Editorial

By Kathy VanLoon
March 2005

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Some editions of the magazine start out with a theme in mind. With others, the articles come in like a disjointed mishmash and I wonder how they will connect, how they will knit together. Somehow, they always do. This edition was no different.

Sr. Fernande Barnabe, a Scarboro missioner in Thailand, was the first to email me with an article about her experience at a tsunami relief camp. She wrote of the people from around the world who have come there in an effort to restore crushed spirits and lost livelihoods. And she wrote of the unimaginable strength and resilience of the survivors.

Next came a story from Stephanie Dotto, a young nursing student from Montreal. She wrote of Malawi communities assaulted by famine and death, exacerbated by the HIV/AIDS pandemic sweeping the nation. Yet it is the people's very sense of community that is their hope and joy.

Stephanie first became aware of the plight of the people of Malawi after taking part in a global awareness group at her high school two years ago. Since then, she has visited Malawi twice and come back to Canada to tell others all that she has seen and heard, spurring them to action.

I also heard from our missioners in Malawi who wrote about Sister Beatrice Chipeta of Malawi's Rosarian Order. Together with the villagers of Karonga, she is responding to the needs of a growing number of AIDS orphans in their midst. Theirs is a witness of hope against enormous odds. For Scarboro missioner Beverley Vantomme, "It is a profound experience of Eucharist to be among people who care deeply for others, who love those who are abandoned and on the fringes of the community."

Another email arrived, this time from Thomas Walsh of Scarboro's Ecuador mission team. He sent an article about the steady flood of Canadian volunteers flocking to the province where our missioners are present. All ages from young teens to retired people come there to offer their time and talents to the indigenous communities on the slopes of Mount Chimborazo. With help from development organizations in Canada, these communities are working on projects that will better their lives.

Then I received a call from our former editor, Fr. Gerald Curry. He had a story about Sam Okada, a Japanese man who made the trip from California to Cape Breton to pay his respects at the grave of Fr. Mike Cox. As a missioner to Japan, Fr. Mike had made a profound impression on Sam when he was just a boy.

Okay, a pattern was beginning to emerge from these written offerings. All spoke of pilgrimage, people on a journey - a spiritual quest - to make a difference in the lives of others, especially the poor and the oppressed, and in so doing find meaning in their own lives.

This pilgrimage theme was also holding true with other stories that I wanted to include, such as the remembrance of Fr. Pat Moore who died late last year.

Fr. Pat had spent most of his life traveling around the world with the pilgrim statue of Our Lady of Fatima.

I wanted to remember as well Archbishop Oscar Romero on this 25th anniversary of his martyrdom. His was a journey from priest to prophet to martyr in response to the horrors of injustice and oppression.

Finally, coming just in time for Holy Week, I've included reflections on the Beatitudes and the Way of the Cross, which of course recalls Jesus' most profound pilgrimage. Both call us to action, to respond to others as Jesus did.

So, like editions that have gone before and those yet to come, I look with eyes of faith to find that a collage of pieces have come together to form a cohesive message. The message is about an overwhelming desire to reach out to another, to journey into the unknown, finding not only suffering and loss, but also joy, hope and courage. May this message help to stir you to answer the call and embark on your pilgrimage of service.

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