Returning To Our Roots Process Kicks off, Sunday March 13, 2011

The first Sunday of Lent was the official kick off date for the Returning To Our Roots process initiated by the Archdiocese of Keewatin The Pas. The process was a response to the dream of archbishop Sylvain Lavoie OMI to have a renewal process that would involved everyone in the archdiocese. Based on Acts 2:42 which describes the early church as devoted to the prayers, the teachings of the apostles, the fellowship and the breaking of bread, the process will highlight one of these four elements as pillars for each year of the four year process.

The banner was designed byRoger Jerome of La Ronge and portrays the roots of prayer, scripture, the Eucharist and community as nourishing the church, symbolized by the poplar tree. A theme song, Returning To Your Roots Now, was composed for us by Deacon Bob Williston of Saskatoon. A prayer for the process was composed and put on a prayer card.

Dominican sisters Susan Gardner and Ellen Kennedy of Nelson House are coordinators of the process and have compiled a binder of resource materials for the first year of the process on the theme of prayer. An introductory DVD was also produced, not without some technical difficulties.

The hope of Archbishop Sylvain is that this process will bond the archdiocese more closely together as one faith family and help each one to recapture the spirit, faith eand love of the early followers of Jesus, where no one was in need.

Two preparatory workshops were held to help clergy, pastoral ministers and lay leaders to get ready for the beginning of the process. One was in Saskatoon and one in Thompson, as the archdiocese covers the northern half of the two provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Pictured here are participants in the Saskatoon workshop, from Beauval, Canoe Narrows and Cumberland House (Ed & Angie Mihalicz, Fr. Louis Legare, and Robert & Doris McCauley).

An aerial view of the See of the archdiocese in The Pas. In the middle is the archdiocesan residence. To the right is the archdiocesan pastoral center. Next to it the cathedral. Beside it is the parish office building and Guy Hall. This will be where the chrism mass will be celebrate in early April.