The 2011 OCADL Annual General Meeting at the Region II Conference of Permanent Deacons, August 5-7, 2011, in Kingston Ontario produced an updated Constitution.
Please download the Revised Constitution of the Ontario Catholic Association of Diaconte Leaders here.
As well, please download the minutes of the OCADL 2011 AGM here.
Dr. Michael Higgins, official biographer of Henri Nouwen, gave a sequence of 3 outstanding exhortations (extended homilies) on the life and message of the famous “wounded healer”, who has changed the face of service to the sick, poor, and suffering of our world.
The audio recordings of his talks are available at the Convocation page of the Archdiocese Of Kingston website, along with the materials from 4 exciting presentations based on the lives of four deacon saints – Lawrence the treasurer of the Church, Gregory the Great, Ephrem the Harp of God, and Francis of Assisi. A common theme was to “let God do His work through the deacon” and emphasized knowing Jesus intimately. Visit the website here.
Another highlight was the Saturday evening cruise and sunset dinner on the Island Star, a “Bateau Mouche” Catamaran dining ship, with a stop for evening prayer on the great St. Lawrence River in front of the giant statue of St. Lawrence, Deacon and Martyr.
Descriptions of the Convocation may be viewed elsewhere on this OCADL web site. (1, 2, 3) News from the concurrent OCADL AGM will be posted here soon.
The OCADL Annual General Meeting has been scheduled for late afternoon on Friday, 5 August, 2011, beginning at 4:00 p.m. – prior to the Region II Convocation. An Agenda and a Constitution, revised for approval at the Annual General Meeting, will be sent to members approximately one month prior to the meeting.
Please send new items for the agenda to Deacon John Ezard, Secretary/Treasurer, prior to 1 July, 2011.
>In North America, deacons associate under the umbrella of the National Association of Deacon Directors (NADD), which is divided into 14 regions. This enables deacons from groups of dioceses to meet, to study, to pray, and have fun being together without having to travel thousands of miles.
Regions consist of several dioceses, and each one makes an effort to facilitate fellowship, learning and faithfulness to the diaconal calling among the deacons in that region. Every two years our group of northern New York and southern Ontario dioceses (Region 2) holds the convocation. It moves from diocese to diocese.
The Convocation this summer will be held at the Ambassador Conference Resort in Kingston, Ontario. The distinguished keynote speaker will be Dr. Michael Higgins, author, broadcaster, Vatical affairs specialist, columnist and long-time Catholic educator, scholar and administrator, who will give the address “Ecclesial Crisis: And a Way Forward”!
Please take advantage of the Early Bird registration; $150.00 per person if post-marked by May 2, or $175.00 after May 2. Price includes meals. Please register ASAP.
You may download the pdf registration form by clicking here.
The brochure for the conference is also available by clicking here.
For more information, please contact Deacon Phil and Peggy Carney, at 1-613-634-0796 or psychbus@cogeco.ca .
As Deacon Bert once said, “Let’s make this the best convocation yet!”
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 Continue reading ‘Summary of 2010 Convocation: “The Deacon as Evangelizer”’
Deacon John Vallely, at the conclusion of his year as President of OCADL, was a gracious host to the diaconate leaders who attended, representing many of the Dioceses of Ontario.
The theme of OCADL 2010 was “The Deacon as Evangelizer”, featuring presentations by Fr. Murray Watson, Biblical Scholar, Fr. Michael Prieur, previous and Founding Director of Spiritual Formation for the permanent diaconate in London, and Bishop Fabbro himself! The event was held at St. Peter’s Seminary in London on May 28-30.
One of the informal highlights of the Convocation was the delightful tour of St. Peter’s given by Fr. Mike Prieur, who has been a welcome presence at the seminary for 46 happy years. We were all captivated and well entertained. Some of us even bought Fr. Mike’s new (coffee-table) book, “Panes of Glory”, an account of each of the stories behind many of the glorious panes in the striking stained glass windows of St. Peter’s magnificent chapel.
A photo gallery will be posted on this OCADL web site in the next few days.
On Saturday, November 7, 2009, at St Peter’s Cathedral Basilica, the following ten men from the Permanent Diaconate Class of 2009 were ordained as deacons by Bishop Ronald P. Fabbro: 
Roy Brothers
Gerard Charette
Marcel DeClerk
Jack Grim
Bob Hartman
Alex Litt
Chris Masterson
Doug Oltsher
Rudy Terpstra
Jeremy Tyrrell
Please pray for our brothers and their families as they join us in our Sacrament of Service. And congratulations to the Diocese of London and to all those who supported them in their formation.
The 10th annual convocation of the Ontario Catholic Association of Diaconate Leaders will be held in London at St. Peter’s Seminary on the weekend of May 28 to May 30, 2010.
The distinguished guest presenter will be Fr. Murray Watson, Lecturer in Biblical Studies, St. Peter’s, who will take as his theme “The Deacon as Evangelizer”!
Accommodations are available at Aquinas House, on the Seminary grounds, or at Station Park All Suites Hotel, which is about a five minute drive from the Seminary. The cost will probably be about $50/night at Aquinas House [dormitory style] and $120/night at Station Park.
Watch this site for more information as it becomes available.
At OCADL 2009 in Pembroke last summer, Deacon Bill Gervais presented the new Formation program for the Archdiocese of Kingston. The program makes extensive use of the S.T.E.P. (Satellite Theological Education Program) from the Institute for Church Life of the University of Notre Dame for the doctrinal dimension of formation. We have reviewed the program, and find that it corresponds well with the requirements of the “Basic Norms” document. As a service to our readers, we have posted this review for reference. You may download it by clicking here. The review consists of an independently derived comparison table of the coverage of the Kingston program versus the requirements of the Vatican document “Basic Norms for the Formation of Permanent Deacons”, followed by explanatory footnotes.
If you are interested in having a similar comparison done for your program of doctrinal formation for the permanent diaconate, please send curriculum information details to the editor.
Kingston Archdiocese was one of several (Arch)dioceses which shared details of the ways candidates were selected, formed, and given post-ordination continuing education at the 2009 OCADL Convocation. We hope to publish soon more of the important information made available in the session presentations at this watershed meeting.
On August 10, the great Feast Day of St. Lawrence, Deacon and Martyr, Cardinal Claudio Hummes, Prefect of the Congregation for Clergy, issued a letter of gratitude and encouragement to all permanent deacons. In addition, His Eminence calls all deacons to greater personal sanctification in our prayer lives and in the spirituality of the diaconate. Cardinal Hummes draws our particular attention to the ministry of the Word and to the ministry of Charity, which together with the ministry of the Altar, constitute the essence of diaconal ministry.
We are to model our ministry of the Word on St. Stephen, Deacon and Martyr. We are to constantly struggle to study the Word, practice it, and proclaim it to others. When we were ordained, we were told:
With respect to our ministry of the Word, the Cardinal invites us to meditate on the Word, following the style of Lectio Divina (prayerful reading), and make it our own.
With respect to our ministry of Charity, we are to take as our great model, St. Lawrence, Deacon and Martyr, who administered the goods of the Christian community for Pope Sixtus II. As stated by Pope Benedict XVI, Lawrence was well recognized for his concern for the poor, his generous service of the Church, and his faithfulness to the Pope. Deacons are to identify themselves in a special way with charity, and to assist the poor and marginalized with great generosity. In the recent encyclical letter of Pope Benedict XVI, Caritas in Veritate, the Holy Father states “Charity is the royal road of the social doctrine of the Church.”
Read the full article here.
