A Peace Message on the Anniversary of World War I

“Lest we forget.”  It’s a cautionary plea that invokes the unspeakable horror of war. 

The First World War, like all wars, was a tragedy. So, it is with great sadness and a deep desire for peace in all parts of the world, that the Canadian Federation of the Sisters of St. Joseph commemorate the hundredth anniversary of the outbreak of this war. 

In total, 619,636 Canadian men and women went to war.  Of these, 66,655 Canadians died and 172,950 were wounded.  Countless others would be burdened for the rest of their lives with the horrors they had seen and experienced.  All told, by the end of the war the global death toll of military and civilians stood at over 16 million with another 21 million wounded. Lest we forget.

Even as we cannot forget the brutalities of the First World War, we find hope in remembering a precious time of human goodness.  

Wednesday December 24, 2014, marks 100 years to the day after an undeclared Christmas truce. It was a day when soldiers on both sides of the conflict asserted their humanity upon a de-humanizing situation. They stopped fighting. German soldiers started singing Christmas carols and British soldiers responded in kind. Before long, some showed the courage to leave their trench and reach out to “the enemy.” Others joined in. They shook hands, exchanged gifts, and showed photographs of their loved ones. They took time to bury their dead. 

The Christmas story, which celebrates God-with-us, was incarnated anew that day.

These soldiers encountered each other as persons, despite political and military powers on both sides that wanted them to see only an enemy. In the hardened soil of winter warfare, they planted sacred seeds of peace by giving expression to their deeper desires and values. 

In the spirit of the courageous soldiers who stopped fighting on Christmas Eve 1914, the Sisters of St. Joseph commit themselves to just peace-making:

• We recognize that peace-making must go beyond protests of war and human rights violations. With all people of good will, we dedicate ourselves to do the systemic work of creating just and sustainable societies in which people care for each other and the earth. 
• We are aware that this work demands ongoing transformation of personal consciousness as well as profound shifts in cultural, social and economic and political relations.
• We are grateful that we are not alone in this work but are joined by countless individuals and groups that seek to remove both internal and external obstacles to peace.

We pray that reflection on this hundredth anniversary of the First World War may draw people from all lands into the breadth and depth of transformation that is the foundation of peace.

Sue Wilson, CSJ
Federation of Sisters of St. Joseph of Canada
Office for Systemic Justice
519-432-3781 ext. 402
swilson@csjcanada.org

Land Rights & Water Rights & Profit Driven Corporations

“The earth is God’s and all that is in it” reads a Biblical verse in Psalm 24. While on a visit to Peru I heard some Peruvians express that verse in a variety of ways as they critiqued mining operations in the northern Peruvian Andes Mountains. The sacredness of the land is a seed planted in the hearts of the Peruvian people and in the country’s soil since the Inca Kingdom dominated vast areas of Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador. Peruvians today continue to acknowledge the sacredness of the land offering prayer and gifts to mamapacha and mamacocha, the goddesses of earth and water. However, they are also finding their voice to speak out and to protest environmental damage caused in the extraction of their natural resources. In 2012, concerned Peruvians protested with a “Great National Water March” to call attention to the contamination of lakes and rivers surrounding mining projects. 

In 2013, protests were repeated when “four highland lakes are slated for conversion into toxic waste dumps. In return for this woeful act of vandalism, the company claims it will build a network of artificial reservoirs for the local population”. The people opposed this plan and established a group of citizens “The Guardians” who voluntarily keep vigil at the lakes to prevent toxic waste from entering them.  

Since Canada owns a large percentage of the world’s mining and mineral exploration companies, Canada is uniquely positioned to promote responsible development when extracting resources whether in Canada or abroad. Our Canadian government is supportive of the expansion of the Canadian mining industry through various programs and policies. Can we also be supportive of encouraging environmental justice and protection of land and water rights? 

Mabel St. Louis, 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

Eat, Pray, Love

At a retirement dinner with colleagues last year, I was given a small cement brick with the words ‘Eat, Pray, Love’ indented into it. I had read the book by the same title and had not been overly impressed. However, as I have recently gazed at this gift new meaning seemed to pour forth, and some questions.

Eat
As living beings, eating is essential to maintaining life. We fortunate ones can choose what we eat.  Do I respect my body enough to mainly eat only those things which are truly nourishing? Do I buy locally produced food? Do I limit the consumption of meat and animal products or consider eliminating these items entirely? Metaphorically speaking, what else am I ‘eating’ from books, movies, the ‘mass media’ and the internet? How well am I nourishing my thoughts?  I have a choice.

Pray
As human beings, we seem to have an innate longing to connect with the ‘Divine’, to the ‘Source’, to ‘God’ however we name what Karl Rahner has coined as “the unfathomable holy mystery”.  Do I make time everyday to remain in silence for a while?  Do I seek times of solitude?  Do I attempt to find the ‘sacred’ in the ‘ordinary’ stuff of everyday life?  Do I regularly connect with a faith group to join in a shared worship experience? Do I engage with the natural world through gardening, visiting parks or hiking? I have a choice.

Love
Well what can be said of ‘love’, this English word with multiple meanings?  Yes, we know about ‘romantic love’. And, perhaps our culture has become enslaved to the ‘love’ of ‘things’, to possessing material goods. One definition of ‘love’, however, is ‘agape’ that love that is selfless and unconditional, the ‘love’ that Jesus always talked about.  With a well nourished body and soul, do I go forward to express this ‘agape’ love to all I meet?  How are my relationships with others? Am I taking steps to work towards justice in the world? Do I move from meditation to action? I have a choice.

Maybe there is more to this saying,”Eat. Pray, Love”, and in those three small words, than I had initially grasped!   Maybe we do just need to ‘Eat, Pray and Love’  ...  intentionally.

Ann Steadman, Associate