Confessions of a Proud Leseratte

My German friend affectionately teases me that I am a bookworm, or as she would say, a “Leseratte,” translated as a “reading rat.” Not to sound disparaging, she quickly adds that this rodent is a playful creature who reads constantly.

Lately, I have taken notice of how frequently book titles and story settings center around places that serve as abodes, whether permanent or temporary to books. These homes are libraries, bookstores, or crowded bookshelves. This is not surprising, since writers are often avid readers themselves. As a book addict, I am aware of the irresistible attraction of used bookstores, second hand stores, library catalogs, or local rummage sales. In multiple ways, these special spaces draw me in just as surely as a confectionary would entice a chocolate lover.

I find myself resonating with Jorge Luis Borges’ vision when he says, “I have always imagined paradise will be a kind of library.” I can catch a glimpse of eternal joy in his picturesque imaging.

“I have always imagined paradise will be a kind of library.”

— Jorge Luis Borges

In a world that often moves too fast, bookish spaces invite us to slow down, explore, and connect. They offer refuge, inspiration, challenges, and comfort. For those of us who cherish them, they are little gems of paradise.

-Sister Nancy Wales, CSJ

“At a time when our discourse seems so sharply polarized... books have always been a way for me to slow down and absorb the world.”

— Barack Obama

Father's Day

Father’s Day - A repost of Sister Jean Moylan’s Father’s Day Blog, may she rest in peace.

I look forward to Father’s Day every year.  It gives me time to think about the role of father in our lives and the influence that each father has on laying the groundwork for his children in a myriad of ways that will guide them throughout their lives.

Of course, as an example, I turn to thoughts of my own beloved father, now long deceased, and the influence he had on my life and on my siblings.  Dad and the other men who I knew as I grew up, cemented my perception and belief of what a father should be.  Later in life, I learned that not all fathers were kind and loving as were those during my childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood.  A lack of good male role models can leave its mark on children who suffer from lack of self-esteem, addictions, and a host of other maladies that may be carried through life.  

““The Lord your God carried you, as a father carries his son.””

— Deuteronomy 1:31

From my earliest years, I knew my father as a kind, gentle, and patient dad.  He loved my mother deeply and expressed it in daily acts of kindness.  He insisted that we show her love, honor, and obedience.  We also learned to respect our elders, and those who visited us in our happy, faith-filled home.

Throughout my childhood, I observed my father teaching by example.  We saw his daily cordial conduct, gentle politeness, easy neighbourliness, and the careful dance of when to act and when to desist.

As the years passed and we grew up and took our place in society, new generations arrived.  I watch my brothers in action. They treat their wives and children with the same patience, love and kindness that my father portrayed.  Suddenly, in this new millennium, another generation, tall and strong, is on the horizon.  These lads also exhibit the traits that have been handed down from the generations of our fine forefathers.

How appropriate it is to set aside one special Sunday a year to honor hardworking, fine men who bear the name of father – or just plain, wonderful DAD.

-Sister Jean Moylan, CSJ

Image: Jon Tyson/Unsplash

Pentecost Sunday

This Sunday, June 8, Christians celebrate the feast of Pentecost when the apostles gathered in the upper room, “They were all filled with the Holy Spirit.” Acts 2:4

What does it mean for us to be “filled with the Holy Spirit” in this modern time?

This is an unprecedented time of chaos in our world: uncontrollable wildfires, political unrest throughout the world, the threat of Democracy being replaced by autocratic leaders who seek only the power that grants them wealth at the expense of others; the crisis on the Gaza strip; the war in Ukraine; the unrest worldwide due to the Tariff war initiated by the administration of the US; the very threat to our own Canadian Sovereignty. There is indeed a wind blowing that seems to fuel only disaster. It would seem that the “spirit of the Lord” is needed even more than ever.

“Why are you downcast, O my soul, and why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God. For I shall again praise him. He is my help and my God. ”

— Psalm 42:5, 11; 43:5

For Christians today, what is the upper room in which we find solace and where that new spirit of HOPE and LOVE can flourish? There is solace in each other working together for a better world.

I sincerely believe that in these times, there is also another kind of wind that is blowing that can and will change the face of the earth. There are so many new expressions of love, of hope being made available to people. One example, The Portal of Hope program initiated by Krista Tippett.

Ilia Delio in this 4-minute clip, brings real hope and love to our world.  As she indicates, we need to plan for the future, live for the future and live with dreams and imagination...live into those dreams and imagination. She adds that “the only way to predict the future is to create it.” We can do this by focussing on one core value and that is the value of LOVE that holds us together no matter who God is or isn’t to us. We need to live as one big family together.

There are other signs of hope in today’s world that include acts of kindness, collaboration, and progress in addressing global challenges. Individuals and communities demonstrating compassion and resilience, as well as nations working together, indicate a commitment to a better future. Additionally, efforts to address the climate crisis and promote sustainability, such as green recovery packages and corporate initiatives, also offer hope for a more resilient future. 

Where I live, in London, Ontario, Canada, amongst a community of Sisters, I see DAILY, many small acts of kindness: one Sister or staff member pushing another who is wheelchair bound, many examples of patient listening to each other, as conversations emerge,  enjoying a joke together, praying together in or outside of the Chapel; using technology to bond us, connecting by countless Zoom calls, enjoying card games together. For this, we are grateful.

So when it seems that the spirit of evil is overtaking the world, let us also be mindful of another Spirit that is operative: the spirit of Love and in that alone can we place our hope.

In conclusion: what it means for us to be filled with the Holy Spirit is to know that love and to spread it over all the earth by beginning right where we are.

Prayer to the Holy Spirit by Diarmuid O’Murchu:
Come Holy Spirit, breathe down upon our troubled world.
Shake the tired foundations of our crumbling institutions.
Break the rules that keep you out of all our sacred spaces,
and from the dust and rubble, gather up the seedlings of a new creation.

Come Holy Spirit, enflame once more the dying embers of our weariness.
Shake us out of our complacency. Whisper our names once more,
and scatter your gifts of grace with wild abandon.
Break open the prisons of our inner being,
and let your raging justice be our sign of liberty.

Come Holy Spirit and lead us to places we would rather not go.
Expand the horizons of our limited imaginations.
Awaken in our souls dangerous dreams for new tomorrow,
and rekindle in our hearts the fire of prophetic enthusiasm.

Come Holy Spirit, whose justice outwits international conspiracy,
whose light outshines religious bigotry,
whose peace can halt our patriarchal hunger for dominance and control,
whose promise invigorates our every effort:
to create a new heaven and a new earth, now and forever. Amen.

-Sister Kathleen Lichti, csj 

Leisure Reads

“The thing about books,’ she said, ‘is that they help you to imagine a life bigger and better than you could ever dream of.”
― Evie Woods, The Lost Bookshop

For many of us, one of the pleasures of summertime is that it affords us more time for leisure reading. Just in case you are on the lookout for a new book or author, may I introduce you to Evie Woods. Evie Woods is the pen name of Evie Gaughan born in 1976 in Galway, Ireland. Though, perhaps we can claim some Canadian closeness  to her since before her writing career she studied business and marketing and lived in Canada in her twenties.

Evie Woods is an author who truly understands the transformative magic of storytelling. However, not wanting to be a spoiler, but wanting to entice you to go in search of “The Lost Bookshop” by Evie Woods, I quote Goodreads:

For too long, Opaline, Martha and Henry have been the side characters in their own lives. But when a vanishing bookshop casts its spell, these three unsuspecting strangers will discover that their own stories are every bit as extraordinary as the ones found in the pages of their beloved books. And by unlocking the secrets of the shelves, they find themselves transported to a world of wonder… where nothing is as it seems.

Copies of “The Lost Bookshop” can be found in your local library. I found a used copy on Amazon which I have shared with several others who have found it a good read. Evie Woods' other notable works include The Story Collector, and The Mysterious Bakery on Rue de Paris.

Happy Reading!

-Sister Nancy Wales, csj