As the pastor of Sainte-Madeleine parish in Outremont, Father Patrick Vedrenne\u2019s main wish is: \u201cgetting together\u201d!<\/p>\n\n
\u201cMy first wish is to see someone come into the church and say: \u2018I know at least five people here!\u2019 My second wish would be to know that that person does not go out of the church feeling more alone than when he or she came in,\u201d Father Patrick adds.<\/p>\n\n
In order to achieve that, Sainte-Madeleine\u2019s Sundays have been implemented every other Sunday of the month. After Sunday Mass, as children attend catechism classes, parishioners are invited to take the time to share their thoughts on the Word. They discuss the Gospel reading of the day and what touched them. This is a privileged opportunity for each individual to \u201canchor the Word, because the Word is shared\u201d, Father Patrick explains. It is followed by times for adoration organized by children to which everyone is welcomed. These are beautiful moments to share one\u2019s thoughts with the community, because \u201cto meet God, one must become little children again to find back one\u2019s spontaneity, like the children attending catechism\u201d. When little ones become teachers to the adults\u2026<\/p>\n\n
\u201cWhat is not given is lost\u201d (Saint Teresa)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n Around noon, there is a potluck for all: \u201cthe meals are the backbone of the Gospel\u201d, the pastor of this parish explains. Parishioners meet around meals, build relationships and develop a sense of belonging. Often these meals have a theme (Valentine\u2019s Day, Easter, Saint Patrick\u2019s Day, etc.). A cake created by and for the parish, made up of \u2018madeleines and orange blossom\u2019 concludes the meal!<\/p>\n\n These meals are also an excuse for Father Patrick to find a place to hold the potluck for everyone to attend after Mass. During those meals, people share a coffee and specific personal calls emerge and \u201ceveryone can evolve according to his or her own personal gift\u201d, the pastor explains.<\/p>\n\n Communication at the Service of the Parish<\/strong><\/p>\n\n It is in that spirit of friendliness that Sainte-Madeleine parish created, a year ago, a modern and dynamic newsletter and a Facebook page, and remodeled its website.<\/p>\n\n It also helps in solidifying the bound: \u201cIt is not enough to give announcements at the end of the Mass anymore: the newsletter, the website, the Facebook page and the new flyers help to keep the parish vibrant, even when one misses one Mass!,\u201d Father Patrick explains. This new way of communicating enables a lot of people to stay in contact with the Church. \u201cThere are some people I don\u2019t know who like our publications, people from the neighbourhood for sure, couples married here some years ago, also some elderly,\u201d he says with joy.<\/p>\n\n With these new means of communication, parishioners stay informed on the state of affairs of the parish and, thus, build a true community.<\/p>\n\n Sharing and Christian Formation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n The parish offers many opportunities for people to meet: catechism classes, of course, but also movie nights, evenings of glory and praise, recitation of the Rosary, marriage and baptism preparation, and young adults group. The Burning Bush offers to young professionals a biblical training and a prayer school.<\/p>\n\n Last year, we launched Father\u2019s Weekend. It was a two-day event for everyone to find its specific calling: \u201cA society without fathers is a society without benchmarks.\u201d That weekend focused on sports events, prayers, time for adoration and teachings on paternity.<\/p>\n\n Friendliness and Mission<\/strong><\/p>\n\n The Alpha Journey is a new event we launched this year. This is a place where conviviality and Christian formation meet. \u201cWalking side-by-side, sharing questions, one\u2019s faith and sufferings, as if one was on the Way to Compostela, bring parishioners closer\u201d, Father Patrick thinks. This journey, which is in complete agreement with the diocesan missionary shift, will also enable \u201ceveryone to reclaim the basics to convey and to meet God personally in a better way\u201d. The missionary shift must be written on the hearts: \u201cThere cannot be a mission without an overflow of the heart,\u201d Father Patrick emphasizes. As the pastor of Sainte-Madeleine parish in Outremont, Father Patrick Vedrenne\u2019s main wish is: \u201cgetting together\u201d! \u201cMy first wish is…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6203,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6202","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nouvelle"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/diocesemontreal.wp.vortexdev.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6202","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/diocesemontreal.wp.vortexdev.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/diocesemontreal.wp.vortexdev.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diocesemontreal.wp.vortexdev.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diocesemontreal.wp.vortexdev.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6202"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/diocesemontreal.wp.vortexdev.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6202\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diocesemontreal.wp.vortexdev.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6203"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/diocesemontreal.wp.vortexdev.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6202"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diocesemontreal.wp.vortexdev.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6202"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diocesemontreal.wp.vortexdev.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6202"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"