For man, eating is a primordial act and the initial acknowledging of the world. Its connection with life is essential, from when the child is a fetus in the mother's womb until death. The act of eating is a reference to man's cultural activity: it involves work, food preparation, sociality, conviviality. In fact, man eats together with others and eating is connected to a table, the place where friendship, brotherhood, alliance and society are born. At the table we not only share food, but we also exchange words and conversations, thus nourishing relationships, that is, what gives meaning to life supported by food. Eating therefore also involves the most extraordinary cultural creation: language. Linked as it is to orality and desire, the act of eating impacts the affective and emotional sphere of man. It is therefore an anthropological symbol of unique significance that captures the human being in his most intimate and hidden depths and places him in connection with earth, with cosmos, with the polis, with society, with the world. For man, there is
no more total assent to everything that surrounds him than the act of eating. It is the human way of saying one's yes, because it is at the same time the ‘yes’ of the body and the soul... Every morsel of bread is in some way a morsel of the world that we agree to ‘eat’: by eating, in fact, we assimilate the world into us and transform it.
For the Bible, food is like the elementary sacramentum through which the love of God reaches man: he receives creation from the Creator and reciprocates by blessing Him. The convivial community, expressed by the sign of the breaking of bread, therefore flows from love, but through the mediation of the goods of creation. Now, according to the discourse on the bread of life in John 6, Jesus is the bread of life in a double sense: as the Word of God made flesh, the Lógos who perfectly reveals the Father, and as Eucharistic food and drink. This means that "eating the flesh of the Son of Man" cannot be separated -from the point of view of the "eater"- from "coming to Jesus" (6,35.37.44.45), or from "believing in Him" (6,29.36.40.47). The life of God and the life of man meet in love, in agape, the food that truly nourishes man and the reality that constitutes the life of God: "God is love" (1 John 4,8.16). The Eucharist is the sacrament of charity, of agape, in which God's gift to men is the complete message of his love for them and the source of their loving each other as Christ loved them. The community that is born from the Eucharist is made up of "donors", of those "capable of giving" because they themselves are "recipients of gift", in a circuit of donation that has its origins above, from God; it is made up of "those who love" ("Love one another": Jn 13.34) as they themselves are "loved" ("as I have loved you": Jn 13.34).

Our Parish new journey started on Sunday, April 21. We had lunch together, followed by a community prayer and discernment process that included small group discussions.
It was a great opportunity to provide feedback on our life journey with our Church (the good and the bad!), to help move us all closer to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

A lot of fun for the kids (and the grown-ups!) at the interparish Egg Hunt today!!!
A successful event that builds up our communities.

As the organizer says:
Children do understand love, joy, moments of connection, consistency and feelings of safety; Godly moments in faith. To reinforce the Church as a safe and loving home, and to reinforce a family in Christ and God. Because at some point school will end, and you want them to have a familial bond with the Church and continuity of Christ’s family.

We are extremely grateful to Aileen Cormican (the organizer), to all the fantastic volunteers, and to the sponsors:

• Knights of Columbus
• Cornerstone Funeral Home

A big thank you also to Bootsma bakery, that covered most of the cost of their delicious buns!

​After the burial of Jesus, only you, Mary, remained to safeguard the faith on earth.
The wind of Golgotha ​​extinguished all the lamps, but left your lamp burning.
Holy Mary, woman of Holy Saturday, very sweet estuary in which at least for one day the faith of the whole church has gathered, you are the last point of contact with the sky... guide us by the hand to the threshold of light, of which Easter is the supreme source. Repeat to us that there is no cross that does not have its depositions, there is no human bitterness that is not overcome in a smile; there is no sin that cannot find redemption; there is no tomb at whose opening the stone is not temporary.

​On Golgotha ​​Jesus made the supreme act of faith towards the Father. On Golgotha ​​it shines the faith of Mary who, when Jesus hands over his spirit, remains the only one to illuminate the earth for all Friday and Holy Saturday. Calvary is the place of faith. But also for us, our small Calvary, the one that is enclosed within the perimeter of four walls, must be the place of faith, of trust, of our abandonment in God.
There is a very beautiful prayer by Charles de Foucault, which translates this abandonment. «My Father, I abandon myself to You. Do with me what you like. Whatever you do, I'm grateful! I am ready for anything, as long as Your will is done in me and in all your creatures. I desire nothing else, my God! I put my soul in Your hands, I give it to You, my God, with all the love of my heart, because I love You. And for me it is a necessity of love to give myself and put myself in Your hands, without holding back anything, with infinite trust, because You are my Father."
It is a prayer filled of joy, of light, of peace, of comfort. Let's not give up. Let's hand ourselves over, if ever. The Good Friday is the day of trust: "Father, into your hands I entrust my spirit". And it is also the day in which we want to make a large stock of faith in order to distribute it to all those who need it. And when people come to us and tell us, like the foolish virgins: «we don't have any more oil», we can answer: «don't worry, come to our oil mill, we have plenty of it for you and for everyone."
T. B.

Jug, basin and towel must become furnishings to be rearranged at the center of every experience of community. With the hope that they will not remain simply ornamental furnishings...
It is not a question of being clean, that is, pure. Even the apostles at the Last Supper were clean: "you are clean" Jesus said. The problem is being servants. Because men accept the message of Christ, not so much from those who have experienced the asceticism of purity, but from those who have experienced the tribulations of service.
Bishop T. Bello

We arepleased to have the Seeds of the Word who come to St. Martha's to introduce us to the practice of Lectio Divina. Prayer is one of the three pillars of Lent, so this is an excellent opportunity to grow in our relationship with God.
The gathering and the presentation starts at 10:30 am.
https://www.seedsoftheword.org/lectiodivina

​Rorate Mass at St. Martha's this morning.
The season of Advent falls each year in the dark month of December and it is a month when we see the general theme of the liturgical season being echoed in nature. Darkness has crept over the world, and is increasing each day. Yet, there is hope for soon the days will begin to lengthen and the sun will conquer the night. The earth reveals that there is a light in this dark place and that Light reigns victorious.
The Church makes this truth more visible with an ancient tradition (often forgotten) called the “Rorate” Mass. This votive Mass during Advent in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary receives its name from the first words of the opening chant in Latin, Rorate caeli, or in English “Shower, O heavens.”
What is peculiar to this celebration of the Eucharist is that it is traditionally celebrated in the dark, only illuminated by candlelight and typically just before dawn. The symbolism of this Mass abounds and is a supreme expression of the Advent season.
First of all, since the Mass is normally celebrated right before dawn, the warm rays of the winter sun slowly light up the church. If timed correctly, by the end of Mass the entire church is filled with light by the sun. This speaks of the general theme of Advent, a time of expectation eagerly awaiting the arrival of the Son of God, the Light of the World. In the early Church Jesus was often depicted as Sol Invictus, the “Unconquered Sun,” and December 25 was known in the pagan world as the Dies Natalis Solis Invicti (Birthday of the Unconquered Sun). Saint Augustine makes reference to this symbolism in one of his sermons, “Let us celebrate this day as a feast not for the sake of this sun, which is beheld by believers as much as by ourselves, but for the sake of him who created the sun.”
Connected to this symbolism is the fact that this Mass is celebrated in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary, often referred to by the title “Morning Star.” Astronomically speaking the “morning star” is the planet Venus and is most clearly seen in the sky right before sunrise or after sunset. It is the brightest “star” in the sky at that time and heralds or makes way for the sun. The Blessed Mother is the true “Morning Star,” always pointing us to her Son and so the Rorate Mass reminds us of Mary’s role in salvation history.
Secondly, it echoes to us the truth that the darkness of night does not last, but is always surpassed by the light of day. This is a simple truth we often forget, especially in the midst of a dark trial when the entire world seems bent on destroying us. God reassures us that this life is only temporary and that we are “strangers and sojourners” in a foreign land, destined for Heaven.
Last of all, a beautiful ray of symbolism is found in the custom of all present holding lighted candles throughout the Mass. Certainly this is a practical way of illuminating the church, but it also symbolizes the reality that darkness is dispelled by a unification of many individual lights. Indeed, when all of us together let our lights shine before men, not hiding them under a bushel basket, we are able to illuminate the world and easily destroy the darkness before us.
In the end, the Rorate Mass helps us to remember and reflect on a central truth of our faith: darkness is a passing shadow and flees more speedily when it sees a multitude of lights.

​with our fantastic N.E.T. team
Sign up for an evening filled with fun for both families and children: hear the story of Saint Nicholas, meet the TRUE Santa, have a great time with your friends, enjoy delicious food!!!

​Shout out loud to CCH Ambassador Club: what a GREAT team!!!!!!
They prepared and served pancake breakfast for our parishioners yesterday and they were fantastic Way to go guys!!!
Thank you Catholic Central High School, Lethbridge