The living owe it to those who no longer can speak to tell their story for them.
-Czeslaw Milosz
ALL SAINTS' DAY
All Saints’ Day is celebrated in many Christian churches to honour all those deceased who have attained what might be called spiritual maturity whether they have been formally canonized or not.
When I was a little girl I loved reading the Lives of the Saints series. The martyr, St Lawrence, remains one of my favorites because of his bravery and humour. Imagine asking his torturers to turn him over on the spit because he was done on one side. Martin de Porres was another favorite because of his kindness and dedication. St. Patrick, after whom my Dad was named, continues to be well celebrated in my family because of our Irish heritage. The list seemed endless.
To a child the stories of the saints were full of adventure and mirrored what I believed a good Christian life might look like. It was amazing how many different paths took them to be honoured in heaven.
I continue to be grateful for the short reflections available in the back of the Living with Christ periodical. As an adult their stories give me pause to reflect on my own journey to goodness. What might I learn from their experience that will help me to embrace each moment ?
In these days I most often experience the lives of the saints in the people whose lives have touched mine. Quiet pauses throughout the day bring the gift of memories to me of former caring neighbours, listening teachers, discerning priests, loving parents, faith filled friends and justice seeking religious and fun loving relatives. I know they are certainly among the communion of saints.
This All Saints’ Day I will spend time with those closest to my heart who have gone before me but left many gifts leading me act justly, love tenderly and walk humbly towards the God who call us home.
-Maureen Condon, CSJ Associate
Weekly Pause and Ponder
The "Critical Yeast"
Some wisdom for our time from John Lederach on the Importance of the Few, the "Critical Yeast".
John Paul Lederach is a senior fellow at Humanity United and professor emeritus of international peacebuilding at the University of Notre Dame. He is also the co-founder and first director of the Eastern Mennonite University’s Center for Justice and Peacebuilding. In 2019 he won the Niwano Peace Foundation Peace Prize.
Header Image: Karyna Panchenko/Unsplash
A NEW ADVENT RITUAL
SISTERS CREATE AND CELEBRATE COSMIC ADVENT RITUAL
Image: Laura Nyhuis/Unsplash
In Christian tradition, the four weeks before Christmas is called Advent, a season of anticipation celebrating the birth of Jesus at Christmas. In a larger sense, Advent celebrates the coming of the fullness of God when all of creation including humans has reached its mature completion and God is all in all. This larger view implies that all things evolve and reach a unified Oneness. It is this evolutionary awareness that has led to a more current expression of the traditional Advent ritual.
In 2019 the School Sisters of Notre Dame created an adaptation to the traditional Christmas wreath ritual that includes evolutionary science, biblical hope and brings to life Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si.
The Sisters of Mercy of Newfoundland led by Sister Elizabeth Davis implemented this new Advent ritual in their Advent celebrations called Cosmic Advent Wreath. Briefly, the first candle of the display represents The Birth of the Universe. The second candle represents The Birth of the Solar System. The third candle represents The Birth of Jesus the Christ and the fourth My Birth into the Whole Body of the Universe.
The following two resources, shared below, give the background to the Sisters’ creation and implementation of the Cosmic Advent Ritual.
https://ecospiritualityresources.files.wordpress.com/2020/05/adventinthenewuniversestory.2020.pdf
Image: Aaron Burden/Unsplash
It seems to me that this ritual adaptation is a good example of how to go beyond the traditional ritual and also include it into a larger and more expansive celebration for our time.
-Sister Mary Vandersteen, csj