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Sacramentality needs to return
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SPEAKING OUT PAULA DUCEPEC
Virtual pro-life march inspires young supporters
The Toronto March for Life virtual rally included presentations from MPP Sam Oosterhoff, left, Toronto Right to Life executive director Michelle Angela Caluag and pro-life advocate Victoria Martin.
(Screen shots from torontomarchforlife.ca)
On May 14, Ontario Premier Doug Ford unveiled the first phase of the province's cautious re-opening strategy. Approved businesses received the green light to resume operations if in compliance with the safety protocols advised by public health. However, there is no firm date on when church doors will open or what adjustments will take place to accommodate hosting a congrega- tion. Dioceses are working with public health officials to determine the details, but understandably parishioners are anxious as they watch other provinces slowly return to public Masses. A growing sentiment to reopen churches is a welcome sign as more and more believers could start regarding online Masses as the future of worship the longer the quarantine gets extended. On various interactions with friends, family and other parish- ioners, many are beginning to see "virtual" Masses as the best and most plausible way of "going to church." "This kind of attendance has been comforting for many people, a good way to connect with their local parishes and to keep them focused on regular prayer life," said Fr. Favin Alemao, a dogmatic theology student at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. "We have to be clear, however, that this is not the same thing as attending Mass." Sacramentality is what makes the Mass so special, and is a gift from God. What is sacramentality? Defined by Joe Paprocki in Practice Makes Catholic : "It is the way of using symbols, rituals and gestures - tangible realities - to communi- cate the mystery of the faith in our daily lives. This is God's mode of communication with us: He talks to us in ways that we understand . ... Through Catholic sacramental- ity, God's Love can be seen, tasted, touched, heard and even smelled!" Alemao points out that as the priest takes a piece of bread and a plain chalice, and speaks the words, "This is my body, this is my blood," God makes Himself present in the simplest way. Alemao further explains, "In an instant, what was only a sign, a created thing, becomes God Himself. He enters His creation again. He has a place, a physical location in our church." Our physical distance from church has highlighted the need for us to be there. Alemao says there is a need to understand that "our very proximity to God is a source of healing and consolation, a source of grace." "The parallel that comes to mind is the image of those people whose parents were in locked- down nursing homes. They would go close to the windows to see their parents close to them, even if they were separated by glass, even if they couldn't easily hear each other. Their very presence at that glass was a consolation for both the parents and the children." We have an imperative to com- prehend that all rituals, images and sacraments allow us to become closer to God. "After all," said Cardinal Thomas Collins of the Archdiocese of Toronto in one of his homilies, "we do not worship pixels." (Ducepec, 22, is a student at the University of Toronto studying an- thropology.)
BY BERNADETTE TIMSON Youth Speak News
COVID-19 has shut down schools and halted public rallies, but it couldn't stop young pro-lifers from supporting their cause at the second Toronto March for Life on May 15. Following the lead of the National March for Life, the Toronto event was live-streamed over its website (torontomarch- forlife.ca) and organized by the Canadian Centre for Bioethical Reform (CCBR), Toronto Right to Life and the activist organization We Need A Law. "Our goal for the March is not just to have one day where we affirm each other in our pro-life position, but to have one day where we can re-equip ourselves, encourage each other and then get back out there in the culture to change hearts and minds on this issue," said CCBR communications director Jonathon Van Maren. The web event brought together people from pastoral, political and educational fields to share their passion and insights for the cause. The webinar's message left a strong impression on Nina Govaert, a member of Youth Pro- tecting Youth pro-life group at York University in Toronto. "It's not just a religious issue. If you believe that abortion ends a human being's life and that all human beings deserve human rights, then you are pro-life," said Govaert. Adam Sinclair, the president of the Ryerson University branch of Toronto Against Abortion, tuned into the event because he says there is a need for more men to join the fight against abortion. "If men can somehow benefit, even financially from abortions, either by performing them, ex- ploiting their girlfriends or even forcing them to get abortions, then there should be men to speak against it," he said. "The March for Life helps you to become aware of where the resources are, like where to sign up." Success and setbacks were both on the agenda for the virtual event. One topic was the effects of Ontario's Bill 163 - the so-called bubble zone law passed in 2017 that prohibits pro-life demon- strations or counselling up to 150 metres from a abortion clinic. Another presentation spot- lighted the work of Aid to Women, the only pro-life crisis pregnancy centre in Canada that is located in the same building occupied by an abortion clinic. The Toronto organization has seen its client intake rise "over 700 per cent" the past two years, according to Mary Helen Moes, the centre's executive director. She attributes some of this growth in the 35-year-old centre to an increased online presence and more young people becoming involved in the pro-life movement. "We work with women to provide whatever is necessary to help them make life-affirming choices," she said. "That can be practical support, professional counselling, housing, financial, legal and material aid such as diapers, clothing, strollers and car seats. And this support is a firm commitment, not just until the child is born, but until the child is two years of age." (Timson, 21, is finishing her Event Management studies at Humber College in Etobicoke, Ont.)
The Aid to Women crisis pregnancy centre in Toronto is located in the same building that houses an abortion clinic.
(Image from Google Street View)
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