To awaken or initiate a child into the faith is to accompany them in their discovery of God. It is to help them to become aware of the treasure of love that God has placed in their heart, inviting them to meet Him and to live with that love which fills the heart. To awaken a child to faith is to initiate them into Christian life through prayer, participation in rites and sacraments, and the celebration of Christian liturgical feasts.
Is Baptism really necessary to live as a Christian and to follow Jesus? Isn’t it basically a simple rite, a formal act on the part of the Church to give a name to a little boy or girl?
If you're asking yourself these types of questions about Baptism, allow us to explain what it entails and how to prepare yourself – whether you are a parent or a godparent. You will discover the richness of this sacrament, what it means to belong to the Catholic Christian spiritual family, and the path that your child and you will be invited to follow with the help of others in a process tailored to your pace and sensitive to your needs.
Even though modern society seems to have dismissed all things concerning religion as a social institution, many people – children and adults alike – make their First Communion each year, a sacrament also known as the Eucharist. The contemporary world has failed to stifle the mysterious desire and longing that leads many to request this sacrament. On the other hand, is it not in a spiritual desert that one suffers the most from the thirst for meaning?
Do you thirst? If your answer is "YES", let us explain what you need to do to request this sacrament for yourself or for your children.
A Catholic’s catechetical formation does not end after Baptism, Reconciliation nor First Communion. Each year, thousands of people of all ages continue their Christian faith journey by preparing for the sacrament of Confirmation.
To be confirmed by your bishop is to receive a power and a divine light intended to help you bear witness to your Christian faith with strength and wisdom every day!
Jesus invites you, and all young people, to experience life to the fullest. Youth is a time of self-discovery and for spreading your wings. Yes, you will undergo big changes and face important challenges, but it’s also a time of awesome possibilities. Why not open up; come, meet Jesus and discover incredible happiness.
What is my vocation? After Baptism and Confirmation, it is important for each person to discern, with the help of the Church, the particular call that they have received from God.
Will it be to become a diocesan priest? To study for the permanent diaconate? To embrace a consecrated life? Or to get married? In each section, you will find links that may interest you, as well as videos and various suggestions to help you to discern your vocation.
Catholic marriage is a union of ... three persons! Yes indeed, the spouses are not the only ones to pledge their love for the rest of their lives on their wedding day. God – that perfect Loving Being – also pledges to be present in a real way in the daily life of the couple, so that they can constantly draw upon his love and can love each other freely, totally, faithfully, without reserve, following the deepest longing of their hearts.
The family is the very first school where we learn how to love, to welcome others and to be joyful. It is also the place where, depending on individual situations, we first experience pain and suffering. For this reason, it is within the family that we learn how to forgive and be forgiven. When it comes to spirituality, our family also provides the nurturing environment wherein we can discover and experience the love of God; that is why Catholic Tradition refers to the family as the “first church”. For all these reasons, the Catholic Church in Montreal would like to support, in any way that it can on both the human and spiritual level, each family seeking our help.
Along the path of Christian life, being “single” is a state that is both life-giving and challenging. For all of us, especially young people, being single is that necessary stage through which all of us pass. It is an exciting time where the world seems to be a never-ending open space to meet people.
For a great many other people, however, who find themselves unexpectedly single, being single is synonymous with a host of difficult feelings. After the euphoria of love and a life shared as a couple, one spouse seeks to adapt, with serenity, to a new life alone.
Lastly, some individuals, following a proper time of discernment embrace celibacy in the single state as a special way to live their relationship of love for Christ and the Church.
What does it mean to be a senior? Is there a Christian way to be a senior? These are good questions.
In this section, we offer you some food for thought to help you to thrive in your senior years. When you read it, it will become apparent that being a senior certainly does not mean a passive resignation to the inevitability of aging while waiting for death to arrive. On the contrary, seniors are called to play a unique and irreplaceable role in society and in the Church.
It is a role that is up to you to discover and to live fully!
When disease strikes, quite often our first reaction is to ask: Why me? What did I do to God to deserve this? If God is truly good, how can He allow this? Afflicted with suffering, it is not unusual to be overwhelmed by a sense of meaninglessness, to feel guilty, to experience anger, to rebel.
What to do then? To whom should I turn?
In today’s society, the end of life is seen by many as a time of prolonged suffering that must be shortened as much as possible, without waiting for natural death to occur. Why suffer, if the physical and emotional suffering serves no purpose and has no meaning?
For Christians, on the contrary, the end of life—including the associated suffering—is considered a privileged time during which God wants to fill us with his love.
The departure of a loved one evokes many emotions within us, but also many questions. It all occurs in a very short period of time. What to do? In what order? To help lighten the burden for you, here are some suggestions.
The pastoral care offered by the Catholic Church has two objectives: to ensure that the soul of your deceased loved one rests in peace, while honouring the body, and to support you, those who mourn, by offering new or renewed hope of an eternal and blessed life with God.