Public Speaking Contest – St. Timothy’s (21 Leith Hill Rd, North York) 12:30 p.m. all are welcome to attend April 2018
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April 4 (Wednesday)|Line Dancing – Room 2 7:00 p.m.
April 9 (Monday)|General Meeting – Rosary 7:10 Meeting 7:30 Speaker on “New Beginnings”
April 11 (Wednesday)|Line Dancing – Room 2 7:00 p.m.
April 16 (Monday)|Heritage Day Festival planning – Room 2 7:00 pm – all are invited to this planning meeting and take an active role in this event
April 18 (Wednesday)|Line Dancing – Room 2 7:00 p.m.
April 18 (Wednesday)|Televised Taping for the Feast of Our Lady of Good Counsel Mass – Loretto Abbey, 101 Mason Blvd. North York – 5:00 p.m.
April 22 (Sunday)|World Day of Prayer for Vocations
April 25 (Wednesday)|Line Dancing – 7:00 p.m. Hall
April 26 (Thursday)|Our Lady of Good Counsel Feast Day – Mass for Living and Deceased Members 9:00 a.m.
April 28 (Saturday)|Our Lady of Good Counsel Mass & New Members Ceremony at St. Joseph 11:00 a.m. – Luncheon to follow – Tickets $20 are available call Ingrid Hart 416-282-8775 or Lucia Vacca 416-283-3536)
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May 2 (Wednesday)|Line Dancing – Room 2 7:00 p.m.
May 3 & May 4 (Thursday /Friday)|97th Toronto Diocesan Convention – Marriott Hotel, Toronto Airport – all members encouraged to attend this Convention. Registration is required before April 10th : Call Marla Tanuan 416-209-8659
May 4 (Friday)|12 Hours of Prayer for Palliative Care
May 6-12 Flexible Date|National Hospice Palliative Care Week
May 6 (Sunday)|CWL Mass for Living and Deceased 9:00 a.m.
May 9 (Wednesday)|Line Dancing – St. Joe Hall 7:00 p.m.
May 10 (Thursday)|March for Life – Parliament Hill – Ottawa –
May 14 (Monday)|General Meeting – Rosary 7:00 Crowning of Mary Meeting 7:30 – Mother’s Day Meeting – special prayers/hymns
May 16 (Wednesday)|Line Dancing – St. Joe Hall 7:00 p.m.
May 23 (Wednesday)|Line Dancing – St. Joe Hall 7:00 p.m.
May 30 (Wednesday)|Line Dancing – St. Joe Hall 7:00 p.m.
May 31 (Wednesday)|Deadline for Applications – St. Michael’s Scholarships
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Newsletter 2018 Mar-Apr

2017-2018 Executive

President Elect/ Organization & Membership

A Message from the President – Lucia Vacca

Organization & Membership

A Message from Spiritual Development – Mai Tran

A Message Resolutions & Legislations – Tina Tolpa

A Message from Community Life – Danielle Giggie

A Message from Education & Health – Hyacinth Fernandes

A Message from Christian Family Life – Kim Deans

A Message from Past President/Historian – Ingrid Hart

A Message from Communications – Tania Mascarenhas FORMED.

The CWL Book Club

WEB Wednesdays

Dates To Remember