Fall 2015 Parish Council Mailing Memo
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Greetings!
What a wonderful 95th annual national convention in Vancouver. I hope many of you are considering attending the 96th annual national convention in Halifax next August. Wonderful speakers, opportunities for spiritual reflection, making new friends and following a parish council meeting just like yours (except spread over three days) are just some of the reasons you should give yourself this gift. It will be repaid many times.
For your review and your information:
1) A funeral protocol has been drafted and will be presented to the national executive at its fall meeting, November 6-7, 2015. Once it is approved, it will be placed on the national website under “Resources.” More information will follow in the near future.
2) A new hymn will be added to the resource list, thanks to the efforts of many composers throughout Canada. The winning entry is “Our Lady of Good Counsel” by Mary Ertel, member of St. Anthony Daniel Parish Council in Kitchener, Ontario (a copy of the hymn is enclosed). Through a vetting process, the hymns submitted were short-listed to three nominees, and a winner was chosen at the pre-convention national executive meeting. More information will follow on this wonderful project suggested by Calgary Diocesan Past President Carol Schlachter during National Past President Betty Anne Brown Davidson’s term as president.
3) The Year of Consecrated Life will come to a close with a special celebration on February 2, 2016.
4) Most importantly, in the second year of the national theme One Heart, One Voice, One Mission, the national executive will be focusing on Pope Francis’s declaration of the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy, beginning December 8, 2015, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, and concluding on November 20, 2016, the Feast of Christ the King. Please review, or have someone in your parish council review, the national website (www.cwl.ca) for more information on ways to celebrate this special year. Once the fall national executive meeting has concluded and a League focus for the year has been chosen, information should be available on the website.
As we move toward the end of another liturgical year and into the beautiful season of Advent in preparation for Christmas, it behooves us all to recall that on this earthly journey, our presence is so much more important than our presents.
God bless,
Anne-Marie Gorman
National First Vice President and Chairperson of Spiritual Development