CIRCULAR TO PARISHIONERS WEEK 27 DEC 04, 2004
REFLECTIONS ON “REFLECTION” from last week’s Parish bulletin
The whole parish knows the answers to the questions posed in the second paragraph.
However, for your benefit, here are the answers:
Q. What groups in our parish don’t get along?
A. All the groups in the parish get along, they always have.
It is the pastor who does not get along with the parish, and he has created the rifts setting brother
against brother in a most unchristian-like manner.
Q. (There are always such factions, even in the most congenial of parishes).
A. Wrong! Congenial parishes do NOT suffer from factionalism. St. Martin of Tours did not suffer
from any factions, splits, wedges or divisions until the current parish administration embarked on its
campaign of destruction, alienating the parish’s most dedicated members. And for what?
Factionalism is one of the evils besetting the church. Ironically it is an attack from the inside.
Q. How can we smooth troubled waters, make the message of peace not just a homily topic but a life
lived in the midst of the assembly?
A. Restore the parish to what it was prior to the Fall of 1999. All the pieces are still there. They are just
scattered and trampled upon. All we need is a pastor to shepherd them.
Q. What would a parish trusting and believing in the good news of peace look like?
A. St. Martin of Tours in 1999. If the bulletin editor had ANY experience of the parish he would know
how vibrant and loving our parish was from its inception. The current pastor eroded and frayed the
threads that bound us together until they finally snapped in 2004.
Looking at the following paragraphs of “Reflection”, there are references to our “neighbors (not
‘neighbours’) in the pews”, “now in holiday time”, “on this Sunday after Thanksgiving”. Canadian
Thanksgiving was in October. Did we suddenly relocate into the USA? Why do we need a US-based
message quoted at us anyway? Can the bulletin editor not adapt it to local conditions?
One more alienated parishioner,
St.John Sparks
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ST MARTIN’S MOST WANTED
Where is the lady that sells the religious articles?
Where IS that lady?
Has she gone………Wilde?
PS: Fr. Beltran has been enquiring. (She has provided this volunteer service throughout Fr. Beltran’s five
years here and for many years before. She has been absent for six months because of the conflict in our
parish. Hasn’t Fr. Beltran noticed? Does he even know her name?)
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Email:bishop.boissonneau@rogers.com Fax: 416 207-4984.
His Eminence, Aloysius Cardinal Ambrozic, Fax: 416 934-3452.
For more information, contact: Aisling Egan 416 671-4710
Pat DeAngelis 416 809-1819 Duncan Walker 905 277-9825
Lucy Pires 905 273-6093 Dunstan Bazely 905 275-3946
Judy Byrnes 905 275-1536 Patricia Russell 905 279-9205
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YOU’VE BEEN ASKING…..
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CHOIR CONCERTS
TWO WEEKS BEFORE CHRISTMAS - LIKE LAST YEAR, YOU KNOW –
WILL BE AN OCCASION, COME HAIL, RAIN OR SNOW.
WITH SINGING AND MUSIC TO BRING YOU DELIGHT.
COME OUT AND ENJOY - AND HAVE A GREAT NIGHT!
First Concert: Sunday Dec 12, St. Gregory’s Church, Rathburn & Kipling, 7:30 pm.
Second Concert: Thursday Dec 16, St. Martin’s High School, Rosemary Drive, 7:30 pm.
The Dec 16 Concert is to benefit our Knights of Columbus charities. These include the Breast Cancer
Research Centre at Credit Valley Hospital. The Knights’ fund-raising efforts have been greatly curtailed since
they were ejected from St. Martin of Tours Church. A voluntary contribution will be taken up at the
Concert.
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PANETTONES PLEASE! 200 PRESOLD ALREADY!
BUT DON’T PANIC, THERE ARE MORE! Look for the flashing blue light as you leave the Church and get
your favourite Christmas treat – regular or chocolate panettone. In fact, why not both? $15 each, and
profits go to our Knights of Columbus charities. Next week the Knights will provide complimentary coffee
and hot chocolate while you buy your panettone.
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CHRISTMAS CARD LIST
Don’t forget to include the Bishop and the Cardinal. Why not send them your Christmas wishes? Ask when
the Bishop is going to make his visit to our parish. Ask when a Parish Council is going to be established, as
promised. Ask when our parish will be healed.
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GIVING AND SHARING
Christmas is a time when we think of others and share with those less fortunate than ourselves. Maybe
Christmas is the time to re-think where your donations can do the most good. The charities we list in our
weekly circular are all familiar to parishioners. They could really use your donation this Christmas.
1. Catholic Missions of Canada, 201-1155 Yonge St., Toronto, Ont. M4T 1W2
2. St. Vincent de Paul Society, 240 Church St., Toronto, Ont. M5B 1Z2
3. Birthright Mississauga, 307-2600 Edenhurst, Mississauga, Ont. L5A 3Z8
4. Dr. Simone’s Canadian Food for Children, 40 King George Rd. Toronto, Ont. M8X 1L3
5. Ian Anderson House, 430 Winston Churchill Blvd. Oakville, Ont. L6J 7X2
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ROGERS CABLE 10 NEWS COVERAGE
Rogers would welcome feedback on their news item about our parish problems, aired on Tuesday Nov 30.
Their response line is 905-897-3994. A follow-up program may be in the offing.
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