Strength Amid Sorrow

This week our home is washed in spring solitude and silence after a weekend of heavy hearts and dampened spirits.  Our dear Sister Patricia Hanlon has gone to God after being diagnosed with the coronavirus two days earlier. Twenty-four hours after we Sisters were tested for the virus, three positive diagnoses appeared.  Although the other two are doing well, Sister Pat suffered breathing distress which worsened quickly and ended in her death two days later.

We who mourn her passing wonder silently and aloud, “What more could we have done to prevent this tragedy?”  Each weekday morning, we receive updates from our Director of Care as to the latest security measures from the Ministry of Health. The staff underwent testing and wear masks. Our temperatures are taken afternoon and evening, we practice social distancing, we wear masks when necessary, we wash our hands frequently and sanitize high touch surfaces several times a day.

Sometimes we think that given enough effort, we can control forces beyond ourselves but often we must bow in silence when our best efforts fail to bring us desired results.  By now, COVID -19 has had a lasting impact upon most people on the planet. It might be in the form of losing a loved one, caring for a family member in the long process of recovery, watching essential service providers head off to work.  People wait anxiously to see if there is money to pay rent, buy food and other necessities.  There doesn’t seem to be an end to our anxieties and fears for the future.

The wages of COVID -19 can literally bring us to our knees and maybe that’s the best place to begin to put our lives into perspective.  From a position of surrender, we look up to see what is around us, above us and beyond us.  We look up to God to uphold us and stretch out our arms to family to enfold us and friends to ennoble us.  Together we join with our communities, countries, and continents to face the future and embrace a communion of love and new beginnings in a brighter, more collaborative, renewed world.

-Sister Jean Moylan, csj

 

 

 

 

For the Love of Creation - A Faith-based Initiative for Climate Justice

Canadian churches and faith-based organizations have a long history of work in ecological conservation, environmental activism, and advocacy for climate justice. To mark the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, we are coming together on a journey of reflection, dialogue, discernment, advocacy, and action on the issue of climate change. You are invited to journey with us.

For the Love of Creation - A Faith-based Initiative for Climate Justice begins today with the support of a growing list of national churches, Christian international development agencies, and faith-based organizations. We come together as people of faith in the hopes of making a meaningful contribution in the next decade towards a sustainable future for all life on the planet.

Never before has the interconnectedness of all humanity – all of creation – been clearer than it is right now. The COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic has dramatically impacted every aspect of our lives. As is too often the case in times of difficulty, existing vulnerabilities are being exacerbated; many are dying and many more face economic ruin. The way we respond is of paramount importance.

Even before the emergence of COVID-19, we knew that we were entering into a crucial decade for climate action. Now more than ever, we see devastating economic, political, cultural, and social fissures. Indigenous peoples have long reminded us of the interconnectedness of all creation. Respecting this interconnectedness is critical for ecological and economic integrity, right relations with Indigenous peoples, and for holistic recovery from the pandemic.

For the Love of Creation aims to engage people individually and in community, as congregations and organizations, all across the country in a climate conversation centred on three themes: 

1.       Theological reflection. Together, we will create a space for collaborative responsive theology, exploring our relationship with the Creator and creation, and encouraging theologically grounded and relevant dialogue about climate justice and global warming.

2.       Local and congregational engagement. We will endeavour to increase dialogue and reduce polarization in the climate change conversation in Canada; to build consensus on the actions needed to build a sustainable future for all.

3.       Political advocacy. As people of faith, we will urge the government of Canada to meet and ultimately exceed our Paris climate commitments by investing in a just transition and establishing a fair and inclusive economy. Honouring the rights of Indigenous peoples and incorporating Indigenous knowledge and experience into any proposed solutions is essential to this work.

Our contribution will also respond to feelings of ecological grief arising from the loss of species and destruction of ecosystems as well as eco-anxiety stemming from the awareness of risks related to climate change impacts. This will be done through pastoral care and ceremony, building community resilience, and by taking collective action for climate justice.

For the Love of Creation will explore how we can work together to build healthy, resilient communities, and a better future for all beings in Creation. 

The churches and organizations listed below have committed to working together for at least the next eighteen months; beginning in the fall of 2021 participants will recommit on a year-by-year basis. 

We invite you to join us, For the Love of Creation.

For more information or to get involved, contact a member of the campaign coordinating committee:

Participants to date: The Anglican Church of Canada (Primate and National Indigenous Anglican Archbishop); Development and Peace - Caritas Canada; Canadian Religious Conference; Citizens for Public Justice; The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada; Faith & the Common Good; Global Catholic Climate Movement Canada; KAIROS: Canadian Ecumenical Justice Initiatives; Mennonite Central Committee Canada; The Presbyterian Church in Canada; The Primate’s World Relief and Development Fund (PWRDF); Religious Society of Friends (Quakers); Federation of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Canada; OMI Notre Dame du Cap; OMI Lacombe Province; Sisters of St. Joseph of Sault Ste. Marie; Sisters of Charity of the Immaculate Conception; Scarboro Missions; Our Lady’s Missionaries; Sisters of St. Joseph in Canada.

 

 

50th Anniversary - Earth Day 2020

On April 22 1970 environmental fears mobilized 10 percent of American population, or 20 million people to demonstrate and demand from world leaders, a new strategy to save our environment.   Propelling this demonstration forward, was the unified response of ordinary people, who seized the opportunity/crises, from events such as the “oil spills, smog, river being so polluted that they literally caught on fire”.  To this day, solidifying a unified response to this problem, from world leaders, has been slow and ineffective. 

Perhaps some of the resistance is due to the fact, we live in a mechanistic age, lacking in “creativity, innovation, ambition and bravery, to meet our climate crises and seize the enormous opportunities of a zero-carbon future.”  In these turbulent times a new vision for the future is imperative, as we work together towards transformative change, in ourselves and our entire world.  However, it is imperative we maintain hope for progress leading to solutions against global warming.   

Currently, I want to imagine, that the coronavirus sweeping the world will be like a “thin edge of the wedge”, to open the door for a more unified response to our global environmental crises. Deep in our bones and DNA, we know that not addressing climate change, endangers not just the lungs and life of people, but of all creation, above, below, in the oceans, earth, and high into the stratosphere of our beautiful sky, mountains and solar system.  

Let us follow the example of former TV news anchor Walter Cronkite.  He kept a photo of the earth taken from space, “Earthrise” from Apollo 8, on his desk, to remind him of “The Earth’s Fragility”.  Art is of value, because art has the ability to shift consciousness, to help the viewer wonder and see things in new ways. It is my belief we will evolve with greater intimacy and commitment to mother earth. By changing inconsistent patterns and using our imagination, we are capable of finding a creative new global agreement. We can. We will. We must.

Visit www.earthday.org/earth-day-2020/ and discover activities happening on Earth Day in your neighbourhood,  around our world, and also the history of Earth Day.

- Sister Patricia St. Louis, csj