Canadian Martyrs Page Twelve

CHANGES SOCIETAL AND CHURCH

Canadian Martyrs has felt the effects of the ever-present force of change, both those within people and groups and those from external sources. The parish population differs today from former days due to a number of factors including greater mobility, changes in the type, size, number and age span of its families.

In addition to the societal changes which have affected all the traditional human institutions, the parish was dramatically affected by the changes emanating from the 21st Ecumenical Council, Vatican 11, in 1962. After a study of the 16 documents prepared by the Council, the Bishops of Canada set about to have incorporated into the life of Canadian parishes the required changes. The process of changing over would be gradual and the rate and extent of change would vary from place to place. The task of undertaking these changes in Canadian Martyrs parish was under the leadership of the pastor of the day, Father Brennan. It was in March 1965 that Canadiar Martyrs felt a major change. It was then that it dropped the use of Latin in the celebration of Mass, and from then on, the Mass has been said in the vernacular.

Through the work of the Parish Council, parishioners are kept in touch with the changing needs of the parish and are canvassed for their opinions on matters requiring decision-making. For example, during the exile and deplorable suffering of the peoples of Cambodia and Vietnam, parishioners were asked if, and how, they wished to assist in the sponsorship of a family. The response resulted in the parish supporting a family from Cambodia while they settled in to their new life in Canada.

OUR PARISH, TODAY AND TOMORROW

Over a century ago Cardinal Newman wrote "to live is to change; to be perfect is to have changed often". This insight into the nature of human life is valid for people in any period of history, but those century-old words are even more profound in this day. Life is not static; it moves relentlessly on. Each is constantly either advancing into life or declining into death. If the celebration of the parish 60th Anniversary has caused us to look back over our history, it also calls us to assess where we are as a parish at present, and what direction we see our parish taking towards the future - towards new life.

The renewal of the Catholic Church as set in motion by Vatican Council 11 is a continuing development involving adaptation and adjustment to the many new and varied situations and realities of the latter part of the 20th century. It is our profound conviction, based on the promise of Jesus, that the changes which the Church is called upon to make at any given moment of its history are not simply based on the arbitrary choice of church leaders, but rather upon the presence, inspiration and guidance of the Holy Spirit. For some, the changes in the Church pose a continued problem of acceptance or rejection; others see in these an ever-renewed challenge of the Spirit to discover and continually rediscover how our Christian faith and life can be more attractive and meaningful in different times and to different people.

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