I Couldn’t Believe My Eyes

It was late Sunday afternoon when I learned that King’s University Parish offered a 5:00 pm Mass for its students. Pressed for time, I quickly drove to the main campus and hurried into the small chapel. There in silence sat only a young couple expecting to attend Mass. No candles were lit, no presider was present.  Soon, the young man consulted his phone and announced that Mass was at the nearby spacious King’s College Chapel – formerly our community’s Mount St. Joseph chapel.

As I sped down Huron Street, I wondered why a five-o’clock Sunday Mass would be held in such a large space for a few students. Several minutes later I parked the car, raced up the wide cement steps and entered the foyer. Now, out of breath, I hurried across the marble floor and gingerly opened the chapel door.  I stopped in my tracks as I beheld the pews filled with young students raising their voices and praising God to the organ strains of a timely Lenten hymn.

I couldn’t believe my eyes and ears! A sense of quiet awe permeated the atmosphere as young men and women of many colors and races worshiped in faith and solidarity as their chaplain, assisted by the college deacon, led the beautiful celebration of the Eucharist.  I felt a solemnity and beauty that transcended the ordinary.

Voices in my head reminded me of what I often thought and what many others believe: “Young people don’t go to church anymore”.  “Few practice their faith these days”.  “What is our world coming to”? 

Wait a minute, I thought, how could we have been so wrong?  Here I was among a devout crowd in line to receive communion singing the haunting words, “Eat this bread, drink this cup, come to me and never be hungry”.  Here they received sustenance and strength at a weekly Sunday Service.

Following the ceremony, the feeling of fellowship that had begun at Mass continued as a large group made their way downstairs to an inviting room where coffee, crusty buns, and four kinds of soup were served from hot urns by student volunteers. Sitting around white tables, fellowship and friendly chatter filled the room.  It was all so simple, heartfelt, and real.

Even as the academic year draws to a close and students head out of town, a considerable number will continue to attend Sunday Service. Come September, the chapel will be filled again with devout students.  Now I know that faith is alive and active in students at King’s University College, and in many other places as well.

-Sister Jean Moylan, csj

Tent Dwellers and Foot Washers

As we savour the mystery and blessings of Jesus’ Resurrection  may we turn our thoughts and attention to the words of Isaiah to discover the manner in which we as Easter People are called and challenged to live out the message of this good news.

Enlarge the site of your tent,
    and let the curtains of your habitations be stretched out;
do not hold back; lengthen your cords
    and strengthen your stakes. Isaiah 54:2

More than ever in our current times we are challenged to enlarge our tent, symbolically to extend hospitality and refuge to one another.

Ironically, Robert Ingersoll, although nicknamed “the Great Agnostic” reminds us , as I presume Jesus, the Risen One would that we rise by lifting others up. In what ways are we being called to lift the spirits of one another?

This generosity of spirit is set as an example for us by Jesus as he washed the feet of his disciples at the Last Supper. He calls upon us to wash one another’s feet. (John 13:1-17)

As renewed Easter People let us be welcoming tent dwellers and warm-hearted foot washers for those we encounter.

-Sister Nancy Wales, CSJ

Cabrini: the Movie

“What the world needs now, is Love Sweet Love”, some of us may remember this song of Burt Barcharach and Hal David that came out in 1965. As the song says, “It’s the only thing there’s just too little of... No, not just for some, but for everyone...”

Yes, this world needs so much love as we come to a turning point where love is being replaced with hatred, bullying, xenophobia, violence against anyone who is “different” than the white male Caucasian.  Women are belittled, Indigenous peoples in countries world-wide are looked upon as being subhuman or inhuman, hence are treated as if they have no value. People who are homosexual or transgender are not even considered to be human.  What is the criteria for dismissing a human being? Too many politicians exhibit an unconscious or perhaps even conscious assumption that some people in this world are not human...and this is in supposedly educated nations.  Shame on us if we remain silent, for therein is our consent.

Enter, “Cabrini” the movie about a young Italian woman who dared the powers of Church and state to say “no” to the dream of a better world for all.

Not only does the movie take the “religiosity” out of religion, but inserts an interesting dynamic between: women and the men who hold power, Italian immigrants and U.S. citizens, a tribal worldview and an inclusive one, the rich and privileged of New York City, and the poor in the slums.

Frances Cabrini, born in 1850, had only a few years to live because of a compromised lung condition she acquired when she almost drowned as a child. She founded her own Religious order because she was rejected by established orders due to her ill health.  The Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart, under Mother Frances Xavier Cabrini, felt called to the far east to minister to the poor and forgotten. The movie “CABRINI”, graphically depicts how 6 women were able to effect major change in the hearts of the citizens of New York City after having been commissioned by Pope Leo XIII.

Upon arriving in New York the women experienced firsthand, the plight of the Five Points Slum district in which Italian immigrants lived isolated from the rest of the citizens of NY City (“Rats have it better”, described their condition)

The Institute of The Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus established seven homes and a free school and nursery in its first five years. Its good works brought Cabrini to the attention of Giovanni Scalabrini, Bishop of Piacenza, and of Pope Leo XIII.[2]

In 1889, at the suggestion of Pope Leo XIII, the Sisters came to New York, and opened convents in the Archdioceses of Chicago, Denver, Newark, Seattle, and Los Angeles and the Dioceses of Brooklyn and Scranton.[3] In 1892 they established Columbus Hospital in New York City,[4] which later became Cabrini Medical Center and operated until 2008.

Perhaps the compassionate viewer is able to appreciate these times in which the movie was produced and the actual tenor of the day in the late 1800’s to the early 1900’s. We saw in the portrayal of Mother Cabrini a woman spurred on by intense love for the orphans and abandoned of her society. We also saw how anger fuelled her passion to embrace those who had no love.  Anger and love provided the energy Mother Cabrini needed to accomplish all she did.

-Sister Kathleen Lichti, csj

Image: Felix Mooneeram/Unsplash

International Day of Forests: March 21

 International Day of Forests: March 21

How many people even know that there is an International Day of Forests? Given the present situation of climate change, which is wreaking havoc on forests and all nature due, in large part, to us humans who should be shaking in our boots.  We have failed to do our share to prevent global warming. At this late date, can we atone and make a concerted effort to help to protect at least one of nature’s special treasures - our trees and forests?

In a world where over 90% of its people live in urban situations, it behooves us to take care of forests which, not so many years ago, covered much of the earth, especially in North America.  Early pioneers saw in trees and forests a wide variety of wood products which did, and continues to provide lumber for homes, dwellings, buildings, furniture etc.  Today, Indigenous Peoples and conscientious conservationists have taken a stand to protect our forests and trees from wanton destruction and clear cutting, often without success or support of governments that cast a blind eye to the cry for justice for the earth.

There are many forests throughout the world, including the largest, the Amazon which shares its location with nine nations: the Tropical Rainforests in Congo, New Guinea, Borneo, Burmese, and Valdwan. Other beautiful forests include Germany’s Black Forest, United States’ Redwood’s National and State parks, and Australia’s Duintree Rainforest to name a few.

Not to be outdone in beauty are Canada’s magnificent lakes and forests, located in every province, claiming almost 10% of the world’s forests.  Recently, I read about Canada’s amazing boreal forest which is the world’s largest intact forest ecosystem. It stretches across 1.2 billion acres (485 million hectares) of northern Canada, from Yukon to Newfoundland and Labrador.  It represents 25% of the world's only intact forest, even more than the Amazon rainforest.  In the almost decade since these statistics appeared, it would be interesting to know how much of the boreal (northern) forest has been victim to fires, climate change, resource development, pipelines, roads, and urban development.

Considering the greed in our world, we realize that only concentrated effort will help to preserve the trees and forests that populate our world.  Changing our lifestyle is our only hope, so go ahead, hug a tree, and thank Mother Nature on behalf of all those who care!

I share with you the lovely poem, Trees, by  Joyce Kilmer (1886-1918).

-Sister Jean Moylan, CSJ

Images: Unsplash: Arnaud Mesureur  | Olena Bohovyk                       

The Feast of St. Joseph

The Feast of St. Joseph - March 19, 2024

As a member of the Sisters of St. Joseph, I want to sing the praises of this humble carpenter whom we name the Patron and Protector of our Community.

Joseph was a humble man who rose every morning to work under the same sun that warms our lives.  Almost nothing is written about Joseph the carpenter of Nazareth.  However, anyone who is familiar with what we call ‘negative art’ can appreciate our Joseph by painting a picture of who surrounds him.

The Creator fashioned a woman in His own image to be Second-born of the Father and to have the dignity of the spouse and Mother of God and Queen of Heaven. In the womb of her mother Anne, the flesh of Mary gathered around her soul that continues to love and show mercy as long as she exists. She is second after the Son of the Father, Jesus, who is First-born of the Father.  Imagine the beauty of this woman who is created to bear the Son of the Father and who is the delight of the Holy Trinity.

Joseph is the man chosen to provide the love and protection of a husband for this woman chosen to be the Mother of God. 

Scripture tells us that Joseph was a just man, an upright man, a righteous man.  Mary would no longer be an orphan in the Temple nor would she be fearful of entrusting her virginity to Joseph.  She also trusted that God would reveal to Joseph all about the miracle growing within her and of the need for the protection of her reputation.  Joseph knew Mary for what she was when it was time for him to know.  For Mary, Joseph was the head of the family, and he was her protector and chaste guardian of her virginity.  Together they would anticipate hearing the voice of the Son of God calling them ‘father and Mother.’

Joseph’s arms were to become the cradle for the Redeemer.  When danger was imminent, it was Joseph, in tune with God’s design for the child Jesus and his mother, who fled with them to safety.  It was Joseph’s task to open the Son of God to knowing that he, Jesus was FROM the Father and that he was FOR the salvation of humankind—that he was the longed-for Messiah.  And didn’t Jesus say as a twelve-year-old boy that he had to be in his Father’s house? (Luke 2:43-49)

You would think that Joseph would be rewarded with the blessing of never having sorrow in his life.  In such a proximity to Mary, and to Jesus, tiredness, worries, troubles would likely challenge but not overwhelm him and never would hinder prayer; it would be a priority.  Prayer is said to blunt the weapons of Satan and Joseph is called ‘the terror of demons.’

We are privileged to have St. Joseph as Patron and Protector for our Community of women religious.  And as we decline in numbers and our active ministries decrease, we call on Joseph to intercede for us and to console the poor, give hope to the sick, and to accompany the dying on their final journey.  St. Joseph, pray for us.

- Sister Elaine Cole, csj