Day Three - last full day in Ottawa

Our last mass in Canada for three weeks occurred at Annunciation of the Lord parish in Gloucester. It was a special treat for one of our missionaries, Kristen Boskill, as she was placed at this parish for eight months as a part of the NET parish team program. We had desired to go to confession after mass but there wasn't time, so the priest present graciously offered his availability after the 6pm mass that evening.

We arrived back at the Regnier's to another incredible brunch prepared by Angèle and Katie Lebrun. Many of us had commented on how taken-care-of we had felt while at the Regniers, and how being among such incredible hosts had a restorative effect on all of us - which is very much needed as we leave on mission! We caught up with our "Courageous Catholic" study during the day and finished going over our curriculum for the training week in Kampala. We recognized that there will be a great deal of flexibility needed because of the change of pace from Canadian  life to Ugandan life - we will have to adapt to those we are coming to serve.

We had a man from Nigeria come to answer our questions about African culture and lifestyle, and we were able to learn quite a bit. There were more than a few faux-pas' that we were shown to avoid! After this preparation the team went to confession to receive the Lord's graces before leaving on mission. We moved from the grace of reconciliation to the grace of fellowship as we arrived back at the Regniers to find many of the Ottawa CCO staff and their families present to wish us well in Uganda. We had an incredible prayer session in which all of us were commissioned guided by the verse: "beautiful are the feet of those who bear the Gospel". All of our feet were anointed with holy oil in a beautiful ceremony, followed by the exhortation to "remember who we are" as missionaries and as Catholics.

There was community and fellowship into the evening, and as the last few visitors exited through the front door we knew that we were wrapped in the Body of Christ, both in prayer and in sacrament. One more sleep before we leave for the plane!

We ask for prayers of safety as we board our flight, and that our final hours before landing into Entebbe (Ugandan airport) be a time of prayer, restoration, and a time of continued preparation to do the Lord's work.