World Day of Prayer

WORLD DAY OF PRAYER - MARCH 1, 2024

In 2017, a group of ecumenical Palestinian Christian women were chosen by the World Day of Prayer International Committee to write the 2024 service based on the theme “I Beg You … Bear With One Another In Love” inspired by Ephesians 4:1-3.

During COVID the committee of Palestinian women continued to work, pray, reflect, and write the Prayer Service for our World Day of Prayer this year.  These women are convinced that standing together as one global community and transcending our differences can result in a brighter future for the troubled area of Israel and Palestine.  The Committee of Palestinian Christian Women wants us to join them in praying together with hope that one day, the people of their land will enjoy peace and prosperity.

The prayer service will include testimonies of women who dare to speak the truth in love of their personal journeys living under occupation; it will include a brief devotional message as well as, music, hymns, and prayers.

Women attending the prayer service will be asked to join in the following commitment of the heart:

• “May we commit to working for peace as we stand with all women, particularly those experiencing oppression, violence, or discrimination.

• May we be faithful advocates for decision makers working on all levels of society, including religious institutions.

• May we bear with one another in love until God’s justice and peace reign throughout the whole world.”

-Sister Elaine Cole, CSJ

Video: واطلب اليكم (Wa atlubu) - I Urge You, by Najwa Hashweh Azazian (Palestine) | This song was especially composed for the 2024 World Day of Prayer.

TILT

            “By the word of the Lord the Heavens were made;. . . .” (Ps. 33: 6)

How’s your imagination?  Have you ever imagined God speaking words at the beginning of creation–especially the creation of our Earth?  I imagine God completing the planet Earth and then saying, “Tilt.”

We are approaching the summer solstice on June 21.  For us in the northern hemisphere, as we continue our revolution around the sun, we will be ‘tilted’ toward the sun and will feel its warmth.  The ‘tilt’ of the Earth is what gives us our seasons and so because of the ‘tilt’ of 23.4 degrees of Earth’s pole, we will have the longest day of the year.  In other words,  Earth’s northern hemisphere will begin the season summer.

As summer begins in the northern hemisphere we can honour human consciousness and rejoice with the British at the 5000 year old monument at Stonehenge.

-Sister Elaine Cole, csj

Image: Unsplash/Philip Mackie

My Trees

Image: Unsplash/Erwan Hesry

NATIONAL LOVE A TREE DAY is MAY 16th

I never had a favorite tree.  However, I have tried to grow trees from seed.  My first attempt was at growing an orange tree from one of the seeds in the orange I was eating.  Remember when there used to be seeds in oranges?  I think it’s ironic the way we want to control everything having to do with reproduction.  Seeds in oranges are definitely an inconvenience.  But I digress.  My orange tree actually grew quite tall (about 10 cm) and then I moved and gave it up to the elements.

My second attempt at growing a tree was to take a maple seed key from Southwestern Ontario to Edmonton, Alberta to see if I could grow a tall tree there.  Unfortunately, when I put the tiny 4 cm high seedling out in the yard to get more sun, I watch a bird sit on the side of the pot and pull out the plant by the roots.

I have to laugh at myself for thinking that I am the one growing trees when really I only planted seeds and kept them moist.  It really is God who gives the increase.  It’s all part of the plan in which we can actively participate.  

-Sister Elaine Cole, CSJ

Header image: Unsplash/Simon Wilkes

The Good Shepherd

In Sacred Scripture, Jesus refers to himself as the Good Shepherd.  What is Jesus’ experience of shepherds?  Wasn’t Jesus a carpenter and the son of a carpenter?  Have you wondered why he calls himself a shepherd?  I have and I can only imagine that he had admiration for the simplicity of life of this humble yet essential profession.  Also, Jesus would have been familiar with the prophet of old who promised a messianic shepherd to the people in the new Israel. (See Ezekiel 34)

Image: Unsplash/Patrick Schneider

We know from Luke’s Gospel that the shepherds were the first to witness the message of the angels and that they would find “in a manger an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes.”  These shepherds were also the first to be abused for spreading the good news in and around Bethlehem.(Luke 2)  They suffered because the good news they spread resulted in the deaths of their own babies in Bethlehem, at the command of Herod. (Matt.2) 

““I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep””

— JOHN 10:11

I can imagine Jesus listening to his mother Mary telling him about the place of his birth and of the shepherds who brought them assistance in their time of great need in Bethlehem.  Maria Valtorta, a modern day mystic, records in her visions that Jesus returned to the place of his birth as a young man where he met some of the shepherds who were still living and who remembered his mother and the unforgettable message of the angels. Maria Valtorta also wrote of seeing these same faithful shepherds mingling helplessly among the crowds in Jerusalem on the day of the crucifixion. They knew Jesus was the Messiah but were as confused as the apostles at what was taking place in Jerusalem.

Image: Unsplash/mahyar motebassem

Jesus loved the faithful shepherds who thought only of their flocks and of keeping them well fed and safe from harm.  Sheep being defenseless and in need of a shepherd is a beautiful image we have inherited of the relationship between God and God’s people. We, like sheep, are free to stay with the shepherd and graze on good food or are free to wander off, losing ourselves in the brambles of selfish endeavours.  It’s all about choosing to have a relationship with a Good Shepherd.  The Good Shepherd says,

“. . .love one another as I have loved you.” (John 15:12, 15:17)

 -Sister Elaine Cole, CSJ

Header Image: Unsplash/Greg Rosenke

The Spiritual Path of Lent

Lent is that annual time of year when I am challenged to examine the spiritual path I’m walking on.

Am I even walking on a SPIRITUAL PATH?

To walk a spiritual path presumes there have been choices along the way which keep me focused on what I cannot see.  Here is one example.

Why are the leaves on my philodendron plant all facing toward my window?  If I turn the plant, then over time the leaves again all face toward the window.  Do they have a longing to be outside growing beside that tree in the backyard?  Or do they have some inner awareness that their life depends on the light energy coming from outside my window?  I am a witness, not of the energy my plant is using for its life but I am a witness of the effect the invisible energy is having on the actions of my plant.

I think our lives are more complicated because we have to CHOOSE to face the direction of the energy we need for our lives.  Am I even facing in the direction of the energy I need to walk on a spiritual path?  Love is that energy.  Life is about experiencing being loved and respected and giving love and respect to another.  Life is about relationships, about receiving and about giving.  The way I receive and give love energy is a choice I make. 

During LENT we witness the life of Jesus; we witness all his loving relationships no matter what the hardships he suffered.  His primary gaze was loving obedience to the will of the Father and then actively sharing that love with his followers.  In examining my life, I ask myself, “Am I even on that spiritual path with Jesus?”

This Lent, go home and let your plants teach you how to follow the energy you need for saving the life of your soul. 

 -Sister Elaine Cole, CSJ