ARE YOU NEW TO OUR PARISH? WELCOME!
Welcome to those who want to make our parish their faith home. You may have come from other places. You may have been “away for a while”. Be assured that we love to have you among us. We would appreciate it very much if you identified yourself at Mass. It would also help if you would take the time to fill out a registration form. The next time you are with us, you may leave it in the collection basket or give it to one of the ushers or to the priest. Thank you and welcome.

GOOD NEWS
All is well with Father Gyan. He will be attending a Pilgrimage for a week and then he will be spending time with his family.

PRAYERS & SYMPATHY
Please remember Janet Cameron Payette, mother of Mitch Payette and sister of Steve Cameron. Our Sympathy to the Payette and Cameron families and please remember them in your prayers.

MASS OF THANKSGIVING
Tom & Isabel Laframboise will be celebrating their 50th wedding Anniversary on October 18th. They are offering a Mass of Thanksgiving at OLV for the grace & blessings of 50 years of marriage. This Mass will be celebrated by Father Bob Smith on Saturday the 18th of October at 4:00 p.m. and will be in addition to the regular week-end mass schedule. The regular Sunday offerings will be collected at this Mass. Everyone is welcome to attend.

REFLECTIONS ON THIS THANKSGIVING LONG WEEKEND
We offer you two reflections this week on Thanksgiving with the insert that you will find in the bulletin this week. The first is a reflection given in a homily a number of years ago by Fr. Bill Marrevee -- a real treat to read and re-read. The second concerns Gratitude. What is it really? Why is it so important in our world? Find out what Margaret Visser (international award winning author of many best sellers) has to say about it by reading the insert in this week's bulletin. You just may be surprised.

GET TOGETHER FOR LEADERS IN ENGLISH PARISHES - SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 08TH
The English Zone Pastoral Council, made up of those parishioners in leadership positions in our English parishes, along with their pastors, meet twice a year. It is an attempt to come together to continue our combined efforts to work with the vison of the document of our bishop: Discovering Jesus Christ: The Path to Freedom. So, PPC members, wardens, members of parish committees, all parish ministries, and interested parishioners: we count on you! We come together again on Saturday, November 8th from 9:00 a.m. to noon at Our Lady of Annunciation, 189 rue Archambault (Hull sector).

LITURGY OF THE WORD FOR CHILDREN ON SUNDAYS WORKSHOP, NOVEMBER 1ST AT ST. MARK'S IN AYLMER
- from 9AM-12PM with Heather Reid (a co-author of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Celebrating the Liturgy of the Word with Children - Guidelines for Practice).

In this workshop, participants will learn about what this Liturgy of the Word for Children on Sundays really means in all aspects from start to finish as well as space and timing. To register, please call St. Mark’s parish office at (819) 684-6926.

A FEDERAL ELECTION 2008 GUIDE FROM OUR BISHOPS
The Episcopal Commission for Social Affairs (of which our Bishop is the Chairman) of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) is offering us some helpful guidelines as we prepare for the upcoming Federal Election. Of course, the Bishops do not tell us who to vote for. They draw our attention to some important considerations that are necessarily part of the process towards casting our vote. The Guide is available from CCCB’s website at http://www.cccb.ca/site/content/view/2627/1214/lang,eng/ as well as at the entrance of the church.

DEVELOPMENT & PEACE FALL CAMPAIGN This fall, we’re beginning the first of two years on land issues, a natural progression from our two years on mining. Development and Peace has a unique role to play in the struggle to hold Canadian mining companies accountable for their actions in the Global South. We’ll show how mining threatens people’s food sovereignty. The pollution has spread beyond the actual mine site. Many families which used to grow their own food are now going hungry. Our government needs to pass laws to ensure that Canadian mining companies quit making messes and polluting the land so that people can continue to grow their own food. Then mining companies can be generators of development and not generators of poverty and sickness as they often are. Check next week’s bulletin for more detailed information on the 2008 Fall Campaign.

A second exposure trip – this time to Africa! At the 2007 fall campaign workshop, the Gatineau Diocesan Council of Development and Peace announced that it was planning an exposure trip for 2008. Those interested were asked to name which country (or continent) they wanted to visit. After many meetings during the past year with the management of Development and Peace in Montreal, our diocesan Animator was finally given the go-ahead during the summer to plan a 15-day exposure trip to Sierra Leone in Africa. Even though I’ve already participated in a D&P exposure trip, I am very excited about having the opportunity to go to Africa. As everyone knows, there is an enormous need on that continent and I am excited about visiting and meeting some of the partners and viewing projects funded by D&P. It has always been a desire of mine to visit Africa, where some of the most impoverished peoples of the world live. The D&P Project Leader for West Africa has just completed a 10-day tour of Sierra Leone and will be meeting with the group prior to our departure. Six Development and Peace members will be accompanying me. Two other members of the group are local residents; one from Masson and one from L’Ange-Gardien. You may recall that the last two campaigns have focused on mining, calling on the federal government to regulate how Canadian companies mine overseas. One of the documents distributed in 2007 highlighted some of the problems being faced by people in Sierra Leone. I have read much about Africa and the work that Development and Peace is doing on that continent and I am so looking forward to seeing first-hand the humanitarian works of our Catholic organization. Linda Cameron

HARVEST SUPPER
Tickets for St. Malachy’s and OLV Parishes Harvest Supper on October 24TH, are sold out. However, raffle tickets are available.