Last Updated:Friday - 09/24/2010

WCR Letters to the Editor

Joyful memories of Fr. Philippe

It was with great joy that, as a youth, I read about the life of the late Father Victor Philippe in "Philippe defended the faith" by Ramon Gonzalez(WCR, Sept. 5). Father Philippe was a "man of prayer and a staunch defender of the faith who would never question the Church and its teachings." These are the attributes of saints.

I had the grace of seeing Father Philippe in Foyer Lacombe on a couple of occasions while visiting my cousin Redemptorist Father Leonard Fitzgerald; I noticed him because he always had a collar on, a visible sign of his priestly identity. He understood that one does not "retire" from the priesthood but that one is a "priest forever according to the order of Melchizidek."

"People did what he said because they respected him," Father Philippe's friend Father Jean Denis said. Father Philippe truly understood his dignity as a priest - a dignity which raised him above the angels.

The sacrament of Holy Orders imprints an indelible mark on the priest's soul, enabling him to act in persona Christi (in the person of Christ) - to literally transform bread and wine into the Body and Blood of God himself, to annihilate sins from the souls of penitents in the sacrament of Confession, to administer all the other sacraments, to preach the Word of God.

And the manner of his death was truly incredible. "He died Sunday morning in the Foyer Lacombe chapel. He arrived a bit confused, somewhat lost but with the aid of nurses he gained his place and sat down. As the Gospel was proclaimed, he simply died in his chair, without falling."

Such a peaceful and heroic death! God gave him the great grace of entering eternity while present at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and in the presence of Christ himself in the tabernacle.

Let us give thanks, therefore, for the holiness, humility, discipline, obedience, courage and apostolic zeal of this priest of God, for he has shown us the true meaning of man's existence - to become united with God, that we may see him face to face forever in heaven.

Derek Remus
Coaldale

Teaching is a vocation

Re:"Bullies won over with kindness" (WCR, Sept. 12).

What a relief to know something positive is being done with children needing special attention! In the 1970s and '80s when my children were young, I tried in vain to get their teachers to understand that unless a child has self-esteem, they will not be able to progress.

It was like self-esteem was not in their dictionary or vocabulary.

I tried to make them see that a child who acts out in class is not a child who is a problem, but a child who has a problem and if they are treated as a child who is a problem, the problem only gets worse.

Not all kids come from perfect families.

Some come from families where the parents do not have self esteem. Not only can they not give their children self-esteem, they are not even able to defend their children when they get in trouble in school.

Teachers need to understand that teaching is not a profession, but a vocation.

Anyone who does not understand this should not be teaching.

Also, I believe our faith should take precedence over everything else.

So a big thank you to Dan Cavanagh and his staff at Anne Fitzgerald School.

W.D. Bentley
Edmonton

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