1 North Winnipeg Deanery Pastoral Council Minutes of Meeting Held
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North Winnipeg Deanery Pastoral Council Minutes of Meeting held Thursday, February 28, 2013 at 6:45 p.m. at St. Joseph’s Church. Present Luchie Sanchez (Facilitator), St. Peter’s; Father Robert Polz (Dean), St. Nicholas Tavelich; Julia Rolsky (Vice-Facilitator), St. John Cantius; Norma Konrad (APC Rep), St. John Cantius; Catherine Stevenson, St. John Cantius; Branka Jelčić, St. Nicholas Tavelich; Barb Sutherland, St. Kateri Tekakwitha; Frances Podlesiecki, Holy Ghost; Iraci Teixeira, Immaculate Conception; Manuel Gomes, Immaculate Conception; Owen Sweeney, St. Anthony of Padua (WK); Ariel Leyson, St. Joseph’s; Patti Fitzmaurice, Micah House; Sr. Rose Mary Sander, SSND, Archdiocese of Winnipeg; Br. Thomas Novak, OMI (guest). Regrets Mary Anne Nawrot, Holy Ghost. 1. Check-in/Welcoming/Introductions Luchie Sanchez welcomed everyone to the meeting. Fr. Polz introduced Patti Fitzmaurice and Br. Thomas Novak. Then, going around the table, all those present introduced themselves and identified the parish or institution/ministry they represented. 2. Gathering Prayer Sr. Rose Mary Sander led the gathering prayer with a reading from Ephesians 5: 8-11. It was read three times. We were asked to share a word after the first reading, a phrase after the second reading and after the third reading we were to think about what the message meant to us personally. We concluded with a song “I want to walk as a child of the light; I want to follow Jesus…” 3. Review of last meeting’s minutes Minutes of the previous meeting held September 27, 2012 at St. John Cantius Church were reviewed and accepted as presented. 4. Dean’s Report/Concerns – Fr. Robert Polz a) Lent Celebration of the Sacrament of Reconciliation in the deanery • Copy of schedule was distributed to those present. Each parish is encouraged to post the schedule on its parish bulletin board, website and/or in the parish bulletin. b) Deanery Celebration for the Solemnity of St. Joseph, Tuesday, March 19, 2013 • St. Joseph’s Parish is inviting the clergy and faithful of the deanery to join together in a celebration for the Solemnity of St. Joseph. Mass at 7:00 p.m. at St. Joseph’s Church and a reception to follow. c) The Chrism Mass, Monday of Holy Week, March 25, 2013 • The Chrism Mass will be celebrated at St. Mary’s Cathedral beginning at 7:30 p.m. d) Public Way of the Cross, Good Friday, March 29, 2013 • The 26th annual Good Friday Public Way of the Cross will be hosted this year by St. John Cantius Parish, 846 Burrows Avenue, beginning at 9:30 a.m. e) Seven Oaks General Hospital • Fr. Robert invited Norma Konrad to assist in giving a bit of an update about the communion ministry at SOGH. Some more Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion ministers are still needed to help out at SOGH. Personal invitation is probably the best way to recruit volunteers from our deanery parishes, especially those who are already serving as communion ministers in the parishes. Maybe some of the faithful who are newly retired might be willing to help? Fr. Robert informed the DPC that the Skyview Terrace is no longer available for Mass and other gatherings. It is being converted 1 into a dialysis unit. SOGH has indicated that use of the Auditorium for the bi-monthly Mass might need to be adjusted or cancelled because of hospital education services and other events needing the space. It is hoped that the SOGH executive will come up with some solution for the many groups needing space that no longer have a place to gather since the closure of the Skyview Terrace. The new entrance atrium is a beautiful addition but not too helpful in fulfilling practical needs. f) Parish Guide for Community Building • Part 2 of the Parish Guide on Community Building, focusing on an appreciation and celebration of the community life of the parish, was emailed to the parishes on February 5th. (Part 1 was emailed at the beginning of January.) • Recalling Deacon Ted’s presentation at the last DPC, it is better for each parish to concentrate on doing one or two things well instead of everything suggested. The guide for parishes is meant to help us, not overwhelm us. g) Respect for Life and Family Week, May 12, 2013 to May 19, 2013 • Fr. Robert invited Patti Fitzmaurice to inform DPC about the forthcoming Respect for Life and Family Week. The theme of this year’s celebration will be: “Celebrate Family, Nurture Life”. The time is right for a renewed effort to proclaim the dignity of each person and the vital importance of the family. During this annual national week, parishes are asked to organize activities and events which promote the culture of life and family. Materials, including a pastoral letter from the bishops and suggestions for activities and events, are forthcoming. Here in Manitoba, we are partnering with Life’s Vision in this endeavor. Life’s Vision will be providing pamphlets and other resources to assist in planning. 5. Faith formation / Sharing The resignation of Pope Benedict XVI and the conclave soon to take place was discussed around the table. Various questions were raised and comments made about our hopes and concerns for the future. While we continue the journey of Lent in our homes and parishes, we do well to pray for the Church, and the Cardinals in particular, during this time of transition. Three handouts were passed out to those present: • An excerpt from the Catechism of the Catholic Church highlighting a section concerning the hierarchical constitution of the Church and the role of the Roman Pontiff. • A handout entitled How a New Pope is Chosen, USCCB, containing articles outlining the process and a reflection from Pope Benedict XVI which he gave at the beginning of his term. • Prayers: for His Holiness, Benedict XVI, Pope Emeritus, and for the Election of a New Pope. 6. Nathanael 2013….the next generation Fr. Robert distributed brochures with details about “The Next Generation” of the adult faith formation process “Nathanael” to begin in September 2013. He invited Patti Fitzmaurice to share about her experience of participating in Nathanael. Among other things, Patti described it as giving the “big picture” of our Catholic faith, a greater depth of knowledge. Barb Sutherland also briefly commented on her own experience of Nathanael. Come and See presentations will be held at Our Lady of Perpetual Help on March 2, 2013 from 9:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and at St. Anthony of Padua (WK) on March 10, 2013 from 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. 7. Dialogue re Aboriginal Issues – Br. Thomas Novak, o.m.i. Br. Thomas gave a bit of an overview of his previous work in helping the three archdioceses to prepare for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Then he worked up north for about two years. Now he has been hired by the Archdiocese to help develop dialogue/relationships between Catholics 2 and Aboriginal people. There is a need for much more communication between Aboriginal and non- Aboriginal peoples. To this end, Br. Thomas is working on a process involving two workshops which can be used to help educate people in our parishes about the situation and experience of Aboriginal people so they feel for themselves some of the injustices experienced by the First Nations and other Aboriginal peoples of Canada. If there is going to be true reconciliation, non-Aboriginal people need to get to know and understand how our country was shaped and what aboriginal people have lived through. DPC members present discussed how the parishes in the deanery could respond to these workshops. Br. Thomas indicated that a first step could be a brief presentation at Sunday Masses and info published in the Sunday bulletin. Fr. Robert informed the DPC that Br. Thomas will be introducing the priests and pastoral ministers of the deanery to the content of Workshop One, including the interactive “Blanket Exercise”, at the next deanery meeting in April. DPC members agreed that Br. Thomas should be invited to our next DPC meeting (in May) to facilitate a similar experience for the members of the DPC. Experiencing a bit of the workshops ourselves would help us to encourage others in our parishes to take part when they are held in the parish setting. 8. APC Report – Norma Konrad • Norma indicated she is planning to attend the next APC meeting on March 9, 2013 and will try to sent a report to DPC via e-mail. • Sr. Rose Mary advised the DPC that the APC is adding to the way it meets especially by making the effort to build community at meetings. She suggested that the DPC could do the same by asking after each report: What did you hear [in that report]? What stands out for you? What is building community right here? Sister Rose Mary also informed us that, given the upcoming conclave, the APC would be doing a bit of an exercise on March 9 with the Archbishop concerning what a cardinal- elector would need to focus on and what the discernment process should be in a papal election. • At the last APC, Deacon Ted spoke about the Fourth Phase of Building a Church of Communion. The Archbishop spoke regarding some significant points from Vatican II. 9. Parish Updates and Micah House Parish representatives were invited to briefly highlight for those present just a couple/few items from what was given in their submitted parish reports. Given Sr. Rose Mary’s advice, we tried asking after each report questions like: What have we heard? What brings us together? What is building community? 9.1 Immaculate Conception – report attached.