An Encounter on a Winter Walk

Early Sunday morning I embarked on London’s Thames Valley Trail amid brilliant sunshine, gleaming snow and –12 C weather.  As I walked along the River Thames, a thirtyish man walked from his small tent at the river edge up to the trail. He asked if I was one of the women who had left some Tim Horton’s donuts for him. I had not.  He introduced himself (I will call him “John”) and we shook hands; his enclosed in thin gloves and mine in bulky fleece-lined hide mitts. Asked about being cold with his thin jacket and flimsy tent, he stated that he was warm enough.  He then spoke about a sixty-one-year-old friend. The man’s bicycle had been stolen. A month earlier, the man had suffered an injury caused by a tree falling on his ankle - the same ankle that had been fused following a previous injury. The friend had crawled a fair distance through the scrabble along the river edge to John’s tent and John arranged for an ambulance to transport his buddy to the hospital. John had not been able to locate his pal and was concerned. He wondered if his friend would be able to walk again. When I told John that I would pray for him he asked if I went to church on Sunday. He was on his way to meet a pal at a nearby church.  He described a church in east London that had become so crowded that a second site was opened across the city.  John asked if I knew anyone who might need help for tasks such as clearing snow from their sidewalk.  He liked to help older people. I had no suggestions and we amicably continued along our respective paths.

This weekend a convoy of trucks and a multitude of supporters in Ottawa are angrily protesting mandatory vaccines, obligatory masks, vaccine passports, and other covid restrictions.   I reflected on my chance encounter with a man who was living in a tent in -12 C weather.  He expressed no anger, blame, or frustration about living in a tent, covid restrictions, or food insecurity.   Rather, he was cheerful, grateful for an anonymous gift of donuts, concerned about others, and confidently lived his faith in God.  I wondered if John would have felt welcomed and at home in my church. And I thought that if Jesus should make an appearance in our city whether he would feel more welcome and comfortable in John’s church than in mine.

-Sister Pat McKeon, csj

Has Anyone Seen Jesus?

Five of us living here in the house were on a zoom birthday call on Dec. 28th for one of the Sisters. During that conversation, we learned that the baby Jesus was missing from our Christmas nativity scene. Well, we were thrown into lockdown here at the Residence so suddenly, that EVERYTHING was locked in the position it was at the time of our lockdown announcement - 2 p.m. on Christmas Eve!  Consequently, no one knew where the baby was, awaiting his appearance to happen later that evening.

On Christmas Eve., after supper, the baby Jesus is usually put in place in a lovely crib ceremony that takes place in the main foyer of the Residence(pictured above). As a last ditch effort to have a “body” in the crib, some creative Sister quickly borrowed a doll from our Care Wing, intending to plop it in the crib. It is quite a large item, way out of proportion to the crib! Your imagination can picture the scene…

On the birthday zoom call, we learned that the person who had put Jesus in a drawer, revealed his whereabouts!   He was carefully being stored until the appropriate time for his appearance.

To this moment, I have no idea whether the baby Jesus is in the crib or not, since we are still in our rooms in lockdown for a few more days.

The possible lesson from this crib snatching?

1.     The person of Jesus can come to us in all shapes and sizes, if only we have eyes to see.

2.    Jesus may seem to be missing, but in reality is present in new ways unimagined before, as is evident in a lockdown.  This pandemic has taught the Global family one key lesson: WE ARE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER. Hopefully we can begin to live in this new awareness..

Baby Jesus, finally in the manger at our Residence, Christmas 2021

3.    How many alerts do we need to wake up to the fact that we are called to change in how we see, think and act as a GLOBAL FAMILY?

Sequel to this story?  Success! Jesus has been found. How have you found Him during this lockdown?

-Sister Kathleen Lichti

Easter Sunday

Easter Sunday

Maybe it was the phone call from a friend who mentioned how wonderful it was to be able to share a meal with her extended family again, even though their tables were separated by plexiglass and the music in the restaurant was too loud, that caused me to notice the phrase in the first reading of Easter Sunday: “we… ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead” (Acts 10:41)

The disciples and Mary Magdalene did not recognize him immediately. In the gospel, Mary thinks she is talking to the gardener until he speaks her name in love and opens her heart and eyes to see him. The disciples on the road to Emmaus had their eyes opened and only recognized him when he broke bread with them.

During this year-long Lent of a pandemic, we have been starved of so many ordinary, everyday things that we took for granted:  family celebrations, hugs, visits, the ability to celebrate together the death of a loved one, etc. How do we celebrate Easter joy in such a time which is not over yet although, with vaccines, there seems to be a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel?

John O’Donohue in his book Anam Cara reminds us “Behind the façade of our normal lives eternal destiny is shaping our days and our ways” (p.90) We need to wake up and see behind the façade of the familiar where God is woven into our lives. Can I sing with the psalmist: “This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad!” (Psalm 118) My friend could marvel at being able to eat with family again although it was certainly not as she would normally have wished it to be.

““Behind the façade of our normal lives eternal destiny is shaping our days and our ways” ”

Maybe the gift of this Easter for me is to decide to begin to shape in my life the “new normal”. Try to live my life with my eyes wide open to the beauty of Springtime coming alive all around me. To accepting each day as a gift and to look for ways to be a gift for everyone I have contact with even if it is only by Zoom or a phone call. Thus, in my own small way, I hope to be ready to participate in a kinder and more loving world when we leave this time of Covid19.

-Sister Catherine Stafford, csj

Fifth Sunday of Lent

Fifth Sunday of Lent:  Gospel Reflection:  John 12:20-33

Some Greeks approached Philip and put this request to him.

“Sir, we would like to see Jesus” (verse 21)

Our Christian faith is similar to an archeological dig.  You look at the surface and you can learn a lot. You brush away the dust and then you can learn even more.  You dig deeper, you learn more. But you have to start with the basics.  You can’t understand God and the complexities of our faith unless you first start with the most basic. 

In today’s gospel, some Greeks came to Philip and asked to see Jesus. One of the dynamics of John’s gospel is that “to see” is more than simply to see something with your eyes.  For John, “to see” is “to believe” ... to see Jesus means more than simply catching a glimpse of a celebrity who is performing miracles.  It means that you really want to get to know and believe in Jesus and the teachings He offers to those who believe. 

Question:  How often have you felt that strong attraction – that desire to actually see … experience … the presence of Jesus in your life?  Personally, I often experience God’s “deeper presence” whenever I am on retreat.   When the retreat ends, I don’t want to leave.  Like the apostles, I want to build a tent and stay forever!  I want to feel the desire to “see” Jesus … to be in His presence.  I am not satisfied knowing about Jesus; I want to see Him … I want to be in His presence.  What does this mean?

“ I am not satisfied knowing about Jesus; I want to see Him … I want to be in His presence.”

It is not necessary to see in the literal sense to believe. We know this in Jesus’ words to Thomas, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe” (20:29). The purpose of the gospel is to record Jesus’ signs and words for those who have not seen yet but have come to believe.

Reflection:

Have you “seen” Jesus? 

Have you really seen Him, and do you really “believe” in Him?  

Do you accept him as your Lord and Saviour?

OR

Is everything in your life still “same old … same old”?

Something to think about.

Sister Dorothy Ryan, csj

Third Sunday of Lent

A BOLD GESTURE

Today, in John’s Gospel account (Jn 2:13-25) we move from a wedding celebration held in Cana to a riot-like scenario in the temple of Jerusalem.  What a shock and sight that must have been!  Jesus is seen displaying anger by upending tables, shooing animals using a whip, causing money to fly all over the place.  What is this outburst all about?  Psalm 69 sheds light on the situation by  describing Jesus’ bold gesture in these words: “It is zeal for your house that has consumed me.” It wouldn’t be until much later that the disciples of Jesus would remember these words and connect them to the Psalmist’s meaning.  The message is clear and urgent! 

“Stop making my Father’s house a house of merchandise.” (John 2:16). 

What is most intriguing about Jesus cleansing the temple is the ongoing structural injustice within the Temple itself.  A justified system had become one in which the leaders used laws to marginalize the poor.  Jesus wanted nothing of this kind of business!  With his time getting shorter, there lay his deep sense of urgency to address injustices such as greed and power. Hence, the display of anger on Jesus’ part is seen as a bold gesture to shake up things and to wake up the financial and spiritual temple leaders from corruption.    

Although the leaders display upset over Jesus’ overt use of authority, they had not yet comprehended the symbolism of the Temple which is God’s dwelling place.  God not only dwelt within the temple but also within the people and today, within us!  Yes, Jesus came in the flesh to be within us and among us.

This week, we might consider Jesus’ bold gesture and ask ourselves some challenging questions as we prepare for the Easter Resurrection. What bold gestures are needed in our time?  Where do I/we need to stand boldly and be a voice for the voiceless?  What does not belong in God’s temple and needs transformation?   

-Sister Linda Parent, csj