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Of its very nature this mission cannot be a temporary thing. It is a total
commitment to the Gospel, and nothing less than a way of life.
Spririt and Lifestyle
Recently the Canadian Religious Conference wrote the Canadian Conference of
Catholic Bishops in view of the bishops' coming visit to the Vatican. The
religious challenged the bishops to bring the church into closer alignment
with "the major issues of the world: impoverishment, inequalities, rights
and roles of women, defence of the disenfranchised, respect for the
environment and the safeguardingt of humanity."
Good Friday, Edmonton's 26th Outdoor Way of the Cross stressed the same
issues with each station reflecting on one of the Millennium Development
Goals(MDG - www.un.org/milleniumgoals).
At Giovanni Caboto Park, Ron Berezan issued a plea for the environment:
"Here in Alberta, as our economy is booming and bank accounts soar, we
continue to choose our bags of silver over the protection of the
environment. We betray the future of our children and our grandchildren, who
may one day tell us:'We are thirsty, yet you have made it impossible for us
to drink as the glaciers have long melted, rivers have dried up and our
wells are now empty.'"
I've known Ron and his wife Laura for many years. They moved from the
suburbs to live in the inner city with the poor and the marginalized. Ron
spearheaded the renovation of the park to which he had carried the cross.
For as long as I have known him, he has never held a job in the corporate
world, choosing instead to work with NGOs among which Change for Children
and Canada World Youth. A total commitment to the Gospel.
On the steps of McCauley school (1912), Ed Carson led his students from St
Angela's school in a reflection of the MDG of universal primary education
for all the children of the world. "Most kids don't realize how lucky they
are to be able to go to school and get an education." Ed fell in love with
Nicaragua and its people. His one-year leave from the Edmonton Catholic
Schools stretched into several years. I remember him driving up late to
Sunday Mass with a van full of his "kids" from a shelter for physically and
mentally handicapped "kids" Back in Edmonton, Ed has a whole new crew of
"kids" in a special ed class at St. Angela's. Ed, his Nicaraguan wife and
their daughter are active in music, mural painting, and development work in
Nicaragua. And he's still late! A total commitment to the Gospel.
At the third station in front of the Boyle McCauley Health Centre, we prayed
the MDG to combat HIV/AIDs, malaria, TB, and other diseases. The MDG to
promote gender equality took place at a corner where I often see women
waiting and where a post was covered with flowers and cards when a dead
prostitute's body was found in a field outside the city. This station was
led by Stephanie Burlie, the daughter of Mary Burlie who while herself a
poor black immigrant from the Caribbean opened her home to countless poor
girls and worked tirelessly for social services for the poor of the inner
city. I remember a decade ago going to Mary Burlie's "wake" in the basement
of Sacred Heart Church. Mary was dying of cancer. There was food, music, and
dozens of Mary's now grownup "children" A total commitment to the Gospel.
At the Mustard Seed Church home of the inner city ministries, Senator Doug
Roche, a long-time Catholic politician, ambassador to the UN, peace activist
and prolific writer, spoke of poverty's destruction: "Every day there's a
silent tsunami taking place," adding that women, children and the most
vulnerable die from poverty, for nothing. "Guns or bread, that's the choice
we have to make; we know how Jesus would choose." A total commitment to the
Gospel.
In front of old Sacred Heart school, now the "Collective" where Change for
Children and a dozen other NGOs have office space in disused classrooms,
Delmy Garcia-Hoyt spoke of coming to Canada from El Salvador in the early
80s and becoming immediately involved with Change for Children and the Latin
community to help those affected by the persecution and human rights abuse
in Central America. A total commitment to the Gospel.
As I walked with the other 1,400 participants, many of whom had done this
Good Friday walk for each of its 26 years, I saw so many others that know
that:
Of its very nature this mission cannot be a temporary thing. It is a total
commitment to the Gospel, and can be nothing less than a way of life.
Cecily
