The Canadian Goose Saga

“April is the cruelest month.” (T. S. Eliot) It was April and as I looked out my window from the Crow’s Nest, I spotted Mr. & Mrs. Canada Goose inspecting the property.

They seemed to aspire to an upscale place to raise their family. After much wandering about with Mrs. Goose in the lead; she appeared to choose a spot out front very close to the entrance of the residence under shrubbery. However, cars were whizzing about and Mr. Gander with his flat feet firmly planted, stood in the middle of the drive and cars had to circumvent him.

After a while they wandered off and to our surprise they had chosen a spot at the south of the building, directly over the chapel. A remote area with no access to human kind. Mrs. Goose settled comfortably into this new abode, scratching together a few grasses and feathers for a nest.

And there she sat for twenty-eight days incubating the eggs. She faced south with her long neck reaching over the concrete edge.

Did she have an audience? Yes, you bet! We, the Sisters, were congregating in other Sisters’ suites following this phenomenon – of a Canada Goose and her trials. She rarely left the nest – squatting and shifting her weight. We discovered that she had three eggs and later four.

April was indeed cruel to her. The weather was rainy and nasty. One evening, I peered out to see her weathering a ‘south-wester’ which reminded one of ‘A Storm at Sea.’

But Mrs. Goose persevered by lifting her body more and propping her feet to protect the incubating eggs. Behold one day three goslings, balls of yellow fluff appeared. Immediately Mother Goose took them on a tour of their surroundings. No food! No water!

She was very positive the little goslings would toddle along behind her. She seemed to give a signal with her tail if one fellow was faltering, but he flipped his little wings and marched on.

Many of us were in a panic wondering how Mrs. Goose would get her little offsprings off the roof, as there was a fall of thirty to forty feet. But she did and one early evening they were gone. Her motherly and patient instinct had conquered all obstacles.

One egg hatched after the family was gone. It seemed to be weak and perished very soon. The Canada Goose Saga has inspired us all. How nature overcomes all obstacles. Now that fall is here and the Canada Geese begin flying south overhead, they may give a salute to the residence on Windermere where life began.

Eileen Foran, CSJ 

We are who we stand with!

Some years ago, at a union convention, I was drawn to a particular T-shirt which was being presented for sale. It wasn’t the usual type of offering.  The graphic on it seemed to have a deeper meaning beyond what is frequently imprinted on union garb; no logo, no strident union message. What I saw was a depiction of ordinary people, of all ages and abilities relating with one another with the statement “WE ARE WHO WE STAND WITH”.  “Yes”, I thought, “this is the essential meaning behind the union movement. We have to represent the ‘ordinary folks’ who struggle”. I bought the shirt.

Fast forward to August 2014 and the recent Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) Assembly in Nashville, Tennessee   ...   

I have been following this conference with great interest given the ongoing investigation of the LCWR by the Vatican’s ‘Congregation of the Doctrine of Faith’. What I have been reading is a tremendous affirmation of the journey of American women religious communities since Vatican II. This, I would suggest, is mirrored in Canada. Women religious have been true to what was asked of them.  

Originally, in North America, women religious provided health care and education, founding many hospitals and education systems, and yes they looked after the orphans and the elderly.  Today, however, what they continue to do is to identify current collective needs and then work toward making change happen. You see, these religious women do great work and then step aside as society catches up with them!  They engage on the leading edges of emerging concerns, always looking for the “needs of the new margin dwellers.” (Nancy Scheck, OSF)

Who are the people /issues that women religious are standing with now?  As Nancy Scheck said at the Assembly, this has happened and is continuing to happen, “from racism to climate change, from trafficking to the nuclear threat, from the concerns of the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) community to global economics, women's equality and violence, ethics in health care, issues of abortion and the death penalty, drones, immigration and peacemaking.”

Has this ‘prophetic stance’ come at a cost? Yes!  As stated by Sr. Miriam Ambrosio CRB, in terms of women’s religious life, it is “the awareness of our "non-place" in society and in the church. Religious belong on the margins, with other marginated people”.  

Because sisters have gone to the ‘edges’ and supported the ‘marginalized’ they are ‘counter-cultural’, perhaps even in terms of the institutional church. They truly live the slogan,” WE ARE WHO WE STAND WITH”!  Would not Jesus not have agreed?

Please take the opportunity to access all of the wonderful addresses given at the LCWR 2014 Assembly, as well as a great video at https://lcwr.org/calendar/lcwr-assembly-2014 . 

Ann Steadman, CSJ Associate

Today is a . . .

“Do I live as a tourist or as a pilgrim?” I came upon this quote, but sorry to say, in a senior moment, I can’t remember who or where. I think of a tourist flitting here and there – seeing but not absorbing. A pilgrim, I see as one who plods deliberately along – journeying with purpose.

• Tourists use a map showing the highlights, guided by GPS. Pilgrims stop to smell the roses along the way, laying their beds down in any humble abode.Tourists often follow the voice of the tour guide. 
• Pilgrims tend to follow their hearts.
• Tourists plan ahead, booking flights, hotels etc. Pilgrims fly by the seat of their pants.
• Tourists are on vacation – pilgrims are on a journey.

There is an old saying, “all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.” We can say all touring and no pilgrimage makes one a dull Christian.

One should feed the other!

Each day we should ask ourselves – today was I a tourist or a pilgrim? What do I want to be tomorrow? Your pilgrim day may be my tourist day or vice-versa.

As a pilgrim we hope to meet God – face to face. As tourists we treasure God’s gifts to us in the beauty of creation and its varieties of people.

Be this a tourist or pilgrim day?

Barbara Vaughan, CSJ

“To Dream the Impossible Dream”

Imagine yourself in the intensive care unit of your local hospital.  Now imagine that the medical team, after a number of procedures, indicate to you that you are in critical condition and could die unless you give permission to try a number of other procedures to restore you to health. You are asked, “Do you want to live?”

In light of not knowing fully what “the other procedures” will be what do you reply? What does it mean when you say, “Yes, I want to live”? Perhaps in this “second chance” at living, that word is meant to take on a new meaning:

• maybe it is to focus on the possibilities for good in living  life with more intentionality than you had before;
• maybe it is to truly appreciate all as gift and not as possession;
• tmaybe it is o more freely express gratitude for so much received from God, others, life;
• or perhaps it is to be more mindful of  the power that resides within you by your very BE-ing to be a presence for positive change.

When I was faced with this question, I said “Yes, I want to live” and gave the medical team my assent to whatever needed to be done. They used all their expertise to help me move through this illness. After more than six months in hospital, I am home and continue to reflect on how my illness continues to speak wisdom to me. In that appreciation, I am finding the need to meet old familiar challenges in new ways, and to dream new possibilities for really living.

“To dream the impossible dream” was illustrated very vividly to me when I attended the Stratford performance of the Man of La Mancha. At one point in the performance Don Quixote says, "Take a deep breath of life, and consider how it should be lived". 

May we all learn to take a deep BREATH of LIFE and consider how it should be lived, and in taking that deep breath, be grateful for the ability to inhale it and return it to the universe for more life to the whole.

I was faced with the question, “Do I want to live?” Although I felt spiritually ready to die, there was something in me that said, YES I want to live. What would YOU say and why?

Kathleen Lichti, CSJ

‘Ordinary Time’

According to the church calendar we are now in “Ordinary Time.” I don’t know about you but is there any such animal? Could it be because it is “summer time and the living is easy?” Walking the dusty roads of Galilee in the heat – living was not easy. Jesus’ life was never humdrum. Ordinary time for most of us is defined as ‘the work week;” weekends are meant to be “easy.” Talking with a number of our lay staff, weekends are anything but “easy” – there are activities for children, grandchildren, needs of aging parents. Ordinary today is defined as “fill every minute of the day.”

We need to make a conscious effort to get back to the real meaning of ordinary – work, play, pray. This is the trinity of ordinary.

There is a restaurant near here that advertises “NO TIPPING if phones or other electronic devices are not used.” Imagine talking face to face! This would be back to “ordinary time.”

Encouraging children to go out and play – back to ordinary time. Sending a card or letter instead of text or email – back to ordinary time. Sitting down for a meal as a family – back to ordinary time.

Dropping in for a visit – back to ordinary time. Returning the favor – back to ordinary time. I could go on and on – but you know what I mean.

This is ordinary me wishing each of ordinary you some ordinary “easy living.”

Barb Vaughan, CSJ