“Where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.” Mt 18,20

Dear parishioners,

Faithful to Jesus’ words in this Sunday’s Sgospel, we are gathering in his name every which way we can! I just met with Edwin yesterday for an update. Under his zealous watch, here are some of the wonderful things that are happening.

PREP is in preparation mode, and classes will resume online on September 29th. So far, we have 80 children signed on. Thanks to Edwin and our entire PREP team for making this happen.

RCIA is ongoing, entirely online. We have seven inquirers, meaning people thinking of baptism, and four candidates for confirmation. Again thanks to Edwin and to his RCIA team.

We have resumed, online, our Saturday afternoon gatherings in preparation for the baptism of infants. Thanks to Edwin, Couples for Christ, and Missionary Families of Christ.

On Saturday September 19th, we will be part of a virtual, full-day Upper Room Conference. This is a follow-up to last fall’s Upper Room Conference that was held at the Vancouver Convention Centre, to launch “Proclaim”, a movement that strives to enable Catholics to become evangelizers. There is more information on this event, and on how to participate, on all our sites. Thanks again to Edwin and his team.

In order to implement Proclaim in a permanent way in our parish, Edwin has created small groups that gather in their homes, either in person or online, to do some gospel-sharing and faith-sharing. Why? Because the only way to get an ordinary Catholic to evangelize is to have that person discover the depths of beauty and goodness and hope and love that are tucked away in our Christian gospel, such that the person simply can’t keep it to himself, herself. They need to share it. Believe it or not, Edwin has erected twelve groups already, and he’s aiming for more. On Friday September 11th, these twelve groups are gathering together online, with Eric Chow, one of the leaders of the Proclaim movement at the archdiocesan level.

As we have been repeating since the beginning of this pandemic, the Church, indeed, never stops. All of the above would be impossible were it not for the zeal of Edwin, and of the extraordinary teams that he has been able to gather around himself to put on each of these ministries and events. I take this opportunity to thank them all, on behalf of us all.

But there’s more. I learned just this week that our Healing and Deliverance Prayer ministry is in full swing. The ministry team has been meeting every two weeks online for their training sessions, and are exercising their ongoing ministry in person and online.

We have completed our celebration of all the first communions and confirmations at the level of PREP. It has been a very special experience. We turn now to the first communions and celebrations of confirmation for St. Mary’s School. I’m looking forward to it, because I enjoyed the PREP celebrations so much.

Other things to announce: Next Sunday, September 13th, is the Sunday that has been chosen to take up the Good Friday collection that wasn’t taken up on Friday April 10th, Good Friday, because of course, we were shut down. You can make a contribution to this collection either online or by coming to the church and depositing the envelope for this collection in the collection box in the church, or by dropping it off at the parish office, through the slot in the front door.

Another upcoming event: a 24-hour “Fast-and-Pray” for young adults. I refer you to Mildred’s text in this edition of the parish bulletin for more information.

So as you can see, at St. Mary’s Parish, life goes on! I pray for a safe and pleasant week for you all. And please join me in praying for a safe and serene return to school for all our students, school staffs, and the parents of our students.

Fr. Guy