I am the Way … Jn 14:6

 I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life (Jn 14:6)

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By Lorraine Vincent

December 5, 2016

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“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God; all things were made through Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made. In Him was life, and the Life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (Jn 1:1-5). Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God the Father, came to earth, took on human flesh and preached the “Truth” to all sinners to show us “The Way” and gave us His Holy Catholic Church. He is the Lamb of God, our Saviour, full of love and mercy for all mankind. He willingly sacrificed Himself on the Cross to make reparation for the sins of the world, reconciling us with the Father. The gates of Heaven were then opened to all souls who did and will do the will of God. We, who belong to the Catholic Church, the Body of Christ, have the responsibility to promote the faith to souls.

 The Seven Sacraments

Our Holy Catholic Church has seven sacraments which were instituted by Christ for our sanctification. “The sacraments are efficacious signs of grace, instituted by Christ and entrusted to the Church by which divine life is dispensed to us. The visible rites by which the sacraments are celebrated signify and make present the graces proper to each sacrament. They bear fruit in those who receive them with the required dispositions” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, CCC, 1131).

The seven sacraments are: Baptism, Confirmation, Reconciliation (Confession), Eucharist, Matrimony, Holy Orders, and Extreme Unction (Sacrament of the Sick and the Dying). Our Church recommends that we receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation at least once a month. The Sacrament of Extreme Unction can be repeated. Through these sacraments the faithful receive sanctifying grace from the Holy Spirit given by Christ through the Catholic priests. “From the moment that a sacrament is celebrated in accordance with the intention of the Church, the power of Christ and His Spirit acts in and through it, independently of the personal holiness of the minister. Nevertheless, the fruits of the sacraments also depend on the disposition of the one who receives them” (CCC, 1128).

“Sacramental grace is the grace of the Holy Spirit, given by Christ and proper to each sacrament. The Spirit heals and transforms those who receive Him by conforming them to the Son of God. The fruit of the sacramental life is that the Spirit of adoption makes the faithful partakers in the divine nature by uniting them in a living union with the only Son, the Savior” (CCC, 1129).

To have the “required disposition” to benefit from the sacraments, we must desire to grow in our faith and be in the process of trying to become better Catholics. The sacraments will then strengthen us spiritually, to help draw us closer to Christ in order to better discern His will in our lives. We should try to learn the true teachings of our Church by reading the Bible, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, papal documents and the lives of the saints. We cannot quit trying to improve spiritually daily, because we will slide backwards and loose what we gained. Also, the more we pray and meditate daily, the more we will grow closer to Jesus.

 The Holy Eucharist

 The Holy Eucharist is the “Sacrament of sacraments” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, CCC, 1211), for in this Blessed Sacrament is Christ Himself.  The Blessed Sacrament is at the center of life of the Catholic Church.  St. John Paul II wrote about the Blessed Sacrament in Redemptor Hominis:  “It is at one and the same time a Sacrifice-Sacrament, a Communion-Sacrament, and a Presence-Sacrament.”

Certain conditions must be met before a person may participate with the whole community in receiving the Holy Eucharist (Holy Communion) in a Catholic Church. Initially, the Sacraments of Christian Baptism, Confirmation in the Catholic Church and the Sacrament of Reconciliation (Confession) are necessary. Also, one must be in total agreement with the whole Catholic Church and its teachings, and believe that Jesus is truly present under the appearance of Bread and Wine consecrated at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass by a Catholic priest. One must agree that the Holy Eucharist is not just a sign or a symbol but the real Body and Blood of Christ. Then, “The Holy Eucharist completes Christian initiation” (CCC, 1322), and a person may participate with the whole community in receiving the Eucharist. That is why we, as Catholics, should not receive Communion in a Protestant Church and why Protestants should not receive Communion in a Catholic Church.

Our Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1381, teaches “That in this sacrament are the true Body of Christ and His true Blood is something that ‘cannot be apprehended by the senses,’ says St. Thomas (Aquinas), ‘but only by faith, which relies on divine authority.’  For this reason, in a commentary on Luke 22:19 (‘This is My Body which is given for you.’), St. Cyril says:  ‘Do not doubt whether this is true, but rather receive the words of the Savior in faith, for since He is the truth, He cannot lie.’”

Christ wanted to remain present to all people in His Church in this unique way. “[B]y this sacrament we unite ourselves to Christ, who makes us sharers in his Body and Blood to form a single body” (CCC, 1331).

Therefore, people throughout the universal Catholic Church are united together as the Body of Christ in this Sacrament of Holy Communion until the end of time.

 The Sacrament of Reconciliation

This Sacrament is the act of confession to a Catholic priest (Christ’s representative). It is a means to purify our soul of all sin. Christ is all forgiving in the Sacrament of Reconciliation if we are truly sorry and try to change our behavior. Also, we will receive special heavenly graces and blessings to strengthen us in our good will. There are times when a person might not feel forgiven and focus on the past. Feelings are irrelevant. The past is gone, the future is before us. We must believe in the power of God to forgive sins and go forward.

It is important to note, that Catholics may not receive Holy Eucharist, while in the state of mortal sin, as this would be a sacrilege, a grave sin. “For a sin to be mortal, three conditions must together be met: Mortal sin is sin whose object is grave matter and which is also committed with full knowledge and deliberate consent. … Grave matter is specified by the Ten Commandments … St. Paul urges us to examine our conscience: ‘Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the Body and Blood of the Lord… eats and drinks judgment upon himself.’  Anyone conscious of a grave sin must receive the sacrament of Reconciliation before coming to communion” (CCC, 1857, 1858, 1385).

Grave sin, that is, mortal sin, includes occult practices, sex outside of marriage, theft and murder (which includes abortion, euthanasia and assisted suicide). When a person takes part in these grave sins, knowing that they are really bad, but freely does it anyway, the person is thereby rejecting Jesus and pushing Him away. However, after the person receives the Sacrament of Reconciliation with determination never to commit the grave sin again, the sin is completely wiped away off the person’s soul, by the power of God working through the Catholic priest.

Then Jesus will welcome the person back to Himself in the Holy Eucharist.

Abortion, Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide

Abortion, euthanasia and assisted suicide are all mortal sins against the Commandment, “Thou shalt not kill”. Abortion is the murder of an unborn baby in the womb of a mother, with the mother’s consent. Both the abortionist and the mother are culpable before God. In fact, those who receive the abortion, perform it, or cooperate in it, bring an Automatic Excommunication upon themselves. They are excommunicated because of the sin itself. A bishop does not have to pronounce it. The killing of the innocent is never justified. The purpose of the excommunication is not to reject anyone, but precisely to help people understand how evil abortion is, and help them to turn away from it. The Church promises any woman who has had an abortion, that if she comes repenting of her sin, she will find welcome and forgiveness. God’s mercy is ready to forgive her sin in the Sacrament of Reconciliation (Confession), and to reconcile her to the Church by removing the excommunication.

Euthanasia is the deliberate killing of someone with or without that person’s consent, in order to eliminate all suffering. The individual who commits euthanasia must therefore intend to kill the person and must cause the death, usually by lethal injection. This practice along with assisted suicide remains illegal in most countries, but the trend towards accepting euthanasia is spreading throughout the globe. Abortion has been legal in Canada since 1969 when Parliament passed a law that allowed abortion in certain circumstances. Euthanasia and assisted suicide are now legal in Canada since the year 2015.

We have to remember that God gave us life. He didn’t say it is ours to take away, or permit the government to give us permission to take life away. God decides when we are to be born and when we are to die. The guilty ones that kill the innocent will be judged for rebelling against God.

There are three Euthanasia Deceptions. Deception #1 is that assisted death is compassionate. Societies tend to impose judgment on “quality of life”. There is an unspoken assumption on a person’s right to be alive depends upon how well they function. Pain can be controlled. We need more proper palliative care. Deception #2 is about the individual’s right to choose euthanasia for oneself. Choice includes family and friends. It’s a matter of care. Dependence on others does not diminish our dignity. It is simply our recognition of our need for one another. Deception #3 is that safeguards will protect the vulnerable. However, people always find exceptions. The practice of hastening death has become all too common, even in Canada.

We need to combat the Culture of Death in Canada. The concept of lethally injecting or giving somebody lethal pills to end their life is not compassion. It is not caring for the person. People of faith are called to love one another, to care for a person when they are going through the most difficult time of their life. We can help the needy to find meaning and purpose in their life again. We can take care of the sick and the dying. We are able to control virtually all pain if properly dealt with. We need to improve end-of-life training and pain management care in our medical schools and nursing programs across the country. We can offer complete relief. Our Church promotes the Corporal Works of Mercy. One of them is to visit the sick. We can build a community of care, of fraternal love for others. We can face life’s struggles together, hand in hand, until natural death.

The Sacrament of Matrimony

In present day society it is becoming more and more common for couples to live together without getting married. An erroneous mentality is to believe that if everyone does it, then it’s okay. Not so. In fact, Catholic parents are becoming more indoctrinated into this secular belief, to the point that they do not insist that their children receive the Sacrament of Matrimony in a Catholic Church. This Sacrament is not valid if the Catholic children get married in a park, for instance. To receive this Sacrament, the man and woman must be married in a Catholic Church by a Catholic priest.

Now-a-days, false compassion often comes into play. Parents often have to make tough decisions. Their love and compassion for their young adult children tempts them to help them to do what is evil—what is forbidden by the Catholic Church. For instance, it is a great temptation to assist their child to live with their partner, while unmarried. The parents don’t want to hurt their feelings, and feel sorry for them in their need of a place to live; so they either provide a home for them, or assist them financially. I am well aware of even deeper complications. I have heard that some children threatened to cut off all relations with their parents and to not allow them to see their grandchildren, if they do not assist them to live together out of wedlock. With tremendous grief, the parents gave in. How sad!

But think. What would Jesus do? Jesus did not help anybody to sin. His compassion would not lead Him to help an unmarried couple to live together; because anyone helping a person to commit a mortal sin would be taking the mortal sin upon themselves, too. This sounds rather harsh. To do what is “right” is often tough love. But it is better than assisting people to go to hell and going to hell along with them. Think about it this way: a person can assist a bank robber by driving the get-away car; but both would be prosecuted by the law.

Life on this earth can be so difficult in our journey towards Heaven! We have to pray fervently for souls. St. Peter and St. James wrote, “[L]et those suffering in accordance with God’s will entrust themselves to a faithful Creator, while continuing to do good (1 Pet 4:19). My brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of any kind, consider it nothing by joy, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance; and let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking in nothing” (Jas 1:2-4).

Redemptive Suffering

Jesus said, “Whoever serves Me must follow Me, and where I am, there will My servant be also. Whoever serves Me, the Father will honour (Jn 12:26). If any want to become My followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow Me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for My sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life?” (Mk 8:34-36).

We can make good use of all our trials and pain in redemptive suffering for the good of souls. Jesus often spoke to St. Faustina and told her to write His words in her Diary, Divine Mercy in My Soul. He therefore tells us how we can use redemptive suffering. He said, “Join your sufferings to My Passion and offer them to the heavenly Father for sinners” (Diary, 1032). We can bring this prayer to mind with each agony during the day while we suffer physically or mentally, for a certain soul, or for all souls throughout the world. We can also make a decision to make a loving sacrifice for souls, especially when it is not easy or convenient, and perform a difficult act of charity and mercy for someone in need. Then we can pray to Jesus to join our sacrifice to His Holy Passion for this soul. In this way we can experience with a sense of relief and some joy, knowing that our suffering isn’t for nothing, that it has great spiritual value and is doing some good. With the help of my priest spiritual director, I composed this prayer: Jesus, I offer to You all my sufferings and trials to be joined to Your Holy Passion and offered to our heavenly Father in reparation for my sins, for (names of people) and for all souls, in union with all the Holy Sacrifices of the Mass throughout the world today.

St. Faustina wrote, “During Holy Mass, I saw Jesus stretched out on the Cross, and He said to me, ‘My pupil, have great love for those who cause you suffering. Do good to those who hate you.’ I answered, ‘O my Master, You see very well that I feel no love for them, and that troubles me.’ Jesus answered, ‘It is not always within your power to control your feelings. You will recognize that you have love if, after having experienced annoyance and contradiction, you do not lose your peace, but pray for those who have made you suffer and wish them well’” (Diary, 1628).

 Towards the end of his life St. Paul wrote: “Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ on behalf of His Body, which is the Church” (Col 1:24). This is a wonderful mystery of our Church. Christ allows us to share in His redemptive suffering for all mankind, when we join our suffering in loving union to His Holy Passion on the Cross.

 St. John Paul II wrote in his Apostolic Letter Salvifici Doloris, The Christian Meaning of Human Suffering, 1984;  Part V- Sharers in the Suffering of Christ, 19, 24: “The Redeemer suffered in place of man and for man. Every man has his own share in the Redemption.  Each one is also called to share in that suffering through which the Redemption was accomplished. … In bringing about the Redemption through suffering, Christ has also raised human suffering to the level of the Redemption. Thus each man, in his suffering, can also become a sharer in the redemptive suffering of Christ. … The sufferings of Christ created the good of the world’s redemption. This good in itself is inexhaustible and infinite. No man can add anything to it. But at the same time, in the mystery of the Church as His Body, Christ has in a sense opened His own redemptive suffering to all human suffering. In so far as man becomes a sharer in Christ’s sufferings—in any part of the world and at any time in history—to that extent he in his own way completes the suffering through which Christ accomplished the Redemption of the world.”

 

 

Church Repair & Renovation Status

Blessed Sacrament Church 1a_smBlessed Sacrament Church

December 4, 2016

Church Repair Status & Update

This week:  The original 1913 storm sewer lines have been excavated out of the dirt basement floor.   The removal of this old line will now prevent ground water from moving around inside of the church basement floor.

Church Sound System Replacement – GV Audio finished tuning the new microphones for the presider, lectern and cantor to the acoustic characteristics of the church interior.  The “Assisted Listening” unit is installed and working so that the hearing impaired can use a simple mobile FM radio with earbuds.

asist-listening-freq

Church Boiler System – DMA Applied Controls has completed programming of the boiler controls, provided detailed schematics, comprehensive hardware and software documentation, as well as schedules, graphics, trend logs and alarms.  We have a fully functional Building Management System to manage and monitor the church and rectory heating system.

Church Basement Underpinning – The transept underpinning process produced a large amount of ground which needs to be removed from the church basement.  The 1950’s above ground cast iron storm sewer lines will also be removed from the church basement.  The structural slab for the bell tower base still needs to be poured.  The underpinning project will be completed when the church basement entrance has been repaired.

Major Milestones – Underpinning Project

  • Underpinning of 1913 basement section completed
  • New sub-floor in the church has been completed
  • Church floor in the 1905 section is successfully levelled
  • Underpinning of 1905 basement Section completed
  • Underpinning piles for Bell Tower completed
  • New adjustable columns in 1905 section installed & working
  • New adjustable columns in 1913 section installed & working

On February 17. 2016 the Diocesan Administrator approved our request to underpin the church floor and bell tower after receiving recommendations from both the College of Consulters and the Archdiocesan Finance Council.  The underpinning project is estimated to require three (3) months to complete.

CALL for PRAYERS & BENEFACTORS: Please pray that the God of Providence will provide Blessed Sacrament Parish with benefactors, who will provide the financial funds needed for the structural repairs to the church floor, bell tower and roof, as well as the replacement of the deteriorated roof shingles.  The church remains closed, as we seek benefactors, contractor quotes and approval of funds to proceed as planned.

CALL FOR GRATITUDE:  Blessed Sacrament is the oldest Roman Catholic parish in the city of Regina.  The church is the second oldest building in Regina.  While the building is historically significant, our parish serves many needs of people who live and work in downtown Regina; from the poorest of the poor to the privileged.    We need to give thanks to God, for 111 years of Time, Talent & Treasure provided by our benefactors, parishioners, contractors, engineers, lawyers, and our parish finance council members.

Completed Projects

Wilf Perreault Studio

Christmas Nativity Set Restoration

Originally imported from Italy, God knows how many years ago.  We still have the original shipping crate.  The figurines were severely chipped and broken.  Wilf has made skillful repairs to the finest details and masterfully matched the original paint.  We are very grateful for Wilf because he has generously given his time, talent and treasure to restore these Christmas treasures.  Our Blessed Sacrament nativity set is once again beautiful and as good as new.

Breda Brother Builders

New Church Children’s Room and Washroom

Loretta Elford initially commissioned and paid the Breda Brothers to build a new Ambry for the Holy Oils of Chrism, Catechumens and Oil of the Sick.  During their site visit for the Ambry, the Breda Brothers were asked if they might be interested in building a new children’s room and washroom at the west church entrance.  Marino Breda asked if we wanted to repurpose the wooden confessional to retain the original look of the space.  The Breda Brothers have completed the new children’s room and washroom, as well as integrating the original confessional facade to retain the look, feel and balance of the space.  This project is on time and on budget.

The Breda Brothers also safely removed the communion rail to facilitate the floor replacement renovations.  The communion rail is part of Blessed Sacrament’s spirituality and it will be reinstalled once the floor renovations are completed.  The Breda Brothers   restored the East Rose Window frame (i.e. The Blessed Sacrament stained glass window) which had suffered deterioration from exposure to the weather elements.  They also removed the stained glass window in the Children’s Room, braced the exterior brick wall and removed the bells to avert a catastrophic failure of the bell tower.

Eagle Electric Service

New Ceiling Fans & Overhead Sanctuary LED Lighting

New ceiling fans provide air flow during hot summer months and energy savings during the winter months.  New forced-air attic fans are being installed to improve air flow during the summer months and lower humidity in the attic during winter months.  This project went over budget with the change to high-effecincy and high-output LED lighting in the church sanctuary.

LED lighting has been installed behind the center portion of the three large stained glass rose windows.  The new All Weather exterior windows required cross beams, which partially prevent outside light to fully illuminate the center portion of the rose windows.  The LED lighting removes the shadow from the cross beams so that the center symbols are visible.

Arrow Plumbing & Heating

Rectory Sewer Line Replacement

This project is completed on time and on budget to replace the rotten cast iron sewer lines beneath the rectory floor and the in floor cast iron lines from the washrooms.

Town & Country Plumbing & Heating

Church Sewer Line Replacement

This project is completed on time and over budget because of the 60+ year old rotten lines buried deeper and right beside floor column structures.  200 feet of old cast-iron lines have been replaced with new commercial grade PVC lines.  This project has revealed long-standing causes of floor/foundation instability, as well as “the last straw” contributing to structural failures in the bell tower and church roof.  Floor renovations have been halted until the church floor columns and bell tower are properly underpinned.

Action Sewer & Drain Services

Re-line under the church & rectory foundations

This project is completed on time and was over budget because the main sewer line from the church basement to the rectory also needed to be relined.  Action Sewer has helped identify the original 1905 storm sewer lines that are buried beneath the church basement floor.  These old lines are full of ground water which saturates a good portion of the 1913 church basement floor.  The 1913 and 1950’s storm sewer lines in church basement will be removed to reduce the amount of ground water and moisture in the church basement.

Jordan Asbestos Removal

Remove Old Church Tiles & Clean-Out Bell Tower

The old tiles on the church floor have been removed and this project  is on budget.  Cleaning out 110 years of “bird stuff” in the bell tower had to be done without a budget, so that contractors could safely remove the church bells.

BBK Structural Engineers

Church Foundation, Bell Tower & Floor Structures

BBK has providing engineering specifications to underpin the floor/roof columns and bell tower, as well as design a new structural-skeleton for the bell tower.  These structural projects could no longer be ignored as in the past.  The church underpinning project has installed new piles and adjustable floor/roof columns.  The four church transept columns required custom pile designs for the underpinning process.  The original 1913 transept columns were not  replaced with adjustable columns to level the church floor because of the structural load they must bear.  Consequently the church floor between the four transepts could not be lowered to improve upon the floor levelling process.

Raydon Castle Building Center

General Contractor to provide All-Weather Windows

Top-Line Construction—Contractor to template and install New Church Windows.  All-Weather Windows—Manufacturer to Custom Build New Church Windows.  Philly’s Painting—for the church and rectory windows and doors; painting is on budget.

The new windows replace the sun-faded Lexon sheets, which made the church look like a bunker from the outside.  The old Lexon sheets where only intended to protect the stained glass windows; they did not stop dust and snow from literally blowing into the church through the stained glass window frames.

The new All-Weather glass windows attractively display the full beauty of the stained glass windows from the outside, improve the amount of light entering the church, as well as provide protection, a proper weather seal and high-efficiency energy savings.

All of the new windows are installed with the exception of the south-west washroom and the bell tower windows.  These last two windows will be installed once the structural repairs to the bell tower and roof are completed and the stained glass window in washroom has been reinstalled.  This project is on budget.

Project Management

by Rev. Barry J. Anwender, P.Eng., BSc., MDiv.

Pastor, Blessed Sacrament Parish

In collaboration with the Finance Councils

of Blessed Sacrament Parish

and the Archdiocese  of Regina.