Author Archives: stfranciskw

Urban.Indigenous.Proud: Zaagi’idiwin

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Urban.Indigenous.Proud is a film project partnership between the Ontario Federation of Indigenous Friendship Centres and the National Film Board of Canada. Taking a community-driven approach, the OFIFC and the NFB produced five short documentaries by Indigenous filmmakers who set out to explore urban Indigenous culture and lived experiences in five Friendship Centre communities.

Today we invite you to watch the first installment, Zaagi’idiwin.

This short film offers a snap-shot of life in Fort Frances, Ontario, as some of its community members prepare to gather in a special place that will bond their hearts and minds. By engaging in ceremony and celebrating their language, culture and land, the people are creating “Zaagi’idiwin”—a symbol of their truth, their story and their own reconciliation, which is community-defined, beautiful and inspiring.

All this information is taken from the National Film Board’s website, which you can access here.

World Day for Grandparents & Elderly

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Sunday July 25, 2021

“I am with you always” (Mt 28:20): this is the promise the Lord made to his disciples before he ascended into heaven. They are the words that he repeats to you today, dear grandfathers and grandmothers, dear elderly friends.

These are the first words of Pope Francis’ message for next Sunday, World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly. Especially during these pandemic times it is so important to reach out to our grandparents and elderly friends, to ensure they know they are not alone, to share stories and time together. If you are able to safely visit with the elderly people in your life over the next week, either in person, on the phone or online, we encourage you to do so. Perhaps offer to bring them to Mass, or if they are not ready to join us in person yet perhaps you can arrange for them to be able to watch Mass online or listen to the homily posted on the St. Francis website. Whatever makes sense for your family, we simply encourage you to connect with your elderly loved ones, pray with them and show them that you are with them always.

During your visit you could read Pope Francis’ message together, or listen to him read it to you:

Pope Francis’ Message

You can pray together the prayer written for today:

You could watch the video created by the Canadian Catholic Bishops:

You can read the text of this message by turning on the closed captions for the video or by clicking here for a copy you can print.

We will pray in particular for our grandparents and elderly parishioners at Mass this weekend, may God bless them with health, love and peace.