The Heart of Lent

After the beginning of Lent on Ash Wednesday, the Church celebrates on the First Sunday of Lent one of the Rites of Christian Initiation for Adults: the Rite of Election. Our Catechumens gather this day in the Cathedral Church to bring to a close their Catechumenate, the lengthy period of formation of the Catechumens's minds and hearts. With this Rite, the Church makes its "election" that is its choice of these people and admits them to celebrate the Sacraments of Initiation: Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist at Easter.

It is called the Rite of Election because it is God who has chosen these people to be part of God's holy people, and it is in God's name that the Church acts.

The Bishop questions the Godparents to hear their recommendation: "As God is your witness, do you consider these candidates worthy to be admitted to the sacraments of Christian initiation?

The catechumens express their wish to enter fully into the life of the Church through the sacraments of baptism, confirmation, and the eucharist. They then enter their names into the Book of the Elect.

The Bishop then signs the Book of the Elect.

The dignity of this celebration is much contributed to by the excellent servers at the Cathedral.

The Bishop then says: "I now delcare you to be members of the elect, to be initiated into the sacred mysteries at the next Easter Vigil.

"That these elect may find joy in daily prayer, we pray: Lord hear our prayer.

That these elect may read your word and joyfully dwell on it in their hearts, we pray.

That each day of Lent they may do something in your honour, we pray.

That they may grow to love and seek virtue and holiness of life, we pray.

That they may dedicate their daily work as a pleasing offering to you, we pray.

That you will bless and protect their families, we pray.

That they may share with others the joy they have found in their faith, we pray.

Father, guide the elect of your Church and strengthen them in their vocation, we pray.

Dear elect, you have set out with us on the road that leads to the glory of Easter. Christ will be your way, your truth, and your life.

These elect now become the heart of our Lent as they journey towards baptism and with them we journey to a renewed commitment to our own baptismal calling at Easter.

Amen.

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AWCB Presentation on Human Traficking.

At their annual Assembly, the Western Catholic Bishops spend a full day, evening, morning and afternoon listening to a presentation which helps educate them on current aspects of living our faith as disciples of Jesus. This year Sr. Sheila Smith, RSJC, spoke to the Bishops on human trafficking.

Human trafficking means the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving ofr receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having controlover another person, for the purpose of exploitation.

Sister Sheila Smith reminded the bishops that human trafficking is a modern form of slavery. It is a violation of human rights and a serious crime, and it takes place in Canada. A conservative estimate is that at least 800 people are traficked into Canada each year, and from 1500 to 2200 people are trafficked each year through Canada to the United States.

I will pass on to you a story from the Canadian Red Cross, Vancouver, B.C. It is quoted in the Canadian Religious Conference Awareness and action Kit for High School Students "Human Trafficking and the 2010 Olympics:

" I wanted to get out of Thailand, so when the opportunity came to make lots of money and live in a big city in Canada, I took it. Upon my arrival at the airport, a group of men met me, took my passport 'for safe keeping', and drove me to a house where there were lots of otheer young women. Soon I realized I was trapped. I couldn't leave the house and was told I had to pay back $30,000 for my passage. When I asked how I was to get the money, I was told the only way was for me 'to service' men everyday. For months, I was kept in the locked house, given little food, and escorted daily by force, to a brothel. One of the men said, "You will do what we tell you if you want your family to live." Eventually government officials found and raided the house. I don't know what will happen to me now, since I have no official identity."

"Canada is part of this modern form of slavery. The sex industry inCanadian cities forces trafficked persons to work as escorts, strippers, and prostitutes. Canadians creat demand for these trafficked sex workers. There is also evidence of trafrficking for labour exploitation in industries such as : construction, agriculture and domestic work."

The Bishops of British Columbia and Yukon have issued a Pastoral Letter on Human Trafficking http://www.rcav.org/ht/index.htm. I will give one small quote from this letter: "As a community committed to the following of Christ, we dedicate ourselves to making every effort to help those who have been victimized to regain their sense of dignity. We call upon all men and women of good will to eliminate the mentality that treats hman beings as commodities of commercial exploitation and as objects of pleasure. With God's help this can be accomplished by strong legislation, use of the media, and above all through prayer and good example."

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AWCB Plenary Meeting

In the afternoon before the business meeting of the Assembly of Western Catholic Bishops begins, the Bishop's, who form the Board of Regents for St. Joseph's Seminary in Edmonton, meet with the Seminary Staff in an annual meeting.

From left to right we see the Seminary staff: Fr. Augusto Garcia p.s.s., Fr. Stephen Hero, Fr. Huy Nguyen, Fr. Andrew Szablewski, p.s.s. Then you have to skip over Bishop David Monroe of Kamloops, and next to him is Fr. Shayne Craig, p.s.s., the Rector of the Seminary. The meeting dealt with various issues, the most pertinent is the building of the new seminary. The previous site of Newman College and St. Joseph's Seminary is being taken over by an extensive highway project and these two institutions have to move. A new College and Seminary is being built in Edmonton and should be ready for occupation in the autumn of 2009.



After the Board of Regents meeting and the presentation of trafficking, the Assembly settled down to its business meeting on Wednesday evening and which continued until Friday at noon.

Bishop David Motiuk, Bishop of the Ukranian Eparchy of Edmonton, chaired the part of the meeting that dealt with Apex, the insurance company directed by the Bishops of Western Canada and which handles the insurance policies for most of the dioceses in the West.

There are twenty-two bishops in Western Canada (BC to Manitoba and including the Yukon and North West Territories) and all were present at the meeting. The meeting dealt with a number of practical issues such as the Enculturation Seminar for international priests serving in our dioceses, the Bishops' Annual Retreat, the Workshop for Priests Ordained five years and under. It was also decided that the Annual Assembly would take place in Lumsden next year to recognize the 100th anniversary of the Archdiocese of Regina.

Some national issues were also discussed such as the March for Life beging organized in Ottawa and the arrangement of a meeting with Phil Fontaine, the National Chief, and some aboriginal representatives with the Holy Father.

A representative of the Fundraising organization spoke to the Bishops on the question of the National Collection required by the Federal Government on the Catholic Church entities to raise $25 million dollars in reference to the Residential Schools settlement

On my left is Abbot Peter Novecosky who serves as secretary for the Assembly and helps keep things in order during the meetings. We also discussed Aboriginal Ministry, the issue of uranium mining and nuclear energy, the Summer School in Liturgical Studies for Western Canada and heard a presentation on L'Arche Canada Foundation. Bishop Luc Bouchard was elected as a member of the CCCB Permanent Council, Bishop Albert LeGatt as substitute and Archbishop Richard Smith as second substitute, among other things.

Bede Hubbard attended the meeting as Associate General Secretary of the CCCB. Bede is a native of Saskatchewan.

It was a good and productive meeting, but by Friday noon, we were all quite ready to go home. Personally, I greatly appreciate the bishops that we have here in Western Canada and find it a pleasure to be in their company. There is much wisdom, experience and dedication among these Shepherds of Christ's flock.

God of all gifts and source of all truth, give the fullness of your blessing to the college of Bishops, and keep all those entrusted to their care faithful to the teaching of the apostles. (Evening Prayer 1, Second Sunday of Lent.)

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