Friday, January 15, 2010

Faith Sharing - New Program starting January 20th

The Faith Sharing Group will be starting a new program on Wednesday, Jan. 20/10. We will be studying the Gospel according to Luke as presented on Video by Fr. Richard Rohr, O.F.M. Luke is from Rome, probably from a rich family, probably a physician, maybe a Gentile convert. He is well educated, broadminded, a second generation Christian and has never known Jesus. He is writing a Gospel 80 years after Jesus. He is dealing with sending out missionaries to a Jewish and Gentile community who are persecuted as a church, as a people. There will be ten sessions in this program. We continue to meet on Wednesday mornings at 9:30 (after mass) in the St. Patrick’s library in the church. If you are interested, please come and join us. For more informaton about faith sharing, visit our website.

Saturday, January 2, 2010

House of Hesed Fundraiser at St. Charles February 26th - 28th

Do you need an exceptional reason to brave the cold winter weather? Well here it is. Come out and enjoy an evening of scrumptious food, spirited company and hilarious entertainment. St. Charles Parish is the venue for a dinner theatre presentation of the “How to Tame the Wild, Wild West in a Dress”. It is a musical comedy and features a number of St. Charles parishioners – David Turnbull, Nicole Friesen, Dominique Gibson, Patrick Thibert, Ron Labbe, Jolene Senecal, Kaitlyn Lee and Jasmine Magnus Osborne. This is the third consecutive year the group has presented a dinner theatre show as a fundraiser for The House of Hesed.

Hesed is a Hebrew word used in the Old Testament to illustrate the “eternally loyal, unrestrained, compassionate, merciful love of God”. The House of Hesed is a non-profit, non-denominational Christian Organization established in response to the needs of people living with HIV/AIDS. This three story residence on Edmonton Street is able to house ten individuals along with an in-resident staff person. House of Hesed is committed to affirming the value of each person who resides there, and strives to educate the community about HIV/AIDS to help dispel the stigma and fear surrounding those living with HIV, replacing it with a spirit of compassion.
Parishioner Ron Labbe said, “My decision to participate in the dinner theatre was easy as I was looking for something different to do. Helping the House of Hesed has been so rewarding for me personally and I have never had so much fun volunteering. We have really made a difference for the House of Hesed and it feels so good.”
David Turnbull is the director and producer of the show as well as part of the cast. He is a second year Creative Communication student at Red River Community College. David is using his efforts towards the production as his ‘Independent Professional Project’ in his course. “At first I just wanted to act and have fun,” said David, “But because the practices were at the House of Hesed, I got to meet many of the people who live there and developed a personal connection – it makes us realize who we are doing this for”.

The tickets for the show are $25 and this includes a three course meal and a show which runs about 90 minutes. Starting January 4th the tickets will be available to purchase from any cast member. There will be performances at St. Charles on February 26th, 27th, and 28th and at St. Martyrs Canadien Parish in Windsor Park on March 5th, 6th and 7th.

The group rehearses for 1 ½ to 2 hours every Monday night from September to the end of February. Here are some photos from one of their rehearsal in December. They looked like they were having way too much fun!

For more information on the House of Hesed, check out their website
www.houseofhesed.ca or contact David Turnbull at 885-2847 to purchase tickets.