ignite_wpgsask

12/08/2021

Encounter was such a beautiful experience!

Here are a few pics from the weekend of retreat we had together.

Thank you to Holy Eucharist Parish and Fr. Michael Winn for hosting us.

Thank you to the amazing and beautiful daughters of God, Jodi, Andrea and Kaitlyn and their efforts ❤❤

And a MASSIVE thank you to the Holy Spirit for guiding us and the souls of all who attended!

Please continue to keep us in your prayers as we strive to Encounter God each again more and more.

12/02/2021

As we draw closer to Christ in our young adult years, some of us might fear that we will lose friends as a result of our choice to grow in holiness.

This thought can leave us feeling alone in our faith.

At Encounter you will have the opportunity to experience fun, holy fellowship with people around your age who also love Christ!

Having a community of like minded friends who support us is essential to our growth as disciples of Jesus.

We hope that this weekend you will strike a conversation with someone new, get to know them, and maybe even pray for them!

Who knows? Maybe you’ll meet a lifelong friend! THAT’S the joy of community

11/30/2021

Happy Feast of St. Andrew!

Let us REJOICE and FALL IN LOVE with the Lord as St. Andrew did!

Let us eagerly listen to what our Creator says.

Let us walk faithfully in trust of the Gospels to unknown lands.

St. Andrew was devoted and searching for the One who had been foretold. He believed when John the Baptist told him that 'there was the Son of God.' St. Andrew didn't sit down and keep this to himself to ponder for life...instead he rushed to tell his brother, Simon (Peter)! Beginning the ministry of sharing with EXCITEMENT and JOY the Good News!

After Pentecost St. Andrew traveled to bring the redeeming message of Christ to Asia Minor and is specially recognized in the Eastern Catholic Church.

Do you share St. Andrews example of eagerly sharing God and His mercy to the world?

St. Andrew! Intercede for us today on your feast! Call us every more to 'come and see' and to ENCOUNTER the Lord, our Creator and the ONE WHOM WE DESIRE.

graphic by:

11/29/2021

REMINDER!
Registration for Encounter will CLOSE on Wednesday! If you were thinking of registering...let this be a sign to get on SurveyMonkey and complete that form!!

Take this survey powered by surveymonkey.com. Create your own surveys for free.

11/25/2021

It’s incredible news! It’s a contagious joy! Emmanuel! It literally means God-with-us! The Lord promised that He would be with us, and He makes good on His promises!

The Lord isn’t a faraway landlord. Nor is He a Creator who creates and then leaves the creation alone like a watchmaker winding a new watch and leaving it on the counter to unwind. He doesn’t live upstairs uninvolved in our lives. No. It’s not that way at all.

He is present.
To us.
Here.
Now.
Like He promised.

When we realize this in our lives then the struggles, the grief, the trials, the suffering, and the overwhelmingness of living are seen in the light. The shadows start to dissipate. We begin to see who we are as we are rather than as we think we ought to be. We are made in the image and likeness of the Lord. Each of us. All of us. God became like us in all ways (except sin) so that we may become like Him in all ways (by grace as He is by nature). He restores. This is joyful news.

Our eyes are opened. All is new.

We begin to see the Lord everywhere.

We encounter Him in creation. In the skies. In the mountains. In the plains. In the spring, the summer, the winter, the fall. In the flowers. In the trees. In the waters. In the birds and the squirrels, the lion and the lamb.

We begin to see the Lord in our own creations.

We encounter Him in music. In dance. In word. In image. In the food we eat, in bread and wine.

We begin to see the Lord in everyone.

We encounter Him in our friends, in our families, in our colleagues, in the woman with three kids hanging onto the shopping cart at Costco, in the old man playing Santa Claus in the mall, in the old woman pushing a shopping cart filled with bags of cans down the road, in the young man cutting the grass, in the teen sitting on the street by Tim Hortons with his hand reaching out for some coin, in the girl scared and scarred because she has been caught by human traffickers, in the young man working as a slave in lithium mines… everyone.

And this is the one of the best ways to encounter the Lord—God-with-us—Emmanuel. In each other! It’s a contagious joy!

11/24/2021

Have you registered for Encounter yet?
Your spot is waiting for you! Hurry and register today!

➡ www.surveymonkey.com/r/ZSKZLV7

Meet friends, build community, go deep, and encounter God all at our Pylypivka/Pre-Christmas retreat :)

Registration takes 60 seconds and is SO worth it!

11/23/2021

When asked how we are doing, we often respond with a simple, “I’m doing well!” Or, “I’m fine, thanks.” 

How much different would our interactions with one another be if we were honest? The truth is that even on our best days, we are still broken.

We live in an imperfect world of sin and brokenness.
I’m broken.
You’re broken.
We’re all broken.
There are many things we deal with day-to-day that contribute to our broken nature. What’s more, is that we often hide this brokenness from others. We cannot, however, hide our brokenness from the Lord, Jesus. Being broken leads us to seek refuge in our Saviour, where He meets us with peace and comfort. Would we do this if we were perfectly well?

During Jesus’ earthly ministry, He called very broken people to follow Him, to tell others about Him, and to experience healing.

We too are called to meet Jesus in our brokenness so that we can be made new, just as one would repair a wobbly chair or flat tire. I want to encourage you to come to Encounter and to allow yourself to break so that our Lord can rebuild you, just as he rebuilt his disciples and sent them off to proclaim the love of Jesus and become Saints.

11/23/2021

What does it mean to live “given”?

Depending on who you are it can sometimes feel like you have to prove yourself to the world around you.
Whether you are a man…
if you are a woman…
be this, be that, be whoever you need to be to feel loved, treasured, valued and accepted to finally feel like enough.

Yet Jesus calls us to empty ourselves to give ourselves to the world, in our own little worlds. It is in and through this that we discover that we are enough, not because of what we can or cannot do but because of who He is! And the greatest gift of all is that we discover who we are in and through giving ourselves.

Scripture tells us “Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.” What is God inviting you to lay down so that you can receive from him and then be given to others and to creation?

11/21/2021

Happy Feast of the Presentation of Mary into the Temple!

11/19/2021

It’s easiest to notice a blessing when it’s in a form we are looking for or desire, but blessings aren’t always in a form we recognize.

How do you respond when a situation happens that you don’t necessarily see as a blessing?

For me, it’s often been, a ridiculous amount of energy spent over thinking, getting anxious and then ultimately dissociating. THEN, after I’ve buried myself in tea, distractions, and sleep, I turn to think how I can learn from what’s happened. I ask my self the question ‘where is the blessing in this?’

But these last few months, there has been a bit of a switch, I’ve begun to ask the question FIRST and then take the time to meditate, seek out counsel, and robe myself with trust in God’s good will for me.

This is the same approach is offered to you as a tool to ask ‘Where is the blessing’!

The blessing is in the opportunity to look beyond yourself, and out into the world where others would feel the same. The blessing is in being able to, in that moment, pray for all those feeling the same way, that God brings graces and hears the cries of his children.

Responding to blessings should take 4 steps.
1. Identify that this situation HAS a blessing. (Even if you can’t see it yet.)

2. ASK for the wisdom to see the blessing and witness those who are in the same position.

3. OPEN yourself to the response or call within the blessing.

4. Go further into the situation WITH GRATITUDE and TRUST in God.

Friend! Emmanuel has so many blessings to offer you! Each moment is an exciting gift to unwrap and find HIS light within. Some gifts will be hard to experience, but our faith and our Creator has promised there is still light in the darkness.

11/17/2021

To be CHOSEN by your Creator is to be HELD in the arms of mercy and redemption.

To be chosen is something we all crave. We desire it in a partner, we desire it in our friends, our workspaces, our teams, or places of enjoyment. We want SO BADLY to be chosen, and yet, we are so afraid of it.

To be chosen is precious.

You must always be aware though, because when we know we have found the place where were are chosen…there is the Evil one sending his imposters into our souls, causing us to doubt that we could have such a place the we BELONG. His little voice whispering that we aren’t good enough, someone else is more important, someone else is better and we will never be them, so why even bother being you…

Dear friend! Don’t let this monster lead you away from the arms of your Creator!
He HAS Chosen YOU…He desires to bring you to the highest and best YOU you can be, to burn you in the forges of His mercy and redemption.

St. Mary of Egypt says it so well, Jesus doesn’t desire we die in sin without His love, He will choose and pursue us for all of time.

You are worthy of the pursuit the Lover of Us All. You are chosen, AS YOU ARE, and invited into the transformation of LOVE, MERCY, and REDEMPTION.

There is joy there, and that Joy is for you.

11/11/2021

If you could describe Christianity in ONE word, what would it be?

This week we invited Fr. Michael Winn to share the EPIC tale of St. Mary of Egypt!

St. Mary's life is wrapped in a common blanket shared by all...that we are pursued by a God who doesn't desire us to die in sin, but rather to be purified and at home in His heart.

Take a listen and comment what word YOU think best describes Christianity.