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CreditsPublisherThe Companions of the Cross

Editors-in-ChiefFr. Allan MacDonald, General SuperiorFr. Rick Jaworski

Managing EditorChristine Labrosse

Graphic DesignDyann BernardPigs Can Fly Designdyannbernard@gmail.com

The Companions of the Cross is a quarterly publication designed to encourage spiritual growth and to share about God’s movement within a new community of Catholic priests, and candidates for the priesthood. The Companions’ ministries are made possible by the prayerful generosity of its supporters, to whom we are most grateful.

The editorial team welcomes your comments and inquiries.Mailing Address:199 Bayswater AvenueOttawa, Ontario, Canada K1Y 2G5Office: (613) 728-3175Fax: (613) 725-15901-866-885-8824 (toll free in Canada)1-866-724-6073 (toll free in USA)Web site: companionscross.orgE-mail: info@companionscross.orgPublications Mail Agreement #: 40016244

Become Like Children

Thirty Years!

A Sacrifice of Mercy

Mercy Becomes Joy

General Assembly: We’re Not Worthy

From Refugees to Newcomers

Proclaiming the Kerygma

2016/2017 CC Households

“Inside Man”

Padre’s Picks: Parish Renewal

Community News & Notes

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New General Superior

F r. Allan MacDonald, CC was elected as the new General Superior of the Community on September 2, 2016. The vote marked the end of the General Assembly, which convened in Ogdensburg, New York, on August 30 and

wrapped up on the day of the vote.

This new General Superior follows in the impressive footsteps of now-Bishop Scott McCaig, CC who, before being appointed to the episcopate on April 8 of this year, was the General Superior of the Companions for 10 years. Now, Fr. Al-lan MacDonald will lead the Companions of the Cross Community for six years. Fr. Allan MacDonald has served in the following capacities: Vocations Director, University Chaplain, and has assisted with the first year Applicancy Program. He

has also led many missions and parish retreats. All this makes him a great leadership choice for the Community that has pastors, professors, university and hospital chaplains, and road missionaries within its ranks.

Fr. Pierre Ingram, CC, Companion of the Cross Director of Formation and former Executive Council member said, “He has great spiritual wisdom and experience in ministry, and he exemplifies our charism. We are eager to move forward in our common mission and brotherhood under his leadership.”

Fr. Allan MacDonald’s appointment comes at a time of great growth for the Community. The past four years have seen two Community members become bishops (the other being Bishop Christian Riesbeck, CC in Ottawa). The Community is also showing much promise for great growth with 24 seminarians considering the priesthood.

Bishop Scott McCaig, CC former General Superior said, “Fr. Allan MacDonald embodies the charisms and spirituality of our late founder, Fr. Bob Bedard.”

The Companions of the Cross were founded by Fr. Bob Bedard, CC in Ottawa, Ontario, in 1984. What started out as a small group of men meeting weekly has grown to a Community with 2 Bishops, 38 priests, and 24 seminarians. They serve in Ottawa, Toronto, Halifax, Detroit, and Houston.

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f e a t u r eby Fr. Bob Bedard, CC

This article is transcribed from a homily given at St. Mary’s Parish in Ottawa, July 16, 1986. It is presented in the style that Fr. Bob spoke, and is not his typical written work.

The line that strikes me is when St. Matthew quotes Jesus. It’s where the master says, “I praise you, Father, because you have hidden these things from the learned and the clev-

er and you have revealed them to mere children” (Matt 11:25). We know that he talked about children more than once. He said, “Let them come to me. Don’t prevent the children from coming to me. Let them come” (Matt 19:14). I suppose they piled all over him. He loved children. And he said in other places and he’s quoted more than once saying, much in the same way, “Be like children. Be like children all of you” (c.f. Matt 18:2-4). I think that’s what he’s talking about here today. That the Father has revealed things to the merest children. Things that are hidden and kept from the learned and the clever.

I’m not an expert on children but I am a keen observer. I have been observing and relating to children for years, and I’m still doing it. In fact a lot of them are like grandchildren to me now. Not an ex-pert at children, but I’m a keen observer. I think what Jesus means is that he wants us to be dependent like children. Children are not independent. They depend on others, don’t they? Jesus is saying be like children, depend upon me. Don’t be as tough as the world tells you to be. Don’t be so smart or independent. Don’t be so together but rather be like children, dependent upon me.

I think he means too that he wants us to be like children in that they ask a lot of questions. Children don’t assume, by my obser-vance, that they know very much. And as a result of that they ask all kinds of questions. If you’ve ever spent a day, and I know some of you have day after day, with an 8-year old or a 7-year old, you know what it is. They ask their questions. “That’s good,” I think that’s what the Lord is saying, “ask me questions.” And trust the way children are as well. Jesus is saying if we will come to him as children, then he will reveal to us the things that are hidden from the learned and the clever.

Would you say that this world as a human society is in the control of the learned and the clever? I would say so. It’s the brains that are running us, right? They’re telling us where to go, what’s im-portant, setting priorities; it’s the learned and the clever that are in charge. And yet the Lord is saying things are hidden from them and revealed to the merest children. Jesus is calling us to be childlike. Not childish, childlike. And he will reveal things to us. If we rely too much on our own intelligence, we won’t know what Jesus calls these “things”. These things are very simply the greater truths.

How do I know for example, that God is real if I don’t see him? How do I know if Jesus is who he says he is? Master, Lord, Saviour and King? How do I know?How do I know that the Holy Spirit is powerful if I don’t experience that? How do I know that Jesus is present in the Blessed Sacrament, in this place? How do I know that there is life after death? How do I know that there is heaven with the Lord? How do I know that there is such a place of purification as purgatory? How do I know any of these things?

Jesus tells us how we know. It’s by revelation. Not just revelation to the Church in the beginning, not just revelation of the Church over the centuries, but revelation to me. It’s a word that is spo-ken by the Holy Spirit to my spirit. When I come to him like a child. “Come to me,” he says, “you that are overburdened.” Ever feel that way? Do you ever feel burdened down? My burden is that I’m so busy. At least I think I am. I kid myself into thinking I’m so busy, it’s my burden. I feel burdened. I have to come to the Lord as a child, because I can’t handle it. I really can’t. Do you ever feel burdened? Jesus is saying come to me like a child. And I will reveal.

We’re really talking about the gift of faith, aren’t we? That’s what it is. Faith is a gift from God. The truth about God and not only

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“The picture is a Christmas shot with Fr. Bob holding his ‘namesake’. Robert was named after Fr. Bob. When I first came to St. Mary’s Fr. Bob told me to pray the ‘dangerous prayer’—giving God permission to do whatever he wanted in my life. When I became pregnant I told him it was his fault (for telling me to pray that way!) So I named Rob after him. Jennie & Tom are also in the picture.”—Joan Megill

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the great truths that I’ve talked about, but what he is saying right here right now, those things are available to us by revelation. If you look for logic, if we try and figure things out, we’re liable to miss it.

And you know, it’s very, very difficult for those who are very clever to come to Jesus like children. Like one of my students who asked me “How come, Father, all the brightest people in the world are atheists?” I was caught a little off guard as I very often was, and I said, “Well, in the first place, they’re not all atheists, and in the second place I think you have a point. The problem is, they’re so smart.” It is difficult for an intelligent or clever person to believe there is something that he or she can’t figure out. That’s just difficult. It is hidden from the learned and the clever. Until we become humble, until we come in subjection, in surrender, until we get to that point of surrender we don’t really know.

Faith is not something that can be handed from one person to an-other. I, as the preacher here, the pastor of the parish, I can’t give you faith. I presume you have faith. But, who knows? Maybe you just wandered in off the streets, saw the crowd coming and came in. I don’t know. That’s possible, it has happened. It happens regu-larly. Or maybe you’ve been dragged here today. That happens too. That happens to children sometimes. Who say to themselves, “Well, I’m going all right. But when the day comes when I can make up my own mind, I won’t be there.” Why? Well because the faith is not stirred up, you see. Or, not only children get dragged to church, sometimes spouses get dragged to church in order to keep peace at home.

So I as a preacher can’t give you faith. I can’t do it. I cannot make that revelation to you. Neither can a teacher in a classroom, or the leader of a group. Nor can parents give faith to their children. They can’t. It comes directly from God. The only thing I can do, the only thing that we can do, is to encourage people to open their hearts to the Lord. To come to him like children, in submission, in surrender, so that he can deal with me, with you, with them. That’s the way it works. And that’s what Jesus means.

The answer is Jesus himself who will speak to us, send the Holy Spirit, when we come to him like children. Faith is a gift from God. Our faith, our religion is not supposed to be a pile of doubts. There’s nothing noble about uncertainty. Faith is not a search for the truth. When it comes to the basic truths that God wants his people to know, the search is over. These are revealed by God to the heart. God speaks to the heart and not to the head. The head cannot contain the Lord. The heart can deal with him. He speaks to the heart. God is too big for your head. Don’t try and stuff him in there. He doesn’t fit. Open your heart to him so that he can reveal himself to you. Just as Jesus says, “Father, I praise you then that you have hidden these things from the learned and the clever and you have revealed them to the merest children.”

Well once we come to that point of surrender in our lives, then the light of faith begins to burn bright. We don’t have to get dragged to

church anymore. We want to be there. We want to be there to join with brothers and sisters and worship God, because if we don’t, we forget who we are. We’ll think we’re in control. And if ever there was a mistake that anybody could make it’s to think that he or she is in control of things. I cannot control my world. And the sooner I give up control and try to handle it and design it, the better off I’ll be.

We need to come to Jesus as a child. Once that light of faith be-gins to burn, the presence from the power of God will energize me, will transform me, and make me a new person. And then the great thing is evidence starts to pile up about what God is doing. It’s like he gives you a new set of eyes so you can see what he’s doing. Believe me, take my word for it, there is absolutely nothing to compare with seeing God work. Because he knows how to do things. Once we come to that point of surrender, come like a child before him, all those things that are hidden from the learned and the clever, he reveals to us. Jesus says come to me as children. The response we need to make is Lord, we come.

Fr. Bob Bedard, CC was the founder of the Companions of the Cross. He passed on to his eternal reward on October 6, 2011.

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FOR VOCATION INQUIRIESCONTACT SR. MELINDA 613.729.8710WWW.SERVANTSOFTHECROSS.CA

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feature by Fr. Dennis Hayes, CC

On October 18th the Feast of St. Luke I will celebrate my 30th anniversary of ordination to the priesthood. If only I could give honourable mention to all the people and

events through which I have been blessed beyond measure during these 30 years of priesthood. That of course would require a book with many chapters. Instead, let me tell you about three memo-rable episodes that are like bookmarks in this marvelous 30 year journey of faith.

The Big Move To oTTawaIt was the middle of winter in 1985, my last semester of theological studies at St. Augustine’s major seminary in Toronto. Previously, in the fall semester, I had discerned that I should postpone ordina-tion to the transitional diaconate, which would have preceded my ordination to the priesthood later that year for the Diocese of Ham-ilton. At that time, a strong feeling of unease and uncertainty had settled upon me. I was fairly certain that I was called to the priest-hood yet something within me was saying wait, not yet! So what now? As I prayed through the darkness, doubt and anxiety at the time one name and one person only came to mind, Fr. Bob Bedard in Ottawa. Soon after, I placed the long distance call to Ottawa. We spoke on the phone and then and there, Fr. Bob recommended that I come up at the end of my final semester for a visit where he had recently taken the helm as Pastor of St. Mary’s parish.

This episode of my coming up to Ottawa in 1985 Fr. Bob memo-rably used to call “the man who came to dinner but never left”! Yes, that certainly captured the moment! From my first week at St. Mary’s I felt right at home. The missing piece in my vocation jour-ney had been found. The Lord, as I could best discern at the time, was asking me to join up with a group of men (the brothers as they were called) who had started meeting in Fr. Bob’s rectory living room the previous year. These events are familiar to most of you as this small band of men formed the nascent group that went on to become the Companions of the Cross. Within a year of my arrival I was ordained to the transitional diaconate for the Archdiocese of Ottawa with an understanding that I would go on to priestly

ordination while remaining a member of this new community. By the time I was ordained in October of 1986, the number of men joining the Companions had doubled with many men knocking on Fr. Bob’s rectory door to inquire about the community.

In my first two years of priesthood I was appointed to a bilingual parish, St. Gabriel’s in the east end of Ottawa. Preaching every weekend in both English and French at six weekend masses pre-sented a real challenge at times, but the excitement and thrill of ministering in a very vibrant parish community made up for all the sweat and tears.

The Big Rescue The second life episode that I want to share with you has now given me a stronger desire to thank God for his abundant mercies. What I am about to tell you took place on April 26, 2004 while I was serving as Associate Pastor at St. Maurice Parish in Nepean. That evening I drove down to the local sports complex for my usual weekly swim. During this particular swim routine at about the 30 minute mark in the pool, I suffered a serious heart attack. A few moments later I was pulled from the water unconscious by the

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one lifeguard on duty that evening. I was told later that at that moment I had no discernable vital signs.

Thankfully this one lifeguard on duty had some extra helpmates to call upon. And so, a few more able lifeguards were quickly summoned from the adjacent Olympic size pool. Fortunately for me the other life-guards were part of the swim facili-ties’ Competitive Life Saving Team! It so happened that the lifesaving team were in session for a scheduled practice for their upcoming provincial championships. All hands were literally called on deck for yours truly. I was hanging some-where between heaven and earth when I was eventually resusci-tated thanks to the application of some very skillful life saving techniques and the aid of a portable defibrillator. After a scheduled debriefing by pool staff a few weeks later I was told by the facility director that they had dubbed my near death experience as “the Perfect Rescue”! Oh yes, I should mention that the lifesaving team did go on to win their Ontario provincial championships that same year. When I think back now about the events that took place on that Monday evening in April of 2004, I will share with you an expression I once heard from my dear brother and friend Fr. Allan MacDonald, namely – “It’s all too odd not to be God!”

Despite the amazing rescue, I did have to spend more than two weeks at Ottawa’s finest “Happy Heart Hotel” - the Ottawa Heart Institute. A day after being admitted, one of the resident cardiolo-gists broke the news that my episode in the pool was most prob-ably brought on by several blocked coronary arteries as I would soon have to undergo triple by-pass surgery.

One humorous note that I will mention here was that I had previ-ously enjoyed within the Companions of the Cross a reputation of being a “health nut” or perhaps more precisely a “healthy health nut”! When I mention humour I did chuckle when I heard that several of the CC brothers after hearing of my “episode” promptly booked general check-ups with their individual doctors. The fun-niest remark I heard at the time came from Fr. Rob Arsenault. He said that as one of the top reigning CC health nuts I had now ef-fectively completely lost my reputation! LOL

Nowadays, people often ask if anything in my life has changed since the near death experience. The answer is twofold. What has changed? Nothing and Everything! Nothing in the sense that the world is very much the same as it was before. What has changed? Everything, because now every day I thank God for his goodness and kindness to me. As an aside, I never did hear angels singing or remember seeing bright lights.

LasT yeaRs wiTh FR. BoB This final episode will once again make honourable mention of Fr. Bob Bedard. In January of 2009 Fr. Bob suffered the sudden onset

of a rare autoimmune disease called Miller Fisher Syndrome. The cause is unknown and it is considered a rare variant of Guillain-Barre Syndrome. The underlying mechanism of these disorders involves the body’s im-mune system, which mistakenly at-tacks the peripheral nerves and dam-ages the myelin insulation within the nerve tissues.

In June of 2008, I had been called back to Ottawa from St. Timothy’s parish in Toronto to live with Fr.

Bob. Many of the CC brothers were concerned about what seemed to be a condition of deteriorating health in our beloved founder. Since I had overseen Fr. Bob’s care on behalf of the community during a previous illness of his, I was asked to move in with Fr. Bob at our 199 Bayswater household.

Fr. Bob’s autoimmune disorder was successfully treated at the Civic Hospital but not without leaving some lasting effects on our dear founder. Fr. Bob would now need round the clock full medi-cal care and supervision. After a long hospitalization that lasted over six months Fr. Bob was transferred to Carlingview Manor in Ottawa’s west end. Once again, I was appointed by the community to oversee Fr. Bob’s care for the last three remaining years of his life until his passing on October 6th, 2011 on the eve of the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary.

When I reflect on those last years with Fr. Bob, I can certainly say that it was an incredible privilege for me to serve him in this way. Thanks to the assistance of five wonderful friends and supporters of our community Fr. Bob’s “Little Care Team” was formed. Our Little Care Team would assure good daily care and regular visits for Fr. Bob at Carlingview Manor. Many of you reading this article will remember visiting Fr. Bob in those final years.

It was also a great privilege for me to deliver the eulogy at Fr. Bob’s prayer vigil on the eve of his funeral Mass.

Let me close here with a few lines from that eulogy:

“Fr. Bob never sweated the details. His unique brand of gener-ous, warm hospitality will never be forgotten, particularly among us, his brother priests and seminarians and the many visitors, ‘the come and see-ers’! We were all welcomed with open arms. Some of us felt at times that we could drive a ‘Mack Truck’ into this man’s home and right through his open and welcoming heart.”

Thank you Fr. Bob for welcoming me into your heart and home some 30 years ago.

Fr. Dennis Hayes, CC is the Associate Pastor at Annunciation of the Lord parish in Ottawa, Ontario.

From my first week at St. Mary’s I felt right

at home. The missing piece in my vocation journey

had been found.

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feature by Fr. Jim Lowe, CC

Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy” (Matt 5:7). This was the theme of World Youth Day Poland with Pope Francis. I had the privilege of leading a group of 45

young people on this pilgrimage of mercy. Some were from Ottawa, Toronto, and Houston, but most were from Detroit. It was filled with so many opportunities to both be merciful and receive mercy.

Our group of young pilgrims began each day with a holy hour in the presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. It was during this time that we encountered the mercy of God the Father in the face of Jesus truly present in the Eucharist! It was also during this time that each one of us, within the context of the larger group, individ-ually consecrated ourselves to Jesus through Mary for his purpose during the day ahead of us. We expressed our desire from the heart to be vessels of his mercy in whatever way he determined.

Each day Jesus surprised us with so many opportunities to be mer-ciful. The one experience that all of us felt was very powerful was a time of prayer at Auschwitz death camp. For our group, we ap-proached this visit as an opportunity to be prayer warriors of divine mercy. We entered the camp with the specific intention of praying the divine mercy chaplet throughout our time there for all the souls most in need of God’s mercy. We did not know what to expect but simply journeyed in faith in God’s divine mercy.

We had been preparing ourselves for this experience for several days while staying in the monastery where St. Maximillian Kolbe lived until he was arrested by the Nazis and sent to Auschwitz. While staying there, we learned about his life and purpose. His whole mis-sion in life was to promote consecration to Jesus through Mary. He formed the militia of the Immaculata that spread throughout the en-tire world. His vision was to get every person in the entire world to be consecrated to Jesus through Mary. As one might imagine, the rapid growth of the militia Immaculata got the attention of the Na-zis. St. Maximillian Kolbe had become a threat to the Nazi regime and as a result he was arrested. We were told that he was calm and cooperated with the Nazi soldiers. He was brought to Auschwitz and shared in the sufferings of the multitudes of other prisoners. He freely chose to suffer with them as one of them; as a prisoner like them. He humbly united his sufferings to the sufferings of Jesus on the cross. He truly believed in the power of redemptive suffering and prayed for mercy on souls most in need of mercy, including the Nazi soldiers who were torturing the prisoners.

The one act that truly revealed his heroic virtue was his choice to die in the place of another prisoner who was going to be executed with nine other prisoners. This prisoner was a husband and father. St. Maximillian Kolbe freely chose to sacrifice his life so that this husband and father could live. He volunteered to be killed in the

World Youth Day participants

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A Sacrifice of Mercy

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place of the other prisoner. He was locked in a cell and deprived of food and water for two weeks. After two weeks in the cell, he was put to death by a lethal injection.

It was with this knowledge of St. Maximillian Kolbe’s heroic vir-tue that our group, as pilgrims of mercy, approached Auschwitz. We wanted to imitate him by offering up our prayers as interces-sion for those most in need of mercy. What we actually experi-enced, however, none of us expected. As pilgrims walking through Auschwitz, we arrived at the cell where St. Maximillian Kolbe died. We felt prompted by the Holy Spirit to sing the divine mercy chaplet. Many of us knelt down outside the cell as we all united our prayers with the blood and water of Jesus offered to God the Father on the altar of the Cross for mercy on the souls most in need of mercy. We prayed fervently for any souls who had been affected by the violence and horror of Auschwitz. Three of us, myself and two other students, carried the group in singing the chaplet of di-vine mercy. As we prayed, one of the three of us began to cry while the other two carried on leading the group. Then another one of us began to cry while the other two carried on in leading the group. Then another one of us began to cry while the other two carried on in leading the group. This continued throughout the entire time

of intercession. Tears flowed freely from the depths of our hearts. We, like Maximillian Kolbe, were given the grace to share in the suffering of the souls of those who were affected by Auschwitz. It was personally the most powerful experience of our World Youth Day pilgrimage of mercy. When we finished singing, we noticed that other groups had stopped and knelt down and joined us in of-fering the divine mercy chaplet.

Why did this experience have such a deep impact on everyone in our group? To answer this question, I need to share a conversation I had with the two other students who helped lead the chaplet. I shared with them that I could literally feel the pain and suffering of individual victims of Auschwitz. I felt the suffering that these people are still experiencing as tormented souls in purgatory. I felt that there were some of them who were still holding on to anger, resentment, and unforgiveness after all these years. I also felt them being released from that suffering. I felt some of these souls releas-ing the anger; letting go of the resentment; forgiving the unforgiv-able! I didn’t realize why I was crying at the time, but looking back on my experience, I was crying both with these souls in their suffering and for them when they were released from their suffer-ing through the unconditional power of the divine mercy of God!

One of the other two students shared the same exact experience, except hers was not the suffering of the souls of the victims, but the suffering of the souls of the Nazi soldiers. She shared with me that she was crying because she could feel the suffering of some of the souls of the soldiers. They had been carrying the guilt, shame, and unforgiveness toward themselves for doing such terrible acts of torture. She also shared that she too was crying as well because she could feel some of the souls of these soldiers being released from bondage as they were able to forgive themselves for such crimes against humanity.

This opportunity allowed us to share in the experience of St. Maxi-millian Kolbe who offered everything as a sacrifice of prayer for souls most in need of mercy. We were granted the grace through our experience to have confidence in the power of intercessory prayer for souls most in need of mercy. With this new understand-ing of the power of intercession so early in our pilgrimage, we were able to daily consecrate our experiences throughout each day, joys and sufferings, as an offering to the Father through Jesus for mercy upon souls. It is our hope that we will be able to continue to do this in our daily life as missionaries of mercy.

Thank you Jesus for revealing to us the importance of uniting ourselves to you and offering ourselves through you to the Fa-ther for those most in need of your mercy. It is my prayer to you, O merciful and loving Lord that those who read this article will share in our experience as pilgrims of mercy and desire to offer themselves, like St. Maximillian Kolbe, through you to the Father for conversion of souls. “Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.”

Fr. Jim Lowe, CC is the chaplain at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan.

World Youth Day in Poland.

The gates of Auschwitz.

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testimony by Kelly Aalbers

This past summer I had the opportunity to be one of 45 pilgrims who travelled with the Wayne State Chaplaincy to many amaz-ing, beautiful, and holy places. We stayed in St. Pope John Paul

II’s hometown for 11 days. Everywhere we went we encountered in-credible sacred space, rich history, and the saints surrounding us.

When we were praying at the tomb of these saints, I found myself entrusting my whole future to the intercession of that saint, and I was begging their prayers for my seminary studies and, God will-ing, my priesthood. The first real blessing of the pilgrimage was a deeper understanding of the saints’ closeness. There in Poland the saints came alive in my heart. I have a new relationship with them, especially St. John Paul II, St. Faustina, St. Maximilian Kolbe, and Bl. Fr. Jerzy Popieluszko. They are now friends in a way that I’ve never been friends with a saint before.

One crucial thing that I think helped my relationship with these saints was the opportunity I had to meet their Mother, the Queen of Poland, Our Lady of Czestochowa. I’ve grown up with Marian devotion, but during my visit at Czestochowa my devotion blos-somed to the point of filling a field with flowers. It’s not an under-statement to say every Pole loves Our Lady, well I now understand why. Our Lady of Czestochowa has played a significant role in the protection, and history of the Polish nation. Mary is for them, a queen when Poland was divided, she is a mother to all orphans, and she is the heart of Poland’s Catholicism. While praying at her shrine, I understood, Mary was there. She was on the other side of the window into heaven, she was looking down at me staring into my soul and I was completely known and loved in that moment. Mary is my mother, in a completely new way.

Our pilgrimage took a real turn as we visited Auschwitz. This was a painful experience. I had to surrender to God all the emotion I was feeling. I wrote four poems over the three hours that we were there. My heart was overwhelmed by the horror of the massacre that happened, and is happening throughout the world. In a way no other place that I know of, embodies a picture of hell as well as Auschwitz does. I want to share with you some of my poetry, which captures my emotion best.

“I visited hell today It looks somewhat normal

Yet rot permeates the very essence of its existenceThe stench of death robs one of all emotion As we are left in a sorrowful contemplation”

–Photograph of Hell, by Kelly Aalbers

The pain and the thoughts of what Auschwitz would have been like almost choked the very life out of me. The amount of suffering and pain asked questions and demanded answers. “Will you let this happen again? Will you do everything necessary to stop this kind of evil? Will you give your life so that others will not have to suffer like this?” These were and are the questions in my heart. These are the questions we are all asked. I couldn’t respond in any other way than, “Yes!” This yes is a yes to mercy, a yes to a life surrendered to God, a yes to Mary’s intercession, a yes to an unknown future with its own unique sufferings and situations, more overly it is a yes to being a seminarian so that as a priest I can do everything that is necessary to work to change the world.

Our trip concluded with the five World Youth Days. During that time, I was strengthened by Pope Francis’ words and speeches as he encouraged all of us to be mercy in the world. At the WYD vigil Pope Francis said, “Following Jesus demands a good dose of courage, a readiness to trade in the sofa for a pair of walking shoes and to set out on new and uncharted paths. To blaze trails that open up new horizons capable of spreading joy, the joy that is born of God’s love and wells up in your hearts with every act of mercy.” This is the mercy that has filled my heart. This is the mercy that permeates every fibre of my being. This mercy has become my joy. This joy allows me to bring mercy to the whole world.

The group visiting Auschwitz.

Mercy Becomes

Joy

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Canadian comedian Mike Myers starred in the 1992 mov-ie Wayne’s World wherein at one point, the young aspir-ing guitarist and his friend meet Alice Cooper who in-

vites them to hang out with him. They bow down and proclaim “We’re not worthy! We’re not worthy!” We are truly humbled by the incredible prayer and sacrifices that surrounded our General Assembly.

As an example, Fr. Mark Schwab, a priest of the Archdiocese of Vancouver, stayed overnight for a wedding at St. Mary’s rectory in Ottawa during the summer. He related that the best day of his life was the day when he became an associate priest

of the Companions of the Cross. (Incredible and embarrassing to me.) Our cook was off at the time, and Fr. Mark went out and bought food, prepared the meals, set the table, brought Scotch to drink afterwards, did the laun-dry for his bedsheets etc., … and even left a donation to cover his stay!!! “We’re not worthy!” As

regards the assembly, he had been scheduled to attend what was going to be our August retreat (but then became our General Assembly). Instead of changing his plans, he kept his flight and stayed in the area to pray for us while we had our Assembly.

Associate Deacon Bob Birch organized a prayer-intercession sched-ule for the associate deacons. The Servants of the Cross sisters in-terceded. Our office staff had organized times of intercession. Over 200 people signed up online at our website for the General Assem-bly Prayer Team campaign. Countless Facebook posts and Tweets mentioned people praying for the General Assembly. “We’re not worthy!” Seriously, thank you, thank you, and thank you.

feature by Fr. Rick Jaworski, CC

General assembly

We’re NotWorthyFr. Allan MacDonald (centre), new General Superior, with Executive Council members from left: Fr. Rob Arsenault, Fr. Mark Goring, Fr. Galen Bank, and Fr. Michael Scherrey.”

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James Shaw reported on the social media impact as follows: Our Facebook and Twitter reached over 85,000 people, with over 1,000 reactions, comments, shares, retweets, etc. Over the weekend of September 2, over 2,000 people visited our website. Shortly there-after, Salt & Light and the Catholic Register had articles which reached a much larger audience.

Sixty-four of us were at the Assembly. We too prayed: Mass, the Liturgy of the Hours (the Church’s official prayer sanctifying the hours of the day), Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, the Rosary, praising God in song and words … Some brothers said the times of prayer together were the best part of the Assembly.

Every day our session started with prayer. The first gathering was a time to take stock of where we are. Fr. Mark Goring, the act-ing General Superior gave a presentation, followed by myself on the financial state of affairs, and Fr. Allan on vocations.

Fr. Mark has a good prophetic sense and forward look. One of the things to which he pointed—and you might want to check out—were a series of recently approved ap-paritions of Mary in Argentina: Our Lady of the Rosary of San Nicolas. The messages are words of hope and encouragement, but also dire warning. In Father Mark’s account of it, humanity has lost its sacred aura. We’ve desecrated ourselves; become contaminated; broken our covenant with God.

In addition, Fr. Mark told the story of Franciscan priests at Na-gasaki who lived close to ground zero but didn’t experience the effects of the radiation. While doctors were sure they would die… nothing. They were studied over and over. When they were asked why they thought they were not affected whatsoever, they said it was because they were living the message of Fatima. Are we liv-ing the original Companions of the Cross vision?

Fr. Mark recalled the Canadian missionary priest from Quebec, Fr. Emiliano Tardif, whose cause for sainthood has begun. Fr. Tardif knew that Jesus is alive. His prayers led to hundreds of thousands of people being healed. Have expectant faith. And Fr. Mark spoke of other things as well.

The Companions discussed a wide range of items: household size, care of elderly priests, ongoing formation, leadership, finances, pontifical status, Father Bob, and so on. We could have gone on, more and more. Time was limited, but it was a good use of the time we had. We are grateful for it.

As stated in the News & Notes column, the elections at the end of the week resulted in Fr. Allan being the new General Superior, and Frs. Rob Arsenault, Galen Bank, Mark Goring, and Michael Scherrey on Council. Frs. Allan and Galen are in Ottawa, Rob in Halifax, Michael in Detroit, Mark in Houston. We are blessed with a mix of backgrounds, ages, gifts … thank you Lord. Continue to lead and guide all of us through these men.

Fr. Rick Jaworski, CC has a licentiate in Sacred Scripture from the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome. He was ordained in 1990 and is currently the Pastor of Holy Rosary parish in Ottawa, Ontario.

Congratulating Fr. Michael Scherrey for his nomination to the Executive Council.

Fr. Allan MacDonald, new General Superior, with Archbishop Terrence Prendergast, SJ at General Assembly.

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feature by Fr. Jamie Utronkie, CC

The date of April 18th has been significant for me for a long time. One reason is that it was the day that my paternal grandmother died back in 1985. My grandmother had tre-

mendous faith and this was evident by how she lived her life. So since her death, every time April 18th comes around, this anniver-sary date has served as a reminder of faith and how it is meant to be shared.

On April 18, 2002 I received a phone call from Fr. Bob Bedard in-forming me that I had been fully accepted into the applicancy pro-gram of the Companions of the Cross. That day was pivotal as I also received a full-time job offer to work at a bank since I had just completed my undergraduate Commerce degree. I had a decision to make but I think it is quite obvious which path I decided to choose.

This year on April 18th, another significant event happened, at least in my mind. A group of us from Holy Trinity Parish in Lower Sackville gathered together in the home of our newcomer family from Syria to celebrate the birthday of little Maria who was turn-ing four years old. She was the first one in her family to celebrate a birthday in Canada.

By this point, the newcomer family had been in Canada less than three months. We campaigned in our parish last October and raised enough money in three weeks to sponsor a family of six. It took only another three months for the family to arrive in Canada (since the Canadian government was dedicated to their promise to bring a number of Syrians here as a result of the crisis). The preparation and start-up was time consuming but so rewarding when our spon-sorship team from the parish gathered at the airport to greet them this past January. I was remembering this as I drove up to their residence on Ma-ria’s birthday. As usual, I was greeted by one of the family mem-bers with a smile who said “Welcome!” This word was quickly superceded by their acts of kindness. Almost immediately I was given a seat among members of our sponsorship group from the parish (that had arrived before me) along with a number of their

immigrant Arabic-speaking friends whom they had met during the settlement process.

What’s interesting is that typically noisy and crowded environ-ments make me anxious. This is probably the result of my shyness and introversion, along with the hearing impairment I have had since birth. Couple that with a hint of claustrophobia and you get someone who usually likes to avoid social gatherings (as I have a reputation of doing)!

But this event was different! It wasn’t the fact that I was being doted on like a king; there was just an awareness in my heart about how pleased God was in that moment! Here I was in a room with 10 Christians and 10 Muslims who were all speaking different lev-els of English and Arabic! In that moment however, there were no barriers pertaining to religion, language or culture as we were speaking to one another a non-verbal language:

“Love is patient, love is kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud. It does not dishonour others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily an-gered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices in truth. Love always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails ... Now these three remain: faith, hope and love, and the greatest is love” (1 Cor 13:4-10, 13).

As Maria opened her birthday presents and we sang ‘Happy Birth-day’, there was certainly something bittersweet about it for her family. Although we were gathered to celebrate this significant day as a reminder of the anniversary of Maria’s birth, I am sure her family was feeling gratitude for finally arriving to safety but, at the same time, reminded of what they had to leave behind in Syria (including other loved ones).

Maria was only a few months old when her family fled Syria and arrived in Lebanon. She spent her first three birthdays inside a ref-ugee camp. Now she was able to celebrate as a result of the free-dom and safety that Canada was able to offer her and her family. As I write this update, the date is now August 18th. Our newcomer

Newcomer family at Peggy’s Cove with members of the sponsorship team at Holy Trinity parish.

From RefugeestoNewcomers

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family has now been here for close to seven months. As they con-tinue to settle, we celebrate every milestone with them. For ex-ample, when one of them advances a level of English, we extend congratulations. The mother in the family (Abir) as well as the three oldest children (Nour, Duaa & Naser) have all celebrated their birthdays this summer!

As Ramadan came to an end also, we were invited to join them as they broke their month of fasting. Members of the sponsorship team at the parish have been blessed to celebrate these special days with them.

Recently, the family enjoyed a trip to Peggy’s Cove (a familiar tourist attraction here) with our team. In the meantime we continue to support and encourage them in their on-going settlement. There are a number of things that need to happen over these next months;

such as continued English language training, hopefully employment (if possible) as well as continued integration into life in Canada so that they might enjoy even more the self-sufficiency and freedom that come with being a resident of Canada.

As of September 2015, globally, we are expe-riencing the highest number of refugees since World War II. There are more than 17 million

refugees worldwide. This number is staggering. While we could only sponsor one family this year, we recently submitted an ap-plication to sponsor a second one. One family at a time we can make a difference.

In response to the refugee crisis and this initiative for sponsorship, Karen Smith (the parish secretary) and I recorded a song in hopes of generating awareness to this cause. The video and options for download can be found here: https://youtu.be/zq5U62-2ms0 or go to Youtube and search: father jamie karen smith let me go home.

Fr. Jamie Utronkie, CC was ordained in 2009 and is originally from Killaloe, Ontario. He is the Associate Pastor at the Holy Trinity Pastoral Unit in Nova Scotia.

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For Information & Registration Contact: Laurie Courchesne-Dooley, email: lafrcodo@outlook.com (613) 732-5739 Cell (613) 602-3535

Space is limited. First come first served registration.

100th Anniversary of Fatima Pilgrimage to Spain & PortugalMay 12-24, 2017 with Fr. Kenneth Lao, Spiritual Director

Tour Cost: $3279 per person (Double Occ.) Price based on minimum of 25. Includes all fares, entrance fees, taxes, tips, and meals, except lunches.

Information Meetings:

In the Footsteps of: St. Teresa of Avila—St. John of the Cross

TORONTO (N. York)St. Timothy’s, 21 Leith Hill Rd. Sun., Dec. 4, 1:00–2:00 pm

OTTAWASt. Mary’s, 100 Young St.Sun., Nov. 27, 2:30–3:30 pm

Highlights include: Madrid, Avila, Toledo, Segovia, Garabandal, Oviedo, The Way, Santiago de Compostela, Fatima, Coimbra

From left: Maria at her 4th birthday with Fr. Jamie and Brenda Spears (sponsorship team member at Holy Trinity parish); Maria with new Canadian friend Lily.

&

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When a young man first joins the Companions of the Cross, he receives a brief introduction to Ottawa, the foundational home-base for the Community.

Historically, the new men spend only a few days in Ottawa before they are whisked away due west to Combermere Ontario, a small town in the hills of the Ottawa Valley, where they will spend their first year. At Assumption Farm, they will listen for God’s word in their hearts as they discern their vocational call, while learning the history and ways of life of a Companion of the Cross.

A few times over the first eight months, this group will return to Ottawa for Community celebrations, retreats and visits, but for the most part, they will spend the year living with each other and CC priests.

As a way of welcoming them and showing them the adminis-trative side of the Community, the office on Bayswater decided to invite them to join us for morning coffee the very first week they arrived.

We recognize that these men have moved to a new city, are going to be living with strangers, in a brand new environment, while at-tempting to block out outside distractions and listen to what God is saying in their lives.

We hope that our little gathering helped put them at ease, and of-fered them a relaxed and informal way to see where our beloved Founder once lived and see the chapel where he prayed.

Join me now in praying for these men as they begin their jour-ney. I can’t help but wonder what lies ahead for them. Will our Community be the right fit for their vocation in life? Will all these men continue in the footsteps of the 40 men who currently wear the cross of the Companions of the Cross? What are the odds of one of these men rising to the level of bishop as two of our men have done over the past few years? Will they become pastors…or teachers…or priests who perform some other ministry? Will they become leaders of our Community someday, carrying on a legacy pushed forward by so many of our men before them?

We are entering an era of young men who may have never had the opportunity to meet Fr. Bob, the father figure who helped shape this Community during its infancy. I hope I have a hand in sharing his legacy by telling them of my experiences with Fr. Bob.

So, join me in a prayer for these men. Grant them the opportunity to feel God’s love in their hearts, and provide them with an oppor-tunity to have the clarity to discern God’s call. Remove any fear, anxiety or stress that might try to be the motivating factor in their lives. Give them the hope and passion of this glorious opportunity that God has given them to pursue this life.

f e a t u r eby Ken Gorman

Coffee withthe New Gang!

New Applicants pictured here at Fr. Bob’s tomb with Fr. Allan MacDonald and Fr. Terry Donahue.

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Proclaiming

Kerygmathe

feature by Anita Houghton

When I look back on the last five years, I am amazed at the profound impact the Companions of the Cross have had on

my personal and professional life. I currently work in the Office of Evangelization and Catechesis for the Archdiocese of Detroit and first encountered the Companions when Fr. Sean Wenger and Fr. Simon Lobo joined our department in 2011. Their pastoral presence and infectious spirituality quick-ly drew me into the community. I made my Lay Associates promise on July 28, 2013.

Since then, my work at the Archdiocese has been in-fused with the spirituality of the community. In addi-tion, I have been inspired to pursue a personal project: to develop an evangelization tool for children.

It all began, when one day, I received an email from Fr. Simon asking me if I’d be willing to facili-tate a CCO faith study at Wayne State University, where he served as Chaplain at that time. Fr. Simon had double-booked himself and needed someone to take a group of students through the DISCOV-ERY, Level I study. The university is not far from our archdiocesan offices and I was able to fit the six sessions into my schedule, so I said “yes!”

As I studied the leader guide in preparation for our sessions, I was intrigued by the method and content of the study. Most of my ministry had been in the area of catechetics. I found this study to be decidedly different. Its method was not catechetical - it was evangelistic. It helped the students not just learn about Jesus but encounter him personally. The content was different too. It helped participants understand the effect of sin and the reasons why we need a Savior. It proclaimed the kerygma in a clear and straight-forward way, and invited the participant to respond to this Good News by making a commitment to Christ.

In the 15 years that I taught catechism to children (aged kindergar-ten through eighth grade), I had never encountered a clear procla-mation of the kerygma nor did I recall inviting children to make a choice to follow Christ. Catechetical resources tend to talk about God’s love as a general thing for the whole of humanity. In addi-tion, these resources discuss sin in one chapter and the cross in another. What’s more, catechetical texts usually talk about Jesus in the past tense and refer to his friends as people who were his contemporaries 2000 years ago. In my theological studies, I had studied the Church documents on evangelization, but I didn’t “get it” until I facilitated this faith study.

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Even more exciting was the impact that this study had on the stu-dents. Conversion was happening before my very eyes. The stud-ies along with the dynamic Companions of the Cross chaplaincy environment created by Fr. Simon yielded an explosion of faith to what was previously a dead campus ministry. I witnessed dynamic evangelization, “Companions’ style,” and the fruit that it bears. I was inspired.

Back at the office, Fr. Sean helped me to unpack my experience with the faith study and channel my newfound zeal for evangeliza-tion in a productive way. With his guidance I was now able to ar-ticulate the difference between evangelization and catechesis, and clearly see the need to incorporate evangelization into our faith formation programs.

What also became clear to me was that while the Church had be-gun to mobilize to answer the call to the New Evangelization, most of the efforts have been aimed at adults. Although the General Directory of Catechesis and the National Directory of Cateche-sis insist that catechesis must be viewed within the framework of evangelization, I realized that there were no resources or tools on the market to evangelize children. I was convinced that what was being done for Wayne State students in a campus ministry setting, needed to be done for children in a faith formation program. It was this conviction and the prompting of the Holy Spirit that inspired me to embark on a personal project to develop an evangelization resource that would help grade-school children know the personal love of God, proclaim the kerygma in an age-appropriate way, and invite them to make a choice to follow Christ.

I shared my vision for this project with Angele Regnier, the au-thor of the CCO Faith Studies. She was gracious enough to give me permission to piggy back on the idea that she developed for the faith studies and adapt them developmentally for children. I had the pleasure of meeting Angele and her husband Andre at last year’s 30th anniversary gala in Ottawa.

It took me about a year to complete the lesson material, which I named Kerygma 4 Kids. Next, I set out to find a publisher for my work. After about a year, I found a publisher who was interested in the project: ministry23, LLC/Catholic Word Publishing. As divine providence would have it, I later found out that ministry 23 and Catholic Word Publishing had loose ties to the Companions of the Cross. They published Relit, a DVD-based evangelization training program written by Michael Dopp, a former CC seminarian. In ad-dition, I learned that Catholic Word publishing was also a distribu-tor for the CCO faith studies.

Here’s a little background on Kerygma 4 Kids. I developed les-sons as a supplemental resource so that they could be incorporated

into a parish/school catechetical program, or be used at a retreat or camp. Kerygma 4 Kids contains one evangelization lesson for each grade. Each grade-level lesson has three segments which un-fold the Gospel message:

• DISCOVER God’s Love • UNDERSTAND Sin and the Good News of Jesus Christ• RESPOND and INVITE Jesus into your Life.

Components include a leader’s guide, video clips and student workbooks for each grade.

Grade-level workbooks for children and youth contain relevant discussion and engaging hands-on activities that accompany the lesson. Through the workbooks, students delve more deeply into the Gospel message as it applies to their lives and learn how to share the Good News with others.

Pope Francis writes, “On the lips of the catechist the first procla-mation must ring out over and over: ‘Jesus Christ loves you; he gave his life to save you; and now he is living at your side every day to enlighten, strengthen and free you’” (Evangelii Gaudium #164). It is my prayer that Kerygma 4 Kids will do just that for children in the U.S. and Canada.

If you are interested in checking out this program, please visit www.catholicword.com/k4k.html. This site provides more de-tailed information about the program and includes previews of the videos, workbooks and leader guides. The lessons for K-5 are now available for purchase; the middle school lessons will be published in 2017.

Five years ago, when I first met Fr. Sean and Fr. Simon, I would have never dreamed that all of this would transpire. I am continu-ally amazed at the way God puts people into our paths and how he can use us when we make ourselves available to him. I am so grateful to Fr. Sean, Fr. Simon and all the Companions of the Cross priests and seminarians that I have come to know in the last five years, for their influence on my personal faith life and my ministry in the Church. Although Fr. Sean and Fr. Simon have moved on to new assignments, their influence on me continues to bear fruit and have a multiplication effect in proclaiming the Good News of Jesus Christ.

Anita Houghton is a Lay Associate of the Companions of the Cross in Detroit. She is married to her husband Deacon Mike and has three college-aged children. Anita works as a Regional Coordinator of Cat-echetical Formation and Programming in the Archdiocese of Detroit and serves as a part-time faculty member of Sacred Heart Major Seminary.

Annunciation of the Lord Ottawa, ON

Blessed Sacrament Ottawa, ON

Assumption Farm Combermere, ON

Holy Trinity Halifax, NS

Convent Household Detroit, MI

2016/2017 CC HouSeHoLdS

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St. Maria GorettiToronto, ON

St. KateriHouston, TX

St. Maurice Ottawa, ON

St. Timothy’sToronto, ON

St. Mary’sOttawa, ON

St. ScholasticaDetroit, MI

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Fr. Jim McGillvray not pictured here.

Queen of Peace, Houston TX not pictured here.

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I f you have seen the movie Inside Man, you might recall Clive Owen’s masterful plan. Without giving too much away (and without endorsing the movie – viewer discretion is advised),

it is a story about an “insider” who is involved in a major bank heist. Naturally, the goal was to get away with millions. In my own situation, I have felt like the Companions of the Cross “inside man” who was strategically placed on staff at Saint Benedict Par-ish. There is no question that I am much richer for it.

Our Community entered into a partnership with the parish and with Fr. James Mallon (the pastor), which began with my being assigned there as of July 1, 2015. I have served as associate pastor and intern priest. Ever since my arrival, I have enjoyed being part of an innovative model for Catholic parishes in the 21st century.

There have been many highlights over the last year or so, but the “Mount Tabor” experience was definitely the Divine Renovation conference (DR16), which took place this past June. We hosted 600 delegates from around the world. Inspired by Fr. James’ book by the same title, people came from as far as Australia to learn more about how they can bring renewal in their own parish contexts. I was delighted that over 30 of my CC brother priests were able to

get a taste of what I had been living for the previous 12 months. You can watch the plenary sessions from Monday and Tuesday at http://livestream.com/SaintBenedictParish (if you scroll down, they can be found between the June 12th and 19th Sunday homi-lies). These large group gatherings were designed to cast vision, offer times for worship and prayer ministry, and included amazing personal testimonies. Some of our key leaders witnessed to being lukewarm – or totally away from God and the Church – less than five years ago! One of my favourite segments took place on the Tuesday morning when Fr. James Mallon and Ron Huntley (one of the senior staff members) shared vulnerably about the struggles involved with “divinely renovating.” For example, as recently as two years ago, there was considerable toxicity among the staff. Their honesty reassured the delegates, as Fr. Bob would say, that the work of renewal is messy. Yet, with God’s grace, changing church culture is possible and attainable.

One of the things that was unique about DR16, as compared to other conferences, is that it was “incarnational.” Some conferences are hosted at hotels with guest speakers who have expertise in a par-ticular realm but have never produced fruit in a parish. However, in our case, DR16 was hosted by a pastor, it took place in a church,

feature by Fr. Simon Lobo, CC

“Inside Man”

Fr. Simon at Divine Renovation Conference in Halifax.

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and all the volunteers were parishioners (of all ages). I remember celebrating the Sunday 6 p.m. Mass on the eve be-fore the conference began. Hundreds of delegates had already arrived and were taking it in. You can imagine my embar-rassment when I noticed that one of the young altar servers decided to wear her hot pink running shoes to complement her white alb. It is helpful to be remind-ed that Saint Benedict is a regular parish with regular people and regular prob-lems, but there is an intentional focus on fulfilling Jesus’ mission.

The official conference took place on Monday and Tuesday, and on Wednes-day there was a day for Alpha training, while the clergy simultaneously had their own day together. On Thursday the CC priests had a few internal ses-sions to unpack some of what we had learned and to take the pulse of the Community. I should add that we concluded the week on a fun note with an East Coast Kitchen Party, hosted by our local Lay Associates, and complete with lobster and live music. Needless to say, I was glad that my brothers got to experience some warm Maritime hospitality.

Going back to the Thursday morning, I preached that weekday Mass and shared a few reflections. Having been steeped in Divine Renovation for a few days, it was my sincere hope that the broth-ers felt the same way that I did: everything that Fr. James and the team have been trying to accomplish is totally in-line with our CC vision for parish renewal. That being said, one of the fundamental tasks of a leader – including a priest-leader – is to capture a vision and then communicate it to others. However, we are not all born with the “vision” gene. Sometimes we need to see and experience something amazing first, before we can start to dream about what God could do in our own ministries. As a seminarian and a young priest, Fr. James visited a couple of dynamic parishes, including St. Mary’s in Ottawa, while Fr. Bob was pastor. This broadened his imagination for the future Church. Similarly, I know that many of the CCs were powerfully moved by DR16 and were given a new sense of hope with regards to parish ministry and evangelization.

To be very practical, I would like to offer three take-away points that I have learned during my time on the inside. Firstly, pastors need to build a Senior Leadership Team (SLT) around them. This could include staff or committed volunteers, but these three or four people would need to balance off the strengths and weakness of the pastor, and they would have to have the courage to lovingly challenge him. The pastor would never have to be alone in the de-cision-making process and, as a result, would arrive at much bet-

ter solutions than he would reach if he were leading solo. This SLT model is not unlike our CC Executive Council. Our General Superior (congrats Fr. Al-lan!) is supported by four other priests who assist him in leadership.

Secondly, Saint Benedict has focused and streamlined around the core mis-sion of the Church – to make disciples. Why do we have churches and why do we go to church? The ultimate purpose is to bring people into an encounter with Jesus, help them to grow as his follow-ers, and equip them to reach out to other people who have not yet experienced his love. We should be in the business of changing peoples’ lives, and, yet, we spend so much time in church-world do-ing things that have little or nothing to do with Jesus’ mission! One of the ex-ercises we did as a staff was to come up with one-line job descriptions to bring

clarity and focus. Mine was just 10 words: Learning to lead parishes so they become disciple-making communities.

Thirdly, the lynch pin of the Divine Renovation model is Alpha. Some people do not appreciate the comparison, but Alpha is kind of like the old multi-week Life in the Spirit Seminars – but with food! Make no mistake the food is essential, because humans love to gather and share around a meal. In essence, Alpha is a tool that, if done properly, can warmly welcome a non-believer or hardened Catholic. Over the course of a few weeks, as trust develops, a per-son is invited to say yes to Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit. A parish needs to embrace an evangelizing tool and be unrelenting in promoting it, resourcing it, and using it to reach beyond the church walls. Nicky Gumbel, of Alpha fame, says that a church has not even begun to do Alpha for the first four years. We must persevere! Interestingly, Alpha also creates beautiful opportunities for ecumenism and unity, which might be part of how God plans to use the Companions of the Cross in the future.

Looking back, I am so grateful for the friendship between, now, Bishop Scott McCaig and Fr. James Mallon which led to this part-nership between the Companions of the Cross and Saint Benedict Parish. I feel very privileged that I was chosen to be the first man to work on the inside. There is no question that CC pastors are already well-loved by their parishioners. I dream of a day when we will also be known for our expertise when it comes to leading entire parishes to live out Jesus’ mission.

Fr. Simon Lobo, CC was ordained in 2009 and is originally from Ottawa, Ontario.

The inside man at St. Benedict’s in Halifax.

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Divine Renovation: From a Maintenance to a Missional Parish(by Fr. James Mallon)I know I am biased, because I know the author well, but this is a must read. Fr. James brings together his own experiences as a pastor, some pertinent theological reflections, and practical leadership wisdom. His second book Divine Renovation Guidebook: A Step-by-Step Manual for Transforming Your Parish is true to its name. Pastors and their leadership teams can use the diagrams, discussion questions, and charts in this interactive workbook to implement this mission-driven model.

Rebuilt: The Story of a Catholic Parish (by Fr. Michael White & Tom Corcoran)Though many contrast the different approaches, Fr. James and Fr. Michael are good friends and their two parishes are sources of mutual encouragement. Their staff graciously received me when I visited Nativity last February 2016. The sub-sub title of this book sums it up: Awakening the Faithful, Reaching the Lost, and Making Church Matter. They have written a few books, and so I would also recommend: Tools for Rebuilding: 75 Really, Really Practical Ways to Make Your Parish Better.

Alpha This is not the end of the story or an A-Z program of discipleship for committed Catholic Christians. Alpha is an easy first step. Rather than trying to drag your non-believing friend to Mass, why not invite them to dinner, a relevant talk, and a discussion (where they are free to share and disagree with the topic). This is an evangelizing approach that can be used to build trust in a post-modern world. Search for Alpha videos on YouTube check out some of these links: alpha.org, alphacanada.org, alphausa.org, alphayouthfilmseries.com, alphafilmseries.alpha.org.Be sure to watch the latest Alpha videos released in 2016. They are state of the art!

You might also be interested in the Alpha-style Marriage Course, Marriage Preparation Course, and the two Parenting Courses. All are designed to create gentle entry points for the unchurched. Learn more at: relationshipcentral.ca.

Growing an Engaged Church (by Albert L. Winseman)The polling organization Gallup has created church-specific measurement tools, which are used at Saint Benedict. Engagement refers to how emotionally connected a person is with their church. You might also be interested in the Gallup book Living your Strengths (Catholic Edition). Be sure to search for the Clifton Strengths Finder, which will measure your top 5 of 34 strengths (there is a nominal fee for this online survey). All the staff and many of the volunteers have used this self-knowledge tool.

The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable (by Patrick Lencioni)Patrick Lencioni gave a video presentation of this material at the DR16 conference. The book is an easy read and very insightful when it comes to team dynamics. Lencioni is a Catholic and a bestselling author of several other leadership books.

Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High (by Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillian, Al Switzler)I believe that every single person would benefit from reading this book. Priests, parishioners, families, married couples, and co-workers will learn how to get the best possible outcome when they are face-to-face with difficult conversations.

Leadership and Church Size Dynamics: How Strategy Changes with Growth (by Timothy Keller)Search for this 15-page article online. I believe that Catholics approach most parishes with a “small church mindset.” Yet, a pastor can only have significant relationships with about 200 people. How should you lead if your parish is bigger?

Keeping Score: How to Know if Your Church is Winning (by Dave Ferguson)Download this free e-book from exponential.org/resource-ebooks/keeping-score. If you are measuring anything in your parish, there is a good chance that you could be measuring the wrong things. We count the people in the pews and the collections, but do these numbers tell us if we are fulfilling the mission of Jesus?

Getting Them Through The Wilderness (by William Bridges)Search for this 20-page article online. It is a classic from 1987 and is one of the most-read leadership articles to date. The analogy of the Exodus is used to describe these three phases of transition: leading God’s people out of Egypt and across the Red Sea, journeying through the desert, and arriving in the Promised Land.

Forming Intentional Disciples (by Sherry Weddell)Most people are not evangelized in an instant. This well researched book suggests that many people pass through five thresholds of conversion. You can read some helpful parish testimonies in the sequel: Becoming a Parish of Intentional Disciples.

Parish Renewalpadre’s piCks by Fr. Simon Lobo, CC

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Community news & notes by Fr. Rick Jaworski, CC

You never know. Over the past year, Fr. Yong Li Chen from China needed a place to stay, and lived in one of our Com-panions of the Cross households. After leaving, he emailed

us that the year had also benefitted him spiritually. “I have received the gift of tongues for which I had been praying for years. It was through the period of time praying together with you that the gift was granted to me. I will be eternally grateful. I experienced the power of the Spirit working through each of you, and my priestly vocation has also been heightened in such a way that I never ex-perienced before.” Fr. Chen has been, and continues to be, very generous with his time in helping with Masses at the Companions of the Cross office and parishes, as well as in other ways. Thank you for sharing this with us!

The St. Maurice La Pieta Prayer Group celebrated their 20th an-niversary. Congratulations! The group was founded by George and Shirley Nedaborski when Fr. John Vandenakker was pastor. With Fr. John and also Emma de Guzman, foundress of the La Pieta Association (dedicated to Marian devotion under the title Mother of Love, Peace, and Joy), they gathered at Notre Dame Basilica Cathedral in Ottawa to gain the special Year of Mercy Holy Door Indulgence. The day continued at Tudor Hall with talks, meals, and other ministry.

On August 11, Fr. John Vandenakker fell and broke his leg. He had been having left knee problems all year and it had been occasion-ally “locking up” on him. He broke his fibula and fractured his tibia. Thankfully it happened at a place and time when the brothers were right there to assist him. Fr. John reported that “The brothers here at St. Scholastica have been truly wonderful.” “How good, how de-lightful it is to live as brothers all together!” (Ps 133:1). In fact, so close is their sense of unity, that at our General Assembly, Kelly Aal-bers had a mishap so he could get on crutches just like Fr. John. ;)

Father Bob’s autobiography was entitled Give God Permission af-ter one of his favourite exhortations. The seminarians do various things over the summer. Todd Thibeau, our property manager and former seminarian himself, led the seminarians in some tasks. Ap-parently these beloved serfs coined the phrase “Give Todd permis-sion.” Love it!

Hostile trees!High winds propelled a large branch, severing our power line and tearing the service mast from the side of our CC office building at Ottawa’s not-so-secret headquarters. Along with electrical arching, fire was coming out of the top of the mast. The fire department was here and Hydro Ontario cordoned off the park-ing lot. If you phoned in mid-August and there was no answer

St. Maurice La Pieta Prayer Group at Notre Dame Basilica on Sunday July 24, 2016.

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Called to the Priesthood?

WWW.COMPAN IONSCROSS.ORGVisit us online: vocations.companionscross.org

The world needs holy priests!

or answering machine, that’s why. Thankfully we had super-Todd come to the rescue.

Please pray for Fr. Jim Lowe’s mother and her family and friends. She was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. Thanks be to God, she is at peace. For the past two years, she has been saying “Why am I still here? When is God going to take me home to heaven?” (P.S. Fr. Jim Lowe’s mother passed away at the end of September.)

I have been terribly remiss in not mentioning news regarding our office staff!! Ack! Belated congratulations and best wishes (and prayers!) to our graphic designer Shannon Kalyniak on her mar-riage to Alain Minkoulou. Also, congratulations to our web and social media employee James Shaw and his wife Ruth on the birth of their son Micah. Condolences to Claire Johnson (seminarian fundraising) on the death of her father-in-law.

New Moons and Sabbaths. On Sunday August 28, the new ap-plicants were presented at St. Mary’s 11:00 am Mass. They re-ceived their crosses at Mass by Father Bob’s mausoleum Tuesday morning. Monday evening was the celebration of various priests’ anniversaries at St. Maurice Parish. Fr. Dennis Hayes was the se-nior honouree. Bishop Christian Riesbeck presided and Fr. Ben St. Croix preached the homily—both fellow honourees.

Normally the Mass would have commemorated the beheading of

John the Baptist. However, Bishop Christian quipped that that feast was moved to Friday, the day of the election of the next General Superior. Fr. Ben reflected on the privilege and blessing of being a priest and sharing in the important events in people’s lives, as well as on the cross. Fr. Pierre Ingram gave brief tributes to the honou-rees: highlighting their gifts and virtues as well as some goodhearted humorous lines. For example, besides his merciful heart and care, Fr. Jerry Gauvreau was noted for being the quintessential Canadian with his love of hockey, Tim Horton’s, and saying “eh”. Thank you and God bless our priests who celebrated special anniversaries.

Of course, all of this preceded our General Assembly with its elec-tions. There is a separate article on that. Fr. Allan MacDonald was elected General Superior; and Frs. Rob Arsenault, Galen Bank, Mark Goring, and Michael Scherrey to his Council. A holy hour of thanksgiving with a reception followed on Friday evening at Blessed Sacrament Parish. Fr. Allan was Vocations Director, so there will be some more shuffling of chairs in the near and distant future. Fr. Allan is commencing his term by visiting all the vari-ous cities (“foundations”) in which we live and serve, and meeting with each one of the brothers.

Fr. Rick Jaworski, CC has a licentiate in Sacred Scripture from the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome. He was ordained in 1990 and is currently the Pastor of Holy Rosary parish in Ottawa, Ontario.

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N e w s F l a s h e s

New General Superior Fr. Allan MacDonald during Adoration at Blessed Sacrament parish on the Friday of the completion of the General Assembly.

Adoration at Blessed Sacrament church after the General Assembly concluded.

Bishops Scott McCaig and Christian Riesbeck at General Assembly.Praise and worship at General Assembly.

Fr. Allan MacDonald presents the New Applicants at Mass at St. Mary’s parish in August.

N e w s F l a s h e s

Seminarians renewing their promises at Anniversaries’ Mass at St. Maurice parish in August.

Bishop Christian celebrating Anniversaries’ Mass at St. Maurice parish prior to the beginning of the General Assembly.

Enjoying some recreational time during the Assembly days. The Servants of the Cross with CC priests at Divine Renovation Conference in Halifax.

Bishop Scott McCaig celebrating Mass at Divine Renovation Conference with Fr. James Mallon.

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Welcome New Applicants

Karl HartmanStratford, ON

Jose OrozcoHouston, TX

Dale AalbersBruno, SK

Sebastian MuggeridgeOttawa, ON

Mark HartmanZurich, ON

Companions of the Cross199 Bayswater AvenueOttawa, ON K1Y 2G5Canada

Postage paid at city – OttawaPrinted Papers – PublicationsPublications Mail Agreement #40016244

“Praised be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has bestowed on us in Christ every spiritual blessing in the heavens”

(Eph 1:3).

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