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

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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 and suggestions for activities and events, are forthcoming. Here in , 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 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. • Feast of the Immaculate Conception- Novena held from November 29, 2012 to December 8, 2012, followed by Mass and reception. • Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament is held every Thursday from 3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

9.2 St. Nicholas Tavelich – report attached. • The parish catechism program continues use of The Pflaum Gospel Weeklies Faith Formation Program. The materials have been met with a favorable response as it works well for a small parish. • Habitat for Humanity Dedication Celebration held on January 10, 2013 in parish hall. Keys were presented to various families who are moving into the homes. Habitat for Humanity is a good work which helps us to build community beyond the parish. • Commissioning of Ministers of Holy Communion took place during Mass on November 25, 2012.

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• Mass in Thanksgiving and for the intentions of Benedict XVI was held on February 22, 2013.

9.3 St. John Cantius – report attached. • Feast of St. John Cantius celebration (Mass and potluck meal) was a huge success. • Ministry Fair being planned. • CWL Spring Tea to be held on March 17, 2013. All welcome. • The 26th Annual Good Friday Public Way of Cross will be held in our parish beginning at 9:30 a.m. on March 29, 2013.

9.4 St. Peter’s – report attached. • Pray for Healing Ministry, started one year ago has over 300 members who take turns to pray for our sick brothers and sisters 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. One year anniversary celebrated on February 9, 2013, in conjunction with the Feast of our Lady of Lourdes. • Mother’s Day Dinner and Dance to be held May 11, 2013. Everyone is welcome. Tickets are $20 each and $10 for children below 12 years of age. • Children’s Mass is held every 3rd Saturday, Monday and Wednesday of the month for all the catechism students.

9.5 St. Joseph’s – verbal report. • Catechism children are encouraged to attend Stations of the Cross during Lent. When they attend and take part they are given a footprint to put their name on. The footprints are posted on the church wall to indicate all those who have been walking with Jesus. Attendance is increasing especially with the involvement of the young people.

9.6 Holy Ghost – report attached. • Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament every Friday during Lent commencing at 8:00 p.m. and concluding Saturday at 8:00 a.m. The time of prayer includes the rosary, litany and other prayers. • During this Year of Faith, families continue to take turns to welcome a picture of the Holy Family into their home for a four-day period during which all gather around the picture for prayer with family and neighbours, before returning it to the church for another family to take.

9.7 St. Kateri Tekakwitha – report attached. • Lenten sessions are being held on Sundays from February 24, 2013 to March 17, 2013, which includes sessions by Brother Tom Novak (Our Story, Told With a Blanket), Greg Dunwoody (What is Restorative Justice? An Experience!), and Sister Eva (What is “Idle No More”?). On March 17 the session will be (“What is There for Our Youth?”). • The new statue of St. Kateri will be blessed by the Archbishop on April 17, 2013. As well, First Holy Communion and Confirmation will be celebrated that day.

9.8 St. Anthony’s – report attached. • Knights of Columbus have taken hopeful steps towards establishing a Squires Circle for youth. • Steering committee established to assist Fr. Dominic to develop and implement parish’s approach to Community Building/Community Life.

9.9 Micah House – verbal report. • Patti Fitzmaurice reported that she has held a couple of study days. • Meeting is being set up for next Thursday for Social Justice Representatives from the parishes.

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• Patti spoke briefly about the new Just Faith program.

10. Evaluation of the meeting • Very interesting, nice to get new insights, can be a little daunting. • Good meeting, enjoyed dialogue and hearing what other parishes are doing. • Liked the addition of guests, gets us out of our parish walls. • Discussion re Aboriginal people is important. Their story affects all of us. We won’t be whole until the relationship between both is healed.

11. Next Meeting The next DPC meeting will be held at 6:45 p.m. on May 23, 2013, tentatively at St. Kateri Tekakwitha Parish (Ellice Avenue at Home Street). If space at St. Kateri is not available that evening, an alternate location could be Holy Ghost Parish.

12. Closing Prayer For the closing prayer, all present recited together a Prayer for His Holiness, Benedict XVI, Pope Emeritus and the Prayer for the Election of a New Pope. Fr. Robert gave a blessing.

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North Winnipeg Deanery Pastoral Council PARISH REPORTS

Addendum to Minutes of Meeting held Thursday, February 28, 2013

Immaculate Conception Parish Report to the North Winnipeg Deanery Pastoral Council

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St. Nicholas Tavelich Parish Report to the North Winnipeg Deanery Pastoral Council February 28, 2013

§ CATECHISM: Our regular parish catechism program on Monday evenings continues. We had some problems again with the first shipment of 2013 issues of The Pflaum Gospel Weeklies Faith Formation Program. However, the second 2013 shipment, with issues beginning March 17th, has arrived in ample time, i.e. earlier this week.

§ ANNIVERSARY/PATRONAL FEAST: Everything went well for our Parish’s 38th Anniversary Celebration held on Sunday, November 18, 2012. A banquet was held immediately following Solemn Mass to mark our Patronal Feast in honour of Nicholas Tavelich (Sveti Nikola Tavelić). A good turnout of our parishioners was complemented by several guests present from various parishes of the deanery.

§ MINISTERS OF HOLY COMMUNION: We celebrated the commissioning of our parish’s new Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion during Mass on Sunday, November 25th, Solemnity of Christ the King.

§ HABITAT UPDATE: A Habitat for Humanity Dedication Celebration was held in our parish hall on January 10, 2013. During the celebration, attended by Habitat volunteers and some parishioners, keys were presented to the various families who are moving into the homes that were built in 2012 on Fernbank Avenue (across from the church). Although many parishioners will be involved this summer in preparations for Folklorama, some are still planning to assist again in preparing and serving lunch for Habitat volunteers during another “Blitz Build” scheduled to be held July 8 – 13, 2013. Ten more home units (five duplexes) will be built in 2013.

§ WINTER LUNCHEON: A pre-Lenten winter luncheon, hosted by the Croatian Folklore Ensemble, was held in the parish hall immediately following Mass on Sunday, February 10, 2013.

§ BAPTISM OF CHILDREN: Our small parish will have the joy of celebrating several baptisms this year, including three children who were baptized just before Lent.

§ MASS FOR BENEDICT XVI: A good turnout of parishioners joined in the celebration of a Mass in Thanksgiving for the intentions of the Holy Father, Benedict XVI, which was held on Friday evening, February 22, 2013, the Feast of the Chair of Saint Peter. Being a Friday of Lent, we changed gears following Mass and entered back into the Lenten spirit with the Way of the Cross devotion. For the occasion we followed the meditations and prayers originally written for Good Friday 2005 by the then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger. By the end of the weekend, all the copies that had been prepared for Friday’s devotion had been taken home by parishioners for their continued personal prayer and meditation.

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North Winnipeg Deanery Pastoral Council Meeting February 28, 2013 Report of St. John Cantius Church

The Feast of St. John Cantius was celebrated of October 20, 2012. As in the previous year, this event was a great success. The event included mass, pot luck and a brief historical video presentation of our parish and early parishioners.

In response to the fourth phase of the Stewardship program, building community, a Ministry Fair is being planned. A date has not yet been set but planning meetings are ongoing.

Our CWL Council will be holding their annual Spring Tea & Raffle on March 17, 2013 from 10:30 am – 2:00 pm. All are invited.

The 26th annual Good Friday Public Way of the Cross will be hosted by our parish, beginning at 9:30 am on March 29, 2013. Please plan to attend.

Our parish is looking for a Catechical Co-ordinator for the coming catechism year.

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St. Peter’s Church North Winnipeg Deanery Pastoral Council Report February 28, 2013

Children’s Mass is now happening every 3rd Saturday, Monday and Wednesday of the month for all the Catechism students. The response is very good, the children are now learning the importance of the celebration of the Holy Mass. Msgr Samson presides these masses and there is usually a video clip about the Gospel or about the Mass or the important event that’s happening that month, ie: Christmas, Lent, etc. The children are given the chance to be lectors, greeters, ushers, and the choir. We also introduced Stewardship among the children by teaching them to give up one day of their allowance and donate towards our Building Fund so that in the future, they can also claim that they were part of our Mission of Building a New Church.

On This Rock Campaign for BANC – we are in the last few weeks of our capital campaign to raise the $3M for our Building Fund. Our volunteers are working hard in phoning and visiting our parishioners to ask for their pledges. The BANC (Building a New Church)Committee will meet with the Archdiocese Finance Council and the Archbishop on Thursday , March 14, 2013 to present our case and ask for approval to start building our new church. A

Pray for Healing Ministry – celebrated its one year anniversary on Saturday, Feb 9 in conjunction with the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, who is also the of this ministry. This ministry has now over 300 members who pray for our sick brothers and sisters, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Each member is assigned a time of the day to pray the Prayer for the Sick plus a decade of the rosary. We also pray for the caregivers and medical practitioners. Msgr Samson presides the Mass every first Saturday of the month and perform the laying of hands and anointing of oil for the sick. Every month hundreds of our parishioners and those others from different parishes come to this Mass to request for healing.

Lenten Recollection for all Ministers – Ministers of Communion, Lectors, Greeters, Emcees were all invited to attend a Lenten Recollection Retreat last Tuesday, Feb 26, 2013, led by Msgr Samson. This is one of the requirements in order for the ministers to continue in their ministry. Letters of appointment for three years were distributed after the session, Any current ministers who were not able to attend will not be allowed to carry one with their ministry at this time.

Mother’s Day Dinner and Dance – will be held on Saturday, May 11, 2013 in our parish hall. Everyone is invited to attend. Tickets are $20 each and children below 12 years old is $10. Net proceeds of this event will be spent for the upcoming Fiesta Celebration in June.

Holy Ghost Parish Report to DPC – February 28, 2013

St. Kateri Tekakwitha Parish Report to the North Winnipeg Deanery Pastoral Council February 28, 2013

- We had the of Blessed Kateri to St. Kateri, which we are now known by.

- On April 17, 2013, Archbishop James will be coming to St. Kateri for the Blessing of the statue, also this is the Feast day of St. Kateri; as well will be celebrating the sacraments of 1st Communion and Confirmation of approx. 20 young people.

- Lent Sessions Sunday, February 24, 2013 – Our Story, Told With A Blanket! – Brother Tom

Sunday, March 3, 2013 – What Is Restorative Justice? An Experience! – Greg Dunwoody

Sunday, March10, 2013 – What is “Idle No More” ? – Sister Eva

Sunday, March 17, 2013 - What Is There for Our Youth? (TBA)

- Christian Unity Week – good feedback, approx. 50 people attended.

- Celebrated Feast of our Lady of Guadalupe – December 12, invited other parishes, good turnout.

- Provided a meal for 60, “Welcome Home”, a mission by the Redemptorists. Have supper once a week for poor people in there area. ______

St. Anthony of Padua Parish Report to the North Winnipeg Deanery Pastoral Council