Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow

Dear WCACYM friends, family, & students of Summer Seminar,

It is my duty as Chairperson on behalf of Sister Maybelle de la Cruz to inform you that she has been called to another mission. 

Things happened quite quickly, and she is now off back to the Philippines to visit with family and spend time with her community. After, she will in the new year begin a new mission in Sicily, Italy! She has been called to help run a retreat house and reach out to the young people there.

Obviously, this came as a great surprise to us and we are filled with mixed emotions. Myself, I am devastated at losing such a gift to WCACYM and to Youth Ministry in my local Diocese of Saskatoon. But Sister's impact has reached all of Western Canada. Quickly thought my heart filled with gratitude and eyes filled with tears. I will remember my meeting with her discussing her move for many years to come. My heart simply burst in thanksgiving for who she is and what she did and sorrow for no longer being able to collaborate with her. But she reminded me that obedience and faithfulness to the call of God is primary. Sister wanted me to let you all know the great honour it was for her to serve you all, and that she continues to pray for us everyday. I in turn let her know how much she has been a blessing to WCACYM, Summer Seminar, Youth Ministry in Western Canada. More importantly, the friendship and witness to Christ that Sister Maybelle was to myself and my family and I'm sure others will not vanish! She shared her desire to be with her community more, and live a life of pray (even more!) and this is an answer to that. 

Her years of service as WCACYM Summer Seminar Administrator have continued the great legacy she inherited from Odile Wilson and Jacinthe Green. We have seen continued advocacy and passion for professional training in our field of ministry. We will continue to offer the Certificate in Youth Ministry Studies, as well as the Enrichment Stream that will be one of the legacy marks left by Sister Maybelle. 

In the interim, I have taken on the responsibilities of administering Summer Seminar. November - January is a critical juncture in finalizing details and sending out packages and letters to supporters. We will in due course be searching and advertising for her replacement.

But, CORE has also seen this as an opportunity to really call on the alumni of Summer Seminar and WCACYM family to step up and serve! After Sister Maybelle turned over her responsibilities and boxes of stuff, I was overwhelmed at the work she and the administrators before have taken on.

So leading up to the Annual Gathering in January (Details WILL come out this week, we apologize for the delay), I would like to ask you to pray and discern if you are in a position to join a volunteer team to help the future Administrators of Summer Seminar. This could be during the year doing admin and promotion work from where you are, or coming to help facilitate and prep for the week in the summer. Reflect on your gifts, time, and how Summer Seminar has been a blessing to you. With more hands on deck, we have the opportunity to make Summer Seminar grow and flourish even more.

So let us give thanks and press on! I encourage you to email us if you wish to get involved. We will also be putting something together at that Annual Gathering to pass on our gratitude to Sister Maybelle.

Finally, if you wish to pass on words of thanks to Sister Maybelle you may connect with her still on Facebook, or email wcacym.summerseminar(at)yahoo.ca which we'll ensure she receives.

Peace to you all, and blessed All Souls Day!

-Colm Leyne
Chairperson, Western Canadian Association of Catholic Youth Ministers

In the words of my daughter, "I'm sad because I'm just going to really miss her". Me too, me too.