Corpus Christi - visionaries and enthusiasts

By Brian Welter
Special to The B.C. Catholic

In this series we profile parishes of the Archdiocese of Vancouver, emphasizing how the Archdiocesan Synod is being implemented at the local level.

Corpus Christi's Saints' Discussion Group, which consists mainly of young adults and meets on the last Saturday of every month, focuses on contemporary issues. For instance, when discussing St. Charles de Foucauld and his interest in missionary work and different cultures before he turned to Catholicism, one of the group's leaders says that students could see how it is possible to be "appreciative of other cultures and religions but still see something lacking in them."

This relates to Synod Proposition 17: "Teach methods and practical skills for evangelization projects, recognizing projects, recognizing cultural and social diversity."

The dedicated core of about 10 people who meet plan to discuss modern saints such as St. Francis Xavier, St. August von Galen, and St. Mary of the Passion.

Stephanie and Justina Chan help to lead this group, but one of the challenges in implementing the synod at Corpus Christi, according to Assistant Pastor Father Anthony Ho, is that "many of the programs have a priest as the leader, and we must find somebody from among the parishioners to be the leader to continue the program."

Father Michael Conaghan, OFM, pastor of Corpus Christi, and his assistant pastor hope to train more parish leaders. Father Ho emphasizes that "prayer is very important for the success of any program."

He said he follows Archbishop Exner's advice: "Don't just think through a problem, but pray through a problem." One interesting issue, he noted, is that people often don't want to take over something like a Bible study because they want the expertise of the priest.

Father Ho draws from two of his personal strengths in his leading the synod implementation: his experience as a prayer group leader and as a catechist.

The former helps him to get "people of different ages and ethnic groups to participate more." This led to the founding of the Saints' Discussion Group in February.

It also resulted in "a Bible study program for the Chinese people" in May, for which there has been "an enormous response," and in a girls choir, "Queen of Angels Choir," in June. Thirty girls came out to the first meeting. For September, the visionary priest plans an English Bible study group. A Boys' Choir is also on the horizon.

Father Ho's experience as a catechist to both children and adults is helping him to develop leaders for all the new programs. He is currently running a training program for new catechists so that these people can "help to teach the faith to other people." Again, there has been "an enormous response": more than 100 people.

This is continuing during the summer, and was originally planned for Wednesdays, but now an English-speaking group is meeting Wednesdays at 7:30 p.m. and a Cantonese-speaking one on Thursdays. The meeting room, with a capacity of 40, is packed on each day.

Recent topics have included the Incarnation and the four last things to be ever remembered (death, judgement, hell and heaven).

Bella Vecina, 10 years in the parish, said she's taking the course "not necessarily [to be] a future catechist, but because I want to learn more about the Catholic faith."

She appreciates Father Ho's tips on "the practical side of it [the faith] and how you can apply what you learn." She said that "most people are eager to learn about the faith," and so the Catechist Training Program includes people from their 20s to their 70s, and some are involved in other areas of parish leadership such as singing in the choir or teaching PREP.

At a glance

• Year founded:
  The web site states, "Originally called Blessed Sacrament Parish, it had its origins probably as an Oblate Mission prior to 1913, though there is no documentation concerning this."

• Families:
  About 1,900: 40 per cent Filipino, 45 per cent Chinese (most Cantonese-speaking, though the Mandarin contingent is growing); about 1,000 use collection envelopes

• Address:
  6350 Nanaimo St., Vancouver, B.C., V5P 4K7

• Phone:
  604-324-2265, Fax 604-327-9699

• Web site / e-mail:
  www.corpuschristi-parish.ca/churchgroups.htm; info@corpuschristi-parish.ca

• Mass times:
  Monday to Friday: 8 a.m.; Wednesday: 9:10 a.m. (School Mass when school in session); Friday: 7 p.m. Saturday and holidays: 9 a.m. Saturday vigil: 7 p.m. Sunday: 8:30 a.m., 10 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 4:30 p.m. (Cantonese). Daily during Lent: 7 p.m. Also Stations of the Cross every Friday after the 7 p.m. Mass.

• Youth ministry:
  Co-ordinator: Irene Goh, Phone: 604-324-2265

• Previous pastors:
  These include Archbishop James Carney, who was also baptized and raised in Corpus Christi, though his baptismal certificate is apparently lost (many documents were destroyed in a fire).

• Other:
  Adoration Chapel is well used; available 24 hours, but must be booked for time slots after 10 p.m. as key has to be picked up. Chinese Prayer Group meets twice a month on Sunday at 7:30; a teaching follows, usually Bible lessons starting with Genesis.

The web site offers an interesting write-up on the parish history, and unlike many parish web sites, is fairly up-to-date.

Parish displays great zeal

One interesting pursuit, according to Father Ho, and "in imitation of Canadian Martyrs Church," is the "Catholic Open House, a program of evangelization that invites non-Catholics and that includes a meal, music, and testimonies."

Father Ho's enthusiasm doesn't end with programs. He has been using his sermons "in the last year to help the parishioners to understand the importance of receiving the Eucharist and attending Sunday Mass." One bright spot of church attendance, he notes, is that Chinese RCIA graduates attend consistently and weekly after their baptism.

With a Cantonese Mass on Sundays at 4:30, Chinese Mass attendance has recently been increasing. The RCIA in this language has also helped, as have a choir, family rosary, lady's circle, and pastoral committee in Cantonese.

Another example of the parish's zeal is the recent pilgrimage to Maple Ridge and Mission, for which one bus was originally booked. The response was overwhelming (more than 90); a second bus was needed.

Not surprisingly, Father Ho has on his horizons more outreach to Mandarin-speaking Chinese, since so many from that community are inquiring about Catholicism.

Corpus Christi School also makes a difference in people's lives

Also with a view to the future, the parish runs Corpus Christi Catholic Elementary School, with about 240 students. It opened in 1957. Father Ho believes that the school is actually making a difference: a woman inquired about becoming a Catholic after she was "able to see that the students at Corpus Christi School are different from other students, more well-behaved."

The school web site, www.corpuschristi-school.ca/index.html, notes, "We offer a well-rounded academic program which includes specialty areas such as French, computer technology, physical education, and music. We also offer a wide range of extra-curricular activities, including athletics (volleyball, soccer, basketball, track and field), choir, computer club, student council, and other groups."

Assistant pastor looks forward

Father Ho was a Catholic school leader in Hong Kong, where he was born. He did apostolic work in Canada as a high school student and seminarian at the Seminary of Christ the King in Mission. He led a prayer group and taught catechism to adults and children at that time, as well as RCIA and PREP.

He studied at Christ the King between 1998 and 2006 and was ordained May 30, 2006, the first of five ordained that year. He enjoyed the "learning, friendship, and fellowship with the other seminarians, and was able to develop my prayer life in the quiet environment of the abbey."

As a seminarian, he said, "I looked forward to apostolic life in the parish church so that I could put the skills I had been acquiring into practice."

As his first assignment, he has "really enjoyed" Corpus Christi, as he has been "able to do lots of teaching" as well as give religious instruction at Corpus Christi Elementary School and Notre Dame High School and participate in the synod planning.

Many more photos and information may be found
on the Corpus Christi Parish website:
www.corpuschristi-parish.ca