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May we embrace and be embraced by this Love poured out as gift to us at Christmas!
May your Christmas be filled with joy and wonder.
May peace be your gift to others and your blessing all year through!
May the New Year – 2022 – be filled with curiosity, hope, courage and gratitude!
from the Congregation of
THE SISTERS OF ST. JOSEPH in CANADA
As I prayed this morning my heart was filled with love and wonder as I reflected on Karen’s Christmas card this year.
She lost her job at 62. With her age against her she searched to find anything. I was given the job to pray for a miracle.
Finally, she was hired on in a cafeteria at a university. There were no tips there.
With gratitude in her heart to God for this lifeline, she wrote in her Christmas card, “your gift this year is a sleeping bag I bought and donated to the homeless”.
I saw Jesus blessing her as she stood with the poor widow offering her gift, all she had to live on.
May we all feel so called to give generously this Christmas, and beyond.
Sister Ann Marshall, csj
Image: unsplash/Elisa Coluccia
The seasons turn and we notice the days shorten and shadows lengthen earlier. It is approaching the time of the Winter Solstice, a time of deepest darkness when we huddle around our families and warm fires. But it is also a special time when we see brightest stars and wonder is awakened again.
It is the time in its journey when the earth is tilted the furthest from the sun. The Solstice marks the shortest day of our year and is celebrated on December 21, the first day of winter. The days gradually lengthen after this moment in universe time. It is the seasonal rhythm of earth, seeking balance and harmony through the turn of seasons. There is its counterpart, the Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year. At the marks of the fall and spring we the season’s change once more, and it is the Autumn and Spring Equinox, equal time of day and night calling us to balance and re-centering in the energies of light and dark.
“It is precious time for being within and seeking the Creator of all being and life nestled in solstice time.”
These seasonal markers of earth have been celebrated by millennia of human ancestors. For the Celts, the calendar was marked by the solstices and equinoxes, marking the Quarter Days. Traditionally our pagan ancestors celebrated this time to pray for the sun with its life and light to return. We often associate “pagan” with a people without faith and the true light. Yet in the origin of word “pagan,” we find beneath its layers of history that it is derived from “people of the woods or people of the land.” Originally a term of disparagement from those who were “civilized.” Yet it is something to ponder in this wintertime, for we have lost our connection to nature. Although we might not follow the pagan traditions that evolved, there is something to recover in our relationship to nature. For we have largely lost our intimate connections with the natural world, for with our technologies and power we feel self-sufficient. Our ancient ancestors knew they needed the earth, to listen to is rhythms and to honour the ways of the universe.
Image: Unsplash/Aaron Burden
The word solstice itself is from the Latin sol “sun” and sistere “to stand still.” The sun seems to stand still, its movement invisible. It reminds us, though to take moments of “standing still,” contemplative space for pondering meaning and place in our hearts and lives. The season of winter calls us to a different way of being, apart from the busy rush of long days of light inviting glad work and happy projects. All now lies dormant as the fields rest and the forest quietens to usher in this sacred time of letting go and renewing of peace and inner life. Beneath the soils there is a waiting, a becoming unseen and yet present, awaiting its wakening when the time is right, and the seasons turn once more. It is precious time for being within and seeking the Creator of all being and life nestled in solstice time.
-Sister Linda Gregg, csj
None of us would likely name ourselves a racist. And in fact, no one is born a racist. Racism is something we learn. We may learn this in our families, our schools, our churches, or in the broader society. From our earliest days we learn and are influenced by our experiences in life, by the people with whom we interact, and by the society where we grow up.
Many of the ways I look at people who are different than I am may be because I learned to make assumptions about that difference I see. We may feel uncomfortable, confused, uncertain or any other number of feelings. The feelings are within me. However, if I can learn to pay attention to what is going on within me and not assume that my feelings convey the truth, then I can begin to examine the mental models of my thought processes and begin to explore the assumptions from which my thinking and conclusions emerge. Just a simple example: Let’s take colour. Why is white seem as preferable to black? Or is it? It is only a colour or non-colour, but we have learned to attach value to colour. It may as simple as “I like _____ or I do not like ______. But when this kind of thinking is attached to a human person, then I can make any number of harmful and wrong conclusions.
The point of this short blog is not to suggest that I understand or recognize the many nuances of racism but rather to invite us all to pay attention to our thoughts, feelings, and to be curious about what we discover within us to assume that we are right. If the world we live in is to become less divided, less racist, it can only start with each one of us. We are never too old or too young to try.
Addressing racism is “soul work”. For me it is summed up in the thoughts of Michael Leunig, an Australian journalist and cartoonist. He counsels us “Love one another and you will be happy. It’s as simple and as difficult as that. There is no other way.”
And so the soul within us has some wisdom to teach us. Let’s slow down to listen.
-Sister Joan Atkinson, CSJ | Office for Systemic Justice
Image: Unsplash/Ed Robertson
Every day brings a bit of revelation. What might that be today?
Nature itself reveals a daily love offered by our ever- creating God. Earth is awakened by the warmth of the morning sun. Even in winter the sun’s rays periodically break through the cloud. Snow sparkles with the light of the moon. Nature has a way of reminding us that Divine Love accompanies struggle.
Some fragments of a hymn text by Brian Wren come to mind: “This is a story full of love, a song to set us free . . for Wisdom guides the flow of life.”
We mark this day, remembering the life and death of Mother St. John (1759 – 1843). Jeanne was indeed a woman full of love, whose life story was a song of struggle and fortitude during the French revolution, a story of generous courage after the terror as she gathered women religious into the Congregation of St. Joseph. Gifted with wisdom she heard the call to send Sisters to the new world, and from there this little Congregation of St. Joseph in Canada gradually was birthed.
History of Mother St. John Fontbonne Part 1
History of Mother St. John Fontbonne Part 2
What might the revelation be for us today? Perhaps to see with new eyes, our own invitation to live out God’s call to fortitude, courage, mission. As our little community here in Canada accepts its call to age gracefully, we lean with fortitude into deep trust. Although our human resources are few, our relationships, and partnerships are many. We encourage one another to see the possibilities for service that abound (making sandwiches for the soup kitchen, being present to our neighbours, praying for others, seeking justice). The mission by which we once were recognized (hospitals, schools) is giving way to working with others at the Mount Community Centre in Peterborough, the Hub in London, our Associates and Companions across Canada. All these present energies are like rays of sun breaking through the limitations.
With courage and conviction Mother St. John led this “Congregation of the Great Love of God” through the devastation of war, and the stripping of its identity. Through this day of remembrance may we be evermore fully women of courage, of fortitude and of heart.
Together let us watch for the graced surprise that comes our way this day!
-Sister Loretta Manzara, csj
Image: Unsplash | Emmanuel Phaeton
