THIS IS A SEASON OF DEEP PAIN

                                  

I sit here in deep pain. These past two weeks have been very difficult for Canadians, First Nations peoples, Moslem newcomers to Canada and  the Catholic Church.

 

It has long been a shared memory among our First Nations peoples of the children who did not return from the residential schools. There always were stories that carried these painful memories. The findings of the 215 gravesites at the Kamloops Residential school sent shock waves across our country.

 

Last Sunday, in London, Ontario, a family of five Moslem immigrants from Pakistan were attacked by a half ton truck. (We almost never think of a motor vehicle as a weapon to kill people.) Almost all the country reeled back in disbelief that such a horrendous act of hatred could be committed on one of the streets of our cities. 

 

We hurt! We cry! We shake our head in disbelief!

 

When you hurt you turn inward to survive.  When you have been banged up in a car accident you focus on all the pain and the discomfort of the medications. But very seldom do you focus on the pain and sufferings of the other members of your family standing around your hospital  bed. Concern for the difficulties of other family members may come later.

 

Whenever some trauma hits us or we lose a loved one through death, we need a period to grieve. It can never be programmed. It is messy, unpredictable. Grieving is embracing the pain and the suffering of this trauma/loss. It must become a part of us. It can never be done alone. This is why we need the support, the presence, the prayers of our family and friends when we grieve the death of someone we cherish.

 

This is a time for all of Canada to sit silently, to listen to the pain and suffering of our First Nations peoples. Now, the majority of all Canadians do not know by name any First Nations people personally. This painful time of listening must also become a time a learning and understanding our First Nations story and culture. There can only be healing In our country if we listen non-judgmentally, absorb the beep meaning of the lives of our First Nations peoples and make them part of our own personal history. 

 

At the same time, we must listen to the prejudice that so many of the new immigrants to Canada are experiencing. The brutal murder of four members of one family in London, Ontario, last Sunday is but the horrendous extreme of racial prejudice.

 

It is not good enough to say, “in Canada we can do better!”  This is a time when we must walk into the pain, the trauma, the fear and the sufferings of our First Nations peoples, our new immigrants and all other marginal groups. It is a time to sit in silence and listen. It is a time to allow ourselves to be changed when these people share their stories of suffering, exclusion and made to feel as second-class citizens.

Our Christian religion gives us the tools to do this. Explore in the Bible why there is such a strong emphasis on repentance and the need to once again turn back to God and the ways of life that are laid out for us. But repentance in the Bible never sidesteps the pain and confusion that goes with turning back to God. But only if there is death to all darkness will we ever be able to rise to the light. 

 

This is a hard, hard time but we are not going to cut short any part of the painful and healing journey.

 

 

Reform within the worldwide church

                     

 

A wise thinker gave humanity a great truth: If you do not learn from your history, you are bound to repeat it! 

 

Every culture, every political system and every educational institution must be reformed. We can begin by meeting the specific needs of people at this point in history. For example, almost immediately with the settlers coming to Saskatchewan (the rural population was huge) the one-room school house system of education was established. Right from the very beginning our political and religious leaders knew they had to educate the population.

 

But that education system had to adapt and be reformed several times to meet the foundational need to educate the population. The reform never came easy and at times it was rather painful for families and government.

 

The Protestant reformation of the early 1500’s is the classic example of a period where the people of the Church were badly in need of reform and updating, but it only happened through the breakup of Western Christianity into the Protestant North and the Catholic South. But this breakup should never have happened!

 

Within Catholicism, the Second Vatican Council  (ended 1965) was an earth-shaking event. It laid out a path for many serious reforms within the Church. Fortunately, the people of the Church were hungry for reform and embraced the journey to reform and updating enthusiastically. 

 

Today we are in a season of reform. With the election of Pope Francis as leader the turn has been toward the poor of this world. People not only respect Pope Francis, they also like the man as a person. His personality is also carrying the sails on this boat toward reform.

 

Many people do not like Pope Francis but they are careful to mute their opposition to his call to the Church to turn toward the poor of this world. He is speaking to the top twenty percent of humanity (the First World) who are rich and consume more than their fair share of the earth’s resources. But he is also speaking to the growing strength of the Church in Africa and Asia which is growing more powerful. This is a call to keep them engaged in their concern for   the poor. 

 

Concern for the poor is the sign of credibility for the Church. We do not want to have only the leadership of the Church to be concerned for the poor in their own country. It is not enough to have the local parish to have a monthly collection of food for the food bank or have visitation volunteers for our nursing homes. This must also be the concern of each believer. In our homes and at coffee time our conversation must also exhibit a personal concern for the poor with their many faces. Each individual Christian must ask themelves how they are living out this concern for the poor with their many faces.

 

There is a dynamic shift within Christianity to have a clearer, more identifiable practice and teaching of our Christian faith. We want to have things nailed down! This is very inward looking and carries the danger of making the Church centered in on itself and avoid the difficulties of the world. A turn too much inward could mean avoiding the poor who are living very close to you!

 

In his very calm manner Pope Francis is challenging the Church to reach out to the poor and to make this their first priority of ministry. He is challenging to Church not to be inward looking but to reach out to the people on the margins of society.

 

Many people are going to drag their heels, but then who said that reform of the Church was ever easy?

 

 

 

 

WHAT AN OPPORTUNITY FOR HUMANITY

                        

 

Do you remember the poem about the walk in the forest and the poet comes upon a fork in the path?  A choice must be made. He takes the path less trodden “and that made all the difference?” There is a decision to be made if he was to move forward in life.

 

The human race stands in front of the fork in the road. Will we choose the path to bring our planet to a sustainable future or will we continue to warm the atmosphere with carbon dioxide from our industrial development? 

 

For the past sixty years scientists have been warning that if humanity continues our present rate of consumption of the earth’s resources we are headed for ecological collapse. Many people are having a difficult time coming to grips with a warming climate. Many are voicing their fears the demands that a sustainable environment will make on them. 

 

If we use the example of the food chain, then, the top twenty percent of humanity are consuming (greedily) too much of the earth’s resources. The people at the top are taking too much and the people at the bottom will suffer the most from climate warming.

 

We can see this as a tremendous burden or as an opportunity for the human race (and each individual human) to avoid collapse and move into a sustaining life for the planet. 

 

The ecological crisis is a great opportunity for realigning our lifestyles. It is a time to once again root ourselves as part of the human race; what we do in Canada affects every person on this globe. What happens in China impacts every Canadian. 

 

Whenever people have to work together for survival, they begin to see each other in a very positive light and begin to understand each other in very helpful ways. When the people in any of our towns come out to fill sandbags to make a dike to prevent the flooding of their town, they see each other in such a positive light. Getting to know and appreciate each other through flood prevention can be such a strong blessing. Great things come out of crises.

 

This is the opportunity for the human race to work together for survival as never before. This is an opportunity for all peoples to work together. I see this as a time to build bridges between cultures and politics. A bridge always carries the travellers two ways. We will be enriched by working together to save the planet. What could happen if countries like the USA, China and India all worked together to prevent further destruction of the ecosystems of the earth? 

 

And now all religions have a common cause to work toward. You cannot work together when you see the other as your enemy. What will happen when all the Christian communities, all the various religious expressions work together to survive? We now have common concerns to work with the Buddhists, the Sheiks, the Hindus and all Christians to preserved and nourish our common home.

 

Is climate change a recipe for disaster or an opportunity for new growth? Will humanity step backward or will it go forward to choose life for the future of the planet? 

 

WE EMBRACE THE WORLD

                                  

 

Religion has a downside. We can use our religious faith to avoid dealing with reality. We can limit what religion is supposed to accomplish in human life. The most obvious example of misuse is the to avoid coming to grips with the evil that humans do. People can use their religious faith to practice daily prayer, share in the Sunday worship and help the homeless. We can practice our religion in the security of our religious buildings/traditions and avoid the black side of human life.

 

We have a long history of very devout Christians making war against each other. We have an almost five-hundred year history of practicing slavery, all the while going to Church every Sunday. Criticism has been fairly leveled at Christianity in the Americas for its continued practice of racism. And in our generation we are slowly coming to  grips with the sins of humanity against the earth (i.e., global warming and the abuse of the resources of the earth).

 

The presence and the movement of God is not limited to church buildings or sacred practices. God’s ever-creative presence fills all parts of the earth and all sections of human society. 

 

We must never hesitate to stand in situations where people are not paid a living wage (i.e., so many of our sweatshops in the Third World)  and  ask,  “Why are these people exploited for their cheap labour and we in the First World over-consume inexpensive clothing?

 

Why have we as human beings so glamorized the practice of war? Why have certain corporations made  substantial profits by manufacturing war equipment? Why would we not take all that tax money that we spend on war and use it to feed the hungry of this world? 

 

Never hesitate to ask your fellow Christian why First Nations women suffer neglect and serious poverty. At this point I am thinking of the “missing and murdered women,” of whom the majority are of First Nations descent. Why do poor women suffer such violence?

 

Our people can be very generous in their gifts toward the food banks. But ask your fellow Christian, ‘In a country so rich as ours, why is there hunger?’ 

 

People may want to isolate God into church buildings. We do this and neglect the moving presence of God among the poor and suffering of this world. One of the strongest complaints that God makes throughout the Scriptures is the neglect of the poor and the suffering. 

 

A mature and healthy spirituality stands on the street corner and recognizes the suffering of others. The gospel calls us to brutal honesty about the injustices and exploitations that are happening within our Canadian society. We want to listen to the suffering of the earth which finds its forest being stripped bare, its waters polluted and the air becoming unhealthy. 

 

What does God want of us in these instances of injustice and exploitation? What is the Spirit of God moving us to bringing this world to a more just society and a more sustainable earth?

 

How do we find God in the places where we so often avoid? 

OUR STRONG MOTHERS

                                      

The experience of a young mother in Meadow Lake taught me much about life. It was a sunny Sunday afternoon on my hospital rounds. She had her newborn (second child) on the bed in front of her crossed legs. In the brief moments she observed, looking at her newborn, “My Mother always said she could die for her children.” Then lifting her finger in the air, she added, “Now, I understand!”

 

As we mark Mother’s Day this weekend, we need to pay attention to the mystery that is motherhood. Each mother has her own story. Each one has the mystery we must try to appreciate. Everyone needs to give thanksgiving for their own mother, and give thanksgiving for all her dedication, and, thanksgiving for her deficiencies.

 

When I read the history of our prairie provinces, I always feel that the stories of the brave and determined women are not told. They were women who were determined to survive but also that their families would thrive. How many of these women gave courage to their husbands, their children (of various ages) and the community at large when the Dirty Thirties hit? How many brave and industrious women managed to put food on the table, educate their children and nourish the life of the larger community? 

 

And survived without complaining or morphing into self-pity? What resilience!

 

Today, we need to hear the stories of brave mothers who are single-handedly raising their children, working a part-time job, trying to go to school to upgrade and getting the children off to day care early every morning. Where are the stories of these brave mothers?

 

And where are the stories of the brave grandmothers who are in their mid-fifties who step up to raise a grandchild that is about to be taken from its mother because of severe drug addiction? What do we have to say about this grandmother starting  child-rearing all over again? What courage is exhibited here?

 

And what of the mothers who make great sacrifices, financial and emotionally, to try to get their addicted son (he may be in his mid-thirties) into a drug rehabilitation program?  What commitment do we experience here?

 

There is so much we do not understand about motherhood. We need this Mother’s Day to reflect and embrace the mystery of motherhood. We need to embrace the mystery, the love and dedication of our own mother. Hopefully each year we will gain a better understanding of this ever-so-human a mystery.

 

This Sunday, just thank God for the gift of your mother. Just dance with joy that you have been so loved.

 

TWENTY-EIGHT OVERDOSES IN REGINA

                                              

I have a strong concern in our Canadian society of the opioid/ fentanyl epidemic that has ravaged our society since the year 20216. It was disheartening to read in the news this past week that the first two months of this year, January and February, registered twenty-eight overdoes death in the city of Regina. Two years ago there were only four deaths within the same time period.

 

With the Covid crisis absorbing all the oxygen in the media, the opioid epidemic has almost disappeared from the screen. There are far more deaths from opioids / bad drugs than there are from the Covid virus.

 

I ask myself, what can I do? What contribution can I make to improve the situation?

 

Along with our governments, our health facilities and our families, I stand almost helpless. We cannot control what people take to get high or use to numb the terrible pain of their addiction. As a society there is no way we can legislate our way out of this. Will education help the population become more aware of the danger that drug consumption entails?

 

It is a very dangerous world out there for anyone who uses drugs. Added to the danger is the fact that these synthetic drugs are very cheap to make. The scene is complicated with more powerful synthetic drugs that have come into use. We can only look forward in horror to what new drugs might be developed in the near future. 

 

Every family in Canada is only one family away from a case of serious addiction or of an overdose. It is not at all uncommon to have a non-user, pop a pill offered from a friend and this first timer might result in a fatal overdose.  Twenty-eight overdoes in a small city like Regina is very sobering!

 

Within the Church we cannot pretend that this is not a serious issue for our families. We want to be sympathetic and willing to accompany any family that struggles with the addictions one of their members may be trapped in. We want to be right up front with admitting our impotence in this regard. As a faith community, we have much to learn.

 

We want to educate and help family members understand what is going on. We want to be taught what drug addiction means and the implications it has on family life. 

 

But at the bottom line, I (along with many other church members), are standing in a helpless situation begging God for help. Confronted by the fentanyl crisis I have never felt the need for God’s help in such a strong way. 

,Sustaining the earth: what does your religion offer?

                    

On Thursday evening, about 5:30 pm, as I was preparing supper, I looked out the kitchen window and the wind hit full force against the house and trees. This is what is like to live in society today.  We are living in a time of strong social struggle. The winds are hitting us from both directions. Part of the population resists any recognition that humanity is on a race to falling off the cliff in collapse of the earth structures. The other half recognizes the change humanity must make to the ways it exploits the riches of the earth. 

 

Scientists, over the past sixty years, have been warning humanity of the dangers of global warming, the pollution of our fresh waters and the depletion of the soil and the huge plastic waste floating in the oceans. 

 

Human beings have a long history of resisting the truth because it demands that we must make some drastic changes to our way of life. Humans only embrace a new or inconvenient truth when it is advantageous to them. 

 

Of all the people you associate with, people who identify themselves as spiritual or people who identify with a particular religious tradition, ask them: And what does you religious teaching and experience offer to humanity to work to sustain the earth into the future? What gives you strength, energy and direction to keep the earth thriving? 

 

Christianity has much to offer to sustaining the earth and turning us away from collapse. 

 

First, we must repent of turning away from our attitude toward creation during these past five hundred years. Our religious belief in the value and importance of creation is not new; it was forgotten for so many centuries The firm conviction that creation is the first revelation of God’s love and compassion must be reclaimed. All our churches must return to our roots in God’s first revelation to sustain and create the world.

 

Secondly, we must regain a living sense of God’s sustaining power and love for every part of creation. Every bacteria that exists has been created, loved and sustained by God. We do not have to invent any new prayers that bring us in touch with creation. We just have to be aware of our own tradition in regard to creation. Christians do not have to invent the wheel! 

 

Christians have to recognize that human beings are not over and against the natural world. For the past five centuries we have exploited and abused the gifts of the earth. For too long we have used the earth as if it were ours to use and dispose as we saw fit.

 

We are being shaken into reality. We are kin with all creation. We are part of the great fabric of the created world. If the birds do not thrive, then we humans will not thrive. The entire web of life (from the most minuscule to the large human brain) is interconnected. In the very true sense of the word, we are all in this together.

Our Christian roots give us the tools and the energy to work towards a sustaining earth. Our faith and prayer can give us strong energy to work to sustain the earth. One of the unsung blessings is that now all who identify as the followers of Christ have something in common. We all have our religious roots to give us and empower us to work toward sustaining the earth.

 

We must reclaim what is an essential part of our religious tradition.