Suicide Intervention and Prevention Workshop in Thompson Feb. 20th 2010

Our archdiocese puts on an annual one day workshop for lay formation and ministry training in Thompson each winter. The theme this year was A Holistic Approach to Suicide: Prevention and Intervention. About 60 participants came from 14 communities within the archdiocese, the furthest being Lac Brochet, MB; Kinosao, SK and Oxford House, MB

Gail Burrett of Taking Flight International from Edmonton was the presenter. She used a process of lecture with power point, one on one sharing, group work and reporting, role playing, meditation and finally community group work to come up with a plan of action for each community.

In her own calm and confident way, she shared her expertise on why suicide happens; what suicide is; the effects of suicide; how it can be prevented and how it can be handled when it happens. Her experience shone through the gripping stories she recounted to illustrate her teaching.

One of the gems that she shared with us was that self-inflicted hurt is more about soothing pain through a different kind of pain, than being suicidal. She stressed the importance of honoring the life of a suicide victim without glorifying the act of suicide. Everyone is responsible for everyone else’s well being, she emphasized, and taught us that a kind word goes a long way. Just one sentence from a teacher to an at-risk student, “How was your day, sweet heart” kept that student alive.

Participants went away with a hand-out of information, much support, greater knowledge and hope-filled determination to make a difference in their respective communities.

The event was organized by Fr. Bill Stang OMI, vicar and chancellor, and Rochelle Rydberg, our administrative secretary in collaboration with Fr. Eugene Whyte OMI and Sr. Andrea Dumont CSJ of St. Lawrence Parish in Thompson.

Fr. Bill Stang OMI, vicar and chancellor of our archdiocese, leads the gathering in prayer to start the day.



Gail works with a group from God's River as they discuss the plan that they want to take home to their community.



John Henry and Sherry Menow from Norway House share some thoughts with their pastor, Fr. Noel Boulanger OMI. Fr. Noel covers Cross Lake, Norway House, Grand Rapids and Waboden.



Madeleine Spence, lay presider from Nelson House, talks over some points with Gail during a break.


A view of some of the participants doing some personal work at their tables during the workshop.



Natalie Tays, school principal; Audrey Rose, a teacher, and Karen Spence are from Nelson House. Natalie and Karen are new lay presiders, under the guidance of Srs. Susan Gardner and Ellen Kennedy, Dominican sisters who are lay formators based in Nelson House and reaching out to the larger area of Leaf Rapids and South Indian Lake.



A group of parishioners from Thompson and the United Church minister made up one of the tables.



Sr. Carmen Catellier snjm, pastoral minister in Cross Lake, re-connects with Kerrie Samuel from Lac Brochet, who is doing her best to minister to youth in that community. Sr. Carmen used to minister in Lac Brochet and Brochet some years ago.



James Hickey of Thompson and Fr. Eugene Whyte OMI, pastor or St. Lawrence parish in Thompson, listen intently to the presenter.



Sr. Andrea Dumont csj of Thompson, Miles Bighetty from Pukatawagan and another participant work on the plans for their respective communities.

The Pas Trappers Festival Parish & KC Breakfast

Trappers' Festival here in The Pas began Wednesday, Feb 17th and runs through to Sunday Feb. 21st. The Knights of Columbus and the Parish Council team up to provide pancake breakfast each morning. Here Ron Stewart buys 50-50 tickets from Diane Kelly as Audrey Maksymchuk and Fr. Bill Stang OMI wait for more hungry customers. The winner was Ken Kelly, and contrary to some claims, all was fair and square!




At the next table, Mrs. Catalina and Marie Francoeur sold beautiful craft items.




The chefs on this shift were Ron Stewart, Jim Lamontagne, Debbie Lane, Paul Seidel and Ken Kelly. They earned rave reviews.




Ready for customer and all decked out in his special Trapper's Festival tie is Vaughn Wadelius.




Here Vaughn and Richard Brunel serve a hungry customer.




Joyce McLennan, our archdiocesan financial assistant, is manning the refreshments and keeping things clean. Guy Hall has been the site of this pancake breakfast for years, made possible by the generosity of many volunteers.

Evelyn Jebb 95th Birthday party Opaskwayak Cree Nation

A 95th birthday party was held at the Rod McGillivery Elders' Lodge today for Evelyn Jebb. She was one of the elders who blessed me at my episcopal ordination, and became my adopted kokum here in The Pas. She is a woman of deep faith and much wisdom. Amazingly, she still does bead work and would dearly love to have some smoked moose hide to work with. Does anyone know where I could get some for her as a birthday present?



Mrs. Jebb made the vest that this child (Autumn Brooke Gracie Constant) is wearing for Autumn's dad 21 years ago. She is Autumn's Chapan.




Melanie Deschambeault, a friend of Evelyn from Cumberland House, was also at the party. She celebrated her 90th birthday one month ago.




Dancers Kanses, Kessia and C.J. Michell were on hand to dance for the birthday elders.




Michael Jebb, a son of Evelyn's, and his wife Verna, who is an Anglican priest on the reserve, were on hand for the celebration, along with their grandson Christopher.




The Rod McGillivary Memorial Care Home where our elderly birthday baby resides.

Ash Wednesday in Cormorant

Cormorant is about 80 kilometers from The Pas and is one of our smaller, struggling faith communities. As I would be going to Cumberland House on the winter road for the first Sunday of Lent, I responded to an invitation from the folks in Cormorant to go there for Ash Wednesday. Pictured are some of the folks who gathered.



What I love about Cormorant is the music ministry and quite loud singing. The folks here love to sing and after the Ash Wednesday celebration, they brought in some guitars and had a hymn-fest. Here Agnes, Magdaleine, Marie and Margaret provide the instrumentation and lead the singing.




The church in Cormorant is relatively new and well kept up. They are asking for training for lay presiders; are trying to form a parish pastoral council, and have already hosted a 12 Step Workshop. They are trying hard so please keep them in your prayers.

Return of Fr. Susai Jesu OMI from India

Fr. Susai is the pastor of Pelican Narrows and Sandy Bay in northern Sask, both Cree speaking communities. He is also into his second year of learning Cree. Fr. Susai returned to India to visit his family, friends, relatives and brother Oblates right after Christmas after two years in Canada. He arrived in The Pas Feb. 16th, stayed overnight and then left with his new used vehicle to be on time for the Ash Wednesday celebration in Pelican Narrows.

Through an inexpensive phone arrangement that he found, Susai stayed in touch while in India with his parishioners who are very happy to have him back. In fact, during his absence they even intensified fund-raising efforts towards repairing the church in Sandy Bay, and building a new church in Pelican Narrows.

What is most to be admired is that they are doing this without resorting to addictive means such as bingo. Their latest creative effort to which Susai is returning this weekend is a big fishing derby in Pelican Narrows organized by the community for the new church. The picture below gives an idea of what a fishing derby looks like (this one in Pukatawagon last spring).



A fishing derby is a great way to raise funds for a new church, given that Jesus has sent us all out to be fishers of people. Hopefully this initiative will inspire other communities who are raising funds to do something similar.

CCEPIRSS Board Meeting February 13, 2010

The acronym CCEPIRSS stands for the Corporation of Catholic Entities Party to the Indian Residential School Settlement agreement. This agreement was signed Sept. 20, 2007 between the federal government, the Assembly of First Nations and the four churches involved with the residential schools in Canada. Through this agreement the federal government accepted to pay compensation to former students especially for forcibly removing them at a young age from their families and also for the flawed colonial policy of assimilation. The Catholic Entities (the now 54 dioceses and religious congregations who ran the schools) agreed to raise and provide funds for healing and reconciliation ( $29 million in cash; $25 million through In-Kind community work and programs, and $25 million best-efforts nation wide campaign).

To oversee these commitments, a CCEPIRSS board was created. Pictured are from left to right, Fr. Al Hubenig OMI of St. Albert (member of the Oblate Mission Team); Rod Donlevy, legal counsel from Saskatoon, + Sylvain Lavoie OMI; archbishop of Keewatin-The Pas, + Gerard Pettipas C.Ss. R., archbishop of Grouard_McLennan and chair of the board; Sr. Shirley Walsh SSA of Ottawa, Pierre Barribeau, legal counsel from Montreal, and Sr. Lea Boutin MO from Winnipeg. Missing are treasurer Fr. Jacques L'Heureux OMI of Ottawa and Sr. Claudette Robert SJSH of Montreal.

We meet on a regular basis to discuss the business of the board, including such items as overseeing the Canada Wide Campaign which is just beginning to unroll across the country; our involvement with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission; managing the cash contributions and overseeing the In-Kind commitments.

At the moment it is our concern and our hope that the Truth and Reconciliation Commission which has finally been re-established and is now beginning its work, will be true to its commitment to hear the stories of all those involved or impacted by the residential school legacy so that the historical record may be accurate, including both the positive as well as the negative realities.

Diocesan staff and team meetings Feb 11, 2010

Once a month for the most part, we have a staff meeting around topics of a more general nature, followed by a diocesan leadership team meeting to discuss more specific topics of a pastoral nature as well as financial matters. The picture here is of our staff meeting on Thursday, February 11, 2010. Pictured here are Audrey Maksymchuk, our financial administrator; Rochelle Rydberg, our executive secretary/receptionist; Fr. Bill Stang OMI, vicar and chancellor, Diane Kelly, our archivist and museum curator and Sr. Mary Kastens OP, our director of religious education.

Missing from the picture is Joyce McLennan, our financial assistant, Don Maksymchuk our maintenance man and the archbishop who is taking the picture. Also missing is Sr. Ethel Detz OP, our director of pastoral development, who is located in Pine House, Sask., and who joins us for the meetings on speaker phone. The diocesan leadership team consists of the archbishop, Fr. Bill, Audrey and Sr. Ethel Detz.

Cumberland House weekend ministry February 31, 2010

After the retreat in Lumsden, I made my way to Cumberland House for a Eucharistic celebration there on Sunday. This community has no priest assigned to serve it on a regular basis so we are trying to cover it from The Pas as best we can. Still, they are very well organized and active and have put a new roof on the church as well as built a new deck, ramp and stairs at the entrance of the church. This Sunday we included a welcoming rite for two children who will be baptized at Easter. Here Doris McCauley makes the sign of the cross on one of the infants as part of the rite in which the whole congregation participated.



A great feature of ministry in Cumberland House is the pot luck lunches held after mass once a month of whenever a priest is available to come to the community. These are held in the hall attached to the rectory and feature great food and friendship. Here parishioners are waiting patiently for me to finish taking the picture so that I can bless the food and we can all start eating.



The winter road from Cumberland House to The Pas is less than 100 kilometers, but takes about an hour and a half to travel. This is the eastern part of the road; the western part slices its way through thick forest on the banks of the Saskatchewan River and crosses numerous creeks and the Carrot River. This was the road that I took to return home after the celebration, to save about 200 kilometers involved in driving the long way around.

Flin Flon Parish Council Workshop January 26, 2010

Fr. Bill Stang OMI, the vicar and chancellor for the archdiocese, and Audrey Maksymchuk, our financial administrator, travelled with me to Flin Flon to put on a workshop for the newly formed parish council. It has been years since there was a parish pastoral council in Flin Flon so this is really a new start for the parish community. About 14 parish council members and parish staff attended. We went through a process that included prayer, sharing our experience of being on the council through an imagery exercise, some input on parish councils, and a discussion of possible initiatives for the future. This is a workshop that we hope to put on in other communities in the archdiocese to help promote the formation of more parish pastoral councils where there are none, and to strengthen those councils where they exist.



Fr. Calixtus Fernando, pastor of St. Ann Parish, shares the lunch break with members of the parish council. Fr. Cally is from Sri Lanka and is in his second year of ministry in our archdiocese. He also serves the parish of Our Lady of the Snows in Snow Lake.

12 Step Retreat Providence Center Feb 5-7, 2010

An enthusiastic group of 26 participants attended this retreat that went from Friday evening to Sunday nooon. The theme was Stepping Into The Kingdom. Four of the 12 Steps of the program of Alcoholics Anonymous are on faith and prayer. Five presentations provided an overview of the program then focused on Steps 2, 3, 7 and 11. A prayer experience such as Lectio Divina, Centering Prayer, Taize prayer and the Liturgy of the Hours followed each presentation. Pictured with me are a participant Glenn B., who wants to share his experience with a group that he belongs to; Debbie Doornbos, the program director for the Providence Renewal Center, whose idea it was to put on this retreat.

Saskatchewan District Oblate Community Days Feb 9, 2010

Fr. Bill Stang OMI and I were able to attend part of the gathering in Saskatoon at Queen's House Feb 8-9, 2010. After the district superior Fr. Albert Ulrich OMI provided an update, the Lacombe execuive lead us all in discussing a portion of the latest animation document that invites us to move beyond having more, to being more. Here Bro. Don Claerhout OMI, who has ministered in our archdiocese before and after his time in Rome and Kenya and I join Fr. Joe Jacek OMI who is back from Kenya; Corinne Pambrun the financial assistant and Fr. Aloysius Kedl OMI of Battleford for a small group discussion.


Here Fr. Gil Mason OMI presents some information to the gathering of Oblates and Lay Associates who make up the Saskatchewan District Community.


Pictured are Albert Ulrich OMI, the Sask district superior, with the Lacombe Canada executive Robert Laroche OMI Vicar; Johm Malezdrewich OMI provincial and Gil Mason OMI vicar.

Westminster Abbey BC

This is where the Assembly of Western Catholic bishops gather each year for their retreat. It is home to a Benedictine community of monks who also run a high school and seminary. Some of the bishops of our group did their studies for priesthood here.

Western Bishops Retreat Mission BC January 7-10

This group of bishops and archbishops gathered at Westminster Benedictine Abbey for a retreat given to us by Cardinal Emeritus Cormac Murphy-O'Conner from England. He spoke on the topic of "How Can We Sing The Lord's Song on Alien Soil." His faith, joy, long experience and love for the church kept us awake and entertained, as well as inspired and enlightened. He is at the center of the picture. To his right is Archbishop Daniel Bohan, president of the AWCB.

Ida Colombe Family House Blessing January 17

To remember and honor the passing of her husband a year earlier, Ida Colombe invited me to her home for a house blessing and sharing circle to celebrate the life of her husband. We gathered around a candle and the bible, sang hymns, shared memories, prayed and blessed the home.

On Sunday night we held a candle light vigil for the people of Haiti who had been devastated by the earth quake. About 20 people came for this event. The night consisted of Cree hymns, Taize chants, a Lectio Divina praying with scripture, petitions and a decade of the rosary.