11/30/2010
It's Advent. It's frustrating that my favorite time of the
liturgical year gets buried under Shop-mas and Open-house-holiday-
season. Even the season's beautiful choral concerts started on
November 25 with 2 or 3 a day in the first two weeks of December.
Advent calls us to slow down but our events calendar places us on a
treadmill set at top speed.
Today's reading from Isaiah asks us to beat swords into ploughshares
and spears into pruning hooks ... nation shall not lift up sword
against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. The YMCA
awarded Peace Medals to Edmontonians who demonstrate values expressed
in the YMCA's 1981 Statement of Peace:
"Peace ... is not only a state of relationships among nations. We
cannot expect to live in a world of peace if we are unable to live in
peace with those close to us - even those who differ from us. The
responsibility for peace begins with each persons, in relationship
with family and friends, and extends to community life and national
activities...."
Another thing about Advent, it is a cleaning up time, a tying-things-
together time. Here's some thing I was going to throw out but before
I do I'll share it with you. It's from the 2010 Latin American Agenda
and by Pedro Casaldáliga, Bishop Emeritus of the Diocese of São Felix
do Araguía. He has been a tireless advocate for the poor of Brazil
since arriving in 1968. A poet of liberation, Casaláliga is also a
long-time friend of Nicaragua which is where I met him in company of
the poor and indigenous, dressed in old cotton slacks, t-shirt and
sandals and willing to travel in the back of a pick-up and inviting
the campesinos to do a shared homily around our outdoor altar!
"The topic is a new one and desperately urgent. We have finally
discovered that the Earth, our Planet, is our shared home, the only
one we have. We are discovering that we are an indissoluble unity of
relationships upon which our very future depends. Deep, integral
ecology needs to include all aspects of our personal, family, social,
political and religious life. Each and every political and social
institution needs to adopt ' the salvation of our Planet" as its
basic program. In all religions and humanisms, we need to create,
stimulate, and strengthen a profound and total spirituality, one
focused on giving a positive sign to the world and one that brings a
prophetic attitude towards liberation. These times demand a new
relationship with the environment. We want to live this ecological
kairos moment of activism and mysticism with the God of all names and
of all utopias."
Cecily.
11/22/2010
Best wishes for a happy thanksgiving! This week I am sending you Father Shay Cullen's column on Mission. Shay is an Irish missionary who has been working in the Philippines for decades. You can sign up for his weekly letter.
http://www.preda.org/main/archives/2010/r10102001.html
In October, Mission Sunday is a day to remember the thousands of courageous dedicated people who have chosen to do something to help others, less fortunate than them. They are people who appreciate all they have in life and go out beyond their insular lives and family, to share with others and to give back what they have received and work to make this a happier and better world. They are the relief workers, the volunteers, the fund raisers, campaigners, the medical people and development workers, all are agents of change and compassion working alone or through secular agencies.
Then there are the missionaries that serve through the Church organizations and missionary societies. Countless thousands over the past years have left family and friends and gone to remote countries and lived incredibly dedicated lives of hardship and derivation and sought no reward and asked no recompense. Their lives of selfless service are a challenge to the rest of us seeking a mission in life.
These people are on a mission at home and abroad, in their own communities helping the disabled, the sick, the homeless and these dedicated people express in action a belief in the dignity and value of the human person. They act with compassion and concern and a willingness to share their resources, skills, time and effort to help others live a more dignified life. Their mission is to wipe away tears, support the depressed and lonely, they struggle for justice and peace, they bring food and relief and help to the dying and bring development and health services and a better quality of life to millions of people. They help people to be empowered, enable them to help themselves be self-reliant and lead sustainable lives.
Others help people by their mission to save the environment, to nurture the planet and to protect all living creatures. All are the unsung heroes, they don’t receive fame and publicity, they work quietly day by day and make present that love for others which is the highest form of unselfish self-giving. Some do it because they know in their heart and conscience it is the right thing and good thing to do and the find peace and fulfillment.
They may not even have a religious belief or belong to a church but are spiritually motivated whether they are aware of it or not. Such love is not material. It was brought into the world in a powerful and enduring way by Jesus of Nazareth whose life of sacrifice, teaching, friendship, and self-sacrificing death still inspire millions of people. His spirit never died but lives on today in those who have chosen to take up a mission to serve the downtrodden, the oppressed and unjustly deprived.
They are the brave and courageous that challenge the forces of evil that exploit and abuse the weak and the vulnerable, the women and children, and risk their lives to protect them from rapists and abusers, the criminal coddlers, the corrupt politicians and money moguls that cause the suffering of others.
Those on mission dedicate themselves to integrity, honesty and truth.
They give their resources to serve and not to be served, but to live life to the fullest for others. I know many who have died for their mission. Let us remember one who represents the thousands who died while on mission for their people.
This past September was the one year anniversary of the death of Fr.
Cecilio Lucero, a brave man on a human rights mission in Catubig, Northern Samar, defending the rights of the poor. He was ambushed and shot by armed men. It is alleged that on 16 June 2008 at a military ceremony with the Catubig Brigade, the President of the Philippines that time, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo referred to Fr. Lucero as “that communist priest” in front of General Arthur Tabaquero and other military officials. By September that year, Fr. Lucero was murdered by a death squad.
We recall the words of Archbishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador, himself shot and murdered as he raised the cup at mass. "Even when they call us mad, when they call us subversives and communists and all the epithets they put on us, we know we only preach the subversive witness of the Beatitudes, which have turned everything upside down”. - Archbishop Oscar Romero [preda@info.com.ph, Shay Cullen, P.O. Box 68, Olongapo City Philippines. www.preda.org]
11/16/2010
On November 9, the Garcia family was honored for their extraordinary contribution to peace within the local and global community. The parents, Marina and Jose Garcia, came to Edmonton as refugees from El Salvador in the early 1980s, with their three children, after being active in the civil war in El Salvador. In the spirit of Archbishop Oscar Romero who was assassinated thirty years ago this past March, the Garcia family has been a quiet yet positive force in the Salvadoran Christian based community movement here in Edmonton, while continuing to support the movement for peace and democracy in El Salvador. The eldest daughter, Delmy has worked as a social worker with the Bissell Centre and in supported housing services for struggling refugees with the Mennonite Centre for Newcomers. Both Roger and Dinorah are artists and use their art in peace-making and social justice work, and in Central America working with youth in creating mural and other peace messages through art. All members of the family have at various times served on the board and on committees of Change for Children, the local organization with whom I volunteer. I have travelled to El Salvador with them for the 25th anniversary of Archbishop Romero's martyrdom and I have interpreted for Salvadoran visitors to Edmonton. I will be interpreting for a long-time missionary in El Salvador (from Belgium originally) from November 22 to 30.
Delmy in her words of thanks had us pray the words of Archbishop Romero. The selection is one that has always appealed to me and I have noted other VMs use it as well. Let us offer it for all the VMs who served in El Salvador and for those who are there now and for Jennifer who returned from El Salvador recently.
It helps, now and then, to step back and take a long view.
The kingdom is not only beyond our efforts, it is even beyond our vision.
We accomplish in our lifetime only a small fraction of the magnificent enterprise that is God's work.
Nothing we do is complete, which is a way of saying that the Kingdom always lies beyond us.
No statement says all that could be said.
No prayer fully expresses our faith.
No confession brings perfection.
No pastoral visit brings wholeness.
No program accomplishes the Church's mission.
No set of goals and objectives includes everything.
This is what we are about.
We plant the seeds that one day will grow.
We water seeds already planted, knowing that they hold future promise.
We lay foundations that will need future development.
We provide yeast that produce far beyond our capabilities.
We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that.
This enables us to do something, and to do it very well.
It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way, an opportunity for the Lord's grace to enter and do the rest.
We may never see the end results, but that is the difference between the master builder and the worker.
We are workers, not master builders; ministers, not messiahs.
We are prophets of a future not our own.
Cecily
11/9/2010
Thank you for your prayers and wishes and advice (Edwina's "slow down"). Today, day 9, was my first outing for a follow-up exam at the doctor's office. My doctor whom I have had since 1973 was on holiday and I had two young interns.. They were concerned I would fall since my knee joint is loose and I might not be as lucky to fall on my cushioned bum next time. They suggested a walker and I refused. It's a hazzle in public transit and I hate to see little old ladies hunched over a walker, holding on for dear life. Well they decided, since I was so stubborn, to have me fitted with a knee brace- the knee bends so you can walk but the leg above and below the knee is protected by rigid braces so that the knee has no sideward motion. It is to be worn 24/7 - just removed to shower. Much better appearance!
I can walk straight and eventually a little faster and I look as someone who's had an early season ski boarding accident! Meanwhile, I wait for an MRI to see what other damage I've done myself.
In the last months I have been reading Rex Wyler's The Jesus Sayings:
The Quest for his Authentic Message (www.anansi.ca ISBN 978-0-88784-819-3). Today I was reading "Miracle of Generosity,"
about the multiplication of loaves and fishes:
"Could this story recount a mundane miracle? Did the disciples miss seeing the obvious? Jesus has already asked them to see what is before their eyes. He has warned them: The divine kingdom is spread out over the world and you don't see it. The crowds were the poor, hungry, sick, and anawim "outcasts." Jesus blessed them for their low standing and told them poverty brought them closer to the truth of the divine kingdom on earth. Nevertheless, he told them to stop worrying about their comforts and to give what they had to their neighbors. Perhaps Jesus was asking his disciples to witness the power of this unconditional generosity......
"No matter how poor, dispossessed and forgotten we are, Jesus appears to demonstrate that if we share what we have, there will be enough for everyone. Is this what the disciples failed to notice?"
The suggestion is that Jesus began to share what he and the disciples had and everyone began to share what they had and so "the unadorned power of generosity may represent the most straight-forward interpretation of this story. The miracle of sharing creates the kingdom here and now."
I first heard this interpretation some 15 years ago, sitting on the ground in Mexico under gigantic trees with a group of Canadians, Mexican, and Mozambiques, A young Mexican man told the story - it was translated into English and Portuguese, deliciously pondered and it was powerful. On my way home today I realized that what I missed the most in those 9 days at home was being on the bus ... a bit like our motley crew under the trees.
Cecily
11/2/2010
"The best plans of mice and men gang aft agley" The last three words from Bobbie Burns poem can be translated as often go awry, often go astray, can go wrong.
That's what happened to me Saturday morning. I had literally planned to be in two places at once. I needed to go to my parish two bus rides away for the rehearsal of a skit on bottled water we were presenting at the Sunday breakfasts. But I also had to be at home to greet the board members of Rainbow of Hope for Children for a meeting in my condo building's "party room" a little before noon. Earlier in the week, I gave a ROHFC director the building key and my mailbox key so that he could retrieve the party room key on Saturday just in case I got delayed. On Friday evening and Saturday morning I put in the party room all that we needed for the potluck lunch and beverages. Nothing could go wrong!
As I came to sit down on the bus, I twisted my knee. It was a oh-no feeling but by the time I got to the transfer point, I had walked with no problems to the back door. I noticed a bus waiting ahead so instead of getting off I walked to the front. The driver confirmed it was my bus and offered to let me off. I stepped out to the street with my right leg but the minute I came to use the left leg it went crazy on me and I fell. The driver picked me up and I returned to the bus, turned the corner and told passengers to take another bus since there would be a 20 or 30 minute wait. He phoned for an ambulance. I was helped to a bench outside but for some reason thought I could take a taxi home and phone the church group. Again I fell the same way, just in time for the ambulance crew to see me do so. My first ambulance ride. Once registered and settled in the emergency, I asked to be pushed to the public phone and managed to send messages to be relayed. And waited from 9:30 to my release at 1:45. Nothing broken. While waiting for a walker - it's complicated on a Saturday - I practiced walking around my bed. I also ate a lunch I had packed as a prop for the skit! I showed off my walking prowess and carefully went for a taxi. I joined the last hour of the meeting. Managed to fall a couple more times. I sat down and watched others work. I even got my laundry folded and bed made. And now I am cancelling the week's events: A full-day seminar today "The Opiate of the Masses? The Future of Religions in Canada in the 21st Century" with leaders of seven faiths. I had even planned to cross the street at lunch time the Global Health Noon Seminar - today on "HIV realities in the Eastern Cape of South Africa."
On Tuesday, a Change for Children event featuring presentations by Canada World Youth’s and Change for Children’s International Partner Organizations from Nicaragua and Peru. I don't think I'll be able to manage the CFC stairs and so will also have to cancel my volunteer work there. I cancelled Thursday's Away Day in St.Albert. It featured "Not Counting Women and Children: Neglected Stories from the Bible" by Megan McKenna (2004) and the Development and Peace monthly meeting that evening. The cancellation that was the hardest was two days as cashier at a casino for the Alberta Women's Shelters on November 7 & 8. Some people will be working double shifts. Depending on what my doctor says next week, I may have to cancel more things. Meanwhile, all my paper work, magazines, books are here waiting to be read! My plans didn't go so wrong. The skit was a success, the ROHFC meeting went well, and I get to enjoy a week or so of "holiday."
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