World Day of Prayer 2025

February is the shortest month of the year and we are already looking at March and planning for World Day of Prayer which always takes place each year on the first Friday of March.

This year's prayer service was put together by the women of the Cook Islands and is to be celebrated on March 7, 2025.  I appreciated finding this attached video because I had no idea where the Cook Islands were.  The women of the Cook Islands tell their story as indigenous people being colonized and their story is not unlike that of the indigenous people in our own country of Canada.

““I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.””
— Psalm 139

If you wish to take part in the prayer service, please search for the Christian Churches in your area that will be gathering to pray together for the women of the Cook Islands.

-Sister Elaine Cole, CSJ

Image: Hanny Naibaho/Unsplash

Becoming a Topsy-Turvy Survivor

stock photo from Unsplash

Picture in your mind, the damaged Delta plane at the Toronto Pearson Airport, endlessly shown by news providers with its roof unnaturally resting on the tarmac. It offers a striking metaphor for our world today. Just like the plane in this unimaginable position, the global situation often feels unbalanced and unraveling.

Personally, I experience myself living in a time of profound disruption, where what I once perceived as quite familiar and secure seems to be shifting under me. Whether it be climate crisis, social upheaval, or geopolitical tensions, it is as if my world is being upturned. Too often I feel “groundless” and disorientated, forcing my inner self to constantly attempt to right itself amid uncertainty and chaos.

The inverted plane symbolizes for me my experience of a shift where everything I once held to be so, has been turned upside down. The certainty I once relied on now feels upended, leaving me in a world where old norms no longer seem to apply. Longtime friendships are threatened, lies are spoken as truth, and the unthinkable happens every day.

Through the prompt emergency responses and skillfully handled evacuation of the Delta Connection Flight 4819, operated by Endeavor Air, all passengers and crew, survived.  

I found myself seeing moments of hope in witnessing these survivors and as I looked beyond the wreckage to the plane’s flight code. At its core, the word of endeavor connotes the pursuit of something meaningful or challenging. Is that in itself not emblematic of the human spirit needed by folks of goodwill at this moment in history when faced with the tensions of competing interests. Furthermore, the name connector, in the flight’s identifier, highlights for me the need to focus our individual and communal strivings on actions which facilitate connection rather than words and actions which serve to disconnect us.

The necessity and value of fostering connection with one another at the personal, local, national, and global levels is not to be underestimated. It is vital if we, as global wayfarers, hope to be survivors of our global upturning.

-Sister Nancy Wales, CSJ

Stock Images: Jack Millard / Kendrick Fernandez/Unsplash

““What we must do,
I suppose,
is to hope the world
keeps its balance;
what we are to do, however,
with our hearts
waiting and watching—truly
I do not know.”
”
— Mary Oliver

Voice Your Opinion

“The most important office, and the one which all of us can and should fill, is that of private citizen.”
— Louis Brandeis

I’m leaning toward "most probably," but still hoping for "possibly not." Intrigued? Well, the topic on my mind is voter turnout. Ontario experienced historically low voter participation in the last provincial election, with just 43.5% of eligible voters casting a ballot in June 2022. With such a disappointing turnout, I find myself wondering: will voter participation increase in the upcoming provincial election on February 27th, or will it continue to decline? Faced with a winter election date and polling data which suggests a projected winner, raises for me a concerning question: “Will Ontarians be motivated enough to exercise their right to vote, or will voter apathy win out?”

The availability of advance voting and mail-in ballots is an encouraging sign that the government is trying to make voting more accessible, but the challenge lies in motivating people to take that step to actually do so.

“Voting is the expression of our commitment to ourselves, one another, this country, and this world.”
— Sharon Salzberg

I deeply hope that eligible Ontarians won’t be discouraged from exercising one of their most fundamental rights, the right to vote, nor neglect one of their essential civic duties. Our democracy which we were quick to want to defend when President Trump questioned its viability and continuance, depends on engaged citizens. As citizens we have a responsibility to participate in the election process. I hope an increased number of eligible Ontarians will take this election seriously and make a personal commitment to cast their vote for the candidate and/or party of their choice.

-Sister Nancy Wales, CSJ

Image: Element5 Digital

Christian Meditation for Children

Several times a year, the Religion Consultant for the London District Catholic School Board (LDCSB) sends out an invitation to educators to attend an overnight silent retreat for twelve teachers to learn the art of Christian Meditation for children at the home of the Sisters of St. Joseph in London, Ontario. In early February, twelve eager participants arrive to learn and practice the simple steps of Christian Meditation as taught by the World Community for Christian Meditation (WCCM).

Following a delicious dinner, comradery, and basic instructions, the group enters a world of silence and stillness in preparation for meditation. Cellphones and outside distractions are set aside to fully enter the retreat experience. Three Sister facilitators and their consultant companion, amid candlelight and stillness in a prayerful atmosphere, explain the age-old practice of the desert fathers and mothers.  As early as the third century, these early meditators fled the noise, chaos, and commerce of their society to live a prayer-centered life. Similarly, teachers today know the noise, distraction, anxiety, and turmoil that surrounds our youth. Educators see that learning the art of Christian Meditation could be an antidote to present chaotic ills. Placing Christ at the centre of meditation raises simple meditation as a wellness to a spiritual encounter.

One by one, our retreatants shed their coat of fatigue and distraction to embrace an aura of silence. It is time to breathe deeply and experience the world of meditation. Step by step, a quiet, reverent voice leads the group in the rudiments of Christian Meditation. She instructs: “Sit still in your chair, your back straight; feet flat on the floor; place your hands quietly on your lap; gently close your eyes; notice your breath; slowly repeat the mantra, ‘ma-ra-na-tha’”. This word, in the language Jesus spoke, means, “Come Lord Jesus.”

A chime indicates that fifteen minutes of meditation have elapsed. The meditators quietly leave and peacefully proceed to their rooms for the night’s repose.

Throughout the following day, the participants begin with meditation and learn the background of World Community for Christian Meditation which Fr. John Main established in France in 1927. It is now a global movement with a centre in Montreal. Today, there are thousands of adults and children practicing Christian Meditation throughout the world.

At retreat’s end, the teachers leave looking forward to introducing Christian Meditation to their students. They know that pausing during the workday to embrace Centering Prayer is bound to bring personal and communal peace to the classroom and hope to our shaken world. As we wave goodbye to one group of educators, another one is waiting in the wings to join us in prayer and Christian Meditation.

-Sister Jean Moylan, CSJ