A Place Where Everybody Knows Your Name

St. Charles parishioners were looking for a way to celebrate the feast of our partron St. Charles Borromeo (November 4).  Typically a very active and sociable parish, the pandemic  brought all social activities to a standstill.  

Colleen Bevan and Jamie MacDonald  organized previous St. Charles’ Dinners.  Despite  all the uncertainty and rules changing continually, they decided to take a ‘leap of faith’ and start  planning a parish social.

COVID restrictions complicated the process of selling the tickets, serving the food, setting up the hall and providing the entertainment but with faith and determination they worked through all the obstacles.

When November 6 arrived, 93 parishioners attended and 29 people got  ‘take out’ dinners.

St. Charles hall looked elegant with autumn decor, lights dimmed and centrepieces flickering on the tables.  The kitchen crew worked all day preparing a delicious turkey dinner with all the trimmings.  

A video production of “St. Charles - Dancing With the Stars” featured ten musical numbers starring St. Charles parishioners.

Ron Labbe was our fast-talking auctioneer at the cake auction.  Seven beautifully decorated  and delicious cakes were sold to the highest bidder.

The evening concluded with karaoke.  Who knew St. Charles Parish had such talent!

This event was not intended to be a fundraiser.  The objective was to have fun and revive the spirit of our parish after many months of social isolation with COVID restrictions.  Coming together with members of our faith community  helped to remind us that we are not alone in this world - the St. Charles Parish family is the  place where we belong.

"It is not good that man should be alone.” (Gen. 2:18)

Our New Pro-Life Banner

L - R: Jamie Macdonald, Jim Turnbull, Richard Nichol and Norbert Thibert. Taking the picture and helping out was Dan McInnis.

As with many other events this year, the 2021 Pro-Life March was cancelled. The Manitoba State Office of the Knights of Columbus, with the approval of the 3 Archbishops and in partnership with "Life's Vision", is pleased to promote this initiative by asking all Councils in Manitoba to purchase and display the new Pro-Life Banner on Parish property.

Father Allan Hall Council is participating and has erected the banner for display on the grounds of the St. Charles Parish Church.

“Life’s Vision is working to create a new narrative on what it means to be prolife. A narrative that equips individuals, communities, and businesses to support the value of life from the beginning to the end, and the years in between. ”

— lifesvision.ca

40 Cans for Lent Food Drive

Again this Lent,  Father Allan Hall Knights of Columbus invited St. Charles parishioners to help feed the hungry.  Beginning on Ash Wednesday and continuing the 40 days of Lent, canned and dry goods were collected for the North Point Douglas Women’s Centre which is located in Winnipeg’s North End. 

North Point Douglas Women’s Centre

When the Lenten season finished, food donations totaled 1,854 lbs with 486 lbs coming from the students, parents, and teachers of St. Charles Catholic School.  The $695.00 in cash donations was used for most needed food items at the centre.  

Knights of Columbus Grand Knight, Jim Turnbull, wishes to thank everyone for their generous support.

Jim Turnbull Grand Knight of the Father Allan Hall Knights of Columbus at St. Charles Parish

Food Bank Use in Canada

• Over 840,000 Canadians seek help from a food bank every month.

• Almost two in five are children and youth.

• 1 in 6 households seeking help are working.

• 1 in 10 walking through the doors each month are helped for the first time.

"What a Great Meal for a Cold Day”

St. Charles Parish has made a commitment to provide two meals a year to Winnipeg’s  Immaculate Conception Soup Kitchen.  Our next date was coming up on Sunday, February 7.  With the Code Red restrictions, we were unable to request donations of Chili from parishioners as we had done in the past or gather to prepare food. 

After prayer and discernment, the Executive of the Ladies’ Association decided to purchase Hearty Chicken Stew from the Chicken Chef (3770 Portage Ave).   Along with the Chicken Stew we purchased buns, bananas,  bottled water and juice boxes.  We made a request to St. Charles parishioners for homemade cookies and we received 68 dozen.  

The Kotowich Family also prepared and donated 20 Valentine’s gift bags for the children.  The bags contained a juice box, one chocolate pudding, one heart sucker, one granola bar, two rice crispy cereal bars and two monster cookies.  Maddy said, “When Florence asked me to make cookies for the Immaculate Conception lunch I realized it was close to Valentine’s Day.  Kids deserve something special so I asked if I could make some gift bags. With the lockdown I couldn’t get fancy bags so I decorated brown paper bags.  Kids love presents”. 

One of the soup kitchen volunteers said, “Wow, our coldest Sunday of the year and we had a great warm chicken stew compliments of St. Charles Parish.  They also provided nice crusty buns, bananas and dozens of homemade cookies plus water and juice.  What a great meal for a cold winter day!”

We were told the volunteers at the soup kitchen made 200 bags of individual servings.  They distributed 185 bags at the door with a few people getting an extra bag for a family member at home.  One volunteer remarked. “That’s down a little bit but it was cold out there and we were missing a few regulars.”   The leftover chicken stew was put in the freezer and will be used at a later date.

The Ladies’ Association wishes to thank our St. Charles parishioners for their prayers, monetary support, the baking, shopping and transporting of the food.  We received $940 in donations.  “Your generosity was overwhelming!  The money remaining after expenses will be put aside for the meal we will provide in September.” (Florence Weber, president)

Thank you to all who helped make the meal so special for those in need during these difficult COVID times.

““For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink….. Lord when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?….. Truly I tell you whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”
Matthew 25:35–40
”

Staying Connected At Christmas

Christmas was coming!  At St. Charles Parish this usually would mean adults getting together for  parties and potlucks and children celebrating a  Birthday Party for Jesus with games, crafts and birthday cake.  A few days before Christmas, parishioners of all ages would have been invited to spend a few hours together decorating the church and sharing pizza.

In 2020 with COVID-19 and the necessary restrictions, everything was different.  A group of friends from St. Charles wanted to find a way to reach out to parishioners over the Christmas season.  There were limited options so they pooled their talents and produced a half-hour musical video which they posted on the St. Charles YouTube Channel.  It was called St. Charles Parish Music Ministry Christmas Carols 2020 - From Our Hearts to Yours.

It happened relatively quickly.   In early December members of the Music Ministry were invited to take part and the church was booked (in adherence with restricted numbers).  Over a two week period, the participants were recorded separately. The individual videos were merged and edited into a 29-minute presentation and posted on our YouTube Channel - St. Charles Catholic Parish Winnipeg.  During the Christmas season we had over 322 views.

Our motive for making this music video was to reach out to our St. Charles parishioners.   We endeavoured  to entertain and comfort them.  Although we couldn’t celebrate Christmas as a community in person we could share the joy of the season in spirit. 

“Having faith does not mean having no difficulties, but having the strength to face them, knowing we are not alone”.  Pope Francis

Face Mask Project Update

Here is an update on the Blog post (April 28, 2020) about the Face Mask project .

Our masks have travelled to Paulatuk , North West Territories.  Julie Clark, principal of the  town’s school contacted her mother, who lives in St. Norbert, and told her the school  had run out of disposable masks and desperately needed reusable ones for the staff and students.  The mother spoke to a CWL member (who had hear about our project) who then contacted Eva Arsenault.  A box containing 200 masks were mailed to the school the following day.

This fall, the ladies from the St. Charles Mask Project were contacted by a group called Inclusion Selkirk (formerly called Community Living).  This organization helps people with intellectual disabilities from all over Manitoba.  There are 125 clients  in 13 shared homes in Selkirk.  For various reasons,  eleven clients are unable to use  ordinary masks.  Annette Kohut and fellow parishioner Dianna Hooper designed and made 49 masks.  The knitting group from St. Charles parish knit 49 “ear savers” which were also requested.  (Ear savers are extensions used with the masks to make them more secure and comfortable.)

Merilee Mollard from Inclusion Selkirk gratefully accepts the special-order face masks and ear savers.

An Encounter With Christ in Song and Silent Meditation

On Monday, November 23, 2020, St. Charles Parish sponsored a Taizé Worship Service hosted by the Chemin Neuf Community and live-streamed from St. Charles Retreat Centre.  The event will remain on the St. Charles Parish YouTube channel. The link is www.youtube.com/stcharleswpg

Taizé is an ecumenical Christian community in Taizé, France https://www.taize.fr/en_rubrique8.html. It was founded in 1940 by Brother Roger Schultz, a Reformed Protestant.  The community is composed of more than 100 brothers, from Catholic and Protestant traditions, who come from 30 countries across the world. 

Taizé is one of the world’s most important sites of Christian pilgrimage, with a focus on youth. Over 100,000 young people from around the world make pilgrimages to Taizé for prayer, Bible study, sharing and communal work. Through the communities ecumenical outlook, they are encouraged to live in the spirit of  kindness, simplicity and reconciliation.

Taizé worship incorporates the use of icons, music, prayers and chants from the Eastern Orthodox tradition.  The music emphasizes simple phrases, usually lines from Psalms or other pieces of scripture, repeated and sung.

Ecumenical services based on this model and music are held in many churches throughout the world.

Face Mask Project

Eva with fabric used to make masks.

On April 3, in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, Annette Kohut received an alarming email from her daughter Sharon, a nurse in the maternity unit at  Wetaskiwin Hospital. The hospital is located 70 kilometres south of Edmonton, Alberta. Sharon told Annette that the nurses on her floor were running out of protective gear - scrub hats and masks. She asked Annette for assistance in obtaining these crucial items to help staff through this crisis.

Annette spoke to me. I thought this was a great undertaking and jumped at the chance to do something that would fill this desperate need. I no longer had a sewing machine so I volunteered to find a supplier and purchase the cotton and elastic to make the masks and hats, as well as to cut the material.

We had no pattern for the scrub hat. A friend’s  daughter, Andrea, a clothes designer, was asked to design and write instructions. Andrea, a young wife and mother of two small children, all self isolating at home,  spent numerous hours working on this project. In two days, on April 7,  she presented us with the pattern, instructions and two sample scrub hats.

In the meantime, Annette searched the internet for the best possible design for the masks - something effective and comfortable. She combined several patterns and settled on a design.

Annette made 36 sets of scrub hats and masks.

On April 14, after 8 days and 45 hours of sewing, Annette was able to ship her daughter 36 sets of scrub hats and masks. Sharon called her Mom when the box arrived and said, “Mom, you have no idea how much we appreciate this!”

Annette and I agreed to continue making more masks, selling them for $5 each with the profits being donated to charities. A few more volunteers were needed to assist.

We found two more helpers, excellent sewers, willing to commit to the project knowing full well they would need to pace themselves so as not to burn out.  Two friends from St. Charles parish, Lynda Ann Smith and Maddy Kotowitch, accepted the challenge.

In the last few weeks, we have used 75 meters of 100% cotton, 360 meters of elastic and miles of thread.  It takes 15 to 20 minutes of uninterrupted work to make one mask. 

When we have finally sewn all our purchased material we will have made approximately 600 masks. The proceeds from the “Mask Project” will be divided among Winnipeg Harvest and soup kitchens in Winnipeg.

I asked the team how working on this project has affected them personally:

“It was a great challenge but I’ll really be happy to get back to enjoying my afternoon nap.”  Annette Kohut

Lynda Ann receives another batch of cotton to sew into masks.

"It is always a 'fun ride' and for a 'great cause' to jump onboard with Eva and Annette when they get an idea in their heads and invite others to join in.  So many will benefit from these ideas and our collective efforts.  Knowing that part of my day was spent doing something I enjoy, sharing 'isolated time' with the gals and contributing a little something to such a good cause has helped the last few isolated weeks just fly right on by”.   Lynda Ann Smith

“When I was approached if I could help to sew some needed face masks my first thought was great - this will give me something to do for the cause.  I like to be busy.  Having this project was a good way to break up my non routine day.  As the need for more masks grew I realized that this project was more than something for me to do.  There was a genuine need for this service.  I'm happy to be able to do my little part and help out not only those who need the masks, but help a greater cause as well.  Food banks and soup kitchens are struggling to assist those who count on them.  I am thankful for this opportunity”.   Maddy Kotowich

“This project was more than something to do”. Maddy

Submitted by Eva Arsenault, St. Charles Parish in Winnipeg.

St. Charles Parish “Chili Pot of Love”

The Immaculate Conception Soup Kitchen is located at 181 Austin Street North in the North Point Douglas neighborhood of Winnipeg. It was initiated by the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary over forty years ago and is open every Sunday from September to May.

Twice a year, in October and February, St. Charles Parish supplies the meal. On Sunday, February 2, the parishioners provided chili. Pat Rowan, a St. Charles parishioner, has been assisting at the Soup Kitchen for eleven years. On Sunday morning he picked up and delivered the meal - buns, bananas, milk, and chili. Pat said, “This Sunday we fed 185 people. The number was smaller than usual. There was lots left over so we made 85 small containers which people took home for later. We gave the remaining milk away to families with children.”

Thank you to the parishioners who made and donated the chili, to those who heated and delivered it and those who went to the Soup Kitchen and served it. When Pat Rowan was asked why he has been giving up his Sundays for the last eleven years, his answer was short and simple. He said, “It is our duty to help the less fortunate.”

Return Visit to Haitian Orphanage

Fellow parishioner Louise Dansereau, along with Oblate Sister Berthe O’Reilly, will be in Haiti from February 4 to March 18, 2020. This is their third visit to Our Lady of Perpetual Help Orphanage.

Our Lady of Perpetual Help Orphanage is located on 14 acres (surrounded by brick fence) near Cape-Haitian in the northern part of Haiti. The complex includes an orphanage, a school for 300 children, a medical clinic, a library and the Sisters’ residence. Haitian Diocesan priest and founder, Father Andre Sylvestre, hopes the orphanage will eventually sustain itself so there is cattle for milk and meat, and a garden for fruits and vegetables.

The orphanage is a home for 18 boys and 19 girls ranging in age from 4 to 16. Some of their parents died in the earthquake while others died from respiratory or diarrheal diseases, HIV/AIDS or violence.

While there, Louise and Berthe help the children with their studies giving special attention to those who need extra help. They also organize educational activities using the donated supplies such as puzzles, games, French books and play dough.

Louise wishes to thank all those who have donated items and funds for the orphanage. All monetary donations are given to Father Andre for the well-being of the children. Louise and Berthe pay all their own expenses – airfare, luggage, room and board.

Louise said, “Father Andre tells us that the love we give the children is worth $1 million…we are there as a presence, listening to their stories, giving attention and encouragement in their way of life so that their hearts are filled with joy and happiness”.

Our prayers are with Louise and Berthe for a successful trip and a safe return.

"Mark whatever you do for the least of my brothers, so you do onto me" Matthew 25:46.