Don’t Pull Down the Shades

If a window of opportunity appears, don’t pull down the shades.

-Tom Peters

Charitable organizations have received a welcome late Christmas gift, thanks to a recent decision by the Canadian government. Many seniors and others, motivated by goodwill, traditionally make contributions to their favorite charities before the end of December. However, this year, the mail strike severely hindered their ability to respond to year-end donation appeals. In an unexpected move, the federal government, perhaps heeding the warnings of the ‘Ghost of Yet to Come,’ has granted a timely extension to help offset the disruption caused by the postal delays. After requests from premiers, the government agreed to amend the Income Tax Act, allowing Canadians to claim charitable donation deductions on their tax returns through the end of February.

Image: Michelle Spollen/Unsplash

This extension gives taxpayers more time to support the local nonprofits that rely heavily on community contributions to fund vital social services. It's a reminder that the window of opportunity is still open to contribute and make a meaningful difference. Local organizations that support vulnerable populations are counting on continued generosity to meet their operational costs in 2025. So, in the spirit of the season, consider extending that goodwill beyond the holiday season—help your neighbors, keep the lights on for vital services, and ensure that your tax benefits work in your favor.

Let’s not let this chance slip away—the "Ghost of Yet to Come" may just be nudging you to act while this window of opportunity is still open.

Please note: In spite of parliament being prorogue the CRA will honour the draft legislation extending the deadline for making donations that are eligible for tax relief in the 2024 tax year for donations made before February 28, 2025.

“To help provide certainty as we head into tax season, the CRA is confirming that it will proceed with administering the 2024 deadline extension for charitable donations.”

-Sister Nancy Wales, csj

Image: Steve Johnson @steve_j / Unsplash

Reaching for Hope

A reluctant Facebook user, I received an email from a friend prompting me to view a new group of photos she had posted on Facebook. Below was one of them, an image taken of street art.

My experience viewing it can best be described by the timeless maxim, "A picture is worth a thousand words." In researching this adage, I found that it is frequently attributed to Fred R. Barnard, an advertising expert who first coined it in a 1921 article in the trade magazine, Printer’s Ink. Barnard’s insight suggests that a single image can convey more information than a lengthy description ever could, a point that has only gained relevance over time.

The piece of street art I encountered on my friend’s Facebook is a creation by a mysterious figure, known by the pseudonym Banksy. This English-based street artist and political activist has managed to keep his identity a mystery. His works often demand that the viewer take time to pause, think, and interpret.

The photo above links well with a fellow street artist, Shepard Fairey’s assertion, “Art is an important form of communication.”

Banksy’s work epitomizes this concept, by using visual language to deliver a compelling message. For me his imagery on the wall conveys themes of focus, perseverance, and gradual progress, an invitation for viewers to reflect on hope’s journey of striving and achieving new vistas step by step.

Why Banksy’s graffiti, caught my eye and engaged my reflection, was stimulated, perhaps in part, by “Pope Francis’ designation of the 2025 Holy Year of Jubilee as a time for renewal as "Pilgrims of Hope." which has been on my mind in recent reflections.

I invite you to allow Banksy’s art to evoke in you, your own words and thoughts on hope, proof that, indeed, a picture often says more than words can convey.

-Sister Nancy Wales, CSJ

That was then...This is now.

“That was then.  This is now.”

Six simple words that can inspire us every day. Years ago, I worked for a company called Trusted Transitions, which was devoted to helping seniors move from their houses into apartments or condos, or from an apartment or condo into a retirement residence or long-term care facility. As you have likely experienced yourself, moving forward often involves leaving things behind—things that are cherished, but are no longer necessary for the life you have now.

I remember once helping an older woman who was moving from her house to a retirement residence. She indicated that she wanted to take with her the full Mix Master set that sat on a top shelf in her kitchen cupboard.

Me: "Tell me about this Mix Master."
She: "It was the Mix Master I used to make all my children’s birthday cakes."
Me: "I understand. When was the last time you used it?"
She: "Oh, it has been years."
Me: "Do you plan to make birthday cakes at the retirement residence?"
She: "No, I don’t."
Me: "That Mix Master served you very well in the past. Do you need it now for your future?"
She: "Actually, I don’t. I will not take it with me."

We carry so much with us that was helpful in the past but is not needed now. This includes physical items such as dishes, utensils, clothing, papers, and Mix Masters! But more importantly, it refers to things we hold onto that prevent us from embracing what we need now. What do I need to let go of? Is it expectations of others? Expectations of myself? Is it dreams that no longer have the potential to be fulfilled? And what do I need now? Who do I need in my life? How can I best continue to serve others in spite of any limitations I may have? Who needs me and my prayers in their life?

“That was then. This is now.”

-Sister Nancy Sullivan, CSJ

Image:Muneeb Syed @muneebs/Unsplash

Praying Hope: A Paradox for Today

Many moons ago, the parish I attended organized a Lenten ecumenical series with weekly reflections on various approaches to praying. One session focused on “Praying with the News”.

Last week, as I was skimming the Saturday paper, memories of that long ago session came back to me. The focus was the importance of praying for all those affected by global disasters and those struggling with world and local events recorded in the news. Part of the week’s session included prayers of intercession for all the problems arising at that time. But what of now? Such prayers are still vital for the world. They are part of our human and faith commitment, entrusting the unfolding of the world to God, sending out care, hope and love in these, our, days.

Now, as we continue to greet a new year, the world is facing extraordinary times of uncertainty, and for many, days of anxiety and fear, continuing war, violence, impoverishment and environmental degradation. Like each of you, I suspect, I/we are hearing voices from family, friends and colleagues who are feeling overwhelmed to the point of “giving up” on the news. Many express feelings of being entrapped by darkness or despair; paralyzed to respond.

So what then of “praying with the news?” Reading the paper I found myself wondering if even our praying in such a way engulfs us more deeply in a negative narrative in which hope seems imperceptible.

Then I woke up to the fact that this wasn’t the sum total of my reading. I was also reading stories of care, concern, kindness and service, sometimes “sacrificial” service.  I read of the wonderfully “giving-life” of President Jimmy Carter. I read of people opening their homes to those left homeless by the LA fires, of the Pennsylvania Amish community gathered to build small homes in the aftermath of the devastating storms in North Carolina. I was encouraged by a story of people in the U.S. donating to Canadian leadership in refugee service and resettlement, by entrepreneurs bringing creativity to and investment in providing light for children in Africa, allowing them to study at night, and I was touched by accounts of numerous small acts of kindness toward neighbours and for environmental healing.

Image: Jon Tyson @jontyson/Unsplash

Immersed in such stories I was lifted beyond feelings of helplessness. Perhaps praying with the news is also then about praying in gratitude for such inspired goodness, for the people involved, for the beauty and gifting of creation, opening us to a more balanced perspective as we look at the world. Engaging prayerfully in such stories is a reminder of hope and promise. Positive news of this kind inspires each of us to commit to “the more”. It helps unbind us from the entrapment of fear, anxiety, despair and inaction. It calls us to place goodness at the heart of our lives and in the world. As American journalist, Hunter Thompson wrote:

“Good news is rare in these days, and every glittering ounce of it should be cherished and hoarded and worshipped and fondled like a priceless diamond.”

In praying with today’s good news we are invited to place life-enhancing energy in the world without a need to know what its gift and impact may be. In placing positive energy in the world we become expanders of that energy, carriers of hope, beacons of promise and possibility, people who can truly “real-ize” a life beyond perceived impasse. Carmelite nun, Sister Constance Fitzgerald says: “It is only in the process of bringing impasse to prayer, to the perspective of the God who loves us, that our society will be freed, healed, changed, brought to paradoxical new visions, and freed for nonviolent, selfless, liberating action, freed, therefore, for community on this planet earth.” So let’s pray with the good news, let it transfigure our lives for personal peace and free us for good.

-Sister Mary Rowell, CSJ

Image: Philipp Düsel @philipp_dice | 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