On the 26th of February I attended the Rite of Installation of Bishop De Angelis in Peterborough. Bishop Nicola De Angelis was previously the Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Toronto. The main celebrant that day was another Bishop familiar to us, Bishop Meagher. A short while after he transferred to the Archdiocese of Kingston, he was diagnosed with cancer. Nevertheless he looked good on the day that I saw him. Both bishops sent their greetings.<br/><br/>

This year, Pope John Paul II wrote a Pastoral letter for Lent to the church, with the theme "It is more blessed to give than to receive" (Acts 20:35).<br/><br/>

The Pope writes, "It is natural and right that people, by using their own gifts and by their own labour, should work to obtain what they need to live, but an excessive desire for possessions prevent human beings from being open to their Creator and to their brothers and sisters."<br/><br/>

He also encourages young people to volunteer in a third world country, or even to enter into priesthood, because pastoral work is a prime example of a lifelong vocation to serve.<br/><br/>

Before concluding the Pastoral letter, John Paul II writes, "The vocation to charity is the heart of all true evangelization".<br/><br/>

May God complete our inadequacies in faith and charity.