Sr. Cathy Crowley and her two animal “friends” hosted a celebration at Lourdes on Saturday, March 20th for our Congregation of Notre Dame Sisters. Commemorating the coming of Spring and the Feast of Saint Joseph, the Sisters enjoyed entertainment, an ice cream cake, gifts and the affectionate greetings of Cathy and the animals! As always, the getting together and a CND visitor were the best parts. THANKS, Cathy!  

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SEEDS is a Porte Parole Production (Montreal) written by Annabel Soutar and starring Eric Peterson (of Corner Gas and Street Legal fame). SEEDS has played in major Canadian cities since 2010, on tour from BC eastward, closing in Fredericton, March 19^th. The local Raging Grannies were there, singing some great parodies about Monsanto.

This documentary theatre piece is the story of Saskatchewan canola farmer Percy Schmeiser's four-year legal battle with biotech giant Monsanto (1998-2004). Mr. Schmeiser continues to travel the world — he’s 84 now — talking about genetically modified organisms, the dangers of them, and the environmental and health and political ramifications of multinational corporations being able to copyright a seed. It continues to confront us with very serious questions. The answer to Schmeiser’s “Who owns Life?” question is about the future of our food system.

Eleanor McCloskey, CND, for JPIC 

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“April is the cruelest month, breeding
Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
Memory and desire, stirring
Dull roots with spring rain.
Winter kept us warm, covering
Earth in forgetful snow, feeding
A little life with dried tubers.”

T.S.Eliot, the author of these first seven lines of his famous poem, “The Waste Land,” could well be a contemporary columnist for any paper in the world today. For New Englanders, April is always a tease for spring. The days can flip from sunny warm weather where coats are shed and windows opened to a late wintry blizzard which forces us to shovel, plow and keeps us inside by a fire.

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