Is Sunday Just Another Day?

In the "New Covenant" made by our Creator God with humanity (Jeremiah 31:31-34) every person can know God from within - because the Holy Spirit is revealing our Creator to all who are willing to know the Lord and trust in Him. We can still help each other along the way; so may you be pleased to find here a variety of helps to the life of faith in God through Jesus Christ. G.S.

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 PDF version of this file    

 Is Sunday Just Another Day?

     

Dr. James Merritt - Description - Any individual home or nation that will not honor God one day out of the week has no reason to expect the blessing of God on any day of the week.

It was an ad in Newsweek Magazine that caught my attention because of the first two words in bold print that said, Sunday Morning; but listen to the ad in its entirety: 

“Sunday Morning: Time to kick back, get comfortable, and perfect the art of doing absolutely nothing. The ideal companion? Pioneers new PD-M710, 6-Disc CD player. Now you can enjoy up to six hours of your favorite music without lifting a finger… all of which means you can spend less time changing your music, and more time enjoying it, but don’t wait for the weekend.”

Is that all Sunday is for? Is it just another day to fire up the grill, pop the top off a cold one, kick back and catch the game on the couch? Is Sunday just another fun day?

The first four commandments all deal with our relationship to God, and specifically with our worship of God. The first commandment says we are to worship God singularly. He is the only God to be worshiped; besides Him there is no other. The second commandment tells us we are to worship God spiritually. God is never to be worshiped through an idol, through something that is inanimate and dead, for He is the God of the living. The third commandment tells us we are to worship God sincerely. We are never to take God’s name in a filthy or a flippant way. 

This commandment tells us we are to worship God steadfastly. There is a day a week we are to set aside specifically to rest our bodies and to rejuvenate our spirits in worshiping God. This is one of only two commandments given in a positive form. This commandment deals with two concerns of everyday life – labor and leisure. More specifically, it deals with our work and our worship. On the one hand, work, in the will of God, is a form of worship. One the other hand, worship is the highest work we can ever do.

As we will see in this message, we no longer keep the Sabbath Day, technically speaking, for that day is Saturday. It was a day given specifically to the Jewish people in a special covenant between them and God. The principle of one day of the week being given exclusively to the Lord, is still valid, and we ignore it to our peril.

Benjamin Disraeli was once the Prime Minister of England under Queen Victoria. He was a Jewish Christian. He said, “Of all divine institutions, I maintain the most divine is that which secures a day of rest for man; I hold Sunday to be the most valuable blessing conceded to man; it is the cornerstone of all civilization.”

William Blackstone, the incomparable legal mind, who wrote the Standard Law Book, which is still the foundation of all modern day jurisprudence, said, "A corruption of morals usually follows a profanation of the Lord’s Day."

General George Washington issued the following order in 1776: "That the troops may have an opportunity of attending public worship, the General excuses them from fatigue duty on Sundays.  We can have little hope of the blessings of heaven on our arms if we insult Sunday by our impiety and folly."

Abraham Lincoln said,  "The President, who is Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy, desires and enjoins the orderly observance of Sunday, the Lord’s Day."

This commandment was given to the individual, to the family, and to the nation. Any individual home or nation that will not honor God one day out of the week, has no reason to expect the blessing of God on any day of the week. William Gladstone, who was once the Prime Minister of England, said, "You tell me what the young men of England are doing on Sunday, and I will tell you what the future of England will be."  Today 2% of England attends church on Sunday, and she is a shell and a shadow of her former self.

https://www.idisciple.org/post/is-sunday-just-another-day

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In the "New Covenant" made by our Creator God with humanity (Jeremiah 31:31-34) every person can know God from within - because the Holy Spirit is revealing our Creator to all who are willing to know the Lord and trust in Him. We can still help each other along the way; so may you be pleased to find here a variety of helps to the life of faith in God through Jesus Christ. G.S.

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© 2006-2021 All rights reserved Fr. Gilles Surprenant, Associate Priest of Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montreal  QC
© 2006-2021 Tous droits réservés Abbé Gilles Surprenant, Prêtre Associé de Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montréal QC 

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When Sunday is just another day

In the "New Covenant" made by our Creator God with humanity (Jeremiah 31:31-34) every person can know God from within - because the Holy Spirit is revealing our Creator to all who are willing to know the Lord and trust in Him. We can still help each other along the way; so may you be pleased to find here a variety of helps to the life of faith in God through Jesus Christ. G.S.

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 PDF version of this file    

 5/28/2020 When Sunday is just another day - CSMonitor.com

https://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/the-monitors-view/2008/0606/p08s01-comv.html 

THE MONITOR'S VIEW

When Sunday is just another day

Society loses, a study finds, if it doesn't promote a day of rest and regeneration.

June 6, 2008

Maybe early leaders in America were on to something when they insisted that people take time out on Sunday for worship, or at least a day of quietude. A new study on the effects of fewer "blue laws" seems to back that up.

Today's relentless seven days of commerce exacts a measurable toil on society, it says, especially in the form of more heavy drinking and drug abuse – and that's just among churchgoers.

"The church versus the mall," a study by two economists at MIT and Notre Dame universities, found that the repeal of state blue laws banning retail sales on Sunday over the past half-century, has lead to an increase in drinking and drug use among those who attend church. What's more, congregants visited their place of worship less frequently and donated less money to it as well.

In sum, the study said that competition from alternative Sunday activities (i.e. shopping) "may have negative consequences for individuals or society."

Retailers have argued with great success that busy Americans need time on Sunday to shop. The Distilled Spirits Council has led the charge to repeal bans on Sunday liquor sales. As a result, only 15 states have kept some kind of restriction. Legislators have buckled to this powerful lobby, unable to resist the promise of extra revenue from liquor taxes.

Like it or not, Secular Sunday is here in full force to compete with Sacred Sunday – and appears to be winning. US society is a mix of religious adherents and nonbelievers. It would be wrong to argue a special halt to commercial activity for the benefit of a single religion.

But the time-tested "Sabbath rhythm," a week consisting of five working days, a day to attend to personal chores, and a day of rest, ought to be defended by more than Christians or adherents of any religion. (It should be noted that the Sabbath for Jews and some Christians falls on Saturday, while Muslims take off Friday as a religious day. These allow for a similar rhythm.)

Observing a Sabbath isn't just about switching from work to private chores and fun. It's a time for contemplation, rest, regeneration, communion – a time to ponder something larger than oneself. Many find this in a place of worship and benefit from fellowship found there. It's also time for nurturing relationships with family and friends.

States and communities that have kept blue laws have the right to preserve them without feeling the laws are only a vestigial legacy of religion. Nothing requires that every day of the week have a dreary sameness. Those who ponder dropping blue laws ought to consider whether they are only bowing to pressures from commercial interests and weigh the cost of that irresolution.

Of course, individuals can carve out their own personal "blue law" on part of a weekend. But, as the study suggests, government has provided a public good by encouraging such a time out from the mall crawl and liquor store run. And it's given retail store workers the same opportunity for a weekend respite.

The eminent 18th-century British jurist William Blackstone wrote that keeping one day out of seven free from commerce "humanizes" society, "which would otherwise degenerate into a sordid ferocity and savage selfishness of spirit." Those words still ring true.

ISSN 2573-3850 (online)

© The Christian Science Monitor. All Rights Reserved. Terms. Privacy Policy.

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In the "New Covenant" made by our Creator God with humanity (Jeremiah 31:31-34) every person can know God from within - because the Holy Spirit is revealing our Creator to all who are willing to know the Lord and trust in Him. We can still help each other along the way; so may you be pleased to find here a variety of helps to the life of faith in God through Jesus Christ. G.S.

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© 2006-2021 All rights reserved Fr. Gilles Surprenant, Associate Priest of Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montreal  QC
© 2006-2021 Tous droits réservés Abbé Gilles Surprenant, Prêtre Associé de Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montréal QC 

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Audio Cassettes & CD's & Video Cassettes for sale

In the "New Covenant" made by our Creator God with humanity (Jeremiah 31:31-34) every person can know God from within - because the Holy Spirit is revealing our Creator to all who are willing to know the Lord and trust in Him. We can still help each other along the way; so may you be pleased to find here a variety of helps to the life of faith in God through Jesus Christ. G.S.

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From Evangelization 2000 – New York – Fr Tom Forrest, CP, Director 

Defending the Faith

1)      I’m Not Being Fed - #1 Catholic Eating Disorder

2)      The Church and the Spirit

3)      Win an Argument, Lose a Soul

4)      For Fathers Who Aren’t in Heaven

5)      A New Apologetics for the Third Millennium

6)      A Father Who Keeps His Promises

7)      The Last Things

8)      Christ in the Mass

9)      Conference Homilies

Christian Marriage

1)      Raising the Standard in Our Marriages

2)      The Vocation of Christian Marriage

3)      The Challenge of Humanae Vitae

4)      Theological Objections to Humanae Vitae

5)      New Insights into Infertility and Miscarriage

6)      NFT – Creighton Model

7)      Inside International Planned Parenthood

Discipleship and Evangelization

1)      Living as True Disciples of Jesus Christ

2)      The Truth That Sets You Free

3)      Being Effective and Courageous Evangelists

4)      True Faith: What Jesus Demands of His Disciples

5)      Evangelization Into the Church

6)      Evangelization: Everyone’s Job

7)      Pilgrim Pope of Evangelization

8)      How to Evangelize

Spiritual Conferences from Other Teachers and Preachers

Exploration of 7 Dwelling Places of Teresa of Avila / John of the Cross – Fr William Jarema, Mercy Center

Eye of the Storm – Fr William McNamara

Fr Stephen Valenta, ofm conv – How to Pray with the Heart (2) Preparation & Effect

Fr Stephen Valenta, ofm conv – The Journey to Super Holiness (3)

Fr Stephen Valenta, ofm conv – Life Under the Influence of the Holy Spirit

Fr Stephen Valenta, ofm conv – Living the Divine Will

Fr Stephen Valenta, ofm conv – Lord I Believe – Help Me 

Fr Stephen Valenta, ofm conv – Time Is Short  

Healing the Father Wound – Fr William J. Jarema, Mercy Center
Life Series – Restoration: Evangelizing Our Culture Symposium 2004 – Ottawa (4)

The Malaise of Modernity by Charles Taylor (5)

Naked Without Shame – Christopher West (10)

Self-Esteem and Christian Growth – Loughlan Sofield

What Is New Age? By Fr Mitchell Pacwa, s.j. (4) 

Sabbatical Lecture Series – CTU Chicago 2004

Bioethics (4)        Building Community (4)        Contemporary Christology (5)

Contemporary Islam (3)        Cultural Patterns (4)        Feminism (4)        Inculturation (4)

Intimacy (4)        Liturgical Ministries (3)        Mary in Scripture (4)        Preaching (2)

Sexual Ethics (4)        Small Church (2)        Spirituality of Power (2)

Women in the N.T. (4)            Word (4)

BBC RADIO Drama – The Lord of the Rings – set audio tapes

The Billy Graham School of Evangelism – Toronto Conference July 1999 – large jacket of tapes

The Billy Graham School of Evangelism – Toronto Conference July 1999 – small jacket of tapes

The Alpha Conference Vancouver July 2000 – large jacket of tapes

From Dom John Main, OSB

John Main Awakening                John Main Being on the Way

John Main in the Beginning            John Main Last Conferences

From John Shea

Behold the Vulnerable                Beyond Religion – Spirituality Outside the Churches

Called to Be Christian                Gospel Food for Hungry Christians (4): Matthew, Mark, Luke, John

Jesus Teacher Extraordinaire                The Religious Dimension of Family Life

The Spiritual Center of Christmas Stories from Starlight          Taking Care of Ourselves Spiritually

From Madonna House

Christmas Tales            Cry the Gospel With Your Life            Fragments of My life cassettes

Fragments of My life CD            Not Without Parables            Poustinia

Sobornost            Tales for the Pilgrim Soul            Talks to Priests

The Secret of Mary            Waiting for the Presence

From the Spiritual Life Institute Audio Cassettes

Desert Express – 1993        Desert Express – 1995        Desert Express – 1996

Desert Express – 1997        Desert Express – 1998        Desert Express – 1999

Desert Express – 2000        Desert Express – 2001        Desert Express – 2002

Desert Express – 2003        Desert Express – 2004        Desert Express – 2005

Fr. Dave Denny        Light Hearts and Deep Love        Passion for God

The Prayer of Intimacy        Priests’ Retreat        The Wonder of Empty Hands

From the Spiritual Life Institute CD’s

Desert Express – 2006        Desert Express – 2007        Desert Express – 2008

Desert Express – 2009        Desert Express – 2010        Desert Express – 2011

From Fr Benedict Groeschel, CFR 

5 Lessons from the Cross                The Beatitudes – Blessings to Live By

Experiencing God’s Presence                Exposing the Real Church Scandal

Growing in Christ with St Paul                On the Paschal Mystery (3)

Personal Conversion and the Life of the Priest        Reflections on the Paschal Mystery

Spiritual Growth in a Hectic World (4)            What to do when life doesn’t make sense

MISCELLANEOUS

1.      Benedict Groeschel CFR Retreat (6) – SLI tapes (4) – TLIG tapes (2) – Christmas Hymns (2)

2.      SLI Poverty of Spirit (4) – MHA Fundamentals of the Spiritual Life (8) – L’Esprit Saint – Purgatory

3.      Small Faith Communities (3) – Christian Meditation (5) – Christian Meditation Retreat (6)

Audio Music Cassettes

Academy in Concert II – Neville Marriner        Bach: Brandenburg Concertos

Beethoven: Moonlight, Pathétique; Schubert: Wanderer

Beethoven: “Pastoral” Symphony, “Egmont” Overture

Beethoven: Sym No. 5; Mendelssohn: “Reform” Sym

Beethoven: Symphony No. 6 “Pastoral”

Beethoven: Symphony No. 8 op. 93 F-Major

Classical Highlights 1             Classical Highlights 4

Dan Gibson’s Solitudes Exploring The Classics         Concertmusic

Dvorak – La Symphonie du Nouveau Monde            Festive Baroque Music

Haydn – Symphony No. 99 & 104                The Immortals

L’Orgue de Fourvière – Toccatas œuvres mariales        Masterpieces for Violin and Piano

Méditation Classique – 1            Mozart – Eine Kleine Nachtmusik

Musique Nuptiales – Wedding Music

Opera Arias: Donizetti, Bellini, Verdi, Puccini, Mozart        Pachelbel – Albinoni

Piano Masterpieces        “Promenade” concerts 1

Ravel: Bolero; Dukas: The Sorcerer’s Apprentice; Tchaikovsky: “1812” Overture

Sibelius – Symphony No. 2            Simon Preston – The World of the Organ

Tchaikovsky – Concert Piano No. 1b-minor op. 23

Tchaikovsky – Symphonie Pathétique

General Interest VHS Cassette Tapes

(Some items have a link to an offer on the Internet so you can compare.)

Apostle of Divine Mercy   $15   also on eBay

Apparitions à Fatima     $15      en français

Betania Land of Grace     $15    at Amazon

Le Carmel     $5          

Catherine Doherty Sobornost     $5  

Divine Mercy No Escape   $15   at Div Mercy

Edith Stein      $15                     at Amazon

Expo 67 – Un chantier $10 

Expo 67 – Vol 1, 2, 3, 4 $25

Freemasonry     $15                   at Amazon

Le Frère André     $15             1987

Garabandal     $15                  at Amazon

The Homeland of Jesus  $15   at Amazon

How to Get Into Heaven     $10   at Amazon

The Ice Storm     $50               CBC Archives

Jeanne La Pucelle Batailles  $15   at Amazon

Jeanne La Pucelle Prisons     $15    at Amazon

Jesus Living in Mary Montfort  $15   Amazon

Journey to Super Holiness 1    $10  

Journey to Super Holiness 2    $10  

Journey to Super Holiness 3    $10  

MH People Towel Water     $10 at MHA

M House Schola     $10  

N D Cap Terre de Marie     $5   Sanctuaire

N Amer Alpha Conference 2000     $5

On The Road to God     $15        on eBay

Our Lady of Soufanieh     $15   similar pix

Padre Pio – 50 Yrs     $20       

A Place Called Home     $15    at Amazon

Prayer Min Training     $15    on eBay

Prophecy New Times     $15    on Amazon

The Reign of God     $15         

Reason to Believe Groeschel     $15  

True Joy of Serving God     $15  

Vatican II Faithful Revolution (5)    $30  

Woman in Love MH     $15     background

WYD 02 Way of Cross     $15  

WYD 2002 – VHS     $10         

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In the "New Covenant" made by our Creator God with humanity (Jeremiah 31:31-34) every person can know God from within - because the Holy Spirit is revealing our Creator to all who are willing to know the Lord and trust in Him. We can still help each other along the way; so may you be pleased to find here a variety of helps to the life of faith in God through Jesus Christ. G.S.

----------------------------------------------------------------

© 2006-2021 All rights reserved Fr. Gilles Surprenant, Associate Priest of Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montreal  QC
© 2006-2021 Tous droits réservés Abbé Gilles Surprenant, Prêtre Associé de Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montréal QC 

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Online helps to become free of sexual addiction and recover our original innocence which is God's gift to human beings

 In the "New Covenant" made by our Creator God with humanity (Jeremiah 31:31-34) every person can know God from within - because the Holy Spirit is revealing our Creator to all who are willing to know the Lord and trust in Him. We can still help each other along the way; so may you be pleased to find here a variety of helps to the life of faith in God through Jesus Christ. G.S.

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Pornography Addiction – Online Helps - PDF version of this text 

There are a variety of approaches for someone who wants to get off the disordered sexuality merry-go-round, which only makes one dizzy and prevents us from enjoying the abundance of life Jesus promised He came to give us and which our heavenly Father wants us to have and enjoy.

There are a number of services available on the Internet to help a person become free from the dependency on porn and all the various forms of sexual behavior that is not in accord with the way in which God designed us in order to truly love and be loved. Here are a few of them. I haven't used any of these myself, nor do I know anyone who has, that is, not yet. However, we are only now just beginning to do something about the plague of porn and of the many destructive improper uses of our human sexuality, which is a truly awesome gift from God to allow us to love and be loved in a way that is truly life giving for everyone involved.

I have received emails from Covenant Eyes, and I find them to be of a high quality and quite impressive. Strive is offered by Matt Fradd who is highly recommended by pastoral workers in our Diocese in Montreal and he gave two talks on Thursday, September 26th 2019 on "Parenting the Internet generation" and on "Porn: Seven Myths Exposed". I would be inclined to think that you can certainly trust his Strive offering. I've looked at Reclaim and Fortify and they seem legitimate and honest.

Please email me your impressions once you engage in one of these. You will find my address at the end. One thing is certain, and that is that your decision to do something in order to change is how you will begin to experience relief. God offers us all his love and divine power, and his only condition is that we follow up on the good desires He gives us and that all along the way we give Him our consent to do what He wants to do in us.

Strive to become the man you are meant to be is a company whose service is clearly based in Christian values and its team is clearly identified. It is a powerful 21-day challenge to help men get the tools in place necessary to get on the path toward freedom. It is a practical step-by-step plan to break free from pornography, and a supportive community of men from around the world journeying together. You'll also have lifetime access to the challenge and current and future live events. This is for any man who engages porn and/or masturbation at any level every day or only occasionally, a clear red flag that something is off and needs to be dealt with.

You simply cannot continue to engage in pornography and/or masturbation and love others rightly. And this is such a slippery slope. Porn use always leads to more porn use and more deviant forms of porn use. That’s what the science is telling us. When we no longer get aroused at the more “vanilla" forms of pornography, we seek something a little more edgy which becomes a little more violent and soon we find ourselves in a place we never dreamed we would be. We want to help you stop that vicious cycle before you go to that place.

There is more information in the FAQs tab section. For now, the program is free, but in time, they may have to charge a fee for it. After all, we all need to earn a living and the worker deserves his wages, Jesus once said.

Fortify does not clearly identify who runs it. It is an online support community for men and women – young and old – seeking lasting freedom from pornography. Fortify was designed to equip individuals struggling with compulsive pornography use – young and old – with tools, education and community to assist them in reaching lasting freedom. Our mission is to help spark an uprising of people tired of porn messing with their lives – and ready for something far better. In addition to a series of instructional videos and accompanying training, Fortify offers many opportunities for individuals to share insights and stories together. This is from their "About" page. Sign-up gives a complete breakdown of the services offered for free and what you get for the Premium version at US$9.99 / month, US$6.95 for students, and free for teens 13-17 with and approved scholarship. They have a chat option allowing you to get in touch with someone who is apparently qualified to offer this service.

Reclaim God's Plan for Sexual Health is an online service offered by Elizabeth Ministry International; so it is run by a clearly identified Christian agency. This inspires confidence that they are responsible and accountable and willing to reply to queries and respond to complaints. Reclaim is available 24 / 7 which is anonymous, private, and secure; a science-based approach designed to activate or re-activate, form, and strengthen your "human decision system". It is offered at low cost (a soft drink or coffee a day) which gives you a daily tracking calendar and a personal journal. That seems to be not much but it adds up to US$49 / month or US$245 up front for 6 months (5 months with a 6th month free). The operating principle is that if something is free it doesn't trigger our commitment, but when there is a cost, we have to find inside our willingness to commit, which is essential to success. Also, their incredible investment of people and technology needs to fund itself.

You also get online "crisis tools" to help you with cravings and urges to act out unwanted sexual behaviors. Reclaim is also a prayer network, faith focused, a social support, with real world application, safe and anonymous, so you can be always moving forward. You would begin this Online Recovery Program with 10-15 minutes of training a day over several weeks from six modules, which will give you incredible knowledge and understanding about your life as a human being. They offer a free mini course which is really a promo and intro to the program.

Covenant Eyes like all these services is not specifically identifying as a Christian service but is clearly based in Christian values and also offers a “Catholic service” for parishes and dioceses. It is a service offer to give you the assurance of having caring people become your allies to help you become accountable for your Internet use and communication. The idea is that the service allows you to recruit people who know and love you to help you be accountable. Once you sign onto the service, you log in all your devices - PC, laptop, tablet, phone, etc. - and Covenant Eyes monitors your use, logs any suspicious images, blurs them, and reports on them to your allies. This allows your allies to support you, affirm you, ask helpful questions, and support you in formulating and accomplishing realizable goals for yourself. They have a high success rate.

They offer the service free for 30 days, and after that, they charge US$15.99 per month, but there is room for up to 10 users and unlimited devices. A whole family or two families or a bunch of friends could sign up into one account; so it would only cost them a cup of coffee a month for each member on the account.

CMG Connect Parents is an online service offered to parents by Covenant Eyes and Catholic Mutual Group. I haven’t researched it much but it seems worth investigating.

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All these services have a common goal: to help people break free from pornography, and those who design and offer these services are people who hold human values that harmonize with Christian values, with the gospel and person of Jesus Christ. These services are also founded in companies that need to be built up and exist in the real world, which means paying people salaries, housing the work in office buildings and studios, and other resources and expenses. While individual people can offer their presence and service free for a time or on a specific occasion, everyone needs to earn a living for themselves and their family, and as Jesus once said, the worker deserves his wages – Matthew 10:10 & Luke 10:7.

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In the "New Covenant" made by our Creator God with humanity (Jeremiah 31:31-34) every person can know God from within - because the Holy Spirit is revealing our Creator to all who are willing to know the Lord and trust in Him. We can still help each other along the way; so may you be pleased to find here a variety of helps to the life of faith in God through Jesus Christ. G.S.

----------------------------------------------------------------

© 2006-2021 All rights reserved Fr. Gilles Surprenant, Associate Priest of Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montreal  QC
© 2006-2021 Tous droits réservés Abbé Gilles Surprenant, Prêtre Associé de Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montréal QC 

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