Joel Balkovec, Charlotte Medina, Sophia Medina and Kaelynne Makan
I arrived from China in April 2021 and came to St Maurice in October 2021. As a convert, I went through the RCIA pro-gram and was baptized in April 2022. St Maurice has been a place for me to encounter God within the embrace of a warm and welcoming community. I am currently involve with Alpha and running the projectors for Sunday morning Mass.
My daughter Sofia and I first attended St Maurice for the ‘Tacos and Piñatas’ event just before Covid hit. Since then we have truly felt a sense of belonging at the parish. We feel like part of a larger family. I am currently involved in the Legion of Mary and the candle ministry. Sofia is attending Catechesis of the Good Shepherd.
I started attending St Maurice in September 2020, began RCIA in October, and was received into the Church Easter 2021. What I really love about St Maurice is the strong presence of the Holy Spirit, one that encourages me to contribute my talents
to the parish. Currently I am helping with the Hospitality Team and Mom’s Group.
I’ve been a parishioner of St Maurice my whole life. I decided to stay and get involved because this is the only parish I’ve ever known and because I saw areas of ministry where my gifts could be useful. I’m on the Communica-tions Team, involved as a table host at in-person Alpha, and I’ve been running the tech aspects of this round of online Alpha. I started attending St Maurice in September 2020, began RCIA in October, and was received into the Church Easter 2021. What I really love about St Maurice is the strong presence of the Holy Spirit, one that encourages me to contribute my talents to the parish. Currently I am helping with the Hospitality Team and Mom’s Group.
Teach people how to share their faith informally
Give God Permission was the title of our three-night parish Advent Mission in December. Combining a time of praise and worship, video talks by three Companions of the Cross priests, adoration, and prayer ministry, the mission invited us to open ourselves completely to what God wants to do in our lives and our parish. In the third talk, Fr. Josh Grandmaison, of Annunciation of the Lord Parish, affirmed evangelization as the chief work of the Church and encouraged us all to follow “the Lord’s Dynamic” – 1. We evangelize, 2. The hearer responds, 3. The Holy Spirit moves. We can build on this introduction as we plan future instructional sessions on practical, natural ways that we can use to share our faith with the people we know.
Promote an invitational culture; Increase Mass attendance by 10% each year.
Our commitment to foster an invitational culture in our parish grew legs in December when Avery Burrowes and some hardy parishioners hit the streets in our parish neighbourhood to knock on doors and invite people to our Christmas Masses. Responses to our new welcome card indicate that several people took up the invitation.
Everyone attending Christmas Mass was offered the gift of Treasure in Heaven, a 40-day prayer guide by Fr. Mark Goring, CC. Let’s continue to pray that the Lord will use this small gift as a way to draw people to Himself.
Run two community outreach events per year, opening the door to evangelization.
Algonquin College is located within our parish boundaries and is ripe for sharing the good news of Jesus. On January 27, we ran an evangelistic outreach event at the Spiritual Centre there, titled Discover, Adore, Praise. Intended both to spiritually nourish Catholics and attract the curious, this event included an hour of adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, with praise and worship music and a short talk on discovering Jesus. There was a real sense of joy and peace in getting to adore the Lord at the college with some young adults from St Maurice and other Catholic students from Algonquin whom we met for the first time. We ended the night with tea, lighthearted chat and laughter, and a shared enthusiasm to see more Catholic events happen at the college in the future.
Michael Horianopoulos, Seminarian Intern & Avery Burrowes, Discipleship & Evangelization Team Lead
Increase lay service involvement from 7% to 20%; offer training events and personal methods for people to discern their charisms. 
At every Mass, parishioners have the opportunity to see the altar servers in action, making their ministry one of the most visible in the parish. Although few parishioners get to witness the hours of preparation behind this service, it provides a ready example of building community, intentional accompaniment, and leadership formation.
Michael, our current seminarian intern, has taken responsibility for instructing and leading the altar servers this year. He thrives in this role, making the most of his gifts and previous experience as a teacher. He reflects that “leading these young men, mentoring them, and forming them as leaders is shaping, affirming, and forming my identity as a spiritual father as I journey toward the priesthood.”
Because of the large number and wide age range among the altar servers — from early elementary school to young adulthood — the senior servers are entrusted to lead the junior servers through the training stations. Just as they are encouraged and mentored by Michael, they in turn guide and encourage the juniors through the various duties performed during Mass, always emphasising that their service be reverent, centred on the Eucharist, and well organised. As they gain experience in the sanctuary, servers will progress along a pathway of responsibilities until they too can step into the role of leadership for the next generation of altar servers.
A trust and camaraderie exist among the altar servers that extend beyond their tasks. This is because spiritual formation and social time are always a part of their monthly training sessions. There’s nothing like prayer, hockey, and snacks to support service in ministry and create bonds that last!
Joel Balkovec, Comms Team
“I altar serve because I want to get to know God and have a stronger connection with
God and be more active in the Church and get to know people in church.”
Altar Server Chidiebube