This was just submitted by Deacon John Vallely, Past-President, OCADL, who hosted the 11th Annual OCADL Convocation on May 28 – 30, 2010 at St Peter’s Seminary in London, Ontario.

REGISTRANTS

Eighteen OCADL members and wives took part in a warm – but grace-filled and fun-filled – Convocation, held at St Peter’s Seminary. Michel Dion, John & Jocelyne Ezard, Bill & Ellen Gervais and Bob & Mary Lois Probert enjoyed the hospitality of Aquinas House, on the Seminary grounds. Armand & Mary Danis, Charlie & Linda Johnston, Peter & Anne McBride and Etienne Roussel & Bev Proctor settled into the Station Park All Suite Hotel. John & Susan Vallely and Jim Panchaud “commuted” from home. A number of “regulars”, including Dan & Jean Murphy, Bert & Terry Cambre, John Grieve, Nick & Teresa Cherri and George & Cam Newman were unable to attend because of diaconate ordinations in their dioceses (more about that later). Gord & Francoise Bryan, Denis & Suzanne O’Donnell and Mike & Anne Seath sent regrets because of ministry commitments. If I have inadvertently omitted the names of anyone else who sent regrets, my sincere apologies!

FR MURRAY WATSON – Keynote Presenter Extraordinaire!

Our featured guest speaker was Fr Murray Watson, Lecturer in Biblical Studies at St Peter’s Seminary – and recent PhD graduate in Theology. On Friday evening, following Evening Prayer in the spectacular Seminary chapel and an official welcome from John Vallely, Fr Murray began his presentations on “The Deacon as Evangelizer” with a session on “Putting the Ev Back into Evangelization”. During his other four presentations, Fr Murray discussed “The Church’s Broader Understanding of Evangelization”, “Evangelization and Re-Evangelization: Pope John Paul’s Challenge, and the Challenge of Recent Statistics”, “The Five Modes of Dialogue and their Relevance for Evangelization”, “The First Priority: Evangelizing the Evangelizers”, “The Deacon as Catalyst for Pastoral Creativity” and “The Place of Interreligious Dialogue as a Key Component of Evangelization Today”.

Fr Murray’s informal style and astute choice of materials were much appreciated by the group. He employed an interactive format including an abundance of input, thought-provoking questions and examples drawn from personal experiences. Participants found Fr Murray’s sessions to be both engaging and energizing. As usual, when OCADL meets and the material is stimulating, there just wasn’t enough time!

BISHOP RONALD P FABBRO, CSB – Host Bishop

On Saturday afternoon, Bishop Ronald Fabbro, CSB, Bishop of London, joined us for a presentation on “The Role of the Permanent Deacon in the Pastoral Plan of the Diocese of London”. Bishop Fabbro discussed the dimensions of the mission of the Church – kerygma, liturgy, koinonia and diakonia – underlying London’s Diocesan Pastoral Plan (and any Diocesan Pastoral Plan) and offered practical examples around how the diaconate is integral to the Church’s mission. Bishop Fabbro then joined us for Mass in the Seminary chapel and for dinner.

BUSINESS MEETING

After dinner on Saturday, the Diaconate Directors in attendance gathered for the annual Business Meeting. Many of our wives took the opportunity for a shopping excursion to London’s premier shopping venue, Masonville Mall.

Highlights of the Business Meeting:
OCADL remains financially stable. Dues do not need to be increased at this time.

The Diocese of London and St Peter’s Institute for Catholic Formation contributed to sponsorship for this Convocation.

Attendance at the Convocation is an issue every other year because of the Toronto, Hamilton and St Catharines diaconate ordinations. These dates are not fixed, so long term planning is compromised. A Convocation earlier in the Spring would conflict with the NADD (North American Diaconate Directors) annual meeting and, usually, with the Easter season. A Fall date would conflict with Formation & Study Program activities for some dioceses. Options could include
o continuing our current practice. This is, clearly, sub-optimal.
o holding a Convocation only every two years. However, this could compromise the momentum of the group.
o holding a Convocation every two years, with an OCADL Business Meeting incorporated, in alternate years, into the NADD Region II Conference, which is held every other year, in early August, in Ontario or upper New York State. This could provide continuity and offer OCADL members exposure to the deacons and diaconate leaders of Region II. It could also be an opportunity to determine whether an early August Convocation date might be more convenient to OCADL members than the current date.
After considerable discussion, members agreed to the latter option for 2011, as a trial. There will be an OCADL Business Meeting incorporated into the Region II Conference in Kingston, August 5-7, 2011.

Dcn Dan Murphy (Toronto) formally resigned as Executive Director. He recommended that this position not necessarily be filled. Members agreed to leave the position vacant at this time.

Dcn John Vallely (London) is now Past-President and Dcn Bill Gervais (Kingston) is President. Because of the change in plans with regard to next year’s Convocation, and because so many members were absent, it was decided to leave the position of President-Elect vacant until next year’s Business Meeting.

Dcn Etienne Roussel (Thunder Bay) resigned as Secretary-Treasurer. Dcn John Ezard (Kingston) was acclaimed to this position.

FR MICHAEL PRIEUR – Sunday Keynote Speaker

On Sunday morning, following Morning Prayer, Fr Michael (Mickey) Prieur, STD, Professor of Moral Theology at St Peter’s Seminary, led us in a conversation on “The Spiritual Life: Integrating the Spirituality of Marriage and Orders.” Fr Mickey’s presentation was “excellent, enthusiastic, encouraging, engaging, exciting and excited”! His handouts, too, were very much appreciated. There was general agreement that we could have spent the entire Convocation on this topic.

Following his formal presentation, Fr Mickey took the group for his famous tour of St Peter’s Seminary. Given that he has lived at St Peter’s for almost 50 years, his comments reflected both an incredible familiarity with and love for the Seminary and for all those who have studied and taught there.

AND, MORE …

… we prayed well – those in attendance appreciated having the Seminary chapel as the venue for Morning and Evening Prayer, as well as for Mass!

… we ate well – there was no shortage of a good variety of food at every meal!

… and we socialized well. – despite the loss of our expected lounge area because of the flood at Aquinas House!

All the Evaluations were very positive … all in all, a most successful Convocation!!!