Invalid Communion Matter equals sacrilege and idolatry. Par for the course at St. Joseph's in Ottawa

How much worse can it get at St. Joseph's Ottawa, an Oblate Parish. Forty years ago, I lived in Ottawa and was an active parishioner at St. Brigid's and experienced first hand, the Oratorian Affair. It was lead by the heretical and modernist anti-Catholic forces from that parish. It's pastor then was Douglas Crosby, OMI, now the Bishop of Hamilton. He stood by and tolerated the abuse his flock administered on their fellow Catholics. 

The story of this parish is partially discussed below. 

http://voxcantor.blogspot.com/search/label/St.%20Joseph%27s%20Ottawa

Toronto Catholic Witness Blog has uncovered the latest. It is long past time for Archibishop Terrence Prendergast, S.J. to act to discipline this place.

Sacrilege at St. Joseph's Parish in Ottawa: illicit matter is being used for "hosts" for "Mass"

It has been brought to the attention of this blog, that St. Joseph's parish, in Ottawa is using illicit matter for hosts at Mass. An email (see above) confirms that illicit "wheat free..." wafers are being used for those faithful who suffer from Celiac Disease. The practice at St. Joseph's is to consecrate valid hosts, whilst at the same Mass also simulating the non-consecration of "wheat free..." wafers. 

The scandal of St. Brigid's Ottawa

A comment writer in the post below referred me to a video of a certain priest. That priest was once the pastor and "Superior" of the never erected Ottawa Oratory of St. Philip Neri at St. Brigid's parish in Lowertown. 

It was in this church, back in 1987 while working on Parliament Hill, that this writer learned to sing Gregorian chant and polyphony in the context of a properly sung Novus Ordo Mass. 

The treatment endured by those nine brave souls from Vancouver who ventured east to establish an Oratory in Ottawa was scandalous and a dark day in Canadian Catholic history. I imagine that Joseph Aurele Plourde had much to answer for at his particular judgement for the injustices caused to those men and the Catholic faithful who flocked to this church in Lowertown for the real Catholic faith properly interpreted after Vatican II. The thrust of opposition came from St. Joseph's parish, now a "gay" friendly centre whose pastor at the time was Douglas Crosbie, OMI, now the Bishop of Hamilton. Of the four priests, one has passed, two are now in Vancouver and one left the priesthood. Of the five brothers, two at least, were ordained, one in Ottawa and one in Vancouver.

This picture is St. Brigid's today. It was sold by the Archbishop of Ottawa for a paltry $450,000.00 for use as a secular arts centre and which can never be sold to any Catholic group. That was put in to keep it from ever falling into the hands of the SSPX.

Perhaps some day, I will understand how the selling of this Church and the bowing to municipal historical demands to leave the Altar Stones intact reconciles with the Pontifical Mass according to the Roman Missal frequented by ++Prendergast, SJ after such a tragedy as this.

The treason of Canada's bishops in the debate on so-called, same-sex "marriage"

Recently, I wrote that the blame for the recent American SCOTUS decision changing the legal definition of marriage lay with the bishops and priests who for a half-century have failed to properly teach and admonish the faithful in the Truth of the Catholic faith, the Truth of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

As an aside, and perhaps some of my many and loyal American readers can comment. It seems to me that the 10th Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America is the model of Catholic subsidiarity. It states that "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people." Since the Constitution is silent on the whole issue of marriage, how can the SCOTUS force a State to go along with its redefinition of marriage? Has this been interfered with before without States' objections leading to a de facto abrogation?

Getting back to the matter of bishops, my good friend ELA at ContraDiction has posted a column an article of July 8, 1996 by Joseph K. Woodword in Alberta Report, which ceased publication in 2003.

It is worth reading today to understand how our bishops in Canada failed us too. The red text is my commentary to update the article, the bolding is mine for emphasis.

Treason Of The Clerics

Subtitled: Gay Apostasy Subverts And Paralyzes The Canadian Catholic Church

By Joseph K. Woodard

w/ permission

Alberta Report, July 8, 1996 

One of the mysteries surrounding the speedy passage of Bill C-33, the "sexual orientation" clause to the Canada Human Rights Act, is the near-silence of the Canadian Catholic Church in the debate. The Vatican defines homosexual behaviour as an "objective moral disorder" and has opposed repeatedly the very idea of "gay rights." The Church's silence in 1996 was a marked change from 1994, when the robust opposition of Ontario bishops was instrumental in defeating the NDP provincial government's own homosexual rights bill. (The NDP stands for New Democratic Party a democratic socialist and labour party at the federal and provincial levels in Canada. It is radically pro-abortion and one cannot run nor be a member of one subscribes to an "anti-choice" position.) Now a possible and shocking explanation has surfaced. It is now known that the Canadian Catholic hierarchy made its own peace with the radical homosexual agenda in 1992, when in a settlement of sexual abuse claims made against Ontario monks, it recognised homosexual "spousal benefits."

Despite Justice Minister Allan Rock's assurances to the contrary, C-33 will soon result in the complete elimination of legal distinctions heterosexual marriages and homosexual liaisons. (Rock was then Minister of Justice in the government at the time under Prime Minister Jean Chretien; both Rock and Chretien were Roman Catholics. So-called, same-sex "marriage" was approved by the Parliament of Canada on July 20, 2005 put forward by the minority government under Liberal Prime Minister Paul Martin, also a Roman Catholic.) And so the relative uninterest of the Canadian bishops in this crippling blow to the legitimacy of the traditional family has not gone unnoticed. Indeed, Bishop James Wingle of Yarmouth, a C-33 opponent, has condemned the "false impression" that his colleagues had actually supported the legislation. (The Diocese of Yarmouth no longer exists having been folded into the new Halifax Yarmouth Archdiocese. Wingle later became the Bishop of St. Catharines in Ontario and disappeared suspiciously and without explanation resigning in April 2010.)  

It is true that no Canadian bishop actually endorsed C-33. But of the more than 50 Anglophone bishops, only a handful stood firmly against the bill. And when representatives of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB)--the church bureaucracy, appeared before the House Justice Committee on May 2, they effectively sabotaged what little opposition Canada's prelates had mustered.

When C-33 was announced, Vancouver Archbishop Adam Exner issued a statement demanding the law continue to protect "the conscience rights of Canadians morally opposed to homosexual behaviour," and "allow employers to make non-practice of homosexual activity a bona fide occupational qualification." Yet on May 2, when homosexual MP Svend Robinson questioned CCCB general-secretary Doug Crosby about that statement, the priest could only stammer an incoherent denial of Bishop Exner's position. (Bishop Douglas Crosby is now the Bishop of the Diocese of Hamilton, in Ontario. Next year, he will become the President of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops). The CCCB delegation also repudiated the Vatican's 1992 statement on homosexuality.  

"It was pathetic," objects Sylvia MacEachern, of Ottawa's traditionalist St. Brigid's Association. (named after the sad state of the parish and the Oratorian Affair made known in the book The Last Roman Catholic by the late James Demers. I had the honour as a parishioner there of suffering along with them) "Here was Canada's most infamous gay MP, the only one quoting the Church's teaching, and when he asked the representatives of the Canadian Church whether they agreed with it, they were tongue-tied." In her response to Mr. Robinson, Father Crosby's colleague, Jennifer Leddy, could only beg him, as a "serious advocate for human rights," to "give us a chance to participate constructively," since "we want to participate."

Apologists for the Canadian Catholic hierarchy say the speed with which C-33 was rammed through Parliament made any strong resistance impossible. (This is true, it was rammed through. Canadians could barely organise against it and had no say as we were bombarded by the dictatorship of a minority parliament dancing to an evil agenda and we're too damn polite!) But the capitulation of the Catholic bureaucracy to the gay rights agenda was in April, when New Brunswick Senator Noel Kinsella introduced his "sexual orientation" Bill S-2. The CCCB was offered the opportunity to make a submission against it to the Senate but declined.

Furthermore, the Liberal government has been promising to bring in such legislation since 1993, and renewed its promise last winter. Yet the national church office did nothing.

National bishops' conferences are a modern innovation. In 1964, when episcopal collegiality was discussed at the Second Vatican Council, the venerable Cardinal Oddi quipped that he could find only one biblical citation for the notion, the time during Christ's passion when "they all fled." By 1985, Vatican theology watchdog Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger was warning of the "burdensome bureaucratic structures" of the national offices. They have "no theological basis" and "do not belong to the structure of the church," he insisted. Each bishop has complete authority in his diocese and is subject only to the pope. But the national conferences, however, allow the majority of the bishops to hide in anonymity.

The CCCB's General Secretariat employs just under 100 people in a half-dozen commissions, with a budget of roughly $4.5 million. Its functionaries deal directly with their opposite numbers in the local dioceses, and thus they control information flow in the Canadian Church. The secretariat is under the nominal governance of an executive committee--this year led by Kingston Archbishop Francis Spence. But the election of full-time directors falls to its periodic "plenary sessions," dependent on the "guidance" of the existing directors.

"Individual bishops have great difficulty in freeing themselves from the national conference," says MonsignorVincent Foy, a Toronto canon lawyer. "They're afraid their authority can be undercut at any moment. It's a great burden on the Church. But the Holy See is now preparing a document on the problem." (On June 7, 2014 a Solemn Mass according to the Roman Missal of 1962 was offered in the presence of Cardinal Collins to celebrate the 75th anniversary of ordination of Msgr. Vincent Foy. He turns 100 on August 14, 2015.)

While lack of accountability is the "iron rule" of bureaucracy, the CCCB's "gay-friendliness" is the result of personalities.  In the 1980s, Father Doug Crosby, (now the Bishop of Hamilton and Pastor there when the whole "Oratorian Affair" occurred and from where the main antagonists came)  who was appointed CCCB general-secretary, was pastor of Ottawa's St. Joseph's Church. This parish was jocularly referred to "St. Joe's by the Whirlpool," because of the party tub in its rectory. St. Joseph's became home to the Ottawa chapter of Dignity, the homosexual fifth column within the Catholic Church. Special pews were reserved for Dignity members at the church's noon masses. (To this day, St. Joseph's in Ottawa under the OMI priests is still a parish of liturgical, ministerial and catechetical dissent. 

Gay or gay-sympathetic priests tend to form a solid, cohesive block within the church, observes Michael McCarthy, a retired priest from the diocese of Saskatoon. "They have such an enormous potential to create embarrassment with their dirty little secrets, the bishops won't stand up to them."

While the number of homosexuals in the Canadian Catholic priesthood is unknown, it is known they have a particular interest in seminaries, where new priests are formed. On the eve of Pope John Paul II's visit to Canada in 1984, Emmett Cardinal Carter, then-archbishop of Toronto, ordered a clean-up of his St. Augustine's Seminary. "Students in the residence could hear other seminarians padding up and down the halls at night, and everybody knew what was going on," says one Toronto-area priest, who wishes to remain anonymous. The obvious theological dissidents were fired, but the previous graduates were already worming their way through the Canadian hierarchy. (The Dean of Studies at the time was notorious. and known by all to be gay. The Rector at the time, Father Brian Clough whose first Mass I attended as a boy around 1968 as my parents were friends of his and its a darn good thing I didn't end up in Seminary at the worst possible time; was fired by Carter for a leaked paper encouraging "tolerance for the heterosexual seminarians." It is documented in the book, The Desolate City by Anne Roche Muggeridge but being pre-Internet days, that document has never been able to surface. Father Clough went on to become the Judicial Vicar for the Archdiocese of Toronto.)

An investigation into St. Augustine's found no evidence of homosexual behaviour. That investigation, however, was led by the then-bishop of London, Ont., Marcel Gervais. Bishop Gervais subsequent career has revealed him to be one of Canada's foremost gay-friendly clerics. He has since become Archbishop of Ottawa, sometime president of the CCCB, grand chancellor of Ottawa's dissident St. Peter's Seminary, (this may be an error in the author's original piece. St. Peter's Seminary in in London, Ontario, Ottawa no longer has one though there is a school of philosophy and theology at St. Paul's University within the once Catholic University of Ottawa on whose campus St. Joseph's parish sits. As for the dissidence of St. Peter's Seminary in London, I know four fine priests that came from there and that is all I will say about that!) and the ultimate superior--and protector--of its heterodox sexual ethicist, Fr. Andre Guindon. (whose work was condemned by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith under then Cardinal Ratzinger!) 

A just-published book, Who's in the Seminary, suggests that Canadian seminaries are still hothouses of homosexuality. St. Paul University professor Martin Rovers sent out 455 questionnaires to students at Canada's three major seminaries (St. Augustine's, London's St. Peter's, and Edmonton's St. Joseph's). Fully 25% of the 203 respondents claimed they were either gay, bisexual or unsure of their orientation. As with most self-reported surveys, the accuracy of Prof. Rovers data is open to question, yet it is certain that homosexual representation in Canadian seminaries is many times higher than the now-accepted figure of 1.5% to 3% for the population at large.

"The Catholic Church had a major problem with the retention of priests through the 1970s," says Pennsylvania State University sociologist Philip Jenkins, author of the major new study, Pedophiles and Priests. "So they let in a lot of guys they ought not to have." Many thousands of priests had left the North American churches after the tumultuous changes ushered in by the Second Vatican Council. Desperate for new vocations, seminaries relaxed intellectual and moral standards. According to Prof. Jenkins, many homosexuals have been ordained since then, resulting in "the gay movement becoming solidly entrenched in the Canadian hierarchy." He cautions, however, not to confuse the issues of homosexuality and pedophilia. "If you look dispassionately at the figures, priestly pedophiles run maybe two per thousand, about the same as the rest of the population," says Prof. Jenkins, an Episcopalian.

The perception of a pedophilia crisis was created both by a hostile media and by the division between conservative and liberal Catholics, says Prof. Jenkins. The former blamed homosexuality, and the latter, celibacy. "In fact, the figures indicate that there is no Catholic pedophilia problem, so it's not caused by celibacy." Most of the recent school and choir scandals have not been pedophilia, with prepubescent victims. Rather, they've involved 14-or 15-year-old boys--which is classic homosexuality. That problem, Prof. Jenkins repeats, arose from poor recruiting and later, subversive networking among gay priests. (This is what most of us have been saying all along. Homosexual men came into the priesthood and raped post-pubescent boys. They used the priesthood as their cover.)

Ironically, it is the worst homosexual scandal in Canadian history that has cemented the power of gay network within the Church. The Christian Brothers, a lay Catholic order, was for decades under contract to the government of Ontario to run reform schools at Alfred, near Ottawa, and Uxbridge, near Toronto. These schools may have seen some 500 to 1000 cases of physical and sexual abuse, from the 1960s through the early 1980s. When this abuse became public in 1990, a victim's group, Helpline, hired Toronto lawyer Roger Tucker to pursue their claims. Mr. Tucker approached long-time liberal-Catholic functionary Doug Roche, to mediate. Mr. Roche, a powerful Church fixer for three decades, was the founding editor of the Western Catholic Reporter, and a former MP and Canadian disarmament ambassador. He was then also Mr. Tucker's father-in-law. His mediation proved agreeable to the Ottawa Christian Brothers and the Toronto and Ottawa archdioceses. (The Toronto Christian Brothers have refused to endorse Mr. Tucker's efforts. They are pursuing a separate compensation arrangement with abuse survivors).

By 1992, Mr. Roche had completed an agreement whereby validated abuse claimants would receive some $20,000 each and keep silent about their abusers' identities. Yet by 1996, says negotiator Mike Watters, the claimants had received an average of only $12,000 each, Mr. Tucker had pocketed $750,000, and more than $10 million had been spent in administrative costs. Mr. Roche's fee remained secret. Even more interesting, Mr. Roche or one of his colleagues slipped a curious little clause into the agreement, one that was not noticed until years later.

"If you want to know why the bishops didn't fight Bill C-33 and argue the case against gay marriages, check out the reform school agreement," says journalist Michael Harris, author of Unholy Orders, an account of the Mount Cashel Orphanage scandal. The agreement with the Christian Brothers' victims provides for dental, medical, educational, and counselling benefits to victims, their family members, and those "in a close personal relationship that others recognize is of primary importance in both persons' lives." This, claims Mr. Harris, constitutes the Canadian Catholic Church's recognition of gay spousal benefits.

It is unclear whether (then) Ottawa's Bishop Gervais or Toronto's Bishop Ambrozic knew about the "personal relationship" clause in 1994, when both vocally opposed the Ontario gay rights bill. But by 1996, "I think the bishops knew it was there, and Svend [Robinson] knew it was there," suggests Mr. Harris. Bishop Gervais remained silent during the C-33 debate, and Bishop Ambrozic, normally the "pit bull" of the conservative Canadian bishops, merely distributed a summary of the lacklustre CCCB statement.

For whatever reason, dissident former priest and theologian Gregory Baum (Baum was interviewed by Father Thomas J. Rosica of Salt + Light Television, the transcript of that fascinating interview includes, "You remain a faithful, deeply devoted Catholic, you love Jesus, the Church, the Eucharist.") is glad the Canadian bishops ducked Bill C-33. "I don't think the Church has any business saying this is okay or this isn't okay." he says. "This was not a church wedding the government was debating, but a human right." 

While Canada's Catholic heretics are pleased with the C-33 resolution, the orthodox are appalled. "The Catholic Church isn't a foreign institution," says Toronto lawyer David Brown, (then) vice-president of the Catholic Civil Rights League. "Canada is founded upon a vision of the human being, grounded in religion. And if the country loses that vision, it risks self-destruction."

St. Joseph's Ottawa--more liturgical abuse!

Well the liturgical innovations at St. Joseph's Ottawa continue unabated. These people are so bold because they've been allowed to get away with this for decades. 

From last week's bulletin:

"The Creed: You will notice that we recite the Creed only during the seasons of Advent and Christmas, Lent and Easter, and on special occasions. We believe that our very presence here and our participation speaks of our faith."'

 

From the General Instruction on the Roman Missal:

GIRM # 67. "The purpose of the Symbolum or Profession of Faith, or Creed, is that the whole gathered people may respond to the word of God proclaimed in the readings taken from Sacred Scripture and explained in the homily and that they may also call to mind and confess the great mysteries of the faith by reciting the rule of faith in a formula approved for liturgical use, before these mysteries are celebrated in the Eucharist."

GIRM # 68. "The Creed is to be sung or said by the priest together with the people on Sundays and Solemnities. It may be said also at particular celebrations of a more solemn character. If it is sung, it is begun by the priest or, if this is appropriate, by a cantor or by the choir. It is sung, however, either by all together or by the people alternating with the choir. If not sung, it is to be recited by all together or by two parts of the assembly responding one to the other." During the Children's Masses, the Apostle's Creed may be substituted for the Nicene Creed so the children may learn both.

and this:

"Just before we all process for communion, the priest holds up the bread and wine and says: "We proclaim our faith in the Body and Blood of Christ," and the community says "Amen" as one body. Then all are invited to come forward to receive the bread and wine, body and blood."

Redemptionis Sacramentum [59.] The reprobated practice by which Priests, Deacons or the faithful here and there alter or vary at will the texts of the Sacred Liturgy that they are charged to pronounce, must cease. For in doing thus, they render the celebration of the Sacred Liturgy unstable, and not infrequently distort the authentic meaning of the Liturgy.

At times during the year, they also have liturgical dance, drama and rites of initiation celebrated during Mass. If you have questions or want more information, please contact Mary Murphy, Pastoral Director mmurphy@st-josephs.ca or 613-233-4095 ext 227.

Time to write to Archbishop Prendergast, methinks.

Domus mea!

From today's Gospel in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite for the Ninth Sunday after Pentecost:

 "It is written, 'My house is a house of prayer,' but you have made it a den of thieves."



St. Joseph's Church, Ottawa. Anno Domini 1966



St. Joseph's Church, Ottawa. Anno Domini, 2012

The Rot in Ottawa and I don't mean Parliament!

The Catholic Church in Ottawa has a problem that goes to its very roots, rot and when you have a tree with roots that rot, that tree can produce no fruit.

As told elsewhere on this blog, I lived in Ottawa whilst working on Parliament Hill during the first term of the Conservative Government of Brian Mulroney. During that time I rediscovered the truths of my Catholic faith after a meandering journey from apostasy to the cafeteria. While I had come back to church in Toronto at St. Michael's Cathedral, I was still lined up at the cafeteria, I had forgotten my catechism; but the beauty of the liturgy there drew me in. Upon moving to Ottawa I was scandalised by attending Mass at Notre Dame Basilica. It was the first time I saw women go the Tabernacle and any layperson distribute Holy Communion. The priests had effeminate mannerisms and there was no Gregorian chant or anything sacred to speak of. In that beautiful temple, it was an anomaly.

Then I found the Oratorians at St. Brigid and it all changed. A brother there, now a priest in Vancouver invited me to choir practice. He taught me to read and sing Gregorian chant, I went to confession for the first time in fifteen years or so and the rest is history.

I then witnessed first-hand, awakened to the reality, the putrid rot present in our Church. It was because the Oratorians fully embracing the hermeneutic of continuity of the Second Vatican Council two decades before Pope Benedict XVI would coin the phrase stood in compete contrast to the heretics at St. Joseph's on Sandy Hill, an OMI parish whose Pastor then, Father Douglas Crosby, OMI is now Bishop of Hamilton. The unjust, lying and spurious attack on these good priest, brothers and people came from those at St. Joseph's. The Archbishop, Joseph Aurele Plourde, a proud member of the self-named, "Gang of Five," was a weak man and a coward who was quoted in the Ottawa Citizen as saying that "those who long for Gregorian chant suffer from nostalgia neurosis." His treatment of these fine priests and brothers was a scandal. He still lives now, well into his 90's, perhaps given this time by God to pray and suffer in old age and do some of his purgatory here.

I've blogged below on the putrid facts at St. Joseph's. The liturgical abuse, the dissent on Catholic teaching, the promotion of the homosexualist agenda. People have written, "does the Archbishop know." Of course he knows! His pictures are there from a visit in March. Yes, Archbishop Prendergast knows. They all know.

Insert name

Now, LifeSiteNews has raised our consciousness about an upcoming conference at St. Paul's University which is on the campus of the once Catholic University of Ottawa of which St. Joseph's Church is a part. I mean, can't you just wait to hear the enneagram master and episcopal horse-trader, land-developer and diocese bankrupter Remi de Roo? Surely we all remember this lovely little liturgy by His Disgrace Or how about Canada's own Vatican II peritus, former Augustinian priest, heretic (now that's original) Gregory Baum.

All OMI, all heresy, all the time and you can bet, their heretical liturgies will be at St. Joe's. The question is, will there be puppets?

Socon or Bust as some of you may know went in to early retirement, but a few months ago, that unfortunate occurrence ended and Socon is back. He has noted that Cardinal Turkson is attending this conference and the Nuncio is being asked to contact His Eminence and advise him of the scandal to the faithful due to the dissenters present.

Sign SoCon's petition here.

While the OMI's own the property on which St. Joseph's stands, Ottawa still has an Archbishop let us pray that he will deal with this mess which he has inherited from Plourde and Gervais.

You have polluted my bread

To you, O priests, that despise my name, and have said, Wherein have we despied thy name? You offer polluted bread upon my altar, and you say, Wherein have we polluted thee? In that you say: The table of the LORD is contemptible. Mallachias 1:7

Sunday Mass at St. Joseph's, Ottawa

St. Joe’s is vibrant, diverse and ever-evolving

+ + +
O Mary, Conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.

O good St. Joseph, Patron of the Church and of Canada,

model of virtue and chastity, pray for us.

WARNING: THE FOLLOWING PICTURES OF LITURGICAL ABUSE AND HOMOSEXUAL CELEBRATION HAVE BEEN ARCHIVED AND TAKEN DIRECTLY FROM THE WEB PAGE ASSOCIATED WITH 
ST. JOSEPH'S, SANDY HILL, OTTAWA
EXPLICIT AND DISTURBING PICTURES FOLLOW -- Vox.

St. Joe’s is a vibrant, diverse and ever-evolving Catholic parish in the heart of Ottawa. It is a place where one and all are invited to experience community, contribute to social transformation and grow spiritually.

  Rev. Andy Moyer, OMI - Pastor 

The Missionary Oblates were founded in 1816 by Saint Eugene de Mazenod. Our motto is: “He has sent me to bring the Good News to the poor [...]. The Good News is proclaimed to the poor” (Luke 4:18; Matthew 11:5).

This double Gospel expression makes up the motto inscribed on the coat of arms of the Congregation of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate and of its founder, Eugene de Mazenod. It highlights the missionary character of the Oblate charism and its primary activity. The Oblates find themselves reflected in it no matter how diverse their ministries might be.

The Parish was founded by the Oblates of Mary Immaculate ( OMI) a religious order whose main emphasis of service is to those who are marginalized in the church.

It is an ancient Catholic tradition that all are welcome!  Come, check us out. Ask questions. Be yourself as God created you! Connect with community – connect with diversity – connect with the tension of inclusion.

Maria Virjee our Coordinator of the Welcome Ministry will be happy to be in touch! http://ca.mc1225.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=mvsali@magma.ca

Easter 2012

During this season we renew our baptismal promises, remembering and re- committing to a way of life.  This faith life invites us to grow in awareness of God in and around and through us . It is a gift, and yet we care for it and cultivate it as we strive to live with lives that reflect the love and mercy of God by living a conscious life, that constantly seeks to reveal the presence of  God who creates.

Our planet is our home, created to be loved and lived in with respect.

This Lent, the Seasonal Planning committee is providing you the background inspirations behind the the decor, the prayers, symbols, choice of music and the inspiration for liturgical dance.

The Entrance way looks a little different.... 

You will also see that there is a large pool set on the floor filled with sand and cactus as well as the bowl from the font filled with Water. This is where our journey begins – in the desert, wth Jesus in prayer,  and with our candidates, walking with them to the waters of baptism.

One-on-One Healing Touch – Fri Feb 24 Friday February 24^th, from 9:30am – 11:30am. For anyone who is experiencing spiritual, emotional, or physical stress/pain. Each person will receive a treatment of 15-20 min. followed by time for reflection. Given by Helena Robb, Colette Chartrand and Clara Nasello. Sign-up sheet at the back of the church.

“Occupy Lent”: A Discussion Series –Tues Mar 6, 13, 20

The Occupy movement captured the imagination and dominated discourse throughout North America. Understanding the roots of the financial meltdown, and placing responsibility for this on those responsible, was only part of the message. Issues related to democracy, use of public space, growing inequality and other themes were also front and center.  Socially-conscious Christians are organizing a series of three discussions.  We will first hear from some Occupiers themselves, then a presentation on economic inequality in Canada from a respected and sympathetic economist, and finally, a moderated discussion concerning religious values and what people of faith might do about this growing problem of inequality. The evenings will begin at 7 pm and end by 9 pm at the Parish on March 6, 13 and 20^th.

Catholic Gays and Lesbians get together at St. Joe’s on the second Friday of each month. We live or aspire to live in integrity with our gifts of both spirituality and homosexuality. We want to build bridges between gay communities and the Church. We meet to share our faith. For more information, contact http://ca.mc1225.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=SJcglgroup@gmail.com.

Catholic Gays and Lesbians Gathering — Friday, July 13  Sacristy room, 7-8:30 pm. When John McNeill, pioneering advocate for LGBT human rights, was thanking God for his partner of 22 years,

one of the things he listed in gratitude was: "He does me the honor of being angry at me when I do something thoughtless or hurtful." During our meeting, we will talk about anger in our lives as individuals and as a community — particularly how to channel our anger with the Church's view on women's rights and homosexual love into a passionate search for justice? Please bring a beverage or snack to share. To get a copy of an excerpt (“Dealing with Anger”) from John McNeill's book, Taking a Chance on God, email http://ca.mc1225.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=Sjcglgroup@gmail.com

Parish yoga resumes in the fall 2012.

GOSPEL PLAYERS: 

Through the art of drama, young teens proclaim the Gospel message to the children of the parish. The Players perform during the 9:30 Mass on the third Sunday of each month. The group (often with other volunteers) performs special presentations during Christmas and Eastertide. 

CONTACT: Sr. Connie Goulet…http://ca.mc1225.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=cgoulet58@gmail.com Telephone: 613-231-5118

LITURGICAL DANCE: The Liturgical Dance Ministry has been a part of St. Joseph’s Parish for over 20 years.  Liturgical Dance Ministry is a form of prayer through creative movement.   Liturgical dancers seek to invoke the power and presence of the Holy Spirit to visually proclaim God’s presence within and among us.   It is not a performance but an invitation for all in the assembly to go deeper into the music or the Word.  With his or her whole being, the dancer seeks to carry and lift the prayers in our hearts.

Dance Ministry meets in the weeks leading up to the special Sunday’s when we dance. These are usually Advent, Christmas, Lent, Triduum, and Pentecost.

To be in the Liturgical Dance Ministry, a person does not need to be a professional or trained dancer, but simply be prepared to allow the Spirit to breathe through you. There are currently 6 dancers, and we welcome more.  Any person over 12 years of age is welcome to join the ministry.

LITURGY COMMITTEE: The Liturgy Committee oversees the liturgy of St. Joseph’s Parish. The members do this through study, reflection, and discernment of the church documents. They create policy and guidance as it relates to the Liturgy and work to integrate the mission of the parish into an authentic, meaningful, and prayerful expression of our rich catholic tradition.

DEVELOPMENT & PEACE: This outreach group endorses the social justice and environmental campaigns of the national organization,Development and Peace. We hold education and action activities at St. Joe’s, including workshops, homilies, visual displays, bulletin messages for information and emergency appeals. Share Lent­ is the major faith, education and fund-raising effort each year, we to expose parishioners to the values of Catholic Social Teaching and those found in Caritas et Veritatis.Evening meetings held on an ad hoc basis.

Interfaith Sandy Hill is a multi-faith group of members who are curious about religion and what our various faith traditions have to say on various topics. The group believes that good things can happen when numerous faith communities join together to foster a continued dialogue and open communication. Interfaith dialogue increases knowledge of our neighbors. In turn, this can break the bonds of hate, prejudice and intolerance. For Catholics, the group’s work builds upon the Roman Catholic Church Vatican II document of 1965 Nostra Aetate,

Members include our local churches All Saints Sandy Hill, St. Joseph’s Roman Catholic Parish, St. Paul’s Eastern United Church and Jewish, Muslim and Hindu representatives.

SACRED INTERFAITH NAMING AND BLESSING OF AN INFANT

All are welcome to attend this event. Various welcoming rites will be performed to welcome this infant. Reception to follow. For more information: Roman Mukerjee  or Jane Gibson  613-745-1923). Tuesday, November 29th, 2011, 6:30pm, Rideau Gardens, 240 Friel at Rideau.

PASTORAL CARE

ATTITUDINAL HEALING

Healing Services

These take place about 3- 4 times a year.

Members of this ministry invite anyone seeking healing ( in all its forms), to join in communal prayer, annointing, laying on of hands, and time for fellowship afterwards. There is also time for private prayer with one of the Healing Ministry Leaders. Watch the parish calendar for dates.

One-on- One Experience of Healing Touch

For: Anyone who is experienceing spiritual, emotional or physical stress/pain

Purpose: restores balance and harmony physically,emotionally and spiritually

Creates: relaxation, calm, lightness, clarity of thought and peace

In a state of health, life energy flows freely. Within all living things, there is a natural movement toward growth and wholeness. The treatment stimulates the person’s own recuperative power to promote healing for themself.

Everyone is welcome to come and experience a treatment for yourself

The dates for the Fall are: September 21st, October 19th, and November 30th

Friday morning: 9:30-11:30

REFLECTIONS/HOMILIES

Reflection for 7-8 July, 2012

14^th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year B

Mike Britton

Text: Ezekiel 2:3-5, 2 Corinthians 12:7-10, Mark 6:1-6.

[EXCERPT] "I’ve climbed up onto a pedestal here myself, haven’t I? For these few minutes, here I am, speaking from the Altar of the Word, but I know that I’m still the same person as the one who will return to his pew and stand in line for Communion with everyone else, then drive back home to Kanata, spend time with family, go to work, and live a life that is in most ways not particularly distinguished. I will struggle with my own temptations, resisting them imperfectly at best; I have a hard time seeing the “heroic virtue” of sainthood in my life."

PARISH DIRECTORY

The Core Team

Pastor
Andre Boyer OMI…http://ca.mc1225.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=aboyeromi@st-josephs.ca
Telephone: 613-233-4095 ext. 222
Pastoral Director
Mary Murphy http://ca.mc1225.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=mmurphy@st-josephs.ca
Telephone: 613-233-4095 ext. 227

LITURGICAL CONTACTS
Bread Bakers Coordinator
Contact: Clara Nasello…http://ca.mc1225.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=claranasello@yahoo.com

Pastoral Care
Christian Meditation
Contact: George Martin & Rosemarie Morris…http://ca.mc1225.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=morris-martin@rogers.com

Pastoral Visits to Retirement homes and Ottawa Hospital

Kathleen Allan… http://ca.mc1225.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=kathleenallan@magma.ca Telephone: 613-729-1903
Pastoral Visits
Mary Murphy – http://st-josephs.ca/contact/parish-directory/mmurphy@st-josephs.ca
613-233-4095 ext 227

Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate (MAMI)

Contact: Ed MacNeil ,OMI
Telephone: 613-232 -5793

QUAERITUR: 

WHY IS ED MACNEIL, OMI  A CONVICTED SEX OFFENDER FOR THE HOMOSEXUAL ABUSE OF BOYS WITH FACULTIES SUPPOSEDLY SUSPENDED IN OTTAWA AND PETERBOROUGH ON STAFF AT THIS CHURCH? -- Vox.

Saint Joseph's Young Adult Faith Community University Mass at Ottawa's Saint Joseph Parish

St. Joseph’s Parish is in the midst of fine-tuning its new communications strategy. An important part of this process included asking parishioners at all masses, including students and young adults at university mass, to tell us what draws them to our church. We received a wide array of responses, but some of the adjectives that kept coming up in dozens of responses included: welcoming, friendly, progressive and liberal. Here’s how our parishioners and guests see St. Joseph’s Parish:

- Invitation to be the Spirit – not shackled by prescriptive Catholicsm but open to the paths of the mystics – accepting – weekly reinforcement of us in God and God in us

- Equal partners ( women – men, lay-religious; young-old) parish members make decisions, take responsibility are accountable – no clericalism

- Social justice inclusiveness, re-claiming Catholicism

- Care for the poor, everyone having a place, liturgy, deep, meaningful, communal, progressive, Living the Spirit of Vatican II

- Realistic, 21st century – catholic teaching while respecting the history of a 2000+ year old tradition – hopefully not going backward. Should St. Joe’s begin to return to the proceedings of the church prior to Vatican II – I will reluctantly say farewell.

- Progressive, non-traditional, youthful, change-oriented

- A dogma-free place and community of worship, a faith-celebratory place

- Welcoming, liberal, diverse, outreach, vocal community

- Radical, welcoming, faith in action, justice and solidarity, action community

- A community which is inclusive, vibrant, liberal, reaching out, progressive, active, loving, caring for the poor, working for social justice

- Liberal, open-minded, inclusive and still Catholic

- Truly a spiritual experience – not “religious”

- Warmth, lay homilies, liturgical dance, beautiful music

- A supportive and inclusive community – equality. “be the change you wish to see in the world”

- Modern and democratic – “a church for today’s world”

- Inclusive, heart centered, justice oriented, welcoming, seeking through silence, celebrating God’s love

- Liturgy well celebrated and reflective – conscious of social justice

- Apparent and intense dedication of the parishioners, strongly female

- Creative, liberal, welcoming, thought-provoking

- All are welcome, open, not rigid, willing to bend when necessary

Now tell us about your experience and what you’re looking for in an open and welcoming Catholic parish community, especially as we prepare for another semester at university! Let us know by either posting your comments, or sending an e-mail to: http://ca.mc1225.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=cadam@st-josephs.ca .

CAUTION: EXPLICIT PHOTOS FOLLOW, Vox.

Gay Catholics, Christians and Allies in Ottawa

JULY 23, 2010

The Gay Catholics, Christians and Allies at the University of Ottawa is looking for supporters willing to march with the club in the Capital Pride this year (August 29). The club: i) builds an inclusive community, ii) spreads the message: God’s love is in all people regardless of their sexual orientation, iii) wants gay persons to be welcomed by the official Christian churches.

Please join us at the Pride and help make this message heard: all people (gay and straight) have the same gift of love to share! E-mail: http://ca.mc1225.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=clgbt@uottawa.ca

 

Rev. Rhondda MacKay’s homily at St. Joe’s: the prodigal sower

Protestant Minister Rhondaa McKay

AUGUST 4, 2011

Thanks to your liturgy team for the honour of opening scriptures for you. I am honoured to have an opportunity to address the congregation, for which I have such respect and to stand with Fr. Andy who we have been so pleased to welcome into Sandy Hill; I like to brag about the good working relationship amongst churches and faith communities in this neighbourhood… I like to think we are fertile soil for the sower’s seeds, but it is worth thinking about what the fertile soil would be that provides abundant harvest

In his response to the questions of his disciples, Jesus tells them parables are for those who know beyond knowledge. They hear and see beyond the obvious.

It’s an invitation to look again at the familiar image –prodigal sower, casting seed not just on the prepared ground, but also on the path, on rocky ground and amongst the thorns. No self-respecting farmer would do that.

High Profile Gay “Marriage” Activist to Host Fundraiser at Ottawa Catholic Church