To Hobble and Be Happy

When I carelessly caught my foot under a rug while house-cleaning, I went flying, and in mid-air, my struggles NOT to fall, resulted in my falling, mightily, THUD!  (Has anyone else been there?) The orthopedic doctor, Dr. Patel, showed me my x-rays – a fractured ankle! …and he placed me in a ‘boot’ until the swelling goes down. Then, I could expect a cast. How quickly all my meticulous and multiple plans disappeared! I had a couple of good cries.

What happened came as a surprise, and I guess it shouldn’t have: St. Paul said, “For those who love God, everything works together unto good” [Rom 8:28]. It began to dawn on me: a friend was now free to spend even more time helping at an animal shelter, a colleague who graciously took on my special weekend workshop of lectures on Mark’s gospel, could use that stipend to help with his wife’s medical bills, while the students would receive a set of lectures far superior to mine! I experienced the gifts of love and care from my Sisters, their concern and prayer, and I experienced the sweetness of my neighbors who have earnestly volunteered to do grocery shopping and take care of my mail! And for me, this has become an unforeseen time of quiet, beautiful peace, for reflection, prayer, doing research online and doing knitting for the bazaar.  But more! Now I know what I can offer to do for anyone I visit who is partially or completely immobile! So, you see? Of course! YOU all could have told me so: “God’s imagination can turn around any difficulty into grace”.

Wendy Cotter, CSJ

Thanksgiving is Thanks for Living

As we gather with family and friends this weekend, I hope we take a few minutes alone or with others to remember that all we have is gift.  As Canadians we pause this weekend to give thanks for the abundance we have in our lives – food, family, friends and so much more. This is good. And we need to continue to cultivate and carry that stance of gratitude into every day.

In every faith tradition, we are reminded so many times that it is God who provides. The more we know this in our hearts, the more we can look around us and give thanks and see everyone as part of God’s abundance. We realize that there are many in our country who share this same abundance and many who don’t and we also know that they too are part of us. We are all connected. When we see this then we can share with others in need. It takes a whole country to build a just and inclusive society. So when we gather over this weekend, remember to include in our thanks all who cross our paths day in and day out no matter what the circumstances of their lives – the poor, the widow, the orphan, the homeless, the prisoner, the refugee, the sick … they too are the human face of God among us.

To all who follow us on our website, the Sisters of St. Joseph in Canada, extend Thanksgiving blessings to all. 

Joan Atkinson, CSJ

A Time for Thankful Hearts

This is by far my favourite time of year. These days surrounding Thanksgiving Day have a way of surfacing within me the words,

“There is an endless song
that echoes in my soul
I hear the music ring…
How can I keep from singing?”

As we sit before our feasts of plenty may we be mindful of the Goodness of God that touches us in so many ways. May the richness of God’s bounty that we continuously experience fill us with gratitude and openness of heart. May gratitude help us to embody the words I first heard at my Grandma Wales’ table.

For what we are about to receive
may we be truly thankful
and keep us always mindful of the needs of others. 

I invite you to view and reflect on this PowerPoint Presentation, based on words of Joyce Rupp, which offer a fitting prayer of blessing.

Happy Thanksgiving,
Nancy Wales, CSJ

A Truth and Reconciliation Field Trip

How would you like to dance at a Pow Wow, taste Indian bread, or go into a Native American long house? That was enough to entice my 10 year old granddaughter to join me to go to the Harvest Fest Pow Wow in London Ontario at the Archeological Museum.

"Should I wear my hair in braids?" She asked. Girls and their hair! But it was a wise choice as she fit right in during the intertribal dance. Then came all the questions. Why the big drum and what are they saying? Did they really all sleep in one room? Her eyes travelled from young and old to admire their native dress loading her smartphone with pictures to share back home.

For myself, I was touched by the speaker who introduced an elder grandmother to start with a prayer and reminding everyone that women held places of honour in their culture. She began by asking the Great Spirit for forgiveness for not speaking in her native language, because as a child she had been raised in a residential school and only remembers English. There was a drumming workshop using a short chant that focused on emotions and releasing negative ones. So similar to Richard Rohr's Welcoming Prayer. The Spirit moves where she wills.

From reading about the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Senator Murray Sinclair as chairman pointed out that negative thinking about Aboriginal people came about through the educational system and needs to be reversed through positive education. "Collective efforts from all peoples are necessary to revitalize the relationships between Aboriginal peoples and Canadian society. Reconciliation is the goal"

"Reconciliation is about forging and maintaining respectful relationships. There are no shortcuts." The injustice lasted for generations and will take generations to reverse. One field trip at a time. "Can we go to another Pow Wow grandma? Next time not so far away." (It was a 2 hour car drive from Windsor). 

Helen Bonyai CSJ Associate

Rooted in the Land: Ontario’s Disappearing Farmland

As one born and raised in rural Southwestern Ontario, a love of the land was imprinted on my soul. From childhood, I learned the specifics of crops and their growth from seed to maturity. I worked on the land assisting in preparing fields for planting and then cultivating and harvesting a variety of crops.

Alas, I have lived most of my adult life in urban centers. With increasing worry and dismay, I watch as municipal councils expropriate land outside their cities and developers press forward with hungry eyes and voracious appetites to make big money building sprawling housing projects deeper and deeper into the countryside.

It is no secret that Southwestern Ontario boasts some of the best agricultural land in Canada and I dare add, even in the world. How can we stand by and watch helplessly as farm after farm is bought for urban development? In fact, much of the rural land is purchased by developers ten to twenty years before the land is razed.

Occasionally, I hear on the media a comment that we should think seriously about preserving farmland for food and agricultural purposes but no one seems to take the cause seriously. Even protected land gets decommissioned for big business interests. Perhaps we’ll realize our errant ways when it’s too late.

In her article, “Canada’s Disappearing Farmland”, Tanya Browers, a consultant for the Organic Agriculture Centre of Canada outlined the dire situation with regard to Ontario’s rampant loss of agricultural land. She states: “Ontario, for instance, with over 56% of the nation’s Class 1 land has lost, in the two decades between 1976 and 1996, over 150,000 acres or 18% of the province’s Class 1 land to urban encroachment and non-agricultural interests”. Can you imagine how much more arable land has suffered the same fate in the last twenty years?

Not long ago, my ears perked up when I heard a rare truth via a TV ad, “They’re not making any more land.” I heard this fact stated only once previously.  The throw away line gave me hope. Maybe a few people are beginning to realize that land really is a finite resource that is being squandered for all sorts of endeavours.  Will we protect our remaining agricultural land or let it quietly disappear?

Jean Moylan, CSJ