November - December 2017 -...

"Your destiny is to be apostles, and so tend within your hearts the sacred fire that the Holy Spirit lights there..."

- St. Eugene de Mazenod -

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November - December 2017 Volume 16 No. 6

Message from the Provincial

The past few months were a period of intense pastoral work in the parishes. There were many pastoral meetings important for all priests, the major confession sessions in many parishes, and then the joyful Christmas gatherings across the province.

It was also a busy time in the life of the provincial, as I took part in a few important meetings. First was CROCUS in the Ottawa region in early November, where, with the new group, we tried to strengthen cooperation between the provinces of North America. On the brink of November and December, I participated in the orientation session in Rome. Speaking plainly, this was training for new provincials. This was a chance to get to know the General Administration, as well as to meet many Oblates from around the world. Upon returning from Rome, we had our last Provincial Council meeting of 2017.

I would like to thank each of you for your commitment and dedication to the province, the Church. Each of you, in your ministries, put in a lot of good, and often hard work. I wish each one of you, in this New Year 2018, openness to God’s will and optimism in pursuing the path of our vocation.

Fr. Alfred Grzempa OMI

Contents

Festival of Religious Song - 2 Provincial Council - 4 Advent Drive St. Eugene - 5 Kolbe “Dar Serca” - 6 Snapshot of Sw. Krzyz - 7 Christmas Gathering - 8

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Festival of Religious Song Written by Kinga Fasciszewska, director of Catholic Family Radio.

For the 28th year, the Catholic Family Radio organized the Festival of Religious Song, under the theme of “Peace be with You” (J 20:19) in the John Paul II Cultural Centre in Mississauga. In today’s society there is so little peace on earth, so little peace in our hearts, yet the participants all sang of the desire to search for the peace that Jesus Christ gives to all of humanity. All of the participants shared this universal message of Christ: those from Peru, those from Canada, and those from Kazakhstan, as the Festival had a particularly broad missionary feel to it this year. A reminder of the great gift of peace came from St. John Paul II, who, at the beginning of the Festival, was seen on the big screen through archival footage of his apostolic journeys and a song titled “Peace I leave you, my peace I give you.” Due to a lower number of entries, there was no festival competition this year, as in other years. On Saturday, there were performances by children of the Ave Maria Studio School, run by Maria Kowalczyk, 19 year old Lukasz Wolski, who performed songs by Matt Redman in a sensational manner, Melissa Stolarz, who has been performing at the Festival for several years, Maryia and Tanya, from Ukraine, who write and compose their songs themselves, and Aleksandra Wesierska. On Sunday, November 26, 2017, more performers took the stage: Jubileusz 2000, led by S. Karolina Szymkowiak MChR of St. Maximilian Kolbe Parish, Karolina Podolak, a soprano, Marek Wojtowicz, a 13-year-old boy from St. Gabriel in Burlington, and the twenty-member band “Chorek” from St. Maximilian Kolbe parish. The guest of honour of the evening was Fr. Elio Dennis Lopez Paredes OMI and his band from Peru. Fr. Elio studied in Rome, writing songs that he stored in his desk until the moment where he went to his first mission in Orcotunie, Peru. It was there that he formed his band with local youth, “Banda 7”.

Jubileusz 2000

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Fr. Elio, speaking during the Festival, said “we sing only to evangelize and encourage people to be open to God’s Love. We are not professional, trained musicians. We do not try to gain anything through our work - maybe only a place in Heaven.” Banda 7 showed a new dimension of evangelization, through songs that they write themselves. All of the members come from different parts of Peru, meeting once every few months to carry God’s message to others. They wore regional, colourful traditional costumes from different parts of Peru. In the beautiful testimonies given by Fr. Elio, translated from Spanish by Fr. Marcin Serwin OMI, he spoke of his vocation and the faith he grew up with, especially touching on hope and love, which he learned from his mom. Members of the band spoke of their lives, their faith and evangelization of their communities. Mr. Andrzej, who kindly drove the band for the few days they were in Toronto and the area, said: “I’ve never met such polite and undemanding young people, who were not ashamed to begin their meals at restaurants with the sign of the Cross, and who were so grateful for every little thing.” Maybe, therefore, it is worth organizing events like the Festival of Religious Song, to learn from people all over the world how we can change our view of evangelization and broaden the horizons of our faith.

Fr. Elio Lopez and Banda 7

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Provincial Council Summary

The latest Provincial Council meeting took place from December 12th to 15th, 2017 at the Provincial House in Toronto. Participating in the meeting were Fr. Provincial Alfred Grzempa and provincial councillors: Fr. Jacek Nosowicz, Fr. Marcin Serwin, Fr. Wojciech Kurzydło and Fr. Paweł Ratajczak. The meeting began with a half-day retreat at the Redemptoris Mater Seminary at St. Augustine’s Seminary in Toronto. In the afternoon the council deliberations began, with the approval of the minutes of the last council meeting. For the next few days, topics discussed included vocations, finances, the new Formation Directory, the new home of the MAMI office, and youth formation and ministry, among others.

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Advent Drive - St. Eugene’s Young Adults Written by Joanna Pater, SEYA representative

St. Eugene's Young Adults (SEYA) group at St. Eugene de Mazenod Parish in Brampton held an Advent drive for those in need in our community. It was our first time ever organizing such an event, and we were blown away by the fantastic response we received. On December 3rd, we put out the call to action. We asked our loving parishioners to donate a variety of items. They included personal hygiene products, such as toothpaste, toothbrushes, and shampoos, non-perishable food items, and even some clothing such as new socks and gently used items. On December 17th, we collected the donations. We filled up an entire room – there was barely any space to move around. The following day, we all met up to sort through the donations. It took approximately 20 people three hours to organize and pack everything up. All of the donations, of which there were more than 50 large boxes, were dropped off at Covenant House in Toronto on December 29th. Covenant House is Canada's largest agency that aids at-risk, homeless, and trafficked youth between the ages of 16 to 24. And since 1982, the Covenant House has served almost 95,000 young people. We are thrilled to have been able to aid such a wonderful organization. We want to thank all of the parishioners at St. Eugene's. We could not have done this without you! You not only embraced the true meaning of Christmas, but also what it means to be a Catholic, spreading love and joy to the community. We are definitely anticipating this to be an annual event… and be on the lookout for our next exciting project!

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“Dar Serca” - St. Maximilian Kolbe Parish Written by Fr. Janusz Blazejak OMI

Cameroon Mission

The time leading up to Christmas is not only a time of Advent, but a time when we are more inclined than ever to open our hearts to the needs of our fellow men who face many struggles in life. We witnessed this at St. Maximilian Kolbe church, where on Dec 3 there was a collection for Christmas parcels for children in orphanages in Poland, and for children in Cameroon, where anew Catholic Mission was created, for which Fr. Ludwik Stryczek OMI is responsible. Because the donations of our parishioners were greater than we expected, we also were able to support the Foundation for Orphans in South Africa. Often times, we are helpless in the face of many pleas for help. It’s obvious that we cannot help everyone. The best way to negotiate this dilemma is to choose the avenues where it is known that the benefits will reach those in need, in a quantity not greatly reduced by the “administrative costs.” For us, the most reliable recipients of our help are institutions run by nuns. In the case of our parish, we try to help the home for women with special needs run by the Albertynki Sisters in Czestochowa on a regular basis. A significant portion of the funds was dedicated to the “Szlachetna Paczka” (Christmas gift parcels) for children in the following orphanages: Stara Wieś (Podkarpackie Region), Fr. Gwidon’s House (Pacanów),

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Wolsztyn, and in Klenica - an orphanage run by the Sisters of Mary Immaculate. The altar servers of our parish also sponsored packages for children in the orphanage in Knurów, and youth sponsored packages for an orphanage in Włocławek, run by the “Sercanki” Sisters. It should also be mentioned, that many parishioners responded very positively to helping the new Catholic Mission in Cameroon. One family sponsored a new tabernacle for this Mission, which will be custom-made in Poznań and should arrive in Cameroon before Christmas. This Mission also received financial help from the donations of our parishioners. Additionaly, the “Rodzinki Jana Pawła II” group raised funds on their own and sent parcels to Poland.

Snapshot of Sw. Krzyz Noviciate

Jonas Lalik, our Novice from Assumption Province, is the fifth from the left, right behind Novice Master, Fr. Krzysztof Jurewicz OMI.

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Christmas Gathering in Welland On December 27, 2017, the Toronto district gathered in Welland for an “opłatek” Christmas gathering. Our surprise guest of honour was Fr. Superior General, Louis Lougen OMI. Thank you, Fr. Miroslaw for the hospitality!

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