Pastoral Plan
2015-2016
PASTORAL PLAN
School Name:
School Mission Statement:
Religious Education, through liturgies, catechism, daily prayer, the sacraments and good
works, creates a Christian atmosphere, which permeates our school community.
Students are provided with the opportunities to achieve success in the basic skills, concepts
and attitudes. These opportunities will allow them to be lifelong learners. The school must
be a safe place that nurtures learning. Self-esteem is crucial to the healthy development of
each child.
We believe that children can learn and that failure is only a starting point for further
learning. An orderly, focused school atmosphere provides the framework for self-directed
learning. Promotion of a friendly interchange among students and adults will lead to
mutual understanding and harmony within the school community.
We believe that the child, as learner, is the central focus of all our endeavors. We recognize
that we all have special gifts and talents to share.
School Motto: Go Make a Difference
Pastoral Plan Links to Strategic Plan/Catholic Board Learning Plan:
 Link: Strategic Plan 2014-2019 Strategic System Plan
 Link: Catholic Board Learning Plan CBLP 2013-2016
Our Parish: St. Anthony of Padua
Pastor: Rev. Joseph Pham, Administrator, Rev. Massillamani (Mani) Zacharias
Parish website: www.stanthonyofpadua.ca
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Pastoral Plan
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Message from the Pastor:
I hope you all had a great summer and welcome back to the Church as we start our new school year as of
Sept. 7/2015. My name is Father Joseph Pham and together with Fr. Mani Zacharias, we are both new to the
parish. The Cardinal Thomas Collins, Archbishop of Toronto has sent us here to serve at St. Anthony of Padua
Parish. We are both very happy to be here and we are here to live among you and to serve you. So, please pray
for us so that we can be the faithful priests in order that we can serve you, the faithful.
As we begin the month of September things are going to get busy here at the parish and I am sure it will be busy at
your home as well. Our parish community at St. Anthony of Padua, we believe that the Lord is always present here
with us. Jesus gathers us together as a family every Sunday so that we can be fed by the Word and the
Eucharist. Indeed the Eucharist is "the source and summit of the Christian life." We are gathering here to be
nourished with the Word of God and the Eucharist so we can be sent out into the world and be a living presence of
Jesus to our brothers and sisters. We really encourage your family to attend Mass on Sundays. Besides coming to
Mass on Sunday, I also encourage your family to spend a few minutes daily to pray together. When a family prays
together, they will stay together. We invite the Lord to come into our family and share with us our joy and
sorrow. Parents/Guardians are called to be the example of faith for your children. Indeed, parents/guardians are the
first teachers of faith to your children. The children can look up to you as examples of faith for them.
I also ask you to join a parish ministry. Here at St. Anthony of Padua we have so many different ministries you can
join: Choir, Lector, Eucharist Minister, Altar Server, Pastoral Care Team, Hospitality Committee, Ushers, Teacher
volunteers..... It is important to share your gifts and blessings with the parish community and together we can turn
our parish into a place of love where all people are welcome.
This year, thanks to volunteer teachers, we will have a tutoring program at our parish on Saturdays, beginning in
October. More details will be announced soon. You can bring your children from grades 2-12 if they need help in
Math, English or Science. Also every Saturday we also have a music class offered for free. We hope to train some
of our young people so that later on, they can play music for the church. I also need more volunteer teachers, and
if you can help us one hour a week on Saturdays, the children in our community will really appreciate it. I am also
happy to announce that we have just hired a Youth Director.
Starting in October, we will have confession and 7pm Mass every Tuesday evening with the Devotion to St.
Anthony of Padua our parish Patron Saint. I would like to ask you to come and we give praise and thanksgiving to
God and ask St. Anthony of Padua to intercede for us.
We need to come together as a family so that we can help to build up our parish together. Together we can make
a difference with the help of God. I ask you to please keep me and Fr. Mani in your prayers. And May God bless
you and your family always.
Message from the Catholic School Council:
The Lester B. Pearson Catholic School Council proudly supports faith formation for our
community. We collaborate with the school in order to support faith formation. Our Council
has supported various activities to raise funds for local charities, sacramental gifts and retreats
for our students.
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Pastoral Plan
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Catholic Education Week Theme: Opening the Doors to Mercy
Throughout Catholic Education Week, we ask you to reflect on the significance of Catholic education’s
presence and contribution in our Church, and in our society.
May 1 – 6, 2016 is Catholic Education Week.
Please visit our school website under the ‘Events’ Tab for all “Opening the Doors of Faith” activities.
Link: CEW under Events
May 1-6th, 2016
Opening the Doors of Mercy
Theme: Catholic Education: Opening the Doors of Mercy
Pope Francis has declared 2016 a “Holy Year of Mercy” as a way for the Catholic Church to “make
more evident its mission to be a witness of mercy”. The year will be celebrated from
December 8, 2015 - November 20, 2016.
Five sub-themes, one for each of the five days of Catholic Education Week, help students to
understand the rich meaning of this year’s theme:
Day 1 ..... Mercy that Welcomes - (Jesus and the Woman at the Well)
Day 2 ..... Mercy that Loves - (The Good Samaritan)
Day 3 ..... Mercy that Forgives - (The Prodigal Son)
Day 4 ..... Mercy that Lives the Gospel - (Zacchaeus)
Day 5 ..... Mercy that Rejoices - (Healing of the Paralytic)
The students at Lester B. Pearson Catholic School will be demonstrating a spirit of awareness
and reflection during Catholic Education Week on the significance of Catholic education’s
presence and contribution in our Church, and in our society. We invite all members of our
community, to participate in the celebrations and activities that will mark the celebration of
Catholic Education Week 2016 in our schools.
Our Youth Faith Ambassadors will be organizing various school-wide activities.
- See more at: Link: Catholic Education Week
Faith Formation:
Forming ourselves in our Catholic faith is a foundational element in helping each of us
understand and live in the example of Christ.
Lester B. Pearson Catholic School participates in various activities that support both adult and
student faith formation. These activities include student retreats, masses, student and staff
liturgies. Our school also have staff members who are Faith Ambassadors as well as Student
Youth Faith Ambassadors.
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Pastoral Plan
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Sacramental Preparation:
As Catholic we understand sacraments to be "outward signs instituted by Christ to give grace."
Together in partnership with our parish, we support the preparation of God’s children in
receiving the sacraments.
Event
Grade 2
Sacrament of Reconciliation
January 25th, 2016
Sacrament of 1st Holy Communion April 10, 2016
Sacrament of Confirmation
Grade 7 and 8
February 27th, 2016
Liturgical Celebrations:
The Liturgical calendar is marked by the gathering in community to celebrate the Eucharist and
share in prayer.
Celebration
Opening & Thanksgiving
Advent Mass
Lenten Mass/Ash Wednesday
Closing Mass
Date
October 7th, 2015
December 9th, 2015
February 17th, 2016
June 7th, 2016
Social Justice / Outreach Activities / Charities:
Catholic Social Teachings of the Church root our actions in supporting human dignity and the
preferential option of the poor which calls us to serve the most vulnerable in the world.
Our school participates in various outreach activities and supports organizations such as
ShareLife, Children’s Aid Society, Cancer Society, food banks, etc. Our Youth Faith
Ambassadors organize food drives throughout the school year as well as raise funds to
support the organizations. Staff also contribute to ShareLife by participating in casual dress
days and special events.
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Pastoral Plan
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Recognizing Ontario Catholic School Graduate Expectations:
Framed by the Ontario Catholic School Graduate Expectations (OCSGE), our graduates will be
effective communicators, reflective thinkers, lifelong learners, collaborative contributors, caring
family members, responsible citizens and discerning believers formed in the Catholic faith
community.
Lester B. Pearson Catholic Elementary School demonstrates a commitment to realizing the
Ontario Catholic School Graduate Expectations. Classrooms focus on the Ontario Catholic
School Graduate Expectations and Virtues education. We address the Ontario Catholic School
Graduate Expectations and Virtues at monthly assemblies and ‘We Can Make a Difference’
campaign, announcements and through our Family Life program.
Celebrating Virtues:
A virtue is a habit or established capacity to perform good actions according to a moral
standard. When we practice these virtues we strengthen them and thereby make the presence
of God more and more visible in the world around us.
Through teacher modeling of our Catholic faith and the virtues program, each child develops
spiritually, emotionally, physically and academically. Virtues education is celebrated during
morning announcements, classroom activities and at monthly assemblies.
Visible Signs of our Faith:
Through symbol and service, we are instruments of God’s love whose work within our
communities stands as a witness to our faith.
Resource List for Parents:
 Religious Education Curriculum - Ontario Religious Education Curriculum
 Family Life Curriculum - Ontario Family Life Curriculum
 Fully Alive Program information - Ontario Bishops' information on Fully Alive
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Pastoral Plan
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Resource List for Schools:
Board
 Vocations Units
We have Vocations units as part of the Grades 2, 5, and 8 curriculum. The goal of these
supplementary units is to deepen one’s understanding of God’s call – the “vocare” – to
various forms of life within the Church.
 History of the Parish
Through the resource book Our Story, Our Tradition, Our Journey, grade 7 students have
the opportunity to learn about the history of our parish.
 Enduring Gift Video
School-Based
 Religious Education Program
 Family Life Program
 The Ontario Catholic School Graduate Expectations
Link: Ontario Catholic School Graduate Expectations
Blessed Teresa of Calcutta
Mother Teresa founded the Missionaries of Charity, a religious community of nuns who serve the
“poorest of the poor”.
Born in what is now Albania, on August 26, 1910, Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu, entered the Loreto sisters (the
Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary) in 1929 and was sent to India as a teacher.
It was on September 10, 1946 during a train ride from Calcutta to Darjeeling for her annual retreat,
Mother Teresa received her "inspiration, her call within a call." On that day, in a way she would never
explain, Jesus' thirst for love and for souls took hold of her heart and the desire to satiate His thirst
became the driving force of her life.
Mother Teresa left a testament of unshakable faith, invincible hope and extraordinary charity. Her
response to Jesus' plea, "Come be My light," made her a Missionary of Charity, a "mother to the poor," a
symbol of compassion to the world, and a living witness to the thirsting love of God. As a testament to
her most remarkable life, Pope John Paul II permitted the opening of her Cause of Canonization. On
December 20, 2002 he approved the decrees of her heroic virtues and miracles.
Link: Blessed Teresa of Calcutta
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