CIRCULAR TO PARISHIONERS WEEK 74 - OCT. 29, 2005
OUR OCTOBER FOOD DRIVE SET TO EXCEED TARGET
1,000 LBS
Our October food drive has already collected and delivered 915 lbs of much needed food to
FOODPATH MISSISSAUGA. The current campaign ends this weekend and is expected to exceed
our goal of 1000 lbs., thanks to the generosity of the good people of St. Martin of Tours.
Goodness is in doing good; “it is by their deeds that you will know them”. “The scribes and
Pharisees sit in Moses’ chair; therefore, do whatever they teach you and follow it; but do not do
as they do, for they do not practice what they teach.” (Matt 23:1-3)
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WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE? Letter to the parishioners of St. Martin’s:
We have seen, in recent months, a great change in the atmosphere in our parish. We have a
personable, friendly, approachable priest, Fr. Joel in charge - a great change indeed from what we have
had to put up with in the years preceding his arrival. We are truly blessed with him. That is the
background of this letter. What follows is different:
I have been a lector at St Martin's since 1969. I quit in 2003 partly because of what Beltran did to the
parish and partly because of what he did to me (on the altar one Sunday when I was the lector). With
the welcome change in the parish I decided to apply to be a lector again. It took three tries but
eventually I received a phone call from Fr Joel. The gist of the conversation was as follows: Fr Joel
said that I would be a lector some day but not now. When I pressed for a direct answer, a simple
"Yes, you are welcome" or " No, you cannot be a lector", I got equivocation instead. I do dislike
equivocation, especially when there is no need for it. All Fr Joel had to say was that he was obliged by
his orders not to accept new people in the various ministries. To be fair there was some attempt to say
this but it was much diluted. He also said that God works in his own way and good things would surely
happen. I am sure this is true, but, unfortunately, all our forbearance, prayers, petitions, etc have
produced no results, unless, of course, one counts the decision of Beltran to go to Rome to brush up on
his priestly calling. Perhaps God was working after all. For that small mercy we are all grateful.
However, it is only a temporary mercy. We will have Beltran back in January.
So, where do we go from here? We have this very decent young man trying to do his best under what
must be very difficult circumstances for him. On the one hand he has to obey the strictures placed on
him by the Cardinal and Bishop. On the other hand, he is confronted by a parish willing - indeed
desperate - to go back to being the great vibrant parish we were before Beltran arrived and did his best
to destroy us. A rock and a hard place indeed. In my youth I heard far too often that we should let
God work his way and everything would work out well. Bishops and priests urged us to pray and be
patient. (Oh, yes and this life was a valley of tears and better things waited for us in the next life) In the
meantime they did what they wanted, armoured in their sanctity and, more to the point, their power over
us. We allowed them that power, and they took full advantage of that to work on our fears and get us
to be obedient little boys and girls. We in St Martin's have experienced that in spades for the past few
years as Beltran ran amuck and tried to mould us to his ways and was fully supported by the hierarchy.
They had to continue, once they began that process, because the hierarchy must never be seen to be
wrong, must never apologise and certainly must never explain its actions to ordinary people – the
parishioners. What they want is our money; with no accountability. Long ago a priest told me "The
only thing they really listen to is money."
And so I propose the following:
1. Keep up the weekly flyers. They inform parishioners.
2. Urge parishioners to direct their donations to worthy causes other than the parish. Do we really
want to build up the parish treasury so that Beltran can squander our money when he comes back?
Fr Joel, you are a good man and I truly believe that if you were given full authority as parish priest to
work without the strictures you presently labour under, you and we could remake St. Martin's into the
great parish it once was.
Don Hoffland. (22 October, 2005)
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GIVING IS RECEIVING
We care about, and care for, those in need. Welcome back to our parish “Blanket For the Manger”.
Please support this program and other charities in need of our contributions:
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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NOVEMBER IS REMEMBRANCE MONTH
Please pray for our dearly departed loved ones; and honour the memory of those who paid the ultimate
sacrifice.
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Give us your feedback by email or phone call: 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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