Co-Lay Message

My name is Marianne Casey, and I made my Challenge in March 2005, and I sat at the Snap Crackle Pop table. It’s scary how time flies; it doesn’t feel like it has been that long! Way back when I made my Challenge, I have to admit that I was strongly encouraged-if not forced to attend the retreat by my eager and enthusiastic family members already involved with the movement. I'm sure many challengers can probably relate in that someone strongly recommended that you attend. If you’re like me, you won't regret the decision you made in attending the retreat weekend! Throughout the years, I have gone through periods where I have lost touch with the Challenge Community, but every time I returned, I was welcomed by kind and familiar faces. I have also had the pleasure of serving on the Service Team and this past year, serving with Karim as Co-Lay director has been such a blessing, and the service team we had of faithful and dedicated young adults has been such a witness. They, along with many other Challengers, often answered the many requests for many ongoing projects!


My name is Karim Khouzam and I did my Challenge in September of 2006 and I sat at the bottom of the food chain table; the last shall be first. Even if already five years past since my retreat weekend, I feel like it was not so long ago when I first joined the Challenge community. I started as a candidate who enjoyed the company of other young adults seeking to deepen their Faith in a welcoming catholic environment. Later on, I decided to stay involved to nourish my thirst to live by the Christian ideals and to devote as much time as I can to an unconditionally loving God. Being part of the Service team of Challenge and being Co-Lay Director of the movement for the past two years has been a blessed experience that I was able to share with a dedicated team of young individuals who were always willing to participate and showcase their talent in all the projects that we would suggest to them over the year.

We would to take the opportunity to thank the 2010-2011 Service Team who served this past year. We are grateful for all of their hard work and service to lead other young adults to Christ. They are:

Fr Stephen Otvos, Spiritual Director
Patricia Dumberry and Eric Pawlusiak, Outreach Coordinators
Christina Durocher and Elie Dagher, Social Coordinators
Jessica Perreira-Pawlusiak, Ultreya Coordinator
Mary-Jane Blais and Terrel Joseph, Special Events Coordinators
Susanna Cere and Magdala Porter, Pre Challenge Coordinators
Kelsey Moore and Leon Mwotia, Social Justice Coordinators
Liz Vicente and Cristina Marin-Aponte, Newsletter Editors
Skyler Veazey and Troy Cunningham, Music Coordinators
Aaron Warnongbri, Secretary/Treasurer
Jacqueline Casey, Palanca Coordinator

To the Service Team of 2010-2011: Thank you all so very much because over the years, friendships formed brightening this journey with laughter and spiritual growth. Our sincerest gratitude goes as well to each service team members over the years, veteran challengers and our spiritual director who inspired us, through actions and advices. There is still much to learn to strengthen this movement but everything is possible with God by our side. The true foundation of the movement in Montreal is all thanks to the effort, time and dedication of each one of you!

Life is an open road and although we may sometimes feel like we don’t know where it might take us, our involvement in Challenge has helped us realize that we were never left without a roadmap. We are proud to announce that two new Co-Lays accepted the challenge to steer behind the wheel and continue to direct this movement in its ultimate direction which is to bring young adults into communion with Christ and His Church.

The new Co-Lay directors for 2011-2012 are: Skyler and Aaron! Congratulations! Please pray for them over the next year and as they start to form their new service team. We have no doubt that it will be a great year for Challenge!

Most importantly, we want to thank our almighty Father, the beginning and the end of all things. We served this movement with great joy because He called us to further His Kingdom here on earth through our ministry. Thank you Lord, for all the blessings and the opportunities you give to each and everyone of us everyday. All glory is offered back in Your name.

Finally, through friends, retreats but most importantly ultreyas, Challenge became a home for us and will remain a lighthouse. As we both complete our service as Co-Lays for the 2010-2011 year, we can proudly and humbly say that it has been and always will be an honour to serve this movement and be part of this family.

De Colores,

Karim Khouzam and Marianne Casey
2010-2011 Co-Lay Directors of the Montreal Catholic Challenge Movement

Esta Es la Juventud del Papa! JMJ 2011

Bonjour, mon nom est Karim Khouzam et j’ai participé à mon premier Challenge en Septembre 2006 à la table ‘‘The bottom of the food chain table; the last shall be first’’. En août dernier, j’ai eu le privilège de partir en Europe et participer à mes premières journées mondiales de la jeunesse. Le pèlerinage c’est étendu sur plus de deux semaines où, avant de passer une semaine complète à Madrid pour la rencontre avec le Pape, j’ai eu la chance de visiter plusieurs villes et villages aux patrimoines religieux remarquables. Notre voyage commença par Fatima, où une visite guidée nous a permis de retourner sur les lieux même où les apparitions de la vierge à l’endroit de trois jeunes enfants (Jacinthe, François et Lucie) se sont produites en 1917. Ce premier lieux de culte a été magique non seulement par la rencontre étonnante que nous avons faite avec le neveu même de François, un des trois jeunes enfants bergers, mais surtout par le respect, la quiétude et la conservation de ces lieux aujourd’hui encore dédiés au recueillement de la vierge Marie et non envahis par une exploitation commerciale démesurée. Par la suite, notre pèlerinage nous amena sur le chemin de Compostelle où pour l’instant d’une journée nous avons pu marcher sur ce parcours de ressourcement mythique pour arrivé à la cathédrale de Santiago; lieu ultime de tous pèlerins à travers la planète qui tentent ce périple dans l’attente d’un renouveau.

Cependant, de tous les endroits visités, notre séjour à Avila fut des plus agréables. Avila a été désigné comme une des villes hôtes, pour plus de 9000 pèlerins, pour les journées en diocèse. Pour cette raison, il va sans dire que nous dûment loger dans les villages avoisinants cette petite ville fortifiée. Les rencontres que nous avons faites avec les villageois de Muñana et les nombreux bénévoles qui nous recevaient littéralement dans leur chez-soi étaient marquantes grâce à la bonté de chacun, leur écoute, leur accueille et leur disponibilité envers nous, pèlerins. Mon moment le plus mémorable de ces journées en diocèse restera toujours la vigile tenue pour l’Assomption de la Vierge Marie, cierge à la main, le 15 août 2011, sur le parvis de l’Église d’un petit village montagneux d’Avila en contemplant, à la même occasion, le coucher du soleil.

Mais les JMJ furent bien plus que de simples visites guidées. Les JMJ ont été le moment de savourer la grâce de Dieu dans l’instant présent. Même si les métros étaient bondés de pèlerins et les restaurants comptaient plusieurs heures d’attentes avant de pouvoir s’assoir à table, les moments de purs plaisirs étaient sporadiques, nombreux et inattendus. Les JMJ pour moi c’est deux semaines où j’ai pu gratter des notes sur les cordes d’un youkoulélé, m’assoir dans un parc et profiter des rayons chauds du soleil, me baigner dans la piscine chaude d’un village accueillant en entendant les cloches de certains animaux de ferme dans un pâturage non loin, siroter du porto sur une plage du Portugal en regardant un époustouflant coucher de soleil, etc… Mais c’est surtout deux semaines en Espagne dédié à un périple religieux, où j’ai pu assister et participer à la messe tous les jours dans une église ou cathédrale différentes toutes plus belles les unes que les autres que ce soit d’une part grâce à l’architecture romane, gothique et moderne ou grâce au passé historique que ces lieux représentes. Les JMJ c’est la rencontre de milliers de pèlerins à travers le monde entier tous réunis dans un seul but commun; la rencontre avec le Pape. Cette rencontre avec le Saint Père fut bien plus qu’un simple rendez-vous planétaire; c’est l’Église d’aujourd’hui enracinée et fondée en Christ et rassemblée en communion pour que tous les jeunes puissent bénéficier d’un temps de réflexion avec le clergé pour approfondir et affermir sa foi. C’est JMJ furent inoubliables et énergisantes jusqu’à la toute fin lorsque le Pape Benoit XVI finit son homélie dominicale en nous invitant à ne pas avoir peur d’être catholique, d’en témoigner toujours autour de nous avec simplicité et sincérité; que l’Église trouve en nous les missionnaires joyeux de la Bonne Nouvelle! Comme nous nous époumonions à le crier avec enthousiasme à Madrid, je continu à affirmer que ‘’Esta Es la Juventud del Papa!’’

A New Journey

By Karen A Snair

As many people are aware, I grew up United, was part of the Pentecostal church for about eight years until I became Catholic last March. My Christian journey has been blessed by the many different groups I have had the honour of joining as well as the various important people who have touched my life deeply.They include my friends inside Concordia’s Multi-Faith Chaplaincy, McGill Newman Centre, Challenge, Duc in Altum, Singles for Christ, St Wilibrord’s parish as well as countless other friends inside my Pentecostal circles and beyond who encouraged me during my various stages of my faith journey. Thankyou all for your support.

My contact with the Catholic Church began at Concordia’s Multi-Faith Chaplaincy back in 2003. I met a nun who had a huge impact on my life because she taught me that God loved me and that the Catholic Church was a safe and holy place. She saw me struggle inside the Pentecostal. (I had joined it about a year before I met her.) Two months before she died, she told me: “You aren’t like rest of Pentecostals I know. I don’t see you being like them, have you thought of trying the Catholic Church?” I disregarded that statement. Her death two months later ended my affiliation with the Catholic Church. When she died (in 2007), I didn’t have the spiritual maturity to realize that her teaching about the Catholic Church would be fundamental to the journey God had planned.

*Special thanks to Linda and the various Challengers on Facebook whose pictures made this video possible*

Pray to end abortion – God is listening!

As we begin Holy Week and see the end of the 2011 Lenten 40 Days for Life campaign, we are forcibly reminded of the need for prayer, especially in the fight to protect all human life. Prayer must precede and guide all of our efforts, and when it does, God often uses our faithfulness to change the world in ways we could have never imagined.

The incredible fruits of this past 40 Days for Life campaign alone demonstrate this in a powerful way. On day 40 of the international campaign of prayer and fasting to end abortion, the tentative count of babies spared from abortion is 483—that we know of. Here is just one story from a 40 Days for Life location in Montana, taken from the 40 Days for Life website:

"The Missoula vigil coordinator and two other 40 Days for Life volunteers were praying outside the abortion center when a car pulled up.

A couple was seated in the front, and their children were in the back. The mother spoke to the prayer volunteers in a somewhat abrupt manner. “I’m pro-choice,” she said. “Why should I be pro-life?”

The vigil participants answered, covering many points. But the woman didn’t seem convinced.

So the vigil coordinator asked her, “May I pray with you?” She answered “yes,” and they prayed.

One of the others then offered the woman information about the local pregnancy resource center, which she took.

The prayers must have had an effect.

“Choice might be fine for someone else,” the woman said. “But I’m keeping my baby.”"

Through the 40 Days for Life, God not only spared so many of our smallest brothers and sisters, but also their mothers and fathers from the pain of abortion. Through prayer volunteers’ peaceful presence at abortion facilities and messages of hope and compassion, God allowed these individuals to reach out to mothers who otherwise felt driven to abortion by lack of support. So many other lives have been touched, as prayer volunteers helped those suffering from past abortions begin healing and seeking the peace of Christ.

The humble beginnings of the now-worldwide 40 Days for Life campaign that has saved over four thousand children from abortion over the last several years further reveals the power of prayer and faithfulness in this fight for Life. A small pro-life group in Bryan/College Station, Texas met one evening to discuss their plans to promote Life in their community. Discouraged by the still tragically high abortion rate, despite their past efforts and events, the four decided to spend an hour in silent prayer, asking for guidance. At the end of the hour, a sheet of paper in the middle of the table that they sat around had two small notes: “pray” and “40 Days.”

Thus, the first 40 Days for Life campaign was born. A year later, a national campaign was launched with over 80 participating cities, and this Lent saw 247 cities from around the world—from Canada to Ireland to Australia to the nation of Georgia—simultaneously standing vigil. The lives saved, mothers helped, healing sought, abortion facilities closed, and employees who have left the abortion industry because of these prayer campaigns all started with just one hour of prayer.

And so, this 40 Days for Life campaign might be ending, but our prayers cannot! Even as we praise God for all He has done in the past several weeks, we have a chance to reflect on all that remains to be done and the inconceivable number of lives that are lost through abortion each day.

There are many ways each of us can and should be a witness for Life. Prayer is an essential way to start. Whether from home or outside of an abortion facility, praying and fasting for the protection of human life at all stages and ages is something each of us can commit to doing on a regular basis. And, we can start planning for next fall’s 40 Days for Life campaign!

Natalie Fohl