We did something a little different on Monday: the whole
team walked through the city of Toronto for the whole day. It was great - we
got a lot of positive responses. One construction worker shouted from a
building “Pro-life! No abortion!” Later on, we passed a man who jokingly said “You
guys must be trying to make a statement.” We were even joined by some Wilson
children as well as some parishioners from Pat’s church.
Here are some pictures of walkers going through Toronto...
The rest of the week flew by pretty fast. We were split
again into two teams; one team walked while the other rested. This week we walked
through Whitby, Cobourg...and we ended on Friday in Kingston. Friday morning, our pilgrim leader Pat left
for the weekend to go to a friend’s wedding. Lucky for us, Carlos was on his
way! For those of you who don’t remember or do not know, Carlos was with us for
the first two weeks. He is Martha’s right hand man. He is from the states and
he was the one who drove the RV from Washington to Vancouver. Anyway, we picked
up Carlos late Friday night from the airport.
We went to Montreal for the weekend and boy was it a great
weekend! Friday evening we went to Greg and Fiona Barrett’s house for dinner.
It was a great meal and the company was very nice. Too bad we were all so tired
- we weren’t very good company ourselves.
Saturday morning we went to Mass at St. Joseph’s Oratory. I
have been there at least six times, but most of the members of the team had
never been. After Mass, we spent some time in prayer and wondering around the
beautiful structure. Later on that morning, we prayed outside the abortion
clinic on St. Joseph street of all names. A few people passed us shaking their
heads but that was the worst that happened. We then shared a picnic with the
Barrett family in the park.
Some shots of the Oratory...
Saturday evening we hit up our churches for our usual Parish
talks. Alannah and I managed to get this one church, St. Luke’s. It was the
same Parish that her mother was once the choir director of. Their family had
been members of St. Luke’s for several years and many of the parishioners remembered
her family. Sunday we spoke at the Parishes again. One of the Masses was in
French and I got to speak at that one. It was a little nerve-racking since it’s
been a few years that I’ve studied French. Of course, immersion helped me to
write up a satisfactory speech. Alannah’s family ended up coming to the last
Mass of the morning. They were heading home from Dominus Vobiscum camp in
St-Gabriel Quebec. When they discovered that Alannah would be speaking at St.
Luke’s of course they were more than willing to stop by. So we visited with
them for a bit at Tim Horton’s and then we went separate ways.
One point I would like to make is: although so many say that the Church is dead in Quebec, those who are faithful are really strong in their faith. I never felt more welcomed at a Parish this entire walk. Upon entering the church, Alannah and I were greeted by a lady named Julie Lafontaine. She was very sweet and very happy to see us. She showed us around the church and showed us where to sit and stand. She also introduced us to the priest. This was a great treat for us because normally we stumble into the church and have to look for the priest on our own. Another thing that made this Parish feel so alive was that at the Our Father everyone held hands. This reminded me of when I went to St. Mary's as a little girl. Finally, the music that was done was quite lively, especially one particular Mass that had four teens doing the music. It was wonderful!
Sunday evening was really great. We had a pizza dinner with
several young adults - some married with babies. One of the couples, in fact,
was Alannah’s cousin and her husband and their baby. It was so nice to see
them, for it had been over a year since I had seen them last. It was also very
encouraging at least for me to see these young couples - though older than I -
who are very pro-life as well. They were encouraged by us, too. It was,
however, a great change to be around people closer to my age. Sunday night we
drove back to Kingston. It was a pretty late night but we managed.
Our newest member: Adrian!
Doing the dishes...
Making supper...
Only one week left until Ottawa!
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