Former Pastors: Fr. Cote Mass and Reception Recap

Wednesday, May 25, 2016

A warm welcome on a warm Wednesday evening...

Father Cote, our third pastor, served at St. Margaret Mary Parish for only about a year but the brevity of his tenure was inversely proportional to amount of joy he felt here as pastor.

One of his major accomplishments was to secure a government grant to pay the labour costs to expand the Hearth Room to three times its size. The grant was contingent on the church raising funds for the materials. As Father was transferred to another parish soon after the grant, he took some pleasure in telling the next pastor, Father Sherlock, that he had a LOT of work cut out for him!

This is our fourth celebration with a former pastor and a definite pattern is emerging: we at St. Margaret Mary Parish have been blessed with dedicated, hard-working, humble pastors who all possess a wonderful sense of humour. They all can make us laugh, but they do so in their own styles. Father Cote joked that the parishioners at St. Margaret Mary have been "spoiled" all these years! He also humourously observed that it was good to see that the original microphone that hung from the ceiling was long gone (as he had banged his head on it on several occasions!).

Our pastors all have funny stories, yet they have a unique way of telling them. This idea was something Father Cote alluded to during his homily. Most of the stones in the wall behind him are all similar, yet all really individual. He, like the "giants" before him (Father Kennedy and O'Brien), and the excellent pastors who followed, and all of us, are all different. We all have our own unique talents to put to good use in the parish.

Consistent will all the Former Pastor Masses, many thanks to all who contributed to this event including those in a liturgical ministry, the Knights who stood as honour guard, greeters, and the reception team. Anniversary drawings by the school children were on view in the Hearth Room for everyone's enjoyment.

For your viewing pleasure (and downloading if you like!), photos of the Mass and Reception have been posted to an album.

Click here to see photos from the Mass and Reception

#SMM50