News - April 2021 RSS Feed

Pope Francis has called for a global prayer marathon for the entire month of May, praying for the end to the pandemic. Right out of the gate, when Pope Francis was elected in 2013, he declared, “A good Catholic meddles in politics.” Eight years on, the young, non-partisan organization Catholic Conscience is ramping up its meddling to encompass all of Canada. Local online program that will help faithful seek Jesus more deeply in the Blessed Sacrament. Thirty-three days to Eucharist Love is an email-based personal retreat that prepares people to consecrate themselves to the Eucharist Heart of Jesus.

The story of Dorien and Rita Hachey of St. Stephen could be the story of any person who has been raised Catholic and finds themselves surprised by an encounter with Jesus that they were not expecting. The Hachey’s recently participated in Alpha through St. Croix Parish in the southwestern region of the Diocese of Saint John. Read about their experience. Answering God's Call: Religious and priestly life must be filled with the simple joy of caring every day for what really matters — faithful friendship with God and one another, Pope Francis said. Jesuit astronomer and president of the Vatican Observatory Brother Guy Consolmangno has a plan to help Catholics, or anybody, think more rationally and less politically about science.

Set back among a row of buildings on Waterloo Street in the uptown Saint John, the St. Vincent de Paul society has been serving the needs of the poor in the city for more than a century. Dee Dee Daigle, coordinator of the St. Vincent de Paul Society, shared how the pandemic has affected their day-to-day operations, and their work to support the poor in Saint John. Christians are never alone in prayer but instead are accompanied by myriad saints who protect them and seek God's intercession, Pope Francis said. The Diocese of Saint John will be offering a special Alpha geared particularly towards catechists and lay-leaders beginning on April 20. The Great Adventure Bible timeline is reading and meditating upon 14 books. Genesis, Exodus, Joshua, Judges, 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, Luke and Acts are among the featured books. The connective tissue that is scholarly forged between these 14 narratives spread over 12 time periods is illuminating God’s “family plan” going from Adam and Eve to King David up to Jesus and the Church.

In his second year with the Diocese of Saint John, Bishop Christian Riesbeck, CC, acknowledged the uniqueness of celebrating the Chrism Mass during a pandemic. This year’s Chrism Mass, held at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Saint John, was by invitation only and was livestreamed on the Diocese of Saint John Facebook page. On Good Friday, April 2nd at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Saint John, reflecting on the passion of the Lord, Bishop Christian Riesbeck, CC, of the Diocese of Saint John, spoke about the importance of the crucifix as a symbol of Christianity. His message of the importance of the cross echoed Pope Francis' that the hope brought by Christ's cross "is like a beacon that indicates the port to ships that are still afloat on stormy seas." The number of Catholics and permanent deacons in the world has shown steady growth, while the number of religious men and women continued to decrease, according to Vatican statistics. At the end of 2019, the worldwide Catholic population exceeded 1.34 billion, which continued to be about 17.7% of the world's population.

This year in honour of the 90th anniversary of the Divine Mercy apparitions to St. Faustina Kowalska in Poland, the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception (Immaculate Conception Parish) in Saint John will host a Holy Hour of Mercy on Divine Mercy Sunday, April 11, led by Bishop Christian Riesbeck, CC of the Diocese of Saint John. Thinking about a horrible death doesn’t come naturally to 21st-century humans, even on Good Friday. King’s University College philosophy professor John Heng in London, ON has meditated on the seven last words of Christ — a Good Friday spiritual practice that stretches back centuries and has inspired string quartets by Joseph Hayden, a choral masterpiece by Cesar Franck, books by Fulton Sheen, Jesuit writer Father James Martin and Jesuit theologian Karl Rahner. A Christian life should be filled with amazement -- astonishment at the son of God suffering and dying for humanity and awe at realizing how precious and loved people are in his eyes, Pope Francis said. Jews and Christians can learn from each other's shared Scriptures, according to two renowned academics. Such dialogue, they said, can help to move a divisive society "from polemic to possibility."