Eparchial Clergy, Clergy Families, and Religious – Saint Nicholas Gathering, Monday, December 29, 11:00 am Divine Liturgy at Holy Eucharist Parish, Edmonton (all clergy invited to concelebrate), followed by a Christmas dinner and visit by Saint Nicholas for the children. Join Bishop David in a relaxing and casual day as the eparchial clergy, their families and female and male religious come together in fellowship to celebrate the Feast of the Nativity of Our Lord and exchange best wishes of peace, hope and joy for the New Year.
The 2008 Annual Parish Reports (general info, parish census and sacrament statistics) are to be forwarded to the Chancery Office prior to December 31.
Parishes and organizations are once again invited to share the joyous news of Our Lord’s Birth with Bishop David with the age-old custom of Christmas Carolling. Please contact the Chancery Office to schedule a time on the following dates: December 28 (2:00 pm – 6:00 pm); January 17 (2:00 pm – 6:00 pm) and January 18 (2:00 pm – 5:00 pm).
The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is observed in Canada between the two Sundays within which January 25 falls. The Week of Prayer seeks to increase unity in the body of Christ by gathering different traditions for prayer and worship together. The Edmonton and District Council of Churches invites you to a time of worship and prayer on January 25, 7:00 pm, at Saint Josaphat Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral, Edmonton (10825 – 97 Street). This year’s theme is “That They May Become One in Your Hand” (Ezekiel 37: 17).
The Eparchy of Edmonton is launching a new program for catechesis and faith formation – “Generations of Faith.” The program moves away from a focus on children-only to a community or “whole church” paradigm of faith formation, where once a month, the entire parish – children, youth, young adults, adults and seniors gather together in prayer, for a meal, and then to learn more about God, the Church and our Faith.
Pastors are invited to select and to accompany five members of their parish or parish district to attend a special hands-on training session led by Sister Ann Laszok, osbm, January 23-24, 2009 at the Chancery Office.
Parishes which undergo the training sessions will then launch the program in Great Lent with monthly sessions on the Church (Liturgical) Year – The Great Fast: Forgiveness and Repentance (February), Good Friday: the Passion (March), Bright Week: Joy and Celebration (April) and Pentecost (Empowered by the Holy Spirit for Christ’s Mission to the World (May).
For more information, contact Gloria Green, Director of Religious Education, at (780) 425-9907. Also, visit www.generationsoffaith.org.
2009 Clergy Study Days: June 1 – 5, Inner Sanctum Conference and Retreat Centre, Caroline, Alberta.
2009 Annual Clergy Retreat: August 24 – 27, Camp Oselia.
2009 Presbyteral Council Meetings: 2:00 – 5:00 pm, Chancery Office: January 22, April 20, June 29, August 24 (Camp Oselia), October 5, and November 2.
2009 College of Consultors Meetings – in conjunction with Presbyeral Council meetings, or as otherwise convoked.
2009 Clergy Conferences: 10:00 am – 4:00 pm, January 23, April 21, August 28 (10:00 am – 2:00 pm, Camp Oselia), and November 3.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
At his November 23 Sunday Angelus, Pope Benedict XVI prayed for the victims of the 1932-33 Holodomor. Speaking in Ukrainian, the pope recalled that the famine under the Soviet regime of Josef Stalin caused millions to die of starvation. “I express the strong hope that no longer will any political order, in the name of an ideology, deny the rights of the human person and his freedom and dignity, and I assure my prayers for all the innocent victims of this tremendous tragedy,” he said. He prayed that the Mother of God might help nations to “proceed along the way of reconciliation” and confront current problems “in mutual respect and in the sincere search for peace.”
«Щиро вітаю українських паломників. Дорогі брати й сестри, цими днями припадає 75-та річниця Голодомору – «великого голоду», який у 1932-1933 роках викликав мільйони смертей в Україні та в інших регіонах Радянського Союзу під час комуністичного режиму. Щиро бажаючи, щоб ніякий політичний устрій в ім’я ідеології більше ніколи не зміг заперечити прав людської особи та її свободи й гідності, запевняю свою молитву за всі невинні жертви цієї жахливої трагедії, і молю Пресвяту Богородицю, щоб допомагала народам прямувати дорогами примирення й будувати теперішнє та майбутнє у взаємопошані та щирому шуканні миру. Слава Ісусу Христу!»
The Ukrainian Catholic Bishops in Canada issued a Pastoral Greeting (Різдвяне Пастирське Послання) on the occasion of the Feast of the Nativity of Our Lord.
An integral part of the recent Eparchial Sobor (Assembly) on Evangelization was for the 240 delegates to reflect on the pastoral needs of the Ukrainian Catholic Church in the context of the Eparchy of Edmonton some 25 years from now. The summaries of the table-discussions are posted on our Eparchial web site for your information and further reflection. Pastors are encouraged to share the results of the Sobor with their parishioners and their parish pastoral council.
Bishop David established an Eparchial Pastoral Council – similar to that of a Parish Pastoral Council, however, on an eparchy-wide basis – with the mandate to investigate, assess and propose practical conclusions about those things that regard pastoral activity in the eparchy. The Statutes are available for your information.
The first two projects to be assigned to the Eparchial Pastoral Council are: 1) draft a mission statement for the Eparchy of Edmonton; and 2) draft a long-term twenty-five year eparchial pastoral plan, based on the results of the November 8, 2008 Eparchial Sobor on Evangelization.
The members of the newly constituted Eparchial Pastoral Council are:
- Most Rev. David Motiuk, Eparchial Bishop
- Rt. Rev. William Hupalo, Protosyncellus
- Rev. Gregory Faryna, Chancellor
- Jayne Buryn
- Orest Eveneshen
- Ronald Gnyra
- Rev. Gabriel Haber, osbm
- Ed Kostyshen
- Bill Lewchuk
- Sr. Rose Luby, ssmi
- Denise Lucyshyn
- Gordon Mitchell
- Cheryl Semeniuk
- Irena Tarnawsky
NECROLOGY
Most Rev. Sofron Dmyterko fell asleep in the Lord on November 5 at the age of 92. Bishop Sofron was ordained to the episcopate in 1968, when the Ukrainian Catholic Church in Ukraine was being persecuted by the Soviet authorities. Following the Church’s emergence from the underground, he served as the Bishop of the Eparchy of Ivano-Frankivsk from 1991-1997, when he retired. Vichnaja Pamjat!
His Excellency, Bishop David, and the entire Chancery staff and volunteers extend to the clergy, religious, monastic, and faithful of the Eparchy of Edmonton a joyous celebration of the Feast of the Nativity of Our Lord and prayerful best wishes for the New Year. |
