Important message to those planning to come to church on Sunday: remember that clocks spring forward one hour on Saturday night. There once was a vicar of the Cathedral who forgot to do this. Unfortunately he was supposed to be preaching.
We are supposed to tuck away the alleluias during Lent, but there has to be one enormous shout of Hallelujah for the way the Cathedral community pulled together to make our contribution to Nuit blanche such a success last Saturday. Nearly 3000 people had visited the church by the time we closed at 2 am – more than that if we include the people who came to the concert at 4:30 and the people who wandered in before we officially opened. A huge thank you to all the people who worked so hard:
== to the crew who served some 700 cups of free fair trade hot chocolate before they ran out of powder
== to the greeters, clickers and security people, especially to Cedric who greeted people the entire evening.
== to Rob and the vergers who cheerfully helped with preparations and told us they didn’t mind the disruption.
== a special thank you to verger Tyson who was in the building from 6pm to 4am. He now knows where all the fuses are – we were using a little too much electricity. In many ways Tyson’s help made the whole evening possible
== thank you to all the artists, musicians, actors and poets who participated, and to all the people who organised the various events. Applause to Natasha who spent many hours curating the art exhibition and thank you to Paul Hopkins who travelled from Ontario to direct our two drama spots. Thank you also to our Dean Paul and to Jonathan for pushing through jet lag to take the lead in various events.
== perhaps the biggest thank you of all goes to Rhonda, who was very involved from start to finish – literally to finish because she was washing floors at 4 am.
The evening showcased the versatility, creativity and spirituality of the Cathedral community. It was not costly: we more or less covered the expenses of the evening because of the generosity of parishioners, participants and visitors. There will be a debrief session for the team of organisers and we welcome your comments.
Our Lent courses continue. The carbon fast calendar and other details at www.montrealcathedral.ca This Sunday (March 8) the environmental sustainability series continues at 11:45 with Craig Sauvé, city councillor for the Saint-Henri–Petite-Bourgogne–Pointe-Saint-Charles district and Project Montréal’s transport critic, speaking on issues of public transportation in Montreal.
Last week SJAG did an excellent presentation about how our food consumption affects our carbon footprint. Much of their information was based on an article by David Suzuki http://www.davidsuzuki.org/what-you-can-do/food-and-our-planet/food-and-climate-change/
Here’s a short extract from the article While it’s good to buy locally grown food for many reasons, ‘food miles’ (the distance food is transported from the time of its production until it reaches the consumer) actually make up a relatively small percentage of the overall carbon footprint of food — approximately 11% on average, according to studies. How the food is grown makes up a much larger percentage — roughly 83%.
Next Sunday (March 15th) – Meg Graham, a Cathedral parishioner who teaches at McGill on issues of sustainability will present a review of Maude Barlow’s most recent book, Blue Future: Protecting water for People and the Planet.
This week’s spiritual practice includes an essay by Ilia Delio on “intentional technology” and human evolution, and the possibility of having a technological Sabbath. If you would like to share your experience in a future newsletter, please contact Ann at cathoff@bellnet.ca
This week CCC’s Amnesty Action Amnistie invites you to participate in on-line actions.If you follow the following link you will find a number of petitions and messages that need support. It takes just a small amount of time to participate and it makes a difference. http://www.amnesty.ca/get-involved/take-action-now
Have you tried out VolunteerSpot, the Cathedral’s new method of finding volunteers? According to Jane it is the leading online signup and reminder tool and easy to use. Please use it to participate in Sunday services and to sign up for the Maundy Thursday Prayer Vigil!
Here’s how it works in 3 easy steps:
1. Click this link to go to our invitation page on VolunteerSpot: http://www.volunteerspot.com/Group/21650207209
2. Enter your email address: (You will NOT need to register an account on VolunteerSpot)
3. Sign up! Choose your spots – VolunteerSpot will send you an automated confirmation and reminders. Easy!
Note: VolunteerSpot does not share your email address with anyone. If you prefer not to use your email address, please contact Jane and she can sign you up manually.
An announcement and invitation from Rhonda: Next Evening Eucharist: Easter Sunday, April 5th at 6pm. Celebrate the Risen Christ with a community dinner and a joyful, informal Eucharist. Fulford Hall, 1444 Union Avenue. Please click on this link to sign up https://eventbrite.ca/event/16024351266/
Some of you who have suffered bereavement or loss might find the following series at the Ignatian Centre helpful.
Journeying Through the Valley: Guided conversations for those who are bereaved. Bereavement refers to losses of many different kinds and anyone who feels the need for support in a season of difficult change is welcome. Sometimes we discover that we have not fully grieved past losses. Together we create a safe space for exploring our emotions as we seek to release our grief into God’s gracious care. Thursdays March 12 through May 7 (with a break during Holy Week) from 7:00 – 8:30 pm at the Ignatian Spirituality Centre, with Reverend Jan Jorgensen $100 for eight sessions – No one is turned away for lack of funds.
People who were at Forum will have heard the announcement from Head Verger Rob Wells that he is planning to retire on May 1. He has done an amazing job at the Cathedral. His organisational skills, prayerfulness and patient care of the building have ensured that the Cathedral is indeed a peaceful, beautiful and welcoming space. I was going to write warmly welcoming, but Rob’s valiant struggles with the recalcitrant boiler were sometimes a losing battle. We are grateful to Rob for his dedication. He will be a hard act to follow.
L’Oasis Concert this Saturday will be given by Chamber Music Without Borders whose members are students in the bachelors, masters and other diploma programs at the Schulich school of music. They will perform both beloved classics and new discoveries from the classical music and jazz repertoire. Strings, woodwinds, brass, piano and other instruments are showcased, both as soloists and in ensembles. You will find the programme at https://www.facebook.com/events/773874715992964
Last week you were given the wrong link to the blog about the Cathedral’s various music programmes – there was a c missing. The correct link is cccchoirnotes.blogspot.ca. Please try again!