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The Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus is observed nineteen days after Pentecost; this year that falls on Friday, June 8. Since 2002, a special Day of Prayer for the Sanctification of Priests is also observed on this day.

On the second Sunday after Pentecost, we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, also known as the Feast of Corpus Christi, which is Latin for “the body of Christ”.

This feast day commemorates the Eucharist, the meal in which we partake of the Body and Blood of Christ. The Eucharist is at the heart of our Catholic faith and traditionally, holds a special place among the sacraments.

Trinity Sunday, which is celebrated a week after Pentecost Sunday, honours what is referred to in Paragraph 234 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church as “the central mystery of Christian faith and life” - the Most Holy Trinity. This year we celebrate Trinity Sunday on May 27.

On Sunday, May 20, the Church celebrates Pentecost. This Solemnity  comes fifty days after Easter and ten days after the Ascension of Jesus. Pentecost, which marks the end of the Easter Season, celebrates the descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles.

Following Mass on Pentecost Sunday, the Easter cross is removed from the sanctuary, signifying that the Easter Season has come to an end. The Paschal candle will be moved to stand next to the Baptismal font. It will be used during the celebration of Baptism, when the candles of the newly baptized are lit from it. It may also be placed near the body of the deceased at a funeral Mass, as a reminder that we entered into the death of Christ through our Baptism and we will rise again with Him in glory.

The week of May 13-20, 2018 is being observed as the sixth National Week for Life and the Family. The theme of this year’s Week is “Love: Encountering the Other”.  In his Message for this National Week, Bishop Lionel Gendron, President of the Canadian conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) invites us to "allow ourselves to be empowered by Christ and moved by his Spirit; then—beginning with the members of our own families—let us encounter each other with love! "

Each year, on the Sunday before Pentecost, the Church celebrates World Communications Day. This year’s theme is “The truth will set you free (Jn8:32). Fake news and journalism for peace". The Holy Father’s message for World Communications Day is traditionally published in conjunction with the Feast of St. Francis de Sales, the patron saint of writers and journalists, observed annually on January 24^th.

World Communications Day was established by Pope Paul VI after the Second Vatican Council in order to draw attention to “the vast and complex phenomenon of the modern means of social communication.” One of the documents produced by the Second Vatican Council, Inter Mirifica (Decree on the Media of Social Communication), was devoted entirely to communications media and it initiated the only worldwide annual celebration commissioned by the Council – World Communications Day – which was first celebrated in 1967 and continues to be observed annually.

On Sunday, May 13th, the Church celebrates the Feast of the Ascension. The Bible tells us that Jesus ascended into heaven on the 40^th day after the Resurrection, so the Ascension falls on the Thursday of the sixth week of Easter.  However, in Canada, as in a number of other countries, the observance of this feast day has been transferred to the following Sunday, the seventh Sunday of Easter.

On Sunday, April 22, the Church marks the 55^th anniversary of the World Day of Prayer for Vocations. The message which Pope Francis has written for this day is entitled “Listening, discerning and living”. Pope Francis has also linked his message to the upcoming Fifteenth Ordinary Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, scheduled to take place in October, entitled “Young People, The Faith and Vocational Discernment”.

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.

Please join in praying that young men and women may hear and respond generously to God`s call to consecrated life.

The purpose of the World Day of Prayer for Vocations is to publically fulfill the Lord`s instruction to, ‘Pray the Lord of the harvest to send laborers into his harvest’ (Mt 9:38: Lk 10:2). While the Church appreciates the vocation of all Christians given at Baptism, it concentrates its attention this day on vocations to ordained ministries, religious life, societies of apostolic life or secular institutes.

Sympathy is extended to Father Joy Paul Kallikatukudy and his family on the death of their mother Mariam Kallikatukudy.    Mrs. Kallikatukudy died on Saturday, April 7, 2018 in India.  She was predeceased by her husband, Papachan Kallikatukudy, on November 14, 2014.

On Monday, April 9^th, the most recent Apostolic Exhortation, entitled Gaudete et Exsultate (Rejoice and Be Glad), was promulgated in Rome. This latest writing of Pope Francis was written to encourage all people to accept the call to holiness in daily life.

APOSTOLIC EXHORTATION
GAUDETE ET EXSULTATE
OF THE HOLY FATHER
FRANCIS
ON THE CALL TO HOLINESS 
IN TODAY’S WORLD

1. “REJOICE AND BE GLAD” (Mt 5:12), Jesus tells those persecuted or humiliated for his sake. The Lord asks everything of us, and in return he offers us true life, the happiness for which we were created. He wants us to be saints and not to settle for a bland and mediocre existence. The call to holiness is present in various ways from the very first pages of the Bible. We see it expressed in the Lord’s words to Abraham: “Walk before me, and be blameless” (Gen 17:1).

2. What follows is not meant to be a treatise on holiness, containing definitions and distinctions helpful for understanding this important subject, or a discussion of the various means of sanctification. My modest goal is to repropose the call to holiness in a practical way for our own time, with all its risks, challenges and opportunities. For the Lord has chosen each one of us “to be holy and blameless before him in love” (Eph 1:4).

Click here to read Gaudete et Exsultate in its entirety.