Burnaby's Holy Cross Parish put together a rather complete pastoral
plan after the Archdiocesan Synod. Rather than calling on the parish
pastoral committee, Pastor Father Darek Zarebski, SDS, invited
parishioners in their 20s and 30s to form the plan.
Father Zarebski spent the next two months away, so now he and the
parish are ready to move full steam ahead. The recent past has been
a good time for synod implementation; since Father Zarebski arrived
at Holy Cross 18 months ago he has had little time for anything but
continuing the previous groundwork. The synod is thus giving him and
those around him the opportunity to re-energize and re-orient the
parish.
However, the parish synod members noted, "During our discussion, we
acknowledged that many of the top 20 propositions are already in
place."
The parish synod plan outlines quite specific and ambitious ideas,
such as calling for development of "a list of volunteers for
handiwork around the parish and shoppers to alleviate the
administrative duties of the pastor (addressing Proposition 1)."
Holy Cross has placed special importance on Proposition 4: "Assist
parents in their role as the primary educators of their children by
providing parenting guidelines consistent with the archdiocesan
curriculum model of teaching the faith, with instruction for parents
and sponsors at the time of baptism, reconciliation, Holy Communion,
and confirmation."
The parish will create "a Welcome Booklet to outline the programs we
have in place at the parish and create mini brochures with
information and instruction for each sacrament. We will need to
contact the archdiocese for the curriculum model of teaching the
faith to incorporate into our Welcome Booklet and brochures. We hope
this will assist parents (and sponsors) in their role as the primary
educators of their children."
The parish synod committee also looks to Proposition 5 for this
work: "We also hope this will introduce and develop parish ministry
skills and encourage participation in these ministries at our
parish."
The committee also took Proposition 6 quite seriously: "Extend the
Parish Religious Education Program (PREP) to Grade 12" while also
remaining realistic. The parish has set a model for other churches
regarding this vision: "Create or retain a contact list for students
completing PREP and for students completing Grade 7 at Holy Cross
Elementary School so that they can be contacted for future alumni
events involving the youth up to Grade 12."
The committee cautioned the parish: "We discussed the feasibility of
extending PREP to Grade 12 and decided that it would be too
challenging at our parish. We already have approximately 200
students registered in PREP and we do not have the space to
accommodate more students in our classrooms. On the other hand, we
find that students in high school already have a demanding workload,
and we doubt that there would be regular attendance by these
students if we extended PREP to Grade 12."
The parish therefore offers a thoughtful alternative: "Instead, we
have a Youth Group at our parish where students can drop in weekly
for informal religious education and activity, and we sometimes host
CCO activities at the parish." CCO is Catholic Christian Outreach, a
university student movement dedicated to evangelization and
leadership development.
"With a contact list, we can contact our alumni to inform them about
upcoming events and especially reach out to those students who do
not have the opportunity to attend Sunday Mass and receive the
parish bulletins. We discussed the possibility of hosting a visit
from the NET Ministry and REACH."
The Youth Group of about 20 meets Thursday nights and focuses on
athletic and other community-building activities. The Sunday evening
Mass attracts university students; Father Zarebski noted, "The choir
certainly makes a difference."
In fact, Holy Cross takes the future very seriously. It has approved
its share of the budget for Notre Dame High School, and has a
successful elementary school with 240 students. The parish has
almost reached its Project ADVANCE goal.
Holy Cross's synod committee acknowledged the need for spiritual
growth, referring to Proposition 20's "Return to the Spirit," which
promotes "forgiveness and healing for those wounded by family and /
or Church personnel."
The committee also noted the need to "Arrange for healing Masses or
penitential services (in addition to our regular times for the
sacrament of confession) at our parish and / or invite speakers such
as Father Fernando for enhancing this ministry."
A Polish-Canadian priestly
vocation
Father Zarebski belongs to the Society of the Divine Saviour, known
as the Salvatorian Fathers. He was born and raised in southern
Poland.
The communists outlawed religion in school when he was a child.
Luckily the government otherwise left the Church alone for the most
part, unlike in other communist countries of the time. The
communists feared the power of the Church because of the people's
devotion. Father Zarebski's parents, like most other people, never
missed a Sunday Mass.
The pastor recalls living in a fast-growing coal mining town with a
dire need for a new church. Before the government finally relented
in 1975, overflow crowds stood outside the town's little chapel in
the rain, mud, sleet, and snow, until the church was finally built.
Father Zarebski entered the seminary in 1983 because "I wanted to do
something good with my life, to see if I could help a few people in
my life." He was ordained on May 24, 1990, in Bielsko-Biala.
He spent his first four years of parish ministry in various parts of
Poland, teaching religion in school and leading youth groups. In
1994 Father Zarebski came to Canada, to Brooks, Alta,; then to
Calgary, Lethbridge, Nanaimo (for eight years), and finally
Vancouver.
