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The week of May 12-19, 2019 is being observed as the seventh National Week for Life and the Family. The theme of this year’s Week is “Listening to the Gospel as a Family". In his Message for this National Week, Bishop Lionel Gendron, President of the Canadian conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) writes: "With my brother Bishops, it is my prayer that on the occasion of this year’s Week for Life and the Family, you and your family will be empowered by the Holy Spirit to encounter Jesus more fully by listening to the Gospel, and that you may joyfully live out this saving message by becoming witnesses of God, the Father’s loving presence in the world."

On Sunday, May 12, the Church marks the 56^th anniversary of the World Day of Prayer for Vocations. The theme this year is The Courage to Take a Risk for God’s Promise,.

In 1963, Pope Paul VI designated Good Shepherd Sunday as the World Day of Prayer for Vocations. Good Shepherd Sunday is the fourth Sunday of Easter; that is, the Sunday three weeks after Easter Sunday. The name comes from the Gospel reading for this day which in all three lectionary years is taken from the tenth chapter of the Gospel of John. In this reading, Jesus is described as the Good Shepherd, who protects us as his flock and promises us the gift of eternal life.

URBI ET ORBI MESSAGE 
OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS

EASTER 2019

Central loggia of the Vatican Basilica 
Easter, 21 April 2019

Dear Brothers and Sisters, Happy Easter!

Today the Church renews the proclamation made by the first disciples: “Jesus is risen!” And from mouth to mouth, from heart to heart, there resounds a call to praise: “Alleluia, Alleluia!” On this morning of Easter, the perennial youth of the Church and of humanity as a whole, I would like to address each of you in the opening words of my recent Apostolic Exhortation devoted especially to young people:

“Christ is alive! He is our hope, and in a wonderful way he brings youth to our world. Everything he touches becomes young, new, full of life. The very first words, then, that I would like to say to every young Christian are these: Christ is alive and he wants you to be alive! He is in you, he is with you and he never abandons you. However far you may wander, he is always there, the Risen One. He calls you and he waits for you to return to him and start over again. When you feel you are growing old out of sorrow, resentment or fear, doubt or failure, he will always be there to restore your strength and your hope” (Christus Vivit, 1-2).

Dear brothers and sisters, this message is also addressed to every person in the world. The resurrection of Christ is the principle of new life for every man and every woman, for true renewal always begins from the heart, from the conscience. Yet Easter is also the beginning of the new world, set free from the slavery of sin and death: the world open at last to the Kingdom of God, a Kingdom of love, peace and fraternity.

Each year on Good Friday, dioceses and parishes in Canada and around the world hold a collection for the needs of the Church in the Holy Land. In the celebration of the Lord’s Passion, Catholics pray for the needs of all the world and they remember in a special way the Holy Land and its people. Christians living in the Holy Land today are descendants to those who first believed and lived the Christian faith. The funds collected are used to support the work of the Catholic Church - providing Christian formation and education, conducting parish ministry, offering housing and food to the poor and maintaining the shrines of the Holy Land.

The Easter Triduum - from the evening of Holy Thursday to the evening of Easter Sunday - is the summit of the Liturgical Year of the Church. Though chronologically three days, they are liturgically one day, unfolding for us the unity of Christ's Paschal Mystery.

The single celebration of the Triduum marks the end of the Lenten season, and leads to the Mass of the Resurrection of the Lord at the Easter Vigil.

The liturgical services that take place during the Triduum are :

Mass of the Lord's Supper

Good Friday of the Lord's Passion

the Easter Vigil and the Mass of the Resurrection of the Lord

The Sacrament of Reconciliation, also known as Confession and the Sacrament of Penance, is a Sacrament of Healing in which we encounter and celebrate in a very special way the merciful love of God.  While it is especially important that we bring to this sacrament mortal sins, it is a precept of our Church that we celebrate this sacrament at least once a year.  Speaking of the beauty and benefits of this sacrament, even when we have no serious sins to confess, St. Francis de Sales, a patron saint of Confessors, said:  “By confession, you not only receive absolution from the venial sins you confess, but likewise strength to avoid them, light to discern them well and grace to repair all the damage you may have sustained by them. You will also practice the virtues of humility, obedience, sincerity and charity: in a word, in this one act of confession, you shall exercise more virtues than in any other whatsoever.” Lent is a wonderful time to celebrate this sacrament.  Please check  your parish’s confession times and consider celebrating this sacrament soon.

The diocese is very grateful to the Ex Corde Foundation of the Diocese of Hamilton for the recent grant to assist in the funding of the pastoral ministry of the Innu Aboriginal Parishes of Our Lady of the Snows in Sheshatshui and Tshukuminu St. Anne in Natuashish for 2019.

The Ex Corde Foundation focuses on finding ways to help parishes, organizations and communities to prosper.  

2019 Easter Message

by the Most Rev. Lionel Gendron, P.S.S.,

Bishop of Saint-Jean-Longueuil and

President of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops

Christ is Risen! Alleluia!

Dear Brothers and Sisters in the Risen Christ.

On 21-24 February 2019, I attended a Meeting on the Protection of Minors in Rome which was called for by Pope Francis for all of the Presidents of Bishops' Conferences across the world.  It was likewise suggested that prior to the event, the Bishops could meet with persons who had been abused by clergy. Some asked to meet with me here in Canada and others in Rome. I thanked all of them wholeheartedly for their stories. I was deeply moved at hearing their pain and how it continues to affect their lives, their familes and their communities. Their suffering reflects the mystery of the Cross of Christ that makes itself present today in many varied ways.

The Mass of Chrism  will take place at the Cathedral of the Most Holy Redeemer and of the Immaculate Conception , 15 Mount Bernard Avenue, Corner Brook, on Wednesday, April 10 at 7pm.

March 19^th is the Feast of Saint Joseph, husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary.  Saint Joseph is the patron saint of the universal Church, the patron saint of Canada and one of two patron saints of the Diocese of Corner Brook and Labrador.