Absence is making the heart grow fonder, all across the Archdiocese of Vancouver.
After nearly two months of separation, isolation, and quarantining, gestures of love and appreciation are abounding, from the nightly bellringing and cheering for health-care workers that Chris De Bono writes about this week, to parish and school caravans.
One of the more imaginative gestures of support for health-care workers comes from a parish floral ministry that launched in the midst of the pandemic measures.
Ave Maria Garden ministry arrived at St. Mary’s Parish, Vancouver, in April to promote creative flower arrangement for the disadvantaged. It quickly saw the need to put its artistic talents to work supporting frontline health workers.
Ave Maria Garden’s Jane Lee planted the seeds for a Facebook campaign asking people to share thank-you messages for the VGH and & UBC Hospital Foundation. Dozens of men, women, and children quickly responded, and by the time The B.C. Catholic went to press more than 100 people had submitted photos. (B.C. Catholic designer Inca Siojo sculpted the photos into a heart-shaped tribute on Page 1.)
To contribute send your photo to [email protected] or post it on Ave Maria’s Facebook page.
Meanwhile parishioners, pastors, teachers, and students are finding imaginative ways to let each other know how much they’re appreciated during the current lockdown.
At St. Joseph the Worker in Richmond, church staff got a surprise when they were all invited to gather outside the church. To their delight, a caravan of vehicles paraded slowly through the parking lot, honking their horns in appreciation.
Organizers said the “Gratitude Caravan” was in appreciation for the parish keeping parishioners virtually connected. “Although the church building itself may be empty, you've kept our spirits full,” said a note to the parish clergy and staff.
At St. James Elementary in Abbotsford, teachers decided a month was long enough to be separated from their students, so staff invited kids and parents to a drive-by parade as teachers lined the school driveway.
The procession of vehicles drove slowly past teachers who waved banners and shouted greetings to students through open windows.
A similar event also hit St. Catherine’s Elementary in Langley April 28. In celebration of the feast day of their patroness, St. Catherine of Siena, teachers, students, and parents drove by the school with signs of support for the community.
On April 29, St. Catherine’s actual feast day, the community tuned in to a livestreamed Mass celebrated by Father Mark McGuckin with families from St. John Brebeuf Secondary in Abbotsford, St. James Elementary in Abbotsford, and St. Mary’s Elementary in Chilliwack.
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