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We’re so excited to officially welcome Fr. Dan Ramos to Annunciation!
Check out his story in the video below.
Can we share something truly inspiring about the rising generation?
Gen Z is the most spiritually open generation in our lifetime.
A global 2023 study revealed:
❓ 53% of Gen Z teens have unanswered questions about faith.
❓ 49% of non-church going teens are curious about God's goodness.
❓ 45% hold no strong opinions—positive or negative—about Jesus.
Canadian teens, in particular, don’t carry the same religious hang-ups as past generations. They’re not wondering whether God is real. They want to know if he’s good.
They’re curious. And that’s encouraging.
This is our moment to meet them in their curiosity, to create spaces where they can safely ask questions, wrestle with doubts, and encounter the love and goodness of God.
And it all begins with prayer.
Right now, we have youth on the road to Steubenville Atlantic. They’ll spend a week being challenged in their faith and offered opportunities to encounter God (stay tuned to Facebook for photos).
And beyond those youth, we have hundreds of students in our local high schools just waiting to be invited into encounter with God.
Pray for their hearts. Pray that God meets them where they are. Pray they’ll become lights to their friends and families. Just pray for them.
Alpha Canada is inviting us to join in praying for the 5000+ high schools across Canada.
Here’s how to be part of the movement:
1. Visit Made for This
2. Choose two schools to pray for—one close to you, and one God puts on your heart. We especially encourage you to pray for our Steubenville Trip youth, and for the high schools connected to us.
3. Gather your prayer team.
4. You will receive weekly prayer prompts during the school year to guide your intercession.
Our parish is going on mission!
We talk a lot about mission in our parish. We also talk a lot about hospitality! On August 16th, we’re putting all that talk into action with a feet-on-the-ground mission day!
On Saturday, Aug 16th, Annunciation Parish is volunteering at Waupoos Family Farms. Waupoos is a Catholic farm that offers low-income families a chance to get out of the city and experience vacations they couldn't otherwise afford. These families aren’t all Catholic, but they’re all in need, and it’s such a blessing that Waupoos can serve them!
As part of its summer programming, Waupoos invites churches like ours to host a Saturday fun day. Basically, we’re going to come put on an awesome day for the families and spend time getting to know them. It's a mission day of presence and community.
This is a parish mission. That means YOU and your family are invited to be a part of it!
To make this day possible, we need your gifts and talents! Can you face paint or run some outdoor games? Could you make a salad for the potluck? Could your kids go swimming with the Waupoos kids while you get to know the moms & dads and hear their stories? Maybe you could take a shift monitoring the bouncy castle, or help with set up and clean up.
The basic schedule so far:
1pm - 4:30pm - Free time with an open swimming pool, a bouncy castle (provided by Annunciation), treats, games, and tractor rides (provided by Waupoos).
4:30pm - Saturday night Mass in their local chapel. Waupoos has specifically asked us to be present for the Mass. For some of these families, this may be their first experience of community in a church!
5:30pm - Potluck/BBQ.
To get involved, sign up using the form below. You can sign up for a particular service, or fill in a suggestion of your own. Get creative! We’ll review all submissions and put together a final list of activities and volunteers. You can come for some of the day or all of it.
The families are Waupoos aren’t in a far away country. They’re part of our community. Let’s take the Gospel on the road and make the love of Christ radically present to these moms, dads, and kids.
There was a form here, but it has been archived.