As teased in the homily, Fr. James is here to discuss why change in what we do is needed and how this affects our buildings and our parish's future. This video is slightly longer than usual.
Good evening Father James. Thank you for bringing clarity to a bewildering situation and for presenting the way forward. Thanks especially for reminding us of our mission as followers of Jesus Christ!
Father James, thank you for leading this complex process. I believe in the Holy Spirit leading the way. May she give us all we need to rebuild in confidence.
Also, I'd like to express my gratitude to all the people who owned the task of preparing these difficult reports. Must have been quite a challenge in quite a number of ways. God bless each and everyone.
Thank you Fr.James for such a thoughtful and heartfelt explanation to all our OLGP members of what the current situation is for our parish. Your honest expression of integrity is so refreshing and greatly appreciated.
PS. I agree with the plan for building the pods on St. Peter Church location. The location is most central and located near public transportation. (most beautiful as well!)
Hi Fr. again...The experience I had was a very good one because the Holy Spirit was involved in my experience and I think it is very important that babies or young children should be Baptised early because the Holy Spirit is very powerful in us with Baptism and one should not wait till adults to be Baptised because if so they are depriving young children from this great grace in their life .I was baptised as an infant and the experience I had would not have happened if I had not been Baptised the experience was before I was 6 yrs old ,at the time I didn't know that but I remember it well now that is why I think it is so important because I chose to do the good action in that situation rather than choose the bad thing that could have created a disaster for the other persons involved.....so it would be nice to talk with you besides I would have to talk with you about something else...so Please Pray for me and Thank you !!!
Thank you Fr James. Our Lady of Quadalupe is very fortunate to have you and your experience going forward with these necessary changes. You will never have everyone agreeing even though they understand that sadly the statistics are valid and accurate not only in your parishes but throughout the world. People didn’t like that churches had to be closed to build St Benedicts but they eventually adjusted and were proud and happy with the outcome. There is no doubt things must change. I shall pray that the parishioners are able to see clearly that Jesus is channeling through you to open the hearts of the younger generations and doing what must be done to achieve that. The statistics are clear.🙏🏼May God continue to guide you.
Hello Fr. James, I find your video really interesting. Thank you for sharing. It is sad to know how the mass attendance dropped over the years. I am just curious, could it be the form of liturgy (or at least one of the reasons) why people stop attending mass? I was in Antigonish last Sunday for vacation and happen to chance upon a Latin mass and the Church was full; all young families. I also noticed this in the US. I am not bashing any form of the mass as I attend and love both forms (TLM and NO). It is just my observation though.
17.9 to 8.8 is how much the birth rate in NS declined over a similar period of time as the stats presented of the decline in church attendance in OLOG parishes. Now you may say apples and oranges but I say there is a correlation between the two curves (although they were really bar graphs). I am saying it is not just our fault that there are less and less adults attending church. To get adults you first need babies to be born and grow up! I first noticed the correlation between the drop in children registered in my children's faith formation program and the birth rate fifteen years ago. You need babies to grow up to be evangelized adults!
Hi, Fr James, I think option 4 sounds like a great idea! Just one question though, if we get the go ahead from His Excellency, would that mean that 3 out of 4 sites of our parish would be closed until the project is completed? What with ImCo and St Paul's being on the market, and then St Peter's would be closed while they work on the building, right?
Hi Father I would like to talk with you because of an experience I had when I was very young and am so grateful for having been Baptised as an infant because of the experience but I can"t ,make it public but also very grateful to being in the Catholic Church....how do I get to talk with you I am quite far from your parish and I don't travel well it's a long distance......God bless !!!
Hi Anne, I am sorry to hear of you experience, I am glad you would like to talk to someone, if you could eMail us at communications@ourladyofguadalupe.ca we would be happy to help arrange for you to speak with someone.
