Friday, 7 May 2021

St. Joseph was an ordinary worker



Following spiritual reflection is by Denise Bondy, Chair of the ONRC Spirituality Committee. Read the original reflection on the Spirituality Corner.

Pope Francis has declared that, from December 8, 2020 until December 8, 2021 the church will celebrate a year dedicated to St. Joseph. Vincentians do well to study St. Joseph, to attempt to live in his example and to ask his intercession as we seek to live our vocation to serve Christ in his poor.

St. Joseph was an ordinary worker. Even though his family line traced back to King David’s royal family, Joseph was not wealthy and he wasn’t one of the VIPs in his hometown. He was an ordinary, a just man, who worked with his hands.

Covid 19 has brought those who are ‘ordinary workers’ to our attention and has rightly named them as the heroes who serve in spite of their own danger. Our Vincentian tradition has long encouraged the ordinary work of serving those most in need without any reward and without fear.

St. Joseph was a husband and father, not a high priest or a scholar. His call to serve elevated him above all other husbands and fathers, to become husband to Mary and earthly father to Jesus.

We can look to his example as we try to grow in our vocation as lay Catholics. Maybe we won’t quite reach sainthood, but our baptism is our call to service and our Vincentian vocation is the way we try to become the best we can be – maybe even saints one day.

St. Joseph was obedient to God’s call. It took courage to face the community as he accepted the pregnant Mary, to run away to Egypt and to return and re-establish his business. Joseph did all this because he had the courage of his faith.

Many people are suffering right now because of Covid-19. Some are ill or have experienced the death of a loved one. Others are unemployed and unable to manage their debts. Not all will manage to get through the pandemic without permanent, life altering damage. As members of the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul, we must support everyone we can. We need to use the courage of our faith when we are dropping off groceries on a front porch, or making friendly phone calls, or paying bills, or any of the other things Vincentians do well. We must also be praying for our friends and searching for any way we can bring love, respect, justice and joy in these troubled times.


Hail, Guardian of the Redeemer,
Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
To you God entrusted his only Son;
in you Mary placed her trust;
with you Christ became man.

Blessed Joseph, to us too
show yourself a father
and guide us in the path of life.
Obtain for us grace, mercy and courage,
and defend us from every evil.
Amen

(Pope Francis December 8, 2020)

Sunday, 2 May 2021

Get the Ontario COVID-19 Child Benefit

 The following post has been extracted from the Ontario Government Ministry of Education link: Get the Ontario COVID-19 Child Benefit

The Ontario COVID-19 Child Benefit provides financial support to families with young learners to help with additional costs during the COVID-19covid 19 pandemic.

If you received a payment through the Support for Learners program, you do not need to apply for this additional payment.

However, if you applied for Support for Learners but did not receive your payment by April 23, you will not automatically receive payment under the Ontario COVID-19 Child Benefit. In this case, you will need to apply for it.

Applications will open from May 3, 2021 to May 17, 2021.

This new round of payment through the Ontario COVID-19 Child Benefit is in addition to payments provided by Support for Families and the Support for Learners programs.

If you did not apply for Support for Learners

If you missed applying for the Support for Learners program, you will have the opportunity to apply for the new payment through the Ontario COVID-19 Child Benefit.
Applications will open from May 3, 2021 to May 17, 2021.

Only one parent or guardian will be able to apply for each child. The parent or guardian should have custody of the child. This could include a parent or guardian with shared custody. It is up to the child's parents or guardians to determine who will apply.

If you are a secondary student over the age of 18, you can apply on your own, or one of your parents or guardians can apply for you.

Eligibility
You can apply if you live in Ontario and are a:

  • parent or guardian to a child or youth up to Grade 12
  • secondary school student over the age of 18
  • parent or guardian to a child or youth that is 21 or younger and has special needs
For more information go toGet the Ontario COVID-19 Child Benefit

Wednesday, 14 April 2021

Shalom - Conference Spiritual Reading

irisphoto2 - Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto

Conference spiritual reading chosen by
Deacon Steve Pitre

“When the Lord greeted his disciples and friends after his Resurrection, he said, “Shalom” or in English “Peace”. He simply used the Jewish greeting, which meant “Good morning”, or “Good day”, or “Good evening.” But what did this greeting mean on the lips of the risen Jesus?

It was the proclamation of the world’s healing. It meant that the whole plan of the Father had been fulfilled, that the mystery of the kingdom lived now in the universe, that the glory of God was being poured into every atom of creation through the transformed mind, body, heart, and soul of Jesus the Messiah, the risen Son of God.

It meant that all of the broken relationships in the universe had been healed at their root: that our separation from God was no more, that our alienation from one another, our enmities and misunderstandings and all our estrangements were over, that our individual fragmentations had been healed, that our separation from the animals and from all material creation had ended in reconciliation.

Jesus greeting meant that the harmony of God’s perfect order, the fullness of his life, was filling all things as it was meant to at the beginning. Easter is light, radiance, and splendor, clarity, luminosity, and brightness because it is the dawn of the new creation. It is a new day, the eternal day, and Jesus says, “Good morning.””

- by Fr. Bob Pelton, “The Asceticism of Joy,” Restoration, April 2021, Vol. 74, No.4, p. 1, Combermere