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Message from the Pastor’s Desk - Jan 4, 2009
I would like to take
this opportunity to express my most sincere best wishes for a
Blessed and Happy New Year 2009 to you and to your loved ones
as we embark on a new opportunity to celebrate God’s presence
in our lives. We look to this new year with hope and optimism
because it is wise for us to do so. There is no doubt in
anyone’s mind that 2008 left us with many doubts and anxieties
but we truly need to believe that the challenges we face are
those for which we are able to rise to even in the midst of
great uncertainty.
2009 is also THE year where we will be celebrating the 150th
Anniversary of Sainte-Anne’s Parish, our beautiful community
which has had the joy of worshipping here in Tecumseh since
1859. What an amazing milestone for our parish and for the
greater community of Tecumseh and the Essex-Windsor Region.
150 years of Catholics gathering to celebrate their faith in
both French and English {and for a good portion of that time
in Latin}. Thousands of weddings, baptisms, First Communions,
Confirmation and even the Ordinations of priests and a bishop
{Most Rev. Eugene LaRocque} have taken place inside these
walls. This community has journeyed through many highs and
lows: two World Wars and other conflicts where its sons and
daughters gave their lives for freedom. It lived through the
Great Depression and several recessions. Our facilities have
been through many restoration projects and are in the midst of
one right now. While there is no doubt it is by far the
largest undertaking in the parish’s history, we will get
through it even if it takes a few years.
People have asked how we intend to celebrate this milestone in
our parish. Since this is a very busy parish, it is very
challenging to do this right without making it too difficult
on the rest of it. I propose to you three events with the last
one by far the most important one. In February, we will be
having a pre-Lent Parish Mission, once again led by Father
John Graden, an Oblate of St. Francis de Sales who hails from
Stella Niagara, New York. He will be with us from February
14th to 18th. The theme for this year’s Parish Mission will
be: “Finding God wherever you are.” This July will be the
Annual Novena to our patron saint, Ste-Anne. However, this
year, July 26th which is her Feast Day is on a Sunday so our
intent is to make this a Feast Weekend and Bishop Ronald P.
Fabbro, CSB, Bishop of London will be with us for the whole
weekend to celebrate our patron saint on this special year.
And finally, I am asking you to mark your calendars for
Sunday, October 18th, 2009 for a special afternoon Mass and
Banquet where Bishop Fabbro will once again grace us with his
presence so that we may cap this moment in a joyful and
life-giving celebration of our parish. I know that it will be
an event that you will not want to miss. Obviously, more
details will be forthcoming for each of these events.
One of the ideas that we will be working on for the next
couple of months is a history book in order to mark the 150th
Anniversary with a tangible souvenir that will serve as a
keepsake for years to come. I would like to invite the
parishioners to start looking into their archives for pictures
that would help us bring some of that history to life in this
book. I promise you will get your pictures back. We anticipate
having the book ready for the October grand celebration.
Well, we have survived yet another wonderful Christmas as a
parish family. I wish to first of all take a moment to
acknowledge the wonderful generosity and thoughtfulness of the
parishioners for your greeting cards, gifts, food and other
wonderful acts of love both to myself and to my staff. It was
greatly appreciated and it made this time of the year even
more special. I am always very moved by the great efforts the
people of Ste-Anne’s make to make Christmas in the office and
in the Rectory a truly remarkable moment and can only once
again say to all of you: Thank You.
Once again, the decor of the church was magnificent. Our
special children’s Choir came through beautifully at the 5:00
p.m. Mass. Their many practices paid off. On the spur of the
moment, I decided to bring up a baby as I had announced at the
7:00 p.m., 9:00 p.m. and Midnight Mass. I wish to acknowledge
Madison Marie Holland, daughter of Jeffrey and Rana {MacKenzie}
who stole the “show” with her beautiful red dress. Our Folk
Choir and Traditional Choir came through for us again at
multiple masses and for that we are grateful. Interesting
fact: we only needed additional seating at the 5:00 p.m. Mass
and thus the televisions and cameras at that mass only. I wish
to thank Dennis Marentette for providing this service again to
our parish. We estimate that close to 5,000 people came for
Christmas over 7 masses over those two days. I also wish to
acknowledge all of the hard work of our ushers and ministers
of hospitality in ensuring the proper seating of all who came
through our doors.
As we begin a new year, it is also that time of the year to
look back at what occurred in our parish in 2008. During this
past year we celebrated: 75 Funerals, 55 Weddings, 187
Baptisms, 186 First Communions, 167 First Reconciliations and
216 Confirmations. There is no doubt that we can safely say
that 2008 was a rather busy year for us at Ste-Anne’s and we
anticipate similar activities for us in 2009.
And so we begin this new year filled with the desire to bring
forth good things to our parish community. After a two week
break, school starts up again this coming Monday {January
5th}. I am sure that parents will be happy about that. May the
Epiphany of our Lord empower us to bring forth His message of
hope, love and faith to a world so needing to hear it. |
