St. Dunstan of Canterbury held a presentation on the intersection of mental health and spirituality.
By Rev. Graham McCaffrey
On January 31, St. Dunstan of Canterbury opened its doors to a timely community presentation on the intersection of mental health and spirituality. It was an afternoon marked not by easy answers, but by honesty, compassion, and a shared desire to understand one another more deeply.
Our presenter, Kyro Maseh, a registered pharmacist and owner of Rylander Pharmasave, guided us with clarity through a subject that is too often cloaked in silence or misunderstanding. Kyro helped to demystify mental health, reminding us that struggles of the mind and heart are neither rare nor shameful. As many as one in five Canadians will experience challenges with mental health in any given year, a statistic that underscores how close to home this is.
Kyro offered a thoughtful primer on a range of mental health conditions, their possible causes, and the ways treatment, support and community care can make a real difference. What was especially powerful was the reminder that mental health is not solely a medical concern, nor solely a spiritual one. It lives at the crossroads of biology, experience, relationship, faith and hope. To tend to mental health faithfully is to attend to the whole person.
Equally important was the emphasis on community. Healing rarely happens in isolation. It happens when people are seen, believed and supported. In that spirit, we were grateful to welcome representatives from the Scarborough Centre for Healthy Communities, who shared about the wide range of services they offer to support those in our area. Their presence was a reminder that help is available and that partnership matters.
Donations were collected in support of SCHC, an expression of our shared commitment to the wellbeing of our wider community.
The event left many encouraged and reflective. It reminded everyone that caring for mental health is not an optional add-on to our life together, but an essential part of loving our neighbours and ourselves.
St. Dunstan’s is grateful to Kyro Maseh, to SCHC, and to all who attended, listened, asked questions, and helped make space for a conversation that truly matters.