LENTEN SKIN-SHEDDING

As we reach the halfway stage of our Lenten journey, it is good to pause to check in how ‘we’ are doing. Did you notice what I just said? Checking to see how ‘we’ are doing. This Lent I have once again noticed how much I like to be in control of my life, to be “in charge.” Probably most of us think we know what is best for us and tend to forget that we need help and guidance from God.

As the word Lent “stems from the old English word lencten springtime, spring” on Ash Wednesday I decided to do some internal spring cleaning during this Lent. Since I have always liked the prayer, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me” Psalm 51:10, this was what I prayed for. In hindsight, I remember thinking, “Be careful what you wish [or pray] for.”  Though “my” plans focused on getting ready for some almighty spring-cleaning of my heart, that became secondary to what transpired. An allergic reaction to a new medication caused my skin to peel and shed. 

Then, just before Lent, I stumbled upon the reflection, A Time for Skin-shedding by Joyce Rupp.  As if that were not enough of a ‘God-incidence’, a friend also forwarded her reflection to me. Though the title instantly resonated with me, it was her closing sentence which really got my attention, “May this Lent be a time of skin-shedding for you, my readers, a time when you discern what are your strengths and what are your weaknesses.” As I pondered these words, I thought to myself, “Okay God, I am shedding my skin - what is the message here?”

In the first reading on this Third Sunday of Lent, we hear about Moses at the burning bush, where he hears God tell him, “Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” I doubt that God was asking me to remove my skin. However, prompted by Joyce Rupp’s reflection, I wondered whether God was wanting me to see how spiritual skin-shedding could help me discover what my strengths are and what weaknesses are keeping me from growing.  Was I encouraged to shed my spiritual skin so I could grow spiritually?” How could I shed my spiritual skin this Lent?  In Ephesians 4:22 we read, “Strip yourself of your former nature [put off and discard your old unrenewed self] … And put on the new nature, [the regenerate self] created in God’s image.” I, who like to be in control of my life, certainly would need God’s help to shed my spiritual skin not just once but again and again.

Lent is the time to remove obstacles to grace. Our gracious God is like the gardener in the Gospel who said to the owner of a fig tree not bearing fruit, let me “dig around it and put manure on it.” God patiently works on the soil of our lives and often in unexpected ways, like using skin-shedding to teach me. The ‘manure’ in our lives tends to be full of surprises. Thankfully, it also contains the graces we need to help us shed spiritually and learn to embrace our weaknesses and bring out the best in us, who are wonderfully made. With God’s grace we can change and grow throughout this Lent so by Easter we will not be the ‘con-version’ of ourselves but the true women and men created in God’s image and likeness and comfortable in our own skin.

Sr. Magdalena Vogt, cps

IMAGES: Josh Applegate/Grant Whitty| Unsplash

Saint Valentine's Day

I recall with fondness those Valentine’s Days of my youth. How exciting it was to fill out little Valentine cards for all my classmates and then to receive so many in return. Art class was dedicated to making hearts & flowers, cards for Moms & Dads. And of course, there had to be treats; little hearts with messages on them or chocolate, or both if one was very lucky.

The fact that the feast was originally named after the 3rd century martyr St. Valentine of Terni paled with the excitement of the day. History remembers him as a priest, some say bishop, who died at the command of Emperor Claudius II Gothicus because he would not renounce his faith. He is remembered as the patron saint of healing and epilepsy. I’ll share one lovely story of how our practice of sending Valentine cards may have started.

St. Valentine is said to have healed a young girl of her blindness. On the day of his execution legend has it that he wrote a letter to that young girl and signed “from your Valentine”. Sounds like a loving soul, doesn’t he?

May you feel loved and offer love to all you meet this Valentines Day, and maybe some treats!

-Maureen Condon, Associate

Images: Becca Tapert/ Unsplash

To Work Towards Justice is to Persevere

As someone who spent her life in the heart of Africa, where the sun’s warmth lasts throughout the year, I am fascinated by Canadian seasons and the profound life lessons they carry. My work is to look at the state of the world daily and what a sight it is today. From the grueling violence in the Middle East to the threats faced by Indigenous communities and our natural world, it is easy sometimes to feel as though our world is crumbling, and human rights an unattainable quest. Have we not learnt anything about history, one might ask? Is humanity destined to always repeat the same mistakes, and for injustice to prevail?

The fall season with its gorgeous trail of auburn, copper and crimson leaves dropping on the ground, one at a time, giving way to the long silence of winter, and eventually an astounding rebirth in the spring have been a source of deep comfort in my work on human rights. They remind me that like the seasons, injustice comes and goes, and rebirth is always within our reach. The pursuit of justice is demanding. It asks us to be patient and diligent, to cultivate hope against all odds, to never give up. Just as we know with absolute certainty that spring will come, we must trust that a more just world is possible.

This week I was overjoyed to learn that Brazil had finally convicted two former police officers for the murder of Marielle Franco, a prominent young female politician killed in a drive-by shooting in 2018. Our team in the Brazil office has devoted much of its work to this case. Marielle may not be back, and her family remains forever shattered, but this conviction breaks a culture of impunity that had engulfed Brazil for too long. It took six long years of mobilizing, advocating and campaigning in what seemed like an impossible case for this conviction to emerge. My first thought upon hearing the news was the wise words of Martin Luther King, “the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” What a privilege to bend the arc daily, with the support of so many of you, even in what seems like a cold winter for human rights.

To work towards justice is to persevere, to doubt, to stumble and to get up and start again, always guided by those most impacted, breaking the silence cast around the unheard, and casting light on the most forgotten wrongs. It is to look at the falling leaves, and to trust, without the shadow of a doubt, in the return of the spring.

Guest Blog by: Ketty Nivyabandi, Secretary General, Amnesty International Canada

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Images: Michael Starkie/Donnie Rosie/Annie Spratt c/o Unsplash

Week of Prayer for Christian Unity - January 18-January 25, 2025

As children we were invited to learn what it meant to be Christian: who we believe in and why. As a young Catholic I didn’t know we were Christians! We generally learned about our religion for marks or holy cards in school, stars in Sunday School or pats on the back at home. Memory work is a wonderful skill but when did we start really believing in what we have learned?

The theme this year for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity invites us to answer the same question Jesus asked both Martha and Mary as they grieved their brother Lazarus “Do you believe this?” (John 11:11-26) He was of course asking if they believed that HE IS the Resurrection and the Life. They did.

As children, our knowledge of that phrase was rote memory. As an adult, what is the deeper meaning for me today? What did I learn in the past that made sense or didn’t make sense. What do I truly believe in my heart of hearts about Jesus, unity, resurrection and life now? Do those beliefs guide my daily interaction with all God’s creation?

To start the week of Christian Unity this year I will be joining many others at a Sing, Sing, Sing event at a local United Church; after all, those who sing pray twice! 😊 For the rest of the week I will rest with Jesus and answer, Yes Jesus I believe, help my unbelief; there is still so much room for growth.

-Maureen Condon, Associate with the Sisters of St. Joseph

Image: Amaury Gutierrez @amaury_guti/Unsplash

Happy Friendship Day

World Friendship Day - JULY 30th

Some may say it was merely a coincidence. For me, it was more like a Godincidence. A couple of weeks ago, a dear friend asked if I might write a blog for the International Day of Friendship. Being my friend, I gladly agreed to do so. Today, July 22, is the Feast of Mary Magdalene, my patron saint, a fitting day to write about friendships. Among the cards I received for my name feast day, one stood out as it speaks about friendship.

“The friendship we share is a rare and remarkable thing. The easy, natural way we relate to each other means so much … it's what makes me comfortable just being myself. I believe that ours is one of those friendships too wonderful to have happened by chance. Common interests may have brought us together, but I know it was the grace of God that made us friends!”

It most certainly felt like more than a coincidence to be gifted with this card on the day I was about to write about friendship. A Godincidence. “The grace of God made us friends.”

““Whatever our souls are made of yours and mine are the same.” ”

— Emily Brontë

While I was thinking about friendship, I paged through John O’Donohue’s book, Anam Cara, Gaelic for Soul Mate. This reminded me of a beautiful quote Jeopardy host Alex Trebek shared in his book “The Answer is…”  To describe his relationship with his wife Jean, he mentions the quote from their favourite movie, Wuthering Heights: “Whatever our souls are made of yours and mine are the same.” Alex then describes his relationship with Jean with these words, “That’s the way I look at our relationship. We are one soul in two bodies.” Soul mates share enduring affection, esteem, intimacy, and trust. Friendship is a lifeline. Connecting with like-minded people who genuinely care about one another is a gift from God. Indeed, “The most wonderful places to be in the world are in someone’s thoughts, someone’s prayers, and in someone’s heart.” (Helen Barry)

““The most wonderful places to be in the world are in someone’s thoughts, someone’s prayers, and in someone’s heart.” ”

— Helen Barry

I consider myself hugely blessed. I have amazing friends and soul mates. Nothing could replace what their friendship has meant and means to me. Their love, support, and care are invaluable treasures. I am blessed to have such dear friends who have known me for decades and we have shared both the light and shade of each other. Friendships of any length are based on a continued, mutual forgiveness. In one of Richard Rohr’s recent daily meditations, he speaks of the dance of repair, a healing dance between friends. Anyone who is blessed with dear friends knows that without tolerance and mercy a friendship can die. As David Whyte puts it, friendship is a mirror to presence and a testament to forgiveness. Friendships support us and enrich our lives. Furthermore, according to science friendships can, among other things, slash our risk of mortality in half.

The Age of Innocence Credit: Marco Mancinelli

On this International Day of Friendship, connect with your friends and give thanks for the gift of friendships, especially those that survived hiatuses, silences, distances. They are the connections that never die.

-Sister Magdalena Vogt, cps | Guest Blogger