Coming to a close.

Don't miss the second last Cornerstone with Fr. Raymond de Souza. Mission POSSIBLE: the renewal of the world may not be as far away as you think.

Come and join us before it's too late.

Spirit of the Lord

“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.  And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”  (2 Corinthians 3:17-18)  It’s funny because this bible passage was actually the theme of last year’s Impact! mission project but in so many ways it also encompasses what is happening this year.  In encountering God’s heart we are transformed. In our lives being transformed by our encounter with God we are able to share and to help other’s lives be transformed  as well. 

On Saturday night a bunch of Impacters and a few staff were able to attend the Matt Maher/ Don Moen concert.  It was amazing.  At the concert the Holy Spirit was very present.  I was sitting near the back and during one of the songs started looking around at all of the people crowded into the church.  Each person had a huge smile on their face as they were worshiping God, they were free from their burdens, able just to trust.  Their faces were transformed as they sang the worship songs, each one conveying a different truth about the character of God.  As we left that night there was a huge grin and a sense of real joy on each of the Impacters faces as they left that night and headed home.  It was a joy that could only be the “joy of the Lord”.

I know without a doubt that it is this same joy and conviction of who God is that will help to transform the lives of people in Ottawa.  This joy and peace are contagious.  This joy and peace come because each of those Impacters are living the way they were created to live - in relationship with God the Father.  Seeing the Impacters joy and enthusiasm made me smile and thank the Lord.  And, it makes me very excited for the rest of the summer to see how this joy will affect the city of Ottawa!  They know the heart of their Father and are just waiting to share with anyone who asks! 

SEE THE IMPACTers WITH MATT MAHER

Cornerstone Week 3: last night

WHAT A NIGHT!

Last night at the Cornerstone, we had about 180 people, 

young and old, come to encounter the heart of their Father.

Firstly, IMPACT parish team Assumption was our host and they worked very hard to deliver a quality skit. And it was quality. They used MarioKart to communicate how Jesus is the bridge between us and the Father. 

They did GREAT.

Father Simon was our main speaker. The theme was "To cross the great divide" and to communicate how Jesus is a bridge.

Come join us next week at the Archdiocesan centre for week 4...the Choice. 7:30PM @ 1247 Kilborn Place.

The Ultimate Relationship

Well, it seems that today was a significant in many ways! First of all, the Vancouver Canucks won game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals against Boston with a goal just 24 seconds before the final buzzer! While being a significant moment for the Canucks, this was also an opportunity that the Impacters seized to draw other young people into their community and build relationships as the men’s household on Holmwood (aka “Animal House”) saw over 30 people in attendance for this spectacle, many of whom were not Impacters themselves. This is the kind of natural relationship building that lays the foundation for a genuine witness of faith and can lead to great opportunities to share the Gospel.

During the time I spent with the Impacters last night, I also heard two stories of evangelization opportunities that were capitalized on. One story was of an Impacter who, after inviting one of the men from his faith study to hang out with him one evening, took the opportunity to share the Ultimate Relationship booklet. Another Impacter was invited to a high school mass and took the opportunity to invite over 1000 high school students to join us tonight for the third week of Cornerstone, our weekly evangelistic outreach event!

Amidst all of this, the staff team took some time earlier this afternoon to prayerful discern how the mission is going and the Lord spoke very powerfully. Among other things, we had a clear sense that the Lord was reminding us to fix our eyes on what God the Father is doing and what He is able to do, so that we will not become discouraged, but press on with confident hope that despite our weaknesses and even through our weaknesses, the Lord will bring about great conversion in the lives of those He is placing in our paths! May we thus lift our eyes to Him and continue to invite others into our encounter of the Father’s heart! 

Courageous Catholic: Week 3.

You may not know....but every Tuesday IMPACT is running a "Courageous Catholic" course. This course gathers over 60 parish leaders/heads of ministries, from many parishes in our Diocese.

Last night we finished our 3rd week of this 10 week course. The goal of the "Courageous Catholic" course is to stir up our missionary hearts as baptized Catholics.

In doing so, our ministries, & therefore parishes, will become more mission oriented. We can successfully reachout to those Catholics in our midst who are on the fence, or wandering from the Church.

The session last night was "The Message", meaning the basic Gospel message that we are called to proclaim as the Church.

Co-founder of CCO, Andre Regnier shared with us that Jesus' main purpose is to reconcile us to the Father, through His death on the Cross.

Also, it is ultimately up to us, to accept this free gift of salvation and open our hearts to a realtionship with Jesus.

Explained this clearly and simply, it was exciting to see the responses of some of our friends present.

"I have been Catholic all my life, and I have never heard the truth about Jesus explained so clearly. I feel I can finally share with others who Jesus is and what He's done".

 

After this Lee Leonard shared with us his testimony, how the Lord reached out to him (off a skateboard!) and into a personal relationship with Himself, who had been far off. Email him for more info lee.leonard@cco.ca

In the mingling time as we were all leaving, it was clear to me that people wanted to stay and talk...something had been deeply stirred in them!

A missionary spirit was awakened from the clear and simple message of who Jesus is and what He's done for us.....He's inviting us to respond to this relationship, and bring this message to the world!

Week one. DONE.

Tomorrow is the first day of week two of IMPACT. The second Sunday in the parish. The second attempt to fill the faith studies. Already there are a number of IMPACTers who have GREAT EXPECTATIONS for what God will do tomorrow, but more importantly what tomorrow will mean for the lives of those who sign up tomorrow.

Looking forward, I have such hope. Looking back, I have a reason for hope. Tonight was CCO's Summit. A night of encounter with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. The theme of tonights Summit was petition. Michael Hall shared beautifully about how one of the best prayers of petition was the "Our Father". The Our Father is filled with 7 petitions. The first three are acknowledging God for who He is, and the last four acknowledge us as we are....in need of the Father. It was awesome. He (Michael) received his insight from the Catechism and the Compendium. Check it out.

See you tomorrow in the parishes for the fourth Sunday of Easter. Alleluia.

Mens night

Tonight was such a great night. All the men from IMPACT gathered and we started our night off with worship. I love worshipping with these guys. After worship we took some reflection time and thought about the day where we gave our life to God, where it became personal for the first time. After our reflection we gathered in our house groups and shared about our reflection. Each man got the floor to give a mini testimony. After house sharing we played soccer. Three teams kings court. So much fun. Thanks guys. Praise God.

Tomorrow is move day

So, tomorrow is move day. Where I (Lee) pick up all the furniture that is being moved into the IMPACT houses. It's also the day where I get all the keys for all the houses. The staff will be moving furniture, washing donated dishes, cleaning future IMPACTer homes, tomorrow is a day of service. If you are free come out and give us a hand. You know where to find us...

Emergency

So yesterday was very windy in Ottawa. There was actually a wind warning in effect. urlm.in/hpxt
I know this not only because of the news. CHECK THIS OUT!

In the house we heard a large bang after a big gust outside. Some of the girls ran upstairs where the bang came from. BROKEN WINDOW

Scary!!!

Our landlord came yesterday to look at it. Today he pulled out all the broken glass and measured the window to put in a new one. But there is still broken glass everywhere.

GLORY!

Today has been a wonderful day. So many blessings from God.

Jasmine Bean came to the house to organize our kitchen donations. Now everything is separated and sorted. Ready for inventory.

We were able to procure a cube van on the busiest moving day of the year: May 1st. which means all our donations of furniture can be picked up now and dropped of with ease.

The Ottawa region purchased a projector, which IMPACT will get to break-in this summer.

So many things to be grateful for. Registration day is coming and I feel prepared.

Featuring...

Special appearance number 2. Mr. Chris O'Hara. Chris is a student from Dalhousie University in Halifax.

 Chris came to visit before going out to find a job. He also sent me (Lee) a text that read "Outside the world exchange plaza downtown there is a plaque commemorating Leonard Lee, business person of the year 1998." Such a joker. I hope he found a job.

Chris is one of 57 IMPACTERS, young men and women who are coming to Ottawa this summer. They will be working in Ottawa as well, they will be receiving training as missionaries, planning events in the archdiocese of Ottawa and volunteering in parishes.
Anymore questions? Ask Chris in person Friday, May 6 · 7:00pm - 10:00pm at the Impact Commissioning Mass.

EASTER Tuesday

One week since my last BLOG entry. A lot can happen in a week. Like the passion, death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. Easter was so beautiful. The IMPACT staff journeyed together through the Triduum. Alleluia. He is risen.

The staff house is all set up and it was blessed yesterday by Archbishop Prendergast.

Man...lucky. Have you ever had a bishop, let alone an archbishop bless your house, room and guitar. I didn't think so.

Keep posted, posts will be increasing in frequency.

Day 1: for staff

I woke up in the staff IMPACT house today. We have many things to do today: clean, clean and clean. As well as clean I (Lee) am coordinating between donors about furniture donations. As a matter of fact I just got off the phone with a very kind lady who referred me to another kind lady who has little goodies for all of us. Microwaves and such. Today will be our first full day here, let's make this house a home.

Happy Holy Monday.

Tonight is @ccoottawa's Spring Banquet. After tonight it's only one week before the staff move into their IMPACT house. As you may have heard through a twitter feed (@IMPACTottawa) we (the staff) now have a home to move into. YAY for 1105 Bronson Place...it is where you will find us all summer. We have all kinds of furniture (all over the place) and utensils. Everything is coming together quite nicely, but we are still in need of your prayers because we are without a home for "the CORNERSTONE". People already living in Ottawa, Theresa Hudec may need your help on the 15 or 16th to move everything into the staff house. email theresa.hudec@cco.ca if you are available. Otherwise keep posted to the BLOG of your FATHER and twitter (@IMPACTottawa) for more info.

Peace.

About a month

"Tickin' on and on, everybodies rushin'" With about a month left to go before Impact officially starts there is a ALOT to do before the big day. The staff of the mission have had their last official preparation  meeting. Yesterday I set up a number of Impact's social media addresses. You can follow us @IMPACTottawa on twitter, and of course this blog post will be running until the end of the summer.

Keep close and you'll see what's currently up and coming, who's who on Impact and many other exciting updates around Impact.

Come.