ADVENT REFLECTION

‘As a Mother cares for her ailing child, our God cares for our ailing world.’

Sometimes it feels like our God likes to play hide and seek.  While I know that God never stays in hiding, my heart and desires get lost in the many places of darkness that cry out for light.  We are so little in the face of it all; hunger, homelessness, climate change and all the ways our earth cries out with floods, extremes in temperature and earthquakes.

During Advent this year I am drawn to pray to recognize that hope is still alive in the hearts of the many who seek to offer relief to our needy especially in our City of Peterborough.  One sign of hope that I have seen this Advent are the workers who tirelessly spend time at Kawartha Food Share gathering donations of food and other non-perishables that will sustain families during these times of economic downturn.  Another sign of hope I am noticing are the many non-profit agencies working to resettle refugees; other agencies providing monetary assistance for the flooded areas of the Maritime provinces; and of course, always I am mindful of what is happening in Ukraine where innocent people – especially families and children are being uprooted from their familiar surroundings with assistance coming from neighbors near and far.

Each of these events, dark as they initially appeared, have blessed me during these Advent days with gratitude as I see the goodness of many people working together to restore life and hope.

-Sister Sylvia Crowley, csj | Peterborough, Ontario

Header Image: Kelly Sikkema/Unsplash

ADVENT - A Time to Say YES

At dinnertime one evening just after Thanksgiving a few of us commented on how quickly the month of October was slipping away and I casually remarked that ADVENT would soon be on our doorstep and how much I loved the Season!  To my amazement, everyone chimed in “I love it too”!  Little did I know that I would receive a phone call the next day from one of our Sisters asking me to write a little reflection on “ WHAT ADVENT MEANS IN MY LIFE”.  Nothing happens by chance…our God is always at work!

ADVENT…a time to say “YES” to my life.  Maranatha, come Lord Jesus, come! Both of these prayers or mantras are implicit in Mary’s Magnificat.  I’m sure that after Gabriel’s visit, Mary was awed and humbled in remembering what God had done for her. Her response, immortalized in the Magnificat, also sings and resonates in my heart.  My soul celebrates Yahweh my God, and I rejoice constantly in LOVE, for all the great blessings my God has given me, one of no renown and nothing to offer nor attract the world, yet greater ones have not received as much. 

Image: Kenny Eliason/Unsplash

As I pondered these words, I was drawn last Advent to participate in a four week circle of friends united in contemplative reflections on our own stories and memories of the faith journeys we have been living.  Modeled on the four weeks of Advent and on the four mysteries of Mary’s life, we reflected on MARY as a LISTENING  WOMAN at the ANNUNCIATION, a WAITING WOMAN at her VISITATION WITH ELIZABETH, a DISCERNING WOMAN at the WEDDING FEAST OF CANA and a PROCLAIMING WOMAN at PENTECOST.  In these four roles, I saw Mary at PRAYER at both the Annunciation and at Pentecost and in ACTIVE SERVICE at the Visitation and at Cana.  Isn’t this the full CONTEMPLATIVE LIFE…PRAYER AND SERVICE? Both are DISCIPLESHIP and faith-filled experiences of her life and ours also.  As I recalled and celebrated my own stories, I realized just how much I too, have been touched and graced by such a merciful Saviour who has prepared great things for me and “called me by name”.

Praised be my God who fulfills all!   

-Sister Maureen Meloche, csj

First Sunday of Advent

Reflection 

Image: Waldemar Brandt/Unsplash

In today's gospel St Matthew tells us, " you must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour." This calls us to be aware of Christ's presence in ourselves and those around us - that is being aware of the importance ofthe way we speak to, are present to, and treat others.

One evening in late November a few years ago an elder who was not in very good shape came to my door. I will call her Clara. It was cold and stormy, so I brought Clara into the porch and closed the door to keep her out of the cold.

She told me that she needed some chippin (money). Clara asked me for $50 and told me that she would pay me back on Friday. I told her I didn't have any money to give out. She continued to lessen the amount all the way down to a loonie and I continued to tell her that I didn't have any money to give away.

I was aware of what she wanted the money for, and also of her real need - that was food. Finally, I was able to ask Clara if she would like something to eat. With her positive response I prepared a lunch for her, and she happily went on her way.

Awareness brings presence, acceptance, and openness to others and this is what God is calling us to this week - that is being ready because, "we do not know the hour when the Son of Man is coming."

Sister Bonnie Bryson, csj

Braiding New Relationships

Food For Thought: Braiding New Relationships

-by Sister Priscilla Solomon, csj of Sault St. Marie on behalf of Federation Ecology Committee

As I child I learned to identify and pick it. As long as they were able, my parents used to pick it every June or early July.  We were taught that it is the hair of Mother Earth and that it was not to be over-picked. Sweetgrass. We were shown that each single-stem plant is rooted in the earth just as our hair is rooted on our heads. That speaks to a very different relationship to the earth than the kind of relationship that sees primarily financial or economic benefits in the land and its life. I remember seeing braids of sweetgrass, and my Mom teaching me that a single blade of sweetgrass is not as strong alone as three clusters of sweetgrass when they are braided together. I was also taught that sweetgrass is a sacred medicine of purification and blessing.

If you have read Robin Wall-Kimmerer’s book, Braiding Sweetgrass, you might remember her teachings on sweetgrass that are so like the ones I received.

I was thinking of these teachings as I reflected on the recent visit and apology of Pope Francis to Indigenous peoples on this land. Not that there is anything sweet about the horrific history that necessitated an apology but rather, that his apology was one of the strands of a braid that carry the hope of new relationships. He was responding to the Truth and Reconciliation’s Call to Action that the Pope come to apologize to Indigenous people on our own lands. The commission itself, the courage and determination of survivors, the growing awareness of the painful and damaging past as experienced by Indigenous people, and efforts by both Indigenous people and people of Settler origins to develop a new relationship are all part of this strand of the braid.

The second strand of the braid includes the efforts of Pope Francis to engage Catholics and all people of good will in addressing climate change and the ongoing destruction of our planet. Laudato Si’, The Synod on the Amazon, Querida Amazonia and Fratelli Tutti communicate very clearly and powerfully the need to recognize that everything is related. Destruction of one part leads to destruction of the whole; healing of one part can lead to the healing of the whole. Pope Francis listened to the people of the Amazon. He responded with a clear call to us to hear the cry of the earth itself and the cry of poor people of the earth as one cry for healing and the transformation of our relationships with them. Not dominance and extraction but rather, respect, compassion and care. Not arrogance but rather respect for Indigenous peoples’ wisdom gained over centuries, even millennia, of living in harmony with the land and the rest of creation.

“Destruction of one part leads to destruction of the whole; healing of one part can lead to the healing of the whole.”

The third strand of the braid leading us to hope and transformation is the recent preparation for the Synod on Synodality. Already, the work that is being done is engaging people at various levels of the church. Both locally and globally, structures have been created to enable people to speak their truth and offer their ideas and opinions on how we might move together into a new future.  Pope Francis vision is one of a church - a people of faith - walking together encouraging, supporting, serving and strengthening each other in faith, hope and love. This is a vision of church that prioritizes life-giving relationships with other living beings over one that focuses on management and control though structures and laws. Like the apology and the concern for new relationships with others in our common home, this strand of the braid seeks a new quality of community and solidarity with others.

When we braid these three strands together we can create a stronger, more unified effort to transform our own lives, the lives of others and the whole of creation. Even more, we can strengthen and grow our relationships with our Creator, with the Living Word and with and the Spirit who lives and works in each of these strands of life. Let us walk together in hope and trust!

-Sister Priscilla Solomon, csj of Sault St. Marie on behalf of Federation Ecology Committee