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The first thing to remember is SIZE. My diocese of Kamloops
is one of five dioceses in British Columbia. The others are Prince
George, Nelson, the Archdiocese of Vancouver, and Victoria, the
island off the coast of Vancouver. That last diocese, Victoria,
is larger than the British Isles.
The diocese I work in is the size of Ireland. And we have 13 diocesan
priests and 4 Oblates of Mary priests to cover that area. There
are 32 parishes, but some of those also have missions attached to
them.
In my own parish area I have four churches to care for:
St. James in Vernon, Our Lady of the Valley in Coldstream, and St.
Benedict and St. Theresa on the Okanagan Indian Reserve. We are
not far from the American border, but the further north you go then
the more sparsely populated is the area and the more widespread
the towns and settlements. Many parts of the dioceses in the Yukon
and the North West Territories can still only be reached by plane,
and often a float plane at that. We are also quite a United Nations
in our diocese: myself, the English priest, a priest from the Philippines,
one from Nigeria, one from Vietnam, two from Poland and one from
America.
Seven hours drive to the most northern parish in the diocese ...
If I want to drive to the Cathedral or the Chancery offices, which
are both in Kamloops it will take me one and a half hours to drive
there. If I want to go to our diocesan center in Cache Creek it
will take me two and a half hours to drive there. And if I want
to drive to our most northern parish, Quesnel, it will take me seven
hours to drive there.
Diocesan Priests' Meetings.
All the diocesan priests meet on the first Monday and Tuesday of
each month at Cache Creek with the Bishop. We arrive for Evening
Prayer in the chapel at 5.00 pm on Monday evening. That is followed
by a “Happy Hour” in the dining room over wine and appetizers,
with a lot of banter between us, with the Bishop joining in. Dinner
is at 6.00 pm followed a meeting in the TV room, when each of us
gives a report to the Bishop on what has happened in our parish
since the last time we met. The Bishop takes notes, and ends by
giving his schedule and what he has been doing: he also gives us
any news we need to know. After that it is bed.
Morning Prayer is at 7.45 am, followed by concelebrated Mass and
breakfast at 8.30 am. We then meet again in the TV room at 9.15
and watch a DVD usually on prayer or the spiritual l ife. 11.00
am sees us in the dining room for lunch and then it is off to our
own parishes once again.
These monthly meetings are very valuable, since most of us live
quite a distance from the next priest.
School and Hospital responsibilities
In Vernon I am in charge of our primary school as the Bishop’s
representative. It takes children from Kindergarten to Grade 7 –
about the age of 11. There are five schools in our diocese, all
of them K to Grade 7, except St. Ann’s Academy in Kamloops
which is K to Grade 12.
I have a school council to help me in the running of the school,
but at the end of the day I am responsible to the Bishop for the
school. We receive only 50% funding from the Provincial Government,
so the other 50% has to be found through parents paying tuition
fees, through fundraising, and finally from the parish itself.
Over the last three or four years that has meant that St. James
Church has had to find $100,000 each year, Our Lady of the Valley
Church $30,000 and the Reserve churches $5,000 to keep the school
running.
There has been a steady decline in the number of children attending
our school, but that is part of a Province wide problem, and indeed
a country wide problem. Due largely to abortion Canada would have
zero growth population if it were not for immigration.
I also have to look after a small hospital, which is due to be enlarged,
and a hospice with 12 beds: and then of course there are the usual
homes for the elderly, and since Vernon is a popular place to retire
to (any takers??) we have a lot of “Golden Oldies” sitting
in God’s waiting room and waiting for Him to call them in.
Parish obligations
My daily Mass is at 8.00 am each morning except Saturday when it
is at 9.00 am. I rise at 5.00 am to prepare for Mass. From Monday
to Thursday inclusive there is Adoration in St. James church from
after morning Mass until 9.00 pm. There is no daily Mass at Our
Lady’s or on the Reserve. On Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday
I also have to drive to the Carmelite convent for Mass at 11.00
am – 60 kilometers round trip.
At the weekend Confessions are from 9.30 – 10.30 am, and then
there is an evening Mass at 5.00 pm at St. James. On Sunday it is
8.30 am at St. James, 10.30 am at Our Lady of the Valley and finally,
7.00 pm at St. James. Another priest celebrates Mass at 12.30 on
the Reserve.
My days are full, since my parish is the second largest in the diocese.
At present I am on my own, but I have had assistant priests in the
past – that is a luxury now.
I have managed however to get away on pilgrimage a couple of times
a year with a couple of the other priests, to places like Reno and
Las Vegas. If you win in the casino they take 30% of your winnings
in tax off you immediately. So far this year our friend George Bush
owes me over $2,000, so I must have been doing something right.
Climate
Our climate is very agreeable. As I type this it is raining heavily,
but that is the first rain we have had in over a month. The temperatures
over this past month of July have been between 30 and 40 degrees.
In winter it snows heavily and the temperature plummets: our lowest
last winter was minus 26 degrees.
We have a ski mountain just above the town, a drive of 24 kilometers
takes you up to 6,000 feet, and people come from all over to enjoy
the downhill and cross country skiing and snowboarding.
It's all a bit different from life in Lancashire ain’t it!
And I haven’t even mentioned the Indians – that is another
story altogether!!
Fr. Martin Peyton
Article
date: August 2008
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