12/1/2009
We see, therefore, that mission is not a one-way process, and the
monopoly of one church or religion. But it is a cyclical process,
going from one church to another church in continuous, mutual
sharing. This is the dynamic of mission.
It is never static, it is ever moving, ever growing and ever calling
forth the gifts and life in the other. We recognize the fire and
dynamic power of the Holy Spirit in mission which cannot be contained
by, or monopolized within, any institution, but which is at work
wherever God wills.
Spirit and Lifestyle
At an "Away Day" at a retreat centre last Thursday, we reflected on
Ronald Rolheiser's 1999 book, The Holy Longing: The Search for a
Christian Spirituality.
I hadn't read the book. I was still waiting for a call from the
library where I had put it on hold but the call never came.
I was most moved by Rolheiser's four non-negotiables or pillars of
spirituality:
1. Private prayer and personal integrity - integrity flows from
private prayer, our anchor. Real prayer is a conversion heart, the
foundation for a relationship from which flows fruits and gifts.
Integrity is not legalism, not rigidity, not "having to obey."
Regular periods of prayer are a non-negotiable.
2. Mellowness of heart - Gratitude fills the saints. We see for
example in the parable of the Prodigal Son, that the elder brother
obeys the rules but is full of self-righteousness and bitterness.
With mellowness of heart we recognize the good things in our lives.
Liberation theologian Gustavo Guttierez cites the importance of good
food (how the poor enjoy food!) and good friends. We need mellowness
to transform the world. We must stay warm (or moist, as Edwina calls
it) of heart.
3. Community - some very spiritual people claim they don't need to go
to church. They have no need of a faith community. Rolheiser claims
that without a faith community we have no way of knowing how we
relate to others and so, how we relate to God. We have a "privatized"
spirituality, that can degenerate into private fantasy. .A bit like:
"I love people; it's individuals, I hate." Others ground us and
confront us. Community is a non-negotiable.
4. Justice - we see social justice is very important in scripture:
the Hebrew Scripture as well as the Gospels. We can judge the quality
of FAITH in a nation by the quality of justice in the land. Jesus
identifies with the poor not simply to give alms but to seek justice
by examining the systemic causes of injustices.
Cecily
12/8/2009
We see the Spirit at work in those to whom we go, as well as within
ourselves. We are channels of the spirit, called forth to renew and
strengthen, and be renewed and strengthen in return. VMM missionaries
are open to this dynamic and free action of the Spirit who first
inspired and called us to the services of God and God's people
Spirit and Lifestyle
I am lucky that I always taught in smaller schools where I would
teach students several years in a row and sometimes more than one
subject. The smallest school, Caritas High School, founded in
Edmonton in 1982, required parents to participate in their child's
education and attend monthly "Family Days." I can recognize family
names in the death notices and if need be check the school yearbooks.
This is what led me to the "prayers" for Dr. Ed Tworek on Sunday
evening.
Our world would be a lot better if eulogies were not reserved for
funerals. The story of Ed and Olga is edifying. One date stood out in
Ed's 74 years: the date in 1953 when he proposed to Olga and she
accepted. Even as his mind became ravaged from his body's 16 month
struggle with cancer, he remembered that date he always celebrated
with flowers for Olga.
He graduated in medicine from the University of Alberta in 1955 and
married in 1956 and produced a baby a year from 1957 - 1967, six boys
and three girls. Stan, my former student, is the youngest and came to
Caritas the first year in 1982.
Ed specialized in general surgery and worked in local hospitals. He
even had to deliver one of his own daughters when the doctor he was
working with was away. He loved being a doctor but it wasn't like
some other "doctor" parents. I didn't know - or at least remember -
Ed was a doctor. He worked hard but also made time for family. He
loved the outdoors and his children remember fondly camping and the
lake. Caritas was also oriented to nature and the outdoors! Ed
retired in 1985. In 1987, when the kids had all left, he and Olga
went to Nigeria with an organization similar to VMM. His work in
Nigeria was described by a Nigerian doctor whom he sponsored to come
to Canada to specialize and work. He got the Canadian High Commission
in Nigeria to furnish a lab for the hospital so that diagnostic tools
such as X-rays, HIV testing, etc could be done in a timely manner. A
big problem in Nigeria is harelips that threaten health and cause
children to be ostracized. He learned how to do surgery and taught
many Nigerian surgeons to do it. Other serious problems resulted from
women undergoing prolonged deliveries. The prolonged pressure results
in permanent loss of continence. The women become ostracized and
regarded as impure. He learned how to correct this and again taught
many others to do so. All he did in the two years he and Olga worked
in Nigeria is still continuing to this day. His protege mentioned as
well Ed and Olga as role models, how they went together, how they
loved and treated each other. He remembered how they would always
take a walk together in the evening. I was very moved with this
story. It confirmed all that Edwina writes in Spirit and Lifestyle.
Back in Canada, Ed worked for many years with the RCMP and was
honoured for his work by the Governor General. Over the years, he and
Olga also sponsored many family members from Poland to settle in
Canada. In his "retirement" he worked in the garden, learned to make
pickles and preserves, that he lavishly gave away. When he found out
16 months ago that he had cancer, he spoke individually to each of
his nine children. There are also 18 grandchildren and one great-
grandchild.
I was surprised to see a couple from my parish there, also 53 years
married. Michel explained that when they lived in Stony Plain - just
outside Edmonton - he participated in a men's choral group with Ed.
Caritas students all had to take choral singing and the small school
produced three musicals starting with Fiddler on the Roof in 1985,
Stan's graduating year. A dozen of the grey-haired members of Ed's
group were there to sing.
Our stories are important. Let us tell them and retell them. Real
life is way better than imitation. The TV show Survivor began when
Dawn and I lived in Chahal. We laughed when we heard about it. We
were surviving and unlike the show we did it because we worked
together, like the young people in the Special Olympics who will go
back to pick up a fallen member and all cross the finish line together.
Cecily
12/15/2009
VMM missionaries are followers of Jesus, engaged fully in sharing the
Good News of the Gospel.
Spirit and Lifestyle
What does it mean to be a follower of Jesus?
Today's Gospel reading (Matthew 21: 23-27) has the chief priests and
the elders of the people come to Jesus and say: "By what authority
are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?"
The Advent reflection for today is a quote from Gregory Baum's
Religion and Alienation. It speaks to this Gospel passage:
"Legalism is the religious attitude that make observance the end of
religion... It makes obedience to the law the ultimate sign of
religious surrender and remains unconcerned regarding the inward
meaning of the law. Legalism creates a mask of conformity that makes
the believer holy in his own eyes and thus prevents him from coming
to self-knowledge. Legalistic religion stresses willpower, and it is
this very stress on personal effort that makes the legalists unaware
of their real feelings, of their own brokenness, and hence of their
need of redemption. Legalists tend to think that it is possible for
people to make themselves holy if they only try hard enough. They
remain unaware of God's gratuitous presence to human life, bringing
people to critical awareness and supporting their faithful action.
Because they think that holiness is within people's grasp, legalists
tend to despise the people who are less observant than they are. They
elevate themselves above the sinner, the outsider, the non-
conformist. Their reliance on themselves, coupled with lack of self-
knowledge, makes it difficult for them to surrender to God's grace:
they do not live by faith."
So, what does it mean to be a follower of Jesus, born in a stable,
far away from home, exiled to Egypt, homeless, condemned to death on
the cross? Cured on the Sabbath, spoke to Samaritan, the woman caught
in adultery, the sinner, the tax collector?
Cecily
12/29/2009
We praise and bless God who calls us to live and to be in the world,
and to share this mission of love and peace with all men and women of
every color, race and belief.
Spirit and Lifestyle
This is the last paragraph of Spirit and Lifestyle. This week in the
never ending process of eliminating magazines, articles and other
forms of paper given to exponential growth, I came across the "psalm"
that Edwina used at the Agape during last June's assembly. It fits
with the concluding paragraph of Spirit and Lifestyle and with the
Christmas season.
A Psalm to Widen Our Tents
Choir 1 Our world is too small. Our lives are too small. Our vision
is too restricted.
Choir 2 May the people of various countries, various cultures,
tribes and families find room in our world and our lives.
All Help us to widen our tents, Shaddai, so that all are
welcome among us.
Choir 1 Our attitudes are too parochial, our assumptions too
simplistic, our behaviour too predictable.
Choir 2 May special people, may differently-abled, may minorities of
any kind - of race, class, or gender - find room in our world and our
hearts.
All Help us to widen our tents, Shaddai, so that all are
welcome among us.
Choir 1 Our boundaries are too limited, our preferences too
conditioned.
Choir 2 May the aging and the very young, may subcultural groups of
every kind, may special interest groups find room in our world and
our prayer.
All Help us to widen our tents, Shaddai, so that all are
welcome among us.
Choir 1 Our God is too small, Our rites too rigid, Our ways too
exclusive.
Choir 2 May people of various religions and rites, whose name for
God and claim to God are different from our own, find room in our
world and our love.
All Help us widen our tents, Shaddai, so that all are
welcome among us.
God of all cultures, God of all people, help us not to label anyone
inferior or second-class. Help us to overcome our attitudes of
superiority and oppression. May we broaden our vision and widen our
tents so that plurality and diversity determine who we are: people
called and committed to a world united, now and forever. Amen
Adapted by jfb/jos3.vii, 94 from M.T. Winter, WomanWisdom Crossword
Publications. 1991: p. 105
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