International Women’s Day: Honouring Resistance, Demanding Equality

Ketty Nivyabandi, Amnesty Int’l Canada [Photo Credit: Dave Chan]

As we approach International Women's Day, I am called to reflect on the extraordinary courage of women human rights defenders around the world who are leading, organizing, and resisting injustice in the face of unprecedented pressure and risk. Women like Yanar Mohammed, gunned down only last week outside her home in Baghdad.  

As authoritarian practices gain ground globally, we are facing a global, coordinated, and well-funded crackdown against hard-fought human rights gains. History reminds us that gendered violence has so often been used as a political tool to divide society and concentrate power.

Women who speak out face harassment, surveillance, detention and physical harm. Economic exclusion is used to limit their independence, and digital spaces are manipulated to silence their voices.

In Afghanistan, women have been systematically erased from public life. Girls who could attend school only a few years ago are now forbidden to do so. Women working to provide for their families and drive forward progress are now forced to remain at home, venturing out only when a male companion is present.

In Canada, the rights of Indigenous women to live in safety and raise families in traditional manners to keep cultures alive are threatened by apathy and antiquated laws designed to suppress their identities and rights. 

And yet—despite all such odds stacked against us—women remain the most integral of threads in the social, economic, cultural, and political fabric of life everywhere.

Women the world over are pushing the boundaries of what is acceptable. Of what we will tolerate.

In Ecuador, the Guerreras por la Amazonía remind us that women and girls of all ages are fierce defenders of their homes and communities. In Mexico, women have led the search for thousands of disappeared people and continue their pursuit for truth and justice, in the face of unrelenting threat.

I am firm believer in the power of women to reshape our world. To all the women across the globe fighting against immense odds to protect the rights of all, we salute your courage, but we do not salute it from the sidelines. We salute it in solidarity and action alongside you.

-Ketty | Ketty Nivyabandi is the Secretary General of Amnesty International Canada.

Image: Unsplash

The Energy of March

March carries a vibrant energy of awakening, urging us to shake off the sluggishness of winter. 

The arrival of spring stirs excitement and motivates us to embrace new opportunities.  This fresh energy can be channeled into building routines or pursuing creative endeavors. 

As nature begins to bloom, it reflects the potential of growth within.  This is the perfect time to set intentions for the months ahead and take inspired action toward your goals. 

The energy of March supports projects that require focus and momentum. 

Let this awakening energy inspire you to see the world with fresh eyes.  Whether it is starting a new hobby or reconnecting with an old passion, March encourages you to embrace each day with enthusiasm and curiosity. 

-Sister Ann MacDonald, csj

Image: Alaric Duan | Unsplash

All That A Life Can Bear

This morning, as I sit quietly looking out my window, the sky begins to paint itself deep pink verging on red. The colour bleeds into the expanse of the sky and within minutes, the magic recedes again into blue-grey sky. I know that this will happen again and again for the watching.

As I look down at my iPad, news breaks of war in Iran. The United States have cemented their bond in a joint attack on Iran. The goal explicitly and somewhat confusingly expressed is regime change. People are both exhilarated in the hope of some form of liberation and terrified. They realise that to kill the Ayatollah and a few visible leaders is not the end of a violent and repressive system. The world is holding a common collective breath.

“The world is holding a common collective breath.”

Time to shift and get ready to see my brother who is hospitalized after a stroke leaving his right and dominant side severely compromised. We are close. I watch as he works hard and methodically to open a single serving milk carton solely using his left hand. He lifts the milk carton with the same hard-working left hand and drinks. One more mission accomplished for now.

These three events all within the opening hours of a Saturday morning in late February, 2026. They are clearly not unique to me. They are common in their own way to all of us.

These questions surface:

  • How much can the human nervous system bear?

  • How much of life can we digest in these short time frames?

  • And most importantly, how can we become safety and belonging for and with each other?

-Sister Margo Ritchie, csj

Images: Victoria Morgan/Tim Christopher Klonk/Unsplash

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The Journey Through Lent

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I remember our parish’s Good Friday pilgrimages, when we walked from our small village to the neighboring one, taking turns carrying the cross. It was a trek marked by enthusiasm, joy and excitement where we would transfer the cross from one pair to another so each of us would reach the end without a sense of agonizing pain. Some ran ahead with youthful abandon while others lagged.

Likewise, the journey through Lent follows a determined course that proceeds from beginning to end. Some actively count off the days and weeks until we reach Holy Thursday with a final focus on Christ’s journey during the Triduum. Even as I write, there is a temptation to note that we are in the Third Week of Lent – partway through – as if the destination is the goal. “Keep your eye on the prize,” as the saying goes.

Christ suffered agonizing pain in his final hours; did he know beforehand the pain he would endure on our behalf? He did not pass the cross to another to make it easier on himself. In fact, each step he took throughout his mission required a dying to self so that we might live.

The 15-week Buddhist "Walk for Peace" from Fort Worth, Texas, to Washington, D.C. that concluded on February 10, 2026 has inspired me. In one of his daily teachings, the The Venerable Monk Bhikkhu Pannakara spoke of the need to look at ourselves in the mirror when brushing our teeth each day and then immediately wipe the spots of toothpaste off the reflection staring back at us. “Don’t leave it for later when it's much harder to get off,” he said.

“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step,” says the old Chinese saying or as my Spanish teacher used to say, “Poco a poco, se va legos” (little by little, one goes a long way). Focusing on each step, and the presence of God’s spirit within those steps, is what makes the Lent journey meaningful. Travelling the spiritual journey is a step by step walk on God’s Holy Ground.

-Susan Hendricks, csj associate

images: Jamie Ginsberg/Art Institute of Chicago @artchicago | Unsplash

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Galatians 2:20