Blog
The world is in the state it’s in because there are things in me that need changing. When I begin to take responsibility for the character of the little world in which I live, the world will become a holier place to be for everyone.
Living Well, by Joan Chittister OSB
Ecclesiasticus 34:20 expresses my life’s journey. It states “you lift up the soul, O God and make the eyes sparkle. You give health and life and blessing.”
In this blog I want to give you a glimpse into my lived experience of responding to God’s call with deep faith, a living trust and a love that conquers all fears.
The Present
Sky-high snow banks, closed roads, and continuous snowfalls remind me of February 12, 1947. That day, my father and I left my only sister and our home in Quyon Quebec to enter the convent at St. Joseph’s-on-the-Lake in Pembroke. Roads were closed. We returned home. My sister was grateful, she wiped her tears and prepared a delicious meal, celebrating our return and her first wedding anniversary.
The next day we went to Pembroke via Ottawa. I was fearful enough of the new venture but had no idea that I would be appointed to Ottawa in 1970 to teach French with the Bazilians at St. Joseph’s High School which closed (sold) soon after.
I found myself with the Public Board. The school paper heading – ‘A NUN!’ Were you or are you a NUN? My fears and anxieties diminished as time went on and especially when I learned that the head of my French Department had been in the Seminary.
I taught first at Glebe Collegiate with its gifted programs, then at Lisgar, the oldest High School in the Ottawa Carleton District School Board. There were line-ups even in the snow for cross boundary transfers.
Parents boasted that Peter Jennings, Adrienne Clarkson, Rich Little, and Lorne Green had all attended Lisgar.
After 40 ½ years of uninterrupted teaching, I, along with Sister Eileen Allison, carried out a ministry of hospitality at 476 Wilbrod Street in Ottawa.
We shared our home-cooked meals with our guests. They shared their experiences which were life-giving and joyful. There was no lack of interesting conversations, with varied cultures and accents, especially when members of the CRC stayed with us after their meetings, sharing the richness of their time together.
My heart is filled with gratitude for all the blessings showered on me by a loving God throughout my long life. I believe that ‘You made me in the image of your own eternity.’ (Wisdom 2:23)
- Sister Marie Meilleur
In Canada, we have witnessed developments that cause seemingly irreparable damage to our environment. Wood Buffalo Park’s habitat is being compromised due to damning of rivers in BC, logging, oil sands development and industry. Warming climates are causing ice on lakes to thin and permafrost to melt. A collapsed damn in Brazil has killed hundreds and buried towns under toxic mud. We are endlessly told about the damage pf plastic in our oceans and the threat of extinction for caribou, birds, fish, whales, and animals. Yet, somehow, the threat to monarch butterflies pains my heart.
In September 2018, the United states Congress approved $1.6 billion to construct a 36-foot wall along a section of the Rio Grande in Mexico to prevent illegal migrants from Mexico to enter the United States. The Department of Homeland Security has issued waivers for 28 laws protecting public land, wildlife and the environment. Construction of this wall, scheduled to begin in February 2019 will cut the National Butterfly Center in two, sandwiching 70% of the Center between the wall and the Rio Grande. Access to this area will be blocked for campers, tourists, and workers. A 150-foot enforcement zone will be cleared of all vegetation. Cleared land will eliminate, degrade, and fragment the wildlife habitat and butterfly sanctuary. Access to water and food for wildlife will be blocked; migration will be blocked. Searchlights at the top of the will be deleterious for the nocturnal animals. Thousands of scientists have written letters denouncing the wall and there have been lawsuits have been instituted to prevent its construction.
More than ever, the voices of individuals are needed to persuade governments, industries, and corporations to place the welfare of our world above financial and political interests. Each of us needs to pay attention and use our voices, pens, and actions to change our political and social climate as we strive to care for all of creation.
- Sr. Pat McKeon
The gift of wonder expands awareness, connecting us to the wider universe and fostering empathy and compassion. When we are weary of terrors – nuclear threats, violence, dangers to the planet – wonder suggests a transcendent dimension to existence, a something more present within the material world that sustains our joy and courage.
Loving Creation: Christian Spirituality, Earth-Centered and Just, by Kathleen Fischer
I’m looking out from my kitchen table at ice covered trees today. I’m home because of the weather, but usually I’d be working at another table in a windowless office at the back of a building on Barton Street in the east end of Hamilton, Ontario.
I work at a not-for-profit café called 541 Eatery and Exchange, where our mission is to welcome everyone to the table. That’s a bold statement! For the past four years we’ve opened our doors 6 days a week for 12 hours. The ‘we’ is about 15 staff, mostly part time, and 200 volunteers. The volunteers help do everything – cook, clean, do the dishes, serve our customers, and work alongside our youth outreach worker. Because of them we’re able to keep our payroll costs low, and that translates into really low prices. In case they aren’t low enough, we have a pay it forward system that uses buttons as café currency. No, you don’t have to bring in buttons with you! We have a jar full of buttons that ‘cost’ a dollar each. A customer can buy as many as they like, and transfer them over to another jar. Those buttons are then available to anyone without money that day, to put towards anything on the menu. You can use 5 buttons every day, so long as another customer pays for them in advance.
This simple system means that our customers are a mixed crew. It’s not unusual for business people needing a quick lunch to be lining up with one of our community who sleeps rough in the local park. It seems to us to be a sign of God’s kingdom. It isn’t always heavenly – sometimes people are having a difficult day, sometimes customers don’t get along (that’s true for everyone, no matter how they pay for their order). But in general we’ve made deep friendships with people we otherwise would never have met, and have come to love people who get overlooked.
In a couple of days I’ll lead the funeral service for one of our regulars. Most of our staff will be there, along with many customers. Margaret was a character. Forthright, a wearer of extraordinary hats, she was completely dedicated to dressing up for Halloween or Christmas or Easter. She tended to talk during worship on Sunday afternoons at The Meeting Place, the congregation I pastor that meets in the café. She sat at the same table every morning, where she played the board game Trouble with a decided competitive spirit. Margaret found a welcome at 541. She had a place at the table, and we will miss her.
Rev. Sue Carr
Executive Director
541 Eatery and Exchange
