Advent Reflection for November 29, 2015 – First Sunday of Advent
Greetings fellow travelers! Our Advent journey begins today. I am Kathy Chadwick. I am a retired high school teacher from Pensacola, Florida. I have had the privilege of being an associate for nearly 17 years.
Today’s Gospel urges us to “stand erect and raise your heads because your redemption is at hand.”
I got stuck on the word stand. There are many different ways we use that word in our ordinary speech. I counted 21. How many can you think of? Stand up, stand for, stand with, stand together are just a few. As I thought about this, I realized that most Visitation moments include the word stand. We stand for something to those we meet. We stand with others in a time of need. We stand behind the weak to give them strength. We stand up for the persecuted.
Year of Consecrated Life the parishioners at Saint Mary’s Parish, Montague, PE
To acknowledge The Year of Consecrated Life the parishioners of Saint Mary’s Parish, Montague, PE, invited Congregation of Notre Dame sisters who were born in the area, and sisters who ministered as teachers in the local schools or as Pastoral Associates to celebrate the Sunday Liturgy on September 29th. Sisters Clemmie and Elizabeth McCarron, Elizabeth Dunn, Joan Marie Chaisson, Bernadette Gallant, Noreen MacDonald and Regina McQuaid were able to come celebrate. This was a joyous occasion and an opportunity for the people to acknowledge and give thanks for all the sisters had done with and for the people in the area. Time to renew friendships over a cup of tea and homemade cookies brought back many memories. Father Gerard Chaisson was especially glad to see Sr. Clemmie, his high school English teacher. The sisters were treated to a dinner before their trip home. Clemmie summed it up this way: “I was not tired out but renewed from the wonderful gathering.” (photo left-right: Sr. Clemmie, Helen Martell, parishioner and Sr. Elizabeth).
Visistation To Paris ~ Climate Conference
UPDATE as of SUNDAY November 22, 2015 for CND Community (update 11/25)
As we all grapple with and pray through the suffering, death and carnage of this past week in Paris, and other terrorized spaces throughout the world: safety, security, violence, war, hatred, mercy, courage, anger, justice, peace, home, transformation, jump through our minds in ever shifting patterns. Considering all of this while listening and living our way through decisions about the Climate Conference has produced a heightened awareness of this for me and my partners heading to Paris. There is an emerging belief that the terror attacks reflective of the world’s destructive, destructive and dominating powers and despair, and the Climate Conference drawing thousands of people to Paris in hope that we can change the way we understand, see and act toward our Earth and all her creatures and one another.
Once again our brother Francis has put it so well in a recent address: we are not just living in an era of change, we in the changing of eras... and all creation is on tip toe to see the sons and daughters of the human species come into their own... from Mary to Marguerite and all her descendants as we begin a new visitation...
More from Paris: Michele Morek and I will be sending updates from Paris using the UNANIMA INTERNATIONAL.org website, and I will post to our CND sites as well.
