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Share Lent - Double your Impact Thanks to a group of generous religious communities, from Ash Wednesday (February 17) to Pentecost (May 23), new donors who sign up for monthly contributions will see their contributions matched for a year, dollar-for-dollar, up to a maximum of $130,000. This means that your monthly donations will have DOUBLE the impact for our partners in the Global South! Visit www.devp.org/shareyearround to join the Share Year-Round program.

Our Permanent Deacon Intern, Dan O'Connor, is providing Lenten reflections that are being used in our family of schools. We are making the videos available to all our families so that there can be a connection to school, church, and family. "A family that prays together, stays together." Click the title and follow the link for the videos.

Family Resources for Lent 2021 The Diocese of London has prepared resources for Lent including: Tips for Family Prayer, a Lenten Reflection video with Bishop Fabbro (French transcript is available) and a Family Prayer Challenge. To access printable versions in English and French languages, at this link.

Women's Inter-church Council of Canada (WICC) has produced a one-hour full-service video. This video will be available on the WICC website wicc.org Providing grants & prayers for women and children facing injustices WICC (Women's Inter-Church Council of Canada) focuses on helping women and children who face injustices. Find out more about us. wicc.org starting February 15th. This video service was written by women in Vanuatu, a group of over eighty islands located in the South Pacific, east of Australia. The theme is "Build on a Firm Foundation" based on Matthew 7:24-27. It is the World Day of Prayer service for 2021. Please join our sisters in Christ in prayer.

Letter from Bishop Fabbro

OFFICIALLY LAUNCHED! If you’ve struggled to read the Bible, this podcast is for you. Ascension’s Bible in a Year Podcast, hosted by Fr. Mike Schmitz and featuring Jeff Cavins, guides Catholics through the Bible in 365 daily episodes starting January 1st, 2021. Each 20-25 minute episode includes: two to three scripture readings a reflection from Fr. Mike Schmitz and guided prayer to help you hear God’s voice in his Word. Unlike any other Bible podcast, Ascension’s Bible in a Year Podcast for Catholics follows a reading plan inspired by the Great Adventure Bible Timeline® learning system, a groundbreaking approach to understanding Salvation History developed by renowned Catholic Bible teacher Jeff Cavins. Tune in and live your daily life through the lens of God’s word!

The Pope Francis Fund – Application Process is Open The Pope Francis Fund has opened the application process for grants to be distributed in 2021. Last year nine organizations received funding and this year a total of $42,500 is available. The application process and criteria are at this link. The list of 2020 recipients, including stories about they put their funding to use, is at this link. Pastors are encouraged to announce the following when livestreaming Masses over the coming weeks: “Organizations are encouraged to apply to the Pope Francis Fund for grants for charitable works that help the poor. Application details and criteria are available at ww.dol.ca.” The application process closes on February 28.

For those who use Offertory Envelopes and have not yet picked them up, we need to hear from you. Do you still need them? Please advise Maureen Marcelissen if you would like to continue with envelopes by calling 519 631-3640 ext 241 or by email at mmarcelissen-hnm@dol.ca . Arrangements for getting the envelopes will be made at a future date. Instead of Envelopes You have a couple of options. i) Pre-authorized Debit (PAD) We can set up automatic withdrawals from your bank account with the frequency and amount. If you want proceed with this option, please contact Maureen Marcelissen. ii) You can use our online payment system - Pllenty. You have the option of using your debit or credit card to make one-time payments or recurring payments. To take advantage of this option, please go to our Family of Parishes website - eglinrcparishes.ca , click on 'DONATE' and follow the instructions. Although are churches and offices are closed at the moment, your financial support is very much appreciated to continue to pay for heat, hydro and other expenses that continue during shutdown. We continue to pray that COVID-19 will end so that we can get back to our churches. Bob Bray Business Manager 519 631-3640 ext 240 elginrcparishes.ca

Catholics and all people of good are asked to make their voices heard in opposition to legislation before the Parliament of Canada, Bill C-7, which expands access to euthanasia and assisted suicide. This Bill removes, among other things, the requirement in the law that a person’s death must be “reasonably foreseen” and extends the provision of euthanasia and assisted suicide to those who are not dying. Catholic teaching upholds the inherent dignity of each and every person and affirms that it is gravely unjust to enact laws legalizing practices, such as euthanasia and assisted, that permit the taking of innocent human life. The Diocese of London is joining with faith-based groups and all concnerned Canadians to oppose this legislation

Virtual Marriage Preparation Weekends in 2021 will be offered for couples in Ontario on Feb 20-21, April 16-18 and June 11-13. The cost is $150.00. Engaged couples can view the CEE program website and register at this link.

In order to continue to keep our places of worship open, safe and sacred it takes many resources, willing hands and hearts to make this happen. The exterior protective glass for 5 of the beautiful the stain glass windows at Holy Angels’ are cracking and pieces are coming loose. There have been plans for several years to replace all of the protective glass because it is not properly vented and can cause damage to the stained glass over time (because of drastic heating and cooling without proper venting.) Because of the cracked exterior glass, need to preserve the stained glass from the elements and safety concerns, we need to replace the cracked glass. The replacement of the cracked panes will occur this month. This is a temporary measure until we can install new, vented storm windows and paint the window frames for all the windows in the church. On another note, the front steps of the church will require extensive funds to be raised before we can begin work to replace them. We cannot yet set a timeframe for the completion of this work. Minor repair work on the side sacristy steps, deteriorating because of salt has been repaired by very skilled parishioners. Thank you for your generosity! We are all thankful for everyone’s continued support to keep the church safe, sacred and fully operational.