7 December 2007

Dear Pastors, Lay Pastoral Animators and Parishioners,

We are into the busiest month of the year, I’m sure.  Despite the hectic demands and often unreal expectations, I pray that the Advent and Christmas seasons bring each and every one of you peace and joy.  The mysteries we celebrate are sublime; may our hearts be open to all that they signify.

Death of Redemptorist Priests.  On November 12th, I assisted at the funeral Mass for Father Joe MacGillivray in Edmonton.  Father Joe had served for many years in Grande Prairie before his health condition brought him to Foyer Lacombe a year and a half ago.  As I write this letter, I am also preparing to attend the funeral services for Father Claude Lemieux, both in Grande Prairie and Edmonton.  Both of these men were dedicated priests, each in his own way.  They touched the lives of many people in the archdiocese.  Father Claude, being active to the very end, left his mark in Grande Prairie, in the CWL, Cursillo, Engaged Encounter, Social Justice Committee … he was truly an apostle with a sense of humour. 

Sister Eva Solomon.  For about ten days in November, I was pleased to have Sr. Eva Solomon with me as I visited some of our Native communities.  We had significant encounters with the people of Duncan First Nation, Little Buffalo (Lubicon Cree Nation), Sucker Creek (an elder’s funeral), and Remembrance Day in Wabasca (Bigstone Cree First Nation).  A goal of mine, which I am still pursuing, is to establish a Native Pastoral Committee for the archdiocese.  Sr. Eva will return to McLennan for the weekend of 2-4 May 2008, where she will animate a workshop for this Native Pastoral Committee. 

Convocation.  On Saturday 17 November, we had a meeting of pastors, finance officers, secretaries and other parish personnel here in McLennan.  About 80 people attended from across the archdiocese.  It was an occasion for me to share my operational plan for 2008, as well as the chancery office budget for 2008.  Both of these presentations are posted on our diocesan website at www.archgm.ca. 

Mission 2010.  At the convocation, we also shared more on plans and hopes for the archdiocese-wide mission that the Redemptorists are conducting in the fall of 2010.  I hope to soon put in place an organizing committee for this event.  The discussion on the 17th affirmed our desire in the diocese for a spiritual renewal among us.  I am sure the momentum will grow as plans develop and we get closer to the date.
Archdiocesan Pastoral Planning.  I also spoke at the convocation about our need to devise a pastoral plan: given the realities of our resources (personal and material), our challenges (geography) and our needs (individual and communal), how do we best celebrate our faith, serve one another, and grow as a Church community?  One of the first steps in this process is to know and understand our present reality – who we are, where we live, what our gifts are, and what our needs are. To this end, I hope by early in the new year to have a Planning Committee in place that will put together a tool for studying the archdiocese, engage all of us in a process, and submit a report and recommendations within a year and half to two years.  I will share more of this with you as it develops.

Spiritual Preparation for Christmas.  Every December, I feel like I live in two worlds: the religious or spiritual world that is built on the Church, and the secular society of the world around me.  I cannot escape the latter, but my deeper feelings belong to the former.  And so, when I think of “preparing for Christmas”, I look for something with more substance than shopping and Santa.  I want to – I need to – be grounded in the real reason why this month of the year stands out as special.
            In that same vein, I wish at this time to encourage each and every one of you to do something about your spiritual preparedness for Christmas.  Try to make it to weekday Mass if you can.  Spend some “special time” in prayer during the day.  Try to be more patient with those closest to you – the pressures of this season can be beyond anyone’s level of tolerance!  I especially encourage you to celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation.  There are more opportunities than usual for this, as most parishes will have a Communal Penance Service during the coming weeks.  I know from my personal experience and as a pastor how many people dread confessing their sins, how humbling it all feels.  But consider this: if Jesus could humble himself , laying aside his Godly state by becoming a small and needy child, can any of us refuse a similar humility?  Glory to God in the lowest!

            I will be away from McLennan for the next couple of weeks, some of that for time with my family in Nova Scotia.  I will return before Christmas, which I will spend with the community in Trout Lake, weather permitting.  Please continue to keep Father Raj and his father in your prayers.