Dear Parish Family
Dear Parish Family,
Happy Feast Day Weekend! St. Maurice, pray for us. I am told that the tree in front of the
church is a nice autumn red; fitting for celebrating the witness of the shedding of blood given by our
Patron Saint many years ago. His proper Feast is held on September 22, but this is the closest weekend.
We are blessed to be in possession of his relics within our main altar. Also, we have relics of his in a
small monstrance for giving blessings on his Feast. We will be blessed with these relics at the final
blessing of each of the four weekend Masses. For those watching online, I trust that God will send those
blessings straight into your hearts and lives regardless of distance. May the discipline, tenacity and
faithfulness of our Patron rub off on us, so we can be effective witnesses of Jesus in today’s world.
There is a lot going on in all of our lives, to be sure, especially, I imagine, for those going to
school again. I am feeling pretty overwhelmed and tired these days with so much going on in our efforts to get the parish year up and running. I am sure that many of you feel the same way. Yet, I have a
spiritual joy and an excitement for what God wants to do among us this year. I pray that we can all
experience this joy and excitement; despite any struggles we may be facing. St. Maurice understands
this well.
At our parish, there are a lot of circumstances and situations to figure out logistically. As well, there are
a few new people on board, so things just take a little time to get up to speed. I appreciate your
patience.
I have four main teams of people I am working with to keep things moving forward:
1) Parish Council
2) Finance Council
3) The Clergy Team
4) The Core Leadership Team.
Parish Council is helping me to focus, develop and communicate our vision and mission. We are asking
ourselves, “Where do we believe God wants our parish community to be five years from now?” As well
as “What steps need to take place in order to get there?” This will help me to keep the parish activities,
finances, and initiatives on target with these set goals in mind. Peter Walsh has recently stepped down
as our Vice Chair. We thank him for his help, prayers, and advice over the years.
Finance Council is helping me to keep track of our parish finances in order to be good stewards of the
generous contributions of the parishioners. At present we are adapting to Covid 19 by shifting to
monthly budgeting goals. We are also doing our best to provide cashless forms of giving, as well as
initiating a capital campaign for the new church roof. Please check out our website and YouTube
channel regularly to help us keep on top of our goals.
The Clergy Team consists of myself and Fr. Marcus as full-time pastors, Fr. Jerry Gauvreau as part-time
help, and Deacon Kevin O’Shea volunteering his time to serve us. Mary-Anne O’Connor is working part
time as the Clergy Team Administrator. We are presently delegating different roles and areas of
responsibility, with the hopes of meeting the various pastoral needs of the parishioners.
The Core Leadership Team is helping me to handle the more day-to-day tasks and goals at hand. Claire
Schultz is in charge of the Temporal Operations, Glenn Pereira is in charge of Communications, and
Deacon Kevin is Coordinator of Ministries, previously held by Melody Dowling.
Once we come more fully into all of these different roles, I believe these four teams will be
more and more able to serve the parishioners in achieving our God-given mission in this part of the
Archdiocese.
Let’s keep each other in prayer as we navigate present day challenges whilst keeping on track with our
purpose and mission. (I think this is the first time I have used the word ‘whilst’.)
We have a lot of restrictions: masks, masks, masks; the office is not yet open; we can only have
30 % capacity; we have to meet on-line instead of at the church; Funerals, Weddings and Baptisms are
limited; no receptions in the atrium etc.
Despite all of this, there are definitely some things to celebrate:
New Website.
Please check out our new website. It is a work in progress, and we will be
providing more information, pictures, and videos over the next couple of months. This will provide
more robust on-line giving options, as well as greater calendar and registration form capabilities.
New App for our Parish.
Stay tuned for our first parish App. Hopefully by later this week, we will be able to
introduce this new tool for communicating. Please spread the word. The more parishioners who use it,
the better we can stay connected. Our future is unpredictable, and we have to be ready for quick
changes in roles and situations. It will help me as a pastor to get important updates out there with the
text options that an app can provide.
Mass and Adoration.
Some people are still unaware that we have begun celebrating daily Mass
again. No registration required. You need only sign in with your name and contact information upon
entering the church from the Perry Street doors. Also, this Tuesday, we will begin having Adoration of
the Blessed Sacrament inside the church after the 7pm Mass until 8:30. We hope to find ways to include Confession in the near future. At present we are working on constructing proper sound and germ proof
barriers. As the cold weather approaches, we are working on indoor Confession opportunities. For
now, it remains outside at 3pm on Saturdays, or by appointment.
Sacraments.
We are finally able to provide First Communion for forty-eight of our children this
week over three evening Masses. In October, we will attempt an on-line sacramental preparation
program for the new grade two children. Be sure to check the website if you haven’t yet registered your
child. Regarding Confirmation, we are hoping to hear from the Archbishop this week with a date to
celebrate Confirmation with our grade six children who are still waiting patiently.
R.C.I.A.
We were unable to complete formation for adult candidates last spring, so we will be
starting again this Fall with a fresh start. If you know someone who would like to join us in being
prepared to become Catholic next Easter, please notify the office by October 15.
Youth Group. We are blessed to have Matt Dunham and his team to run youth group on-line
this year for our high school aged parishioners. If you are in high school, please check out our youth
group Facebook page and consider joining in.
Please stay tuned as much as possible so that I can give important information regarding our
Capital Campaign for the new roof, the future opportunities of Confessions and Adoration at the parish,
as well as Mass Intentions and office communication.
If you are still reading this, I owe you a prize.