Family Matters BUILDING COMMUNITY PALOOZA. Friday, September 1, :00 to 8:30 p.m.

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1 Family Matters August 2017 BUILDING COMMUNITY PALOOZA Friday, September 1, :00 to 8:30 p.m. Hamburgers, hotdogs, salads, watermelon and drinks $5.00 advance tickets only (refundable) Children 12 yrs. and younger FREE MUSIC AND DOOR PRIZES!! HOLY FAMILY PARISH 777 Valetta St., London, ON N6H 2Y9 WEBSITE: PH. # (519) FAX # (519) Welcome to our Parish! SUMMER OFFICE HOURS Monday to Thursday 9:00 a.m. to 12 :00 noon and 1:00 to 4:30 p.m. Friday 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon SUNDAY MASS Saturday 5 pm Sunday 8:30 am 10:30 am 6:30 pm WEEKDAY MASS Tuesday 6:30 pm Wednesday to Friday 10:00am

2 CONTENTS August 2017 Family Matters is published on the first Sunday of the month. Feel free to contact us with a story or witness talk, along with pictures by sending it to us at hfparish@dol.ca A WORD FROM FR. BOB A Reflection on what s to come... Healing Mass with Fr. Fernando Suarez Alpha Begins Again - September 2017 Curious About the Catholic Faith? Marriage Preparation Family Matters Needs Your Help ALPHA Meet Gemma Postill SYMBOLON Sherry Brunton s Faith Journey from Alpha to Symbolon MINISTRY A Chelsey Park Experience by Joe Moir FIRST RECONCILIATION AND CONFIRMATION PARENT MEETINGS AND EVEN MORE NEWS... WELCOME TO SUMMER CAMP! August 7 11, ;00 a.m. 3:00 p.m. Welcome to all our campers and volunteers this week! Stayed tuned in our September issue of Family Matters for a full report. FAMILY MATTERS AUGUST 2017 www. holyfamilylondon.ca 2

3 A WORD FROM FR.BOB Holy Family Parish is pleased to welcome back Fr. Fernando Suarez on Wednesday, August 30 th at 7:00 p.m, to celebrate the Eucharist and to lead an evening of healing prayer. Dozens of participants last year experienced healing of body, mind, relationships and spirit. We trust and we pray that God s merciful presence will offer the same this year. Whenever we come with expectant faith that Jesus will heal, something significant happens. Fr. Fernando has been given an extraordinary gift from God to touch people s life in a profound way. Beginning this weekend following each of the liturgies, we are offering admission tickets at no charge. Please pray that the Holy Spirit will come in love and in power. I hope that you will make time to join us on that grace-filled evening. FAMILY MATTERS AUGUST 2017 www. holyfamilylondon.ca 3

4 A WORD FROM FR.BOB continued... ALPHA AT HOLY FAMILY PARISH STARTS ON WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 20 th REGISTER NOW AT God has richly blessed Holy Family Parish through Alpha. Over 200 participated in our spring session. We are preparing for two new sessions to begin on Wednesday, September 20th. One session starts at 11:00 a.m. with an early lunch and finishes by 2:30 p.m. The later session begins at 6:00pm with supper and finishes by 8:30 p.m. On Alpha we try to be: Andrew brought his brother Peter; Philip brought Nathaniel; Matthew had a party and invited all his work colleagues he said, Come and meet Jesus! Alpha is an easy way of saying to friends, Come and see, come and explore your questions, come and hear about Jesus, come and see for yourself. REAL Alpha presents the reality of who Jesus is. Those that run Alpha are real and authentic and this allows the guests to be real themselves. People are welcome to ask questions and look for answers, with no pressure to contribute and no follow up if they don t come back. RELATIONAL Alpha is based on genuine friendships that are built up over a few weeks and often last for years afterwards. RELIANT On Alpha we are reliant on the Holy Spirit because we realize that it is only God who changes people s lives; we just introduce Him. Curious about the Catholic faith, either pondering joining the Catholic Church or just want to know more about it? Welcome to a journey during which you will have an opportunity to encounter Jesus and the work of the Holy Spirit. It is really quite amazing and wonderful! The journey begins this September. Please contact Fr. Bob at rremark@dol.ca or Delia Waldock at deliawaldock@gmail.com or the parish office. Because our Alpha experience has been so positive and we have learned so much about how it gives heart to and strengthens the faith of participants, we have decided to use it as part of our marriage preparation process. Our marriage preparation team, a group of young, faith-filled and vibrant couples, will journey with engaged couples over a period of ten weeks beginning in January 0f During the first five Thursdays, those involved with marriage preparation will participate in our parish Alpha. The second five sessions will be directly focused on preparation to live a committed life of married love. Registration forms will be available in early September. With modest beginnings, we are continuing to grow our monthly parish magazine, Family Matters. We would be pleased to hear from parishioners who would like to be part of the magazine team. If you have a gift for writing, interviewing, photo-taking, desk-top publishing, advertising, then we are looking for you. Would you consider joining our team? What a wonderful way to serve our parish! Please contact Kelly Wilson at hfparish@dol.ca.

5 I m sure that many of you may remember Gemill Postill s visit to Holy Family back in June. I had first heard of Gemma sometime last year after Heather Cushing returned from a visit to St. Benedict s Parish in Halifax. Gemma and her family had spoken at the Divine Renovation Conference in June, 2016 in Halifax. We were amazed to hear of such a young person making such an impact. Fast forward to April of this year. My husband Andrew and I had the opportunity to participate in the Alpha Leadership Conference in London, England.. The conference was a major international event over 7000 people attending from all over the world. As we were standing outside after completing our registration, we started talking to those around us and were introduced to a young woman and her parents. As soon as we met them we couldn t believe that there, standing in front of us, was the same Gemma Postill that we had heard so much about. With the thousands of people present at this conference, it could have only been the Holy Spirit who arranged this encounter at that time and place. It s amazing how the Holy Spirit works! Through talking with Gemma and her parents, we found out that she planned to start her studies in the fall at Western University here in London. We were so overjoyed to not only be able to connect with this remarkable young woman, but to find out that she would be calling London her home for the next few years. We immediately knew that Gemma needed to come and share her story with our community here at Holy Family. Gemma and her family came to a deeper understanding of their faith through the Alpha course at St. Benedict s in Halifax. Always a churchgoing family, the Postills identified as Catholics, but were not truly engaged in their faith on a personal level. Gemma was involved in the Youth Group at her parish in Halifax, and that led to Confirmation classes but still no serious commitment to deepening her faith. After her grandfather had a life-changing experience on the Alpha course, however, she and her family went through the course themselves and, through that process, her faith was ignited. Gemma opened herself to a personal relationship with Jesus, and understood that her mission in life is to evangelize and share the good news of the Gospel with everyone she meets. This mission has materialized into very concrete action for Gemma. She has taken on this newfound faith and has started a charity called Being the Vibe Jewelry which fundraises for an organization called Compassion Canada. The founded money raised builds sustainable rainwatersystems in Africa. She also devotes her time to leading youth groups at her parish and has organized and led many Youth Alpha courses, all with the goal of bringing others to Jesus. It is clear to see that Gemma is a young woman who is confident in her identity as a child of God, and who carries the peace and joy of Christ deep within her. Gemma is a remarkable young woman and a true sign of hope for the Church. Gemma and her family felt very welcomed at our parish when they came to visit. We hope and pray that she will find a home at Holy Family so that she can remain connected with our community as she moves to London full-time in September. Our young people need so much of our support and, at the same time, they have so much to contribute to help us grow in our own faith and relationship with Jesus. The Holy Spirit is alive and well in our community and beyond. FAMILY MATTERS AUGUST 2017 www. holyfamilylondon.ca 5

6 Sherry Brunton I wanted to share with all of you the wonderful experience I have had with regards to being received into the Roman Catholic Church at Holy Family Parish about a month ago. Over the past few years, I realized there was a void in my life that needed to be filled. Now don t get me wrong, my life is very blessed with a loving husband and 2 fantastic children but I was missing the sense of belonging to a community.a church. After I did a lot of soul searching, I ended up attending a meeting at the Holy Family Parish in October 2016 to find out more on the Roman Catholic Faith and what I needed to do, in order to be received into the Church. I remember that day in October very well. I arrived early at the church and as I was in the parking lot, I recall feeling nervous and had so many thoughts going through my mind. The instant I stepped into the Holy Family Parish, I felt a sense of love and warmth that I had never experienced in a church before. I entered the room for the meeting and there were only a few people there. A few parishioners were eager to find out more about us and what brought us to the meeting. They were happy to answer any questions we had. The meeting was brief and we were told to come on Jan 19 th to the Alpha program and this where the journey starts. When the Alpha program started in January, I came to the meeting and was truly amazed at the number of people who were there. A few of these people were on a similar journey to find their faith and be part of the RCIA (Rite of Christina Initiation of Adults) Program. The majority of the people at the meeting were practicing Roman Catholics looking to expand their faith. I remember thinking.this parish must be pretty amazing to have this many people turn up on a cold January night! That meeting, there were so many parishioners willing to answer any questions I had, if they didn t know the answer, they introduced me to another person who could help me. Again, the sense of community and love filled the room. I knew after this meeting, I was in the right place for journey I was about to embark on. The following week, we were assembled into small groups and I was so nervous. I remember thinking,.will I be judged in the discussions, will they think my questions are silly.etc. The group I was part of was full of wonderful people. They made me feel at ease right away, never judged and always listened to my questions/comments. Quickly as the weeks went on, many new friendships formed. The Thursday night Alpha meeting was something I looked forward to every week. When the Alpha program was ending, it was a bit sad in the sense that I wouldn t see these people on a regular basis to have such wonderful discussions/conversations. When the Alpha program ended, that is when I started the Symbolon series of learning about the Sacraments and more in depth learning of the Catholic faith. Again, these weekly meetings were full of wonderful people with great discussions. The more and more times I went to parish, it became very clear to me that I was on the journey I had been searching for. Our weekly meetings wrapped up the end of June and I am thrilled to have been received into the Church in July. This past year with Holy Family Parish has been absolutely wonderful. Beautiful people, great conversations and many new friendships!! I would highly recommend anyone to take part in the Alpha program. FAMILY MATTERS AUGUST 2017 www. holyfamilylondon.ca 6

7 Chelsey Park Ministry by Joe Moir Do you feel that you are just going through the motions with your Faith? Are you thinking there must be more to my Faith? Are you asking yourself why this person seems more fulfilled in their Faith or why that person is more excited about their Faith? GREAT! I would like to share what I was able to do to enrich my Faith. A few months ago, I came to the Church searching for something that I could do to simply help. I began researching some of the different Ministries. I was directed to become an Extra-ordinary Eucharist Ministry for Chelsey Park Nursing Home. It seemed rather simple as I began serving the people. Being a quiet person, I would knock on the door, introduce myself, ask if they would like to receive the Holy Eucharist. If they wished to receive, then I would recite the Prayer from the Prayer Card, give them the Holy Eucharist, and recite the closing Prayer with a Blessing. If they did not wish to receive, then I would recite a Prayer with a Blessing, wish them well for the day or the week and move on to the next person on my list. As I continued my routine and got a chance to know everyone better, something began to happen. That little smile that I was sending out as I greeted them, came bouncing back to me as a huge heart warming welcoming smile, saying they were happy to see me. We began talking about the weather, how they were feeling and how their families were doing. They started asking me about my family. We now have conversations about their past and the fond family memories they cherish from growing up. Where they lived, the fresh air, the lakes and how they would move all the furniture in the kitchen and dance with their family. Now when we meet, we greet, we smile and I listen intently as we converse about them and their lives. As we begin to pray together their troubles subside and the room is filled with the peace of the Holy Spirit. The Lord says where two people are gathered in my name I will be there. We converse some more. Gathering myself to leave, I receive repeated messages of gratitude and appreciation. Thanking me for the prayers, for bringing the Holy Eucharist to them and for the visit. As I leave we bid each other well. Choose a Ministry to serve and reach out to touch another person s heart. Share your God given gifts and talents. Enhance your relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord will touch your heart! Enrich your faith today! God Bless You! FAMILY MATTERS AUGUST 2017 www. holyfamilylondon.ca 7

8 Hello! My name is Christina Bahati and I am the new worship leader for the 6:30 p.m. Mass. My family has been at Holy Family Parish for 6 years and I am thrilled to have the opportunity to worship with you in this new way. Before moving to London, I grew up in a suburb of Dallas, Texas, with a professional jazz piano player for a father and an elementary music teacher for a mother. In grade 11, my friend convinced me to join our high school s choir and I guess you could say I found my niche. While in high school, I was invited to join the Life Teen Band at St. Ann Catholic Parish (which also happens to be in the Divine Renovation Network). This opportunity led me to fall in love with Music Ministry. I studied vocal performance for a year before transferring to Franciscan University in Steubenville, Ohio. On campus, I had the opportunity to be part of some incredible Music Ministry teams and I am grateful for that experience. I want to invite you to join me. I m looking to build a creative team of artists and musicians who love Jesus and want to lead others to Him. If you would like to share your talents with the community, come talk to me or shoot me an . We need pianists, guitar and bass players, vocalists, drummers, percussionists. If you love playing the violin or cello, accordion, ukulele, whatever! I d love for you to audition. I am certain that there are talented musicians sitting in the pews and if you ve been waiting for someone to ask you to get involved this invitation is for you. I especially would like to extend this invitation to anyone in high school. I look forward to growing closer to Christ in worship with you. Many Blessings. ninabahati@gmail.com Join us for our next monthly Anointing of the Sick and Eucharistic Adoration on Wednesday, September 6 th at the 10:00 a.m. Mass. Following the Mass, Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament takes place until 4:00 p.m. with Prayers for Vocations at 3:00 p.m. FAMILY MATTERS AUGUST 2017 www. holyfamilylondon.ca 8

9 SACRAMENTAL PREPARATION REGISTRATION & PARENT MEETING DATES The Sacrament of Reconciliation Parents of children in grade 2 or older, please join us on Thursday, September 14 th at 6:30 p.m. in the church The Sacrament of Confirmation Parents and children in grade 8 or older, please join us on Thursday, September 14 th at 7:30 p.m. in the church FAMILY MATTERS AUGUST 2017 www. holyfamilylondon.ca 9

10 GOD S GARDNERERS One is nearer God s heart in the garden than anywhere else on earth. Join our team today by calling Tom Bevil at (519) FAMILY MATTERS AUGUST 2017 www. holyfamilylondon.ca 10

11 FINANCIAL REPORT FOR THE SIX MONTHS ENDED JUNE 30, 2017 Operating Statement Actual Budget Prior Year Revenue Offertory including Easter $ 418,313 $ 415,450 $ 417,131 Ministry Programs and Other $ 34,878 $ 33,170 $ 28,273 Sub-Total $ 453,191 $ 448,600 $ 445,404 Special Collections Revenue $ 52,747 $ 55,400 $ 52,897 Special Collections Expense $ (52,747) $ (55,400) $ (52,897) Total Operating Revenue $ 453,197 $ 448,620 $ 445,404 Expenses Compensation $ 260,939 $ 263,150 $ 270,320 Facilities, Ministry, Liturgy $ 141,177 $ 136,070 $ 133,643 Diocesan Assessment $ 63,121 $ 63,300 $ 63,745 Total Operating Expenses $ 465,377 $ 462,520 $ 467,708 Operating Surplus (Deficit) $ (12,186) $ (13,900) $ (22,304) Thank you to all our generous parishioners for your ongoing support! PARISH STAFF (OFFICE ; hfparish@dol.ca) FR. BOB REMARK (ext n #228) Pastor FR. SEEJO JOHN (ext n #226) Parochial Vicar HEATHER CUSHING (ext n #260) Pastoral Minister JOZEF MAKA (ext n #224) Business Manager DEACON JOHN VALLELY DEACON GEORGE SEBOK DEACON HENRY KLING Messages for our Permanent Deacon can be left at ext n 201 SHEILA O BRIEN (ext n #222) KELLY WILSON (ext n #201) Secretaries ANNE SANDERSON (ext n #229) Bookkeeper STEVE BALDINELLI (ext n #261) Building & Property Coordinator IF YOU RE INTERESTED IN THE SACRAMENTS OF BAPTISM OR MATRIMONY AT HOLY FAMILY PARISH, PLEASE NOTE THAT IN ADDITON TO PREPARATION, WE REQUIRE THAT YOU GET IN TOUCH WITH US A MINIMUM OF 3 MONTHS IN ADVANCE OF YOUR HOPED-FOR DATE FOR BAPTISM AND ONE YEAR PRIOR TO YOUR DESIRED WEDDING DATE. FOR MORE INFORMATION ON BAPTISM, PLEASE CONTACT SHEILA: sobrien@dol.ca or ext n 222. FOR MORE INFORMATION ON WEDDINGS, PLEASE CONTACT KELLY: kwilson@dol.ca or ext n 201 FOR FUNERALS, PLEASE CONTACT HEATHER: hcushing@dol.ca or ext n 260 or KELLY: kwilson@dol.ca or ext n 201 If you are new to the parish, please introduce yourself to one of our parish staff. If you like to register, go to FAMILY MATTERS JULY 2017 www. holyfamilylondon.ca 11

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