Celebrating Mother St. John Fontbonne

Love in the Underground

Mother St. John’s Anniversary of Death, November 22

Most of us are stunned with the recent results of the U.S. election.  For us Canadians, it is almost unbelievable that such a majority of Americans, our friends and allies, could choose Donald Trump over an excellent, integrous and forward-looking candidate like Kamala Harris.  How could this happen?

I won’t join the hordes of pundits who are trying to analyze what the Democrats did wrong, or what the Republicans did right.  What interests me, is just what is going on world-wide that makes this happening understandable?

The world’s pulse shows us a global shift to the far right, politically.  Many countries have had elections in the recent months and nearly all have opted to oust the incumbent, and choose someone farther to the right, more conservative, a party or an individual who promises to “make America great again”, “fix what is broken”, or “restore common sense” and make things stable the way they used to be.

People everywhere are experiencing chaos on many levels: floods, hurricanes, typhoons, volcanic eruptions, wildfires; housing crises, rising interest rates, economic instability, political polarization and upheaval of many kinds. Even the Catholic Church is experiencing the revolt of some Bishops and rebellion against Pope Francis’ leadership. Chaos seems to reign.

This is a scary moment to be alive. Folks are looking for something, someone, who can restore some order and stability. And so, they reach for someone who looks like a strong leader, who seems very sure of him/herself, confident and unafraid.  So they vote for an apparently strong leader, one whom they think will take charge, get a grip on things and bring them back to “normal”, i.e. the known, the secure, the stable. Of course, we all want stability and predictability. 

However, that impulse will not give us what we are looking for if that leader takes us in the wrong direction. Going back is not the way forward.  Helping us to ruin the environment even faster than at our current rate, will not bring us more stable global temperatures.  Deporting our countrymates, bullying other nations, reacting with force will not bring about peace.  Manipulating the markets for our own profit, will not produce economic stability.  These actions proceed from fear and end up producing more fear. “He who lives by the sword will die by the sword.”

Species that survive as the world evolves are not those that cling to their old ways of behaving, but those that adapt, change, and find new ways of doing things.  These species are not acting out of fear, but out of an urgency to survive.  Those that survive are not the majority, but they are the ones that make it to the next stage in the evolutionary process.

The earth and the universe proceed from Love and thrive on love.  When fear is the major dynamic at work, we need to counter that fear with creativity, bonding, mutual assistance, i.e. love, hope, trust, and gentle confidence.  In this war of world-views, “moving with love” is our way forward.  During the Second World War, thousands of people refused to cooperate with the Reich, by quietly working underground, harboring Jews, forging false documents to create new identities for them, carrying messages to the allied forces, and generally reaching across the divide, to do good, to be who they believed they were and wanted to be into the future. In time, that underground swell helped to carry the day.  Today we are called to be the underground, cooperating with the universe in its evolution into Love:  under the lies, to speak truth; under the hatred, to spread love, under the bullying to stand up for the undocumented, or the minorities, under the vociferous far-right of some versions of Christianity, to live the Gospel truth of love, compassion, inclusion and sharing.  It’s not glamorous.  It’s not big screen, but it is effective.  And it is Gospel. 

Mother St.John Fontbonne

Mother St. John and her Sisters lived through the reign of terror of the French Revolution.  Their moment in history took them there.  Our moment in history takes us here, now.  Will we react with fear, or keep on “moving with love”?

-Sister Mary Diesbourg, csj

Navigating the Winds of Change

Navigating the Winds of Change

Mother St. John Fontbonne

For the Anniversary of the death of Mother St. John

As the autumn leaves flutter by my window, carried by the winds of seasonal change, I am mindful of the winds of political, cultural, economic, religious, and ecological change sweeping our world today.  These massive shifts are carrying away an old, relatively stable world order and replacing it with tumult, conflict, unbelievable violence, suffering, fear, grief, and much confusion.  Just as the trees must endure their stripping, to stand naked and bare throughout the winds and snows of winter before they can be clothed with new green, so it is for us, before a new world order can be born.  There is a time of dying, and a time of rebirth. Ours is a time of dying and letting go.  Father Ron Rolheiser, in writing of the paschal mystery, says that instead of understanding the paschal mystery to be just dying and rising, we really need to recognize that it really entails 6 stages, all important to our living out this mystery in our lives: the dying itself with its suffering and initial pain of letting go (Good Friday); a period of waiting, coming to grips with the death, and filled with grief and confusion (Holy Saturday); a rising of the first shoots of the new, perhaps bringing disbelief, surprise and joy (The Resurrection); then a period of readjustment, of learning how to be with that newness (the 40 days after Easter); then the fuller letting go of the old way, and taking responsibility in and for this new world vision (The Ascension).  After all of this, there is the coming of the promised Spirit, bringing fullness to the new creation.  This is a long process. Can we believe that this current period of apparent chaos and destruction is actually one stage of the paschal mystery, and an important stage in the evolution of the world we are hoping and waiting for? 

This year, as I reflected on the life of Mother St. John in the context of our fractured world order, I wondered what there might be in her life that could bring some meaning and hope to us right here and now.  She too lived in a period of great turmoil: from the relative stability of the years before the revolution, through the reign of terror and on into the reconstruction of her world, church, and culture.  What got her through?  What might help us and others to get through this, our moment, and move forward with hope? It seems to me that there are three elements in Mother St. John’s life that can be helpful: living the loving compassion of true humanity; embracing, and choosing wisely in the reality of our present moment; and living a rock-solid trust in God through it all.   

“living the loving compassion of true humanity, embracing, and choosing wisely in the reality of our present moment, and living a rock-solid trust in God through it all.   ”

Let’s look at these in the life of Mother St.  John. All the accounts of her life show her to be a woman of great humanity: warm, caring, practical, inclusive, and funny.  She is consistently described as someone who is loved by all. People just wanted to be with her.  One example of her warmth and inclusivity is the story of a young woman who wanted to join the community in Lyon, France but thought she could not because she had to look after her aging father.  Mother St. John said, “Bring him with you”.  And she did.  She adapted a little house next to the generalate for him to live in, and he became a beloved gardener for the community. He felt wanted and needed and was well cared for, and his gifts were valued to help the community. Simple warmth and inclusion. Today, as we witness inconceivable acts of polarization, inhumanity, torture, barbaric infliction of suffering, racist and religious hatred, abuse of all kinds, many people are feeling overwhelmed, depressed, rejected, unvalued, confused, and frightened.  Surely if we can offer the warmth of a loving and compassionate humanity, the ability to find the humour and goodness in ordinary events and the simple gestures of kindness and inclusion, we can offer much towards easing people’s fear and sense of isolation. 

The second thing that struck me from Mother St. John’s life, was the fact that she really adapted herself to whatever the present moment dropped in her lap.  The big moments, the decisive ones in her life were not ones she had pre-planned.  The decisions she made arose out of these unsought moments of decision.  Being forced to attend the liturgy of a priest in Monistrol, who had taken the oath of allegiance to the revolution caused her to resist by refusing to participate in the rubrics.   When the convents were closed and all religious ministries forbidden, she was forced to return to her family home and live with her parents. Her imprisonment condemnation to death were the result of the approach of the search of soldiers of their family home and the discovery a priest in hiding.  Her preparation for death by guillotine, was suddenly changed when Robespierre fell, and she had to return to her family home.  She then cared for her aging parents for many years and fully expected to stay there, until the invitation of Cardinal Fesch suddenly presented her with a new challenge.  After accepting that challenge, her new community was flourishing, and she was struggling to help give new shape to an ever-growing community.  Finally, she had not planned to send Sisters to the new world. Rather, she was surprised by the invitation from Bishop Rosati to send Sisters to America and hesitated to do so.  Finally, she did make that painful decision, and grieved deeply for their absence and the suffering they would have to endure. She had not planned any of that, but what she did do was to respond as well as she could to the moments that life presented to her, making the best decisions she could at that moment, and trusting the outcomes to the Providence of God.  Today we honour her for we can see in hindsight, what great things God accomplished through her decisions.  Surely, strategic planning and due diligence are very important; yet we never know what the next moment may bring, what God might do with the choices we make, or what futures they may bring about. The wisdom of our current congregational statement encourages us to embrace what life offers us in each moment, to live it as best we can, and to entrust the outcome to the loving Providence of God.  “Embrace this moment as a graced path to transformation” contains a wisdom that seems to be in our CSJ genes.

Finally, Mother St. John lived a deep trust in God, believing that no matter what happened, the Spirit was working something good and new in and through it all.  She wrote in her later years, “Trust has been my strength throughout the sorrows, difficulties, and tribulations of my long life.  God can do everything; without God I can do nothing; like children, we must throw ourselves in His arms.” 

The leaves fall, the winter comes, and the seasons change.  Each moment has its purpose and its shaping power.  The yeast is still busy making the dough rise, and the tiny mustard seed is still slowly causing the tree to grow.   And so, Mother St. John, please help us to live all our moments with the loving warmth of human compassion, to embrace this, our present moment, however tumultuous, as a graced path to transformation”, and to trust the One who continues to bring order out of chaos. 

“Above all, trust in the slow work of God.” (Teilhard de Chardin)

 -Sister Mary Diesbourg, csj 

Moving with Love

Every day brings a bit of revelation. What might that be today?

Nature itself reveals a daily love offered by our ever- creating God. Earth is awakened by the warmth of the morning sun. Even in winter the sun’s rays periodically break through the cloud. Snow sparkles with the light of the moon. Nature has a way of reminding us that Divine Love accompanies struggle.

Some fragments of a hymn text by Brian Wren come to mind: “This is a story full of love, a song to set us free . . for Wisdom guides the flow of life.”

We mark this day, remembering the life and death of Mother St. John (1759 – 1843). Jeanne was indeed a woman full of love, whose life story was a song of struggle and fortitude during the French revolution, a story of generous courage after the terror as she gathered women religious into the Congregation of St. Joseph. Gifted with wisdom she heard the call to send Sisters to the new world, and from there this little Congregation of St. Joseph in Canada gradually was birthed.

History of Mother St. John Fontbonne Part 1

History of Mother St. John Fontbonne Part 2

What might the revelation be for us today? Perhaps to see with new eyes, our own invitation to live out God’s call to fortitude, courage, mission. As our little community here in Canada accepts its call to age gracefully, we lean with fortitude into deep trust. Although our human resources are few, our relationships, and partnerships are many. We encourage one another to see the possibilities for service that abound (making sandwiches for the soup kitchen, being present to our neighbours, praying for others, seeking justice). The mission by which we once were recognized (hospitals, schools) is giving way to working with others at the Mount Community Centre in Peterborough, the Hub in London, our Associates and Companions across Canada.  All these present energies are like rays of sun breaking through the limitations.

With courage and conviction Mother St. John led this “Congregation of the Great Love of God” through the devastation of war, and the stripping of its identity. Through this day of remembrance may we be evermore fully women of courage, of fortitude and of heart.

Together let us watch for the graced surprise that comes our way this day!

-Sister Loretta Manzara, csj

Image: Unsplash | Emmanuel Phaeton

Celebrating a Courageous Woman

Mother St. John Fontbonne

As we celebrate the anniversary of the death of Mother St. John Fontbonne on November 22nd may her courage and flexibility inspire us during these trying times.

Covid-19 is certainly not the first set of circumstances to threaten the lives of the Sisters of St. Joseph. We can recall the effects of the French Revolution when our Sisters, and Mother St. John, our Foundress, were imprisoned and facing the possibility of execution on the guillotine when the fall of Robespierre (1794) resulted in the release of the prisoners and the end of the Revolution. Mother St. John left few writings, what has endured are the actions and the traditions she established.

May we embrace the change that these times beckon for the good of all humanity and creation.

““From the first days of her religious life, Mother Saint John had learned to adjust her plans and dreams to respond to the needs that surrounded her. In Salesian terms, she embraced the need to continually adapt herself, ceding her personal desire, and following God’s will as it became manifest through the signs of the times. (page 67)

Instead of conceiving a plan and making it happen, she opened herself so that the plan of God could take flesh and become history - in her and in her neighbour. (page 68)”

-taken from Anything of which Woman is Capable, Volume I, by Mary M. McGlone, CSJ. 2017. Permission granted for reprint.”

View the History of Mother St. John Fontbonne: Part I & II:

Uncertain, Dangerous Times!: The Silent Courage of Mother St. John

We Sisters of St. Joseph already know about the imprisonment of Mother St. John during the French Revolution, and her almost miraculous release from the sentence of death at the guillotine, when the tyrant Robespierre was himself guillotined on July 28, 1794 and the prisons were opened. But I have been reading about the times afterwards and was struck by the fact that nothing was stable. No one knew if there would be another revolution. Supporters of King Louis’ relatives to reclaim the throne were armed for war in the cities and besides that the Austrians and Russians had armies on the very borders of France, planning a takeover. Yet, we do not have any signs in Mother St. John’s life that she allowed any of these terrible threats to cause her to change her regular, daily outreach to the poor, homeless, sick and abandoned. She and the Sisters dealt with the needs right in front of them. We only have signs her complete confidence in God, and her constant prayer of trust. So, when Pope Francis was here and urged us to deal not with “ideologies’ but rather with the needy before us, I was thinking of Mother St. John’s brave example in her own times of instability and suffering. She is an inspiration for me.

Sister Wendy Cotter csj (L) Chicago.