CIRCULAR TO PARISHIONERS WEEK 49 - MAY 7, 2005
IN CRISIS
Institutions in crisis evoke three kinds of behaviour from members: EXIT, VOICE, and LOYALTY. Exit
means leaving the parish, or even the Church, with little likelihood of return. Many have done just that.
Loyalty, in this context, means accepting without protest whatever the hierarchical authority decrees or
does. (“Just as you say, Father!”) Voice implies loyalty to the community and to the institution, but
not uncritical silence. It means speaking up, insisting upon being heard and heeded. It isn’t a course of
action for the faint-hearted. It requires courage and long-sustained effort.
(Bruce Russett, Dean Acheson Professor of International Relations and Political Science at Yale University.)
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THANK YOU!
Those of us who attend daily mass would like to thank you, Helen (Boyd), for your dedication to us. For
thirty years you have seen to it that a different person led the rosary each week, and you scheduled
eucharistic ministers and lectors on a two month rotation. Your goal was to get as many as possible to
actively participate in the liturgy of the mass and the rosary – and you did!
In addition, we would like to thank Marguerite Pratt, your friend and helper for many years. She not only led
us in the Prayer to St. Michael and the Prayer for Life, but would also serve as eucharistic minister, lector,
or leader of the rosary. We greatly appreciate the loving service you two have given us at St. Martin’s, and
know that you must have God’s special love. God bless you both!
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WE ARE ONE
We are thankful for the many faithful and dedicated parishioners who have laboured to maintain a loving
active community in our parish. This is the Gospel in action. We are comforted by them and strengthened
by their example. Many of the most dedicated have been thanklessly and summarily dismissed by the
pastor. Nevertheless, we hold them dear in our hearts and in our prayers.
Do you know of anyone deserving of our gratitude? Let us know at mail@saveourparish.com
Our weekly flyers continue to inform, to hold our Parish together, and to encourage the continuance
of parish care and concern. We also defend the good people that have been maligned by arrogant
leadership. Autocrats hold themselves excused from accountability, unanswerable to the usual rule
of law. They denigrate good people so as to deny them normal rights and dignity, and they provide
a licence to their acolytes to hate and disparage with a clear conscience.
This is the perversity and wrong that currently infects our community.
Do not fear perversity! Do not respect wrong! Do not support injustice!
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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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Email: bishop.boissonneau@rogers.com Fax: 416 207-4984
ambrozic@archtoronto.org Fax: 416 934-3452
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OUR PARISH FINANCIAL PROBLEMS
“OTHER SALARIES”
In 1998 and 1999, “Other Salaries” were $16,491 and $17,882 respectively.
For the past five years they averaged $68,718 per year; for the year 2004 they are given as $73,657.
Is there a reasonable explanation for a 400% increase? How is our money being used?
If you contributed to the Parish, you are entitled to an accounting. There is a directive from the Chancery to
parishes, that parishioners must be given an accounting of all monies raised from them.
The Parish is required to provide answers. Ask the chair of the Finance Council, Ed Beaudry, to provide
explanations on any aspects of the parish finances that appear questionable, excessive or
of concern to you. Demand accountability - it is your right!
Contact Ed Beaudry at edbeaudry@rogers.com
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KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS ANNUAL PICNIC
You will see tickets are available as you exit the Church, for our Knights of Columbus 4 Cost? Only $5 per
family. Hot dogs, hamburgers, drinks, games for the kids – what a bargain! Let’s have an enjoyable
afternoon with our parish family and friends. Get your tickets also for the Picnic Draw. 1st Prize is Boat
Cruise and Dinner for Two,
2nd Prize: Girl’s Bicycle, 3rd Prize: Boy’s Bicycle. Proceeds of the draw will go towards repairs to
an area of the Martyrs’ Shrine in Midland. Let’s give the Knights our full support!
Get your tickets today!
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CARING AND SHARING
The pastor has told us, with the bishop’s approval, that we “must support the Church”. Parishioners have
been told that they must be “registered” and contribute through their numbered envelope in order to “support
the Church”. This is a misrepresentation of the rule. Here is the wording from Canon Law. There is no
mention of numbered envelopes (or any variation thereof) as being the sole and exclusive medium of Church
support.
Can. 222 – 1 Christ’s faithful have the obligation to provide for the needs of the Church, so that the
Church has available to it those things which are necessary for divine worship, for apostolic and
charitable work and for the worthy support of its ministers. – 2 They are also obliged to promote social
justice and, mindful of the Lord’s precept, to help the poor from their own resources.
Can. 223 – 1 In exercising their right, Christ’s faithful, both individually and in associations, must take
account of the common good of the Church, as well as the rights of others and their own duties to others.
Here are some charitable organizations worthy of consideration:
1. Catholic Missions in 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, ON M8X 1L3
5. Ian Anderson House, 430 Winston Churchill Blvd. Oakville, Ont. L6J 7X2
6. Solidarite-Sud (Haiti), c/o Maison Alonzo Wright, 2425A St-Louis St., Gatineau QC J8V 1E7
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