The Rev. Dr. John Joseph Mastandrea
The Rev. Dr. John Joseph Mastandrea became minister of spiritual growth and pastoral care development at Metropolitan United in 2000. John Joseph cut his teeth in the Etobicoke area of Toronto and now resides in Cabbagetown, he is "connected with the urban landscape, with the internal and eternal song."
He has Bachelor of Science in Chemistry, Master of Divinity, Master of Religious Education, Master of Arts and Ministry of Spirituality degrees , all from the University of Toronto. John Joseph completed his Doctorate from Chicago Theological Seminary, May 2009. Ordained in 1989, he is a certified Labyrinth Facilitator, Stephen Leader, and Spiritual Director following in the footsteps of Ignatius Loyola and Teresa of Avila. John Joseph believes in nurturing body, mind and spirit. Monday to Friday at the local gymn, reading and meditating daily weaves three key components of life. Nurture for self to nurture for others. This is the credo he lives by. John Joseph is a Christian Mystic who lives by these words.
“The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing... not healing, not curing... that is a friend who cares.” Henri Nouwen
John Joseph has served congregations from the Maritimes, Saskatchewan, northern Ontario and rural Quebec to urban and suburban parts of the Greater Toronto Area.
John Joseph's volunteer work for the church and community includes: Chairperson of the Toronto South East Presbytery Pastoral Relations Commission, membership in the Toronto Area Interfaith Council, Police Chaplin to 51 Division, Membership in the Toronto Rotary, Chair Person the Toronto Rotary Community Services Committee and Chair of the World Aids Concert Committee a benefit for Casey House. Volunteer ministry has included positions as chairperson of the Worship and Liturgy Committee of Toronto Conference for four years, chairperson of the Mission Committee of Toronto South Presbytery, chairperson of the Planning and Development Committee and co-chairperson of the Christian Development Committee in York Presbytery north of Toronto, chairperson of the AIDS Committee of York Region since 1998, and member of the Pastoral Care Committee of York Central Hospital in Richmond Hill. He represented Canada as a delegate to the World Council of Churches in Geneva, Switzerland, in February 1990.
Today John Joseph seeks to meet people where they are and build the capacity for relations between people in a diverse spectrum of society.
Dr. Mastandrea's Thesis: 
Mastandrea - Even The Rocks Will Cry Out (2.6 MB)
Aug 11
RUPERT BROOKE
Once wrote these words…
Now, God be thanked Who has watched us with His hour,
And caught our youth, and wakened us from sleeping,
With hand made sure, clear eye, and sharpened power,
To turn, as swimmers into cleanness leaping,
Glad from a world grown old and cold and weary,
Leave the sick hearts that honour could not move,
Oh! we, who have known shame, we have found release there,
Where there's no ill, no grief, but sleep has mending,
In August there has been for the past seven decades the marking of Hiroshima Day. The aim is to remember so that we do not forget. In retrospect the world was plunged into a cold war for four decades. The demise of the Berlin wall broke down the barriers. The salient feature of this event was that East would now be friends with the West. Today we are faced with former super powers and a grocery arsenal of nuclear weapons. Looking back Hiroshima Day examines the road map that we have travelled.
Where there's no ill, no grief, but sleep has mending,
Hiroshima Day
During the final stages of World War II in 1945, the United States conducted two atomic bombings against the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan, the first on August 6, 1945 and the second on August 9, 1945. These two events are the only use of nuclear weapons in war to date.
Within the first two to four months of the bombings, the acute effects killed 90,000–166,000 people in Hiroshima and 60,000–80,000 in Nagasaki, with roughly half of the deaths in each city occurring on the first day. The Hiroshima prefectural health department estimates that, of the people who died on the day of the explosion, 60% died from flash or flame burns, 30% from falling debris and 10% from other causes. During the following months, large numbers died from the effect of burns, radiation sickness, and other injuries, compounded by illness.
Six days after the detonation over Nagasaki, on August 15, Japan announced its surrender to the Allied Powers, signing the Instrument of Surrender on September 2, officially ending the Pacific War and therefore World War II.
Where there's no ill, no grief, but sleep has mending,
Einstein
Who could have imagined that Albert Einstein the genius who gave us the Theory of Relativity , that he would become a patron of the Atomic bomb. Einstein to has a narrative that tells of the trajectory that led to this decision.
History tells us that the physicist Albert Einstein did not directly participate in the invention of the atomic bomb.
In 1929, he publicly declared that if a war broke out he would "unconditionally refuse to do war service, direct or indirect... regardless of how the cause of the war should be judged." His position would change in 1933, as the result of Adolf Hitler's ascent to power in Germany. While still promoting peace, Einstein no longer fit his previous self-description of being an "absolute pacifist".
Einstein's greatest role in the invention of the atomic bomb was signing a letter to President Franklin Roosevelt urging that the bomb be built. The splitting of the uranium atom in Germany in December 1938 plus continued German aggression led some physicists to fear that Germany might be working on an atomic bomb.
Where there's no ill, no grief, but sleep has mending,
The Manhattan Project
The working group utlizing Einstein’s research and driven by the fear that the German’s might be first.The secret U.S. project to create the first atomic weapon was known as the Manhattan Project. The Hiroshima bomb, a gun-type bomb called "Little Boy. In May 1945, the defeat of Germany caused the focus to turn to possible use against the Japanese.
Where there's no ill, no grief, but sleep has mending,
Now is the time and age to bring mending and healing. In the face of global conflict and famine.
Lest we forget, always remember to bring mending to the world.
These laid the world away; poured out the red
Sweet wine of youth; gave up the years to be
Of work and joy, and that unhoped serene,
That men call age; and those who would have been,
Their sons, they gave, their immortality.