Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

This week, I invite you to reflect on the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola, a powerful mean to order one’s life and direct it towards God. As the title suggests-“Spiritual Exercises to Conquer Oneself and Regulate One’s Life Without Determining Oneself through any attachment that is disordered” – these exercises lead us to interior freedom, allowing God to shape our lives according to His divine will.

At the beginning of the Spiritual Exercises St. Ignatius presents to us the Principle and Foundation, which calls us to recognize that we are creatures, created to praise, reverence, and serve God, and by doing so, to save our souls. Everything else in our lives, such as talents, relatives, wealth, etc… are given to us to obtain the end for which we have been created. Therefore, our use of them should be in proportion to the end for which we have been created.

Saint Ignatius structures the Exercises into four weeks: The First Week is the Principle and Foundation, Sin and the possible eternal destinies of our soul. The Second Week, the Life of Jesus is presented to us as a model to follow. In this week, the exercitant organizes and plans his life after Christ. In the Third Week, the Passion of Christ is presented to us to reinforced the purposes made in the Second Week. In the Fourth Week, the Resurrection of Christ is presented to us to know what awaits us after this life.

Spiritual Exercises have been a machine for making saints throughout many centuries. A great example are the Canadian Martyrs, who model their entire life after this retreat as can be seen in their writings.

Let us ask through their intercession and of our Blessed Mother, for all those who will participate in these Retreats in the coming weeks.

God bless you

Fr. Gaston Giacinti, IVE.

WEEKLY NEWS

Volunteers

The Diocese of Peterborough has required, that all volunteers in any capacity must be screened through the Diocese Volunteer screening Program, so if you are a volunteer at either Sacred Heart or St Johns and have not been contacted yet for the screening, please reach out to Nithya Rozario @ 416 558 2562/ nithyavathi@gmail.com at the earliest or Ann Kennedy +17057428534.

You could also meet Nithya/Ann at the back of the church to collect the volunteer screening forms or for any queries.

Spiritual Exercises

Fr. Gaston will be preaching Spiritual Exercises, which is a silence retreat following the method of St. Ignatius of Loyola.

– for women, from Friday evening February 21st through Sunday February 23rd evening.

– for men, from Friday evening February 28th through Sunday March 2nd

Location: Fair Haven Conference Centre

B2215 Durham Regional Hwy 48,

Beaverton, ON L0K 1A0                  

Cost: $250 individual room

          $200 shared room

For registration, please contact Mother Almah. 

Shrove Tuesday 2025!

We will have a meeting on Tuesday 18th at 9am, to organize the Shrove Dinner. Everyone is invited.

The Italian Group, Peterborough District

Invites you to: A taste of Italy Saturday February 22, 2025, after the 5:30 pm Holy Mass at Sacred Heart Parish Hall. Please see the flyer for details.

Friday Adoration at Sacred Heart

Every Friday there is adoration of the Blessed Sacrament at Sacred Heart in reparation for the offences made to the Sacred Heart of Jesus from 1:30 to 6:30PM and confessions from 5:00 to 6:30PM.

Catholic Missionary Children Oratory

For Children 7-12 years old. Saturdays 10:30 AM to noon at St. John the Baptist. For info or to register contact Sr. Inmaculada at stjohnandsacredheart@gmail.com

Altar Boy Group at Sacred Heart 

1st & 3rd Fridays of the Month, 6:15 – 8:30 PM.

Sacred Heart Choir

All voices (including children aged 10+) are invited to join! No previous experience necessary. Please contact Christine by call or text at 343-369-8739 to learn more or to sign up.

FORMED Sign-up

1. Visit Website – formed.org, select “Sign Up”.
2. For Parish Name type in “Saint John the Baptist 300 Wilson Street” both parishes
3. Then after selecting the Church, click on “Next”.
4. Fill in your name & email to create an account.
5. Then Select “Sign Up”

D IOCESAN &O THER NEWS:

Speaker Night: Come Learn about MAID

Speaker Night and Potluck, Saturday, February 22nd at 6:30 pm., Knights of Columbus Hall, across from St. Peter-In- Chains, Cathedral.

Fr. Tom Lynch: MAID – The Catholic Truth and Our Real Answers.

We encourage you to attend this very informative evening.

In Need of Rosaries?

Rosary Makers of St. Mary’s Lindsay is looking for help determining locations we can distribute rosaries.

Ideally we need to keep courier costs low as distance and volume increases costs.

If you can help out in a destination, ie missionary, and how to get rosaries to that destination please contact the parish office 705-324-4828 or office@stmaryslindsay.ca