Palm Sunday Memories

I have wonderful memories of Palm Sundays past. My friend and I for many years went to visit her Dad on Palm Sunday weekend in a rural village in eastern Ontario. The village was small; the parish smaller but the spirit was alive and well. I could see Jesus being very comfortable here riding through town on his wee donkey, a sign of peace rather than dominance in His day.

Sadly, short days later his celebration of welcome turned to one of scorn, the suffering servant was about to be revealed. (Isaiah 50:4-7) He accepted this treatment with faith in His loving Father. With humility, putting others before Himself, (Phil 2:6-11) Jesus submitted to the torture of the cross. Luke’s passion narrative (Luke 22: 14-23, 56) reminds us of Judas’s betrayal, Peter’s denial and repentance, the women’s faithfulness  and centurion’s acknowledgement that Jesus was “this was a great & good Man”.                  

As we move into this most Holy of weeks, let us remind ourselves, daily, of our own faithfulness, our own weaknesses and our belief that Jesus was and is truly our God who loves us especially in our admitted weakness. May you have a blessed Holy Week my friends.

-Maureen Condon, CSJ Associate

Images from Unsplash: Brooke Lark/Alessandro Bellone

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

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

Winter Solstice

Winter Solstice - December 21, 2024

The people in darkness have seen a great light. Isaiah 9:2

For millennia people have celebrated the return to longer daylight by counting the hours, hosting a feast, burning a yule log, hosting a reflective event, lighting candles; the options are endless. Who doesn’t love daylight. This year, however, my solstice reflection has focused more on the gifts that darkness offers. Recently we have had some stunning night skies. We have had 4 supermoons this year, unusual southern views of Northern lights, several meteor showers and amazing views of constellations. We would have enjoyed none of these were it not for the darkness that amplified them. City dwellers miss out on so much of these experiences because of too much light.

Carl Jung believed that enlightenment comes from becoming aware of our shadow self rather than from imaging the light. Light and darkness for me are two sides of a necessarily balanced coin. On Dec 21st this year challenge yourself to celebrate the gifts of both light and darkness.

-Maureen Condon, CSJ Associate

Image: Kacper Szczechla @wyroq/ Unsplash

Holy Thursday

Jesus, the Christ, was a faithful Jew and so it is no surprise that he gathered together his disciples to celebrate the Passover as had been done for generations.

With careful preparation he gathered them and for the most part He followed the long adhered to rituals of telling the story of the Passover, discussing the story, drinking wine, eating matzah, partaking of symbolic foods, and reclining in celebration of freedom. What a surprise it must have been for all gathered when He raised the bread & wine saying THIS IS MY BODY & blood which was to be offered up within the next few hours. Then he asked them to do likewise in His memory. Do this to Remember Me.

How do you handle change ?

We become so used to doing things in a particular way that when that changes we become uncomfortable, cautious, even suspicious. We’ve always done it this way ! How wonderful it is to see Jesus leading the way by calling us to creatively interpreting our faith and greater fidelity. There is more than one way BE Faithful.

 -Maureen Condon, CSJ Associate