Reflections

World Book and Copyright Day

“World Book Day, also known as World Book and Copyright Day or International Day of the Book, is an annual event organized by UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) to promote reading, publishing, and copyright. The first World Book Day was celebrated on 23 April in 1995 and continues to be recognized on that day.” -Wikipedia

Books are magic carpets that transport us to new places where we can experience life and meet new folks. Mary Schmich, award winning journalist, observes that, “Reading is a discount ticket to everywhere.”

Prolific, South African writer, Helen Exley, cautions us that books are powerful catalysts that can shift our thinking. She warns, “Books can be dangerous. She gives notice that, the best ones should be labeled “This could change your life.”

American novelist, Joyce Carol Oates, asserts that books offer us a chance to walk in someone else’s shoes. She verbalizes that, “Reading is the sole means by which we slip, involuntarily, often helplessly, into another’s skin, another’s voice, another’s soul.”

“Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counselors, and the most patient of teachers.”
— Charles William Eliot

Personally, as a self-proclaimed reading addict, I strongly agree with historical writer, Taylor Jenkins Reid, in her belief that, “…a good book should be either the entry point inward, to learn about yourself, or a door outward, to open you up to new worlds.”

Today, to celebrate World Book Day, I invite and challenge you to share, with a friend or colleague, a book you discovered as a delightful or informative read.

-Nancy Wales, csj

Images: Unsplash/Susan Q Yin/Jaredd Craig

World Day of Prayer for Vocations

The 61st Annual World Day of Prayer for Vocations occurs on Sunday, April 21, 2024 with the theme: “Called to sow seeds of hope and to build peace.” 

In his letter to commemorate this day, Pope Francis says, “This day invites us to reflect on the precious gift of the Lord’s call to each of us, as members of his faithful pilgrim people, to participate in his loving plan and to embody the beauty of the Gospel in different states of life. Our life finds fulfillment when we discover who we are, what our gifts are, where we can make them bear fruit, and what path we can follow in order to become signs and instruments of love, generous acceptance, beauty, and peace, wherever we find ourselves.”

Let's dive into the vibrant landscape of religious vocations in the Diocese of Hamilton, where the Diocesan Vocation Director is Father Mark Morley. Father Mark is the son of one of our original Hamilton CSJ Companions, Connie Morley. (A Companion is someone who shares the charism of the Sisters of St. Joseph, embodying active and inclusive love) No doubt through the years, Father Mark has absorbed some CSJ flavour through his dear mother!

One way Father Mark facilitates prayer support for seminarians, deacons, and those in initial religious formation is by distributing prayer cards featuring their names and photos. He further aids young adults in discerning their vocations through dedicated evenings and leads a Men's Discernment Group monthly. Additionally, the Diocese hosts annual events like the Vocation Mass and the Serra Club organizes initiatives such as the Annual Vocations Dinner and visits to Catholic High Schools by representatives from diverse vocations.  All these activities contribute to the rich tapestry of vocational discernment in the Hamilton Diocese.

These are some of the many religious vocations in the Diocese of Hamilton:

  • Sisters of St. Joseph in Canada

  • School Sisters of Notre Dame

  • Sisters of the Precious Blood

  • Sisters of Our Lady Immaculate

  • Sister Servants of Mary Immaculate

  • Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary

  • Poor of Jesus Christ

  • Felician Sisters

  • Sisters of St. John the Baptist

  • Ursuline Sisters of Chatham

  • Carmelites

  • The Society of Jesus (Jesuits)

  • Congregation of the Resurrection

  • Congregation of the Holy Cross

  • Hospitaller of St. John of God

  • Oblates of Mary Immaculate

  • Barnabite Fathers

  • Carmelites of Mary Immaculate

  • Comboni Missionaries

  • Pallottine Fathers

  • Legionaries of Christ

  • Consecrated Virgins

  • Permanent Deacons

  • Seminarians (currently 15)

  • Diocesan Priests

Navigating one's place in the world can be a daunting journey, fraught with uncertainties and complexities. As individuals discern their unique paths in life, we must pray for them and extend our support, affirming the inherent dignity of every individual.

-Sister Nancy Sullivan, CSJ

I Couldn’t Believe My Eyes

It was late Sunday afternoon when I learned that King’s University Parish offered a 5:00 pm Mass for its students. Pressed for time, I quickly drove to the main campus and hurried into the small chapel. There in silence sat only a young couple expecting to attend Mass. No candles were lit, no presider was present.  Soon, the young man consulted his phone and announced that Mass was at the nearby spacious King’s College Chapel – formerly our community’s Mount St. Joseph chapel.

As I sped down Huron Street, I wondered why a five-o’clock Sunday Mass would be held in such a large space for a few students. Several minutes later I parked the car, raced up the wide cement steps and entered the foyer. Now, out of breath, I hurried across the marble floor and gingerly opened the chapel door.  I stopped in my tracks as I beheld the pews filled with young students raising their voices and praising God to the organ strains of a timely Lenten hymn.

I couldn’t believe my eyes and ears! A sense of quiet awe permeated the atmosphere as young men and women of many colors and races worshiped in faith and solidarity as their chaplain, assisted by the college deacon, led the beautiful celebration of the Eucharist.  I felt a solemnity and beauty that transcended the ordinary.

Voices in my head reminded me of what I often thought and what many others believe: “Young people don’t go to church anymore”.  “Few practice their faith these days”.  “What is our world coming to”? 

Wait a minute, I thought, how could we have been so wrong?  Here I was among a devout crowd in line to receive communion singing the haunting words, “Eat this bread, drink this cup, come to me and never be hungry”.  Here they received sustenance and strength at a weekly Sunday Service.

Following the ceremony, the feeling of fellowship that had begun at Mass continued as a large group made their way downstairs to an inviting room where coffee, crusty buns, and four kinds of soup were served from hot urns by student volunteers. Sitting around white tables, fellowship and friendly chatter filled the room.  It was all so simple, heartfelt, and real.

Even as the academic year draws to a close and students head out of town, a considerable number will continue to attend Sunday Service. Come September, the chapel will be filled again with devout students.  Now I know that faith is alive and active in students at King’s University College, and in many other places as well.

-Sister Jean Moylan, csj

Tent Dwellers and Foot Washers

As we savour the mystery and blessings of Jesus’ Resurrection  may we turn our thoughts and attention to the words of Isaiah to discover the manner in which we as Easter People are called and challenged to live out the message of this good news.

Enlarge the site of your tent,
    and let the curtains of your habitations be stretched out;
do not hold back; lengthen your cords
    and strengthen your stakes. Isaiah 54:2

More than ever in our current times we are challenged to enlarge our tent, symbolically to extend hospitality and refuge to one another.

Ironically, Robert Ingersoll, although nicknamed “the Great Agnostic” reminds us , as I presume Jesus, the Risen One would that we rise by lifting others up. In what ways are we being called to lift the spirits of one another?

This generosity of spirit is set as an example for us by Jesus as he washed the feet of his disciples at the Last Supper. He calls upon us to wash one another’s feet. (John 13:1-17)

As renewed Easter People let us be welcoming tent dwellers and warm-hearted foot washers for those we encounter.

-Sister Nancy Wales, CSJ

Cabrini: the Movie

“What the world needs now, is Love Sweet Love”, some of us may remember this song of Burt Barcharach and Hal David that came out in 1965. As the song says, “It’s the only thing there’s just too little of... No, not just for some, but for everyone...”

Yes, this world needs so much love as we come to a turning point where love is being replaced with hatred, bullying, xenophobia, violence against anyone who is “different” than the white male Caucasian.  Women are belittled, Indigenous peoples in countries world-wide are looked upon as being subhuman or inhuman, hence are treated as if they have no value. People who are homosexual or transgender are not even considered to be human.  What is the criteria for dismissing a human being? Too many politicians exhibit an unconscious or perhaps even conscious assumption that some people in this world are not human...and this is in supposedly educated nations.  Shame on us if we remain silent, for therein is our consent.

Enter, “Cabrini” the movie about a young Italian woman who dared the powers of Church and state to say “no” to the dream of a better world for all.

Not only does the movie take the “religiosity” out of religion, but inserts an interesting dynamic between: women and the men who hold power, Italian immigrants and U.S. citizens, a tribal worldview and an inclusive one, the rich and privileged of New York City, and the poor in the slums.

Frances Cabrini, born in 1850, had only a few years to live because of a compromised lung condition she acquired when she almost drowned as a child. She founded her own Religious order because she was rejected by established orders due to her ill health.  The Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart, under Mother Frances Xavier Cabrini, felt called to the far east to minister to the poor and forgotten. The movie “CABRINI”, graphically depicts how 6 women were able to effect major change in the hearts of the citizens of New York City after having been commissioned by Pope Leo XIII.

Upon arriving in New York the women experienced firsthand, the plight of the Five Points Slum district in which Italian immigrants lived isolated from the rest of the citizens of NY City (“Rats have it better”, described their condition)

The Institute of The Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus established seven homes and a free school and nursery in its first five years. Its good works brought Cabrini to the attention of Giovanni Scalabrini, Bishop of Piacenza, and of Pope Leo XIII.[2]

In 1889, at the suggestion of Pope Leo XIII, the Sisters came to New York, and opened convents in the Archdioceses of Chicago, Denver, Newark, Seattle, and Los Angeles and the Dioceses of Brooklyn and Scranton.[3] In 1892 they established Columbus Hospital in New York City,[4] which later became Cabrini Medical Center and operated until 2008.

Perhaps the compassionate viewer is able to appreciate these times in which the movie was produced and the actual tenor of the day in the late 1800’s to the early 1900’s. We saw in the portrayal of Mother Cabrini a woman spurred on by intense love for the orphans and abandoned of her society. We also saw how anger fuelled her passion to embrace those who had no love.  Anger and love provided the energy Mother Cabrini needed to accomplish all she did.

-Sister Kathleen Lichti, csj

Image: Felix Mooneeram/Unsplash