THE LITURGICAL COMMITTEE

We have to serve those amongst whom the Lord has placed us, learning in this matter from Our Lady.

The greatest among you must be your servant, says the Lord. Thus we have to leave our egoism to one side and discover in ourselves those signs of charity which make others happy. If we do not make the daily effort to forget ourselves, we will pass by those who are near us over and over again without realizing that they could do with a word of encouragement, that they need their work to be appreciated, and lack perhaps only a word of encouragement from us for them to be better.

Egoism blinds; it narrows our horizons when we look at others; humility constantly opens up a way to charity in practical details and suggests specific ways of serving. This joyful spirit of openness to the others, and the spirit of availability, is capable of transforming any environment.

ST.GREGOIRE CEMETERY PLOTS

The wardens at St-Grégoire are in the process of developing a policy on the maintenance of grave sites. Apparently, there are numerous families that have discontinued the payment of the maintenance fees for family sites. Grave site maintenance is not often something we think about, but it is important to remember that many families in this Parish have a long history in the Buckingham area and many of our descendants are buried in the local graveyard. We have been advised that a large number of gravesites, where maintenance fees have not been paid, have been identified as belonging to English-speaking families and thus associated with our Parish.

Once the new policy is developed and approved, it will be translated and published in our bulletin. The two Parishes have agreed to work together to ensure that all English-speaking families, who for whatever reason have not paid maintenance fees, are contacted and updated on the new policy and the status of their site(s). Any correspondence will be in English to better explain the situation.

Finally, a point of clarification: there has been some concern expressed that perhaps part of this new policy would result in St. Grégoire Wardens reclaiming plots for resale, plots where maintenance fees have not been paid, or where family members cannot be located. We have been assured that this is not part of the new strategy.

The policy will be transmitted to us in April for follow up action.