Serving in faith, guided by the Spirit — The legacy of Scarboro Missions

Editorial by Kathy Gillis

Fifty years ago Pope Paul VI’s great encyclical Populorum Progressio challenged Christians to see the world through the eyes of the poor. In this Lenten issue of Scarboro Missions, we are reminded of this shift in the Christian perspective and are asked to add to it a new dimension: care for our common home, the Earth.

In his encyclical Laudato Si, Francis invites all the people of the world to undergo an ecological conversion. He says, “We are not faced with two separate crises, one environmental and the other social, but rather one complex crisis which is both social and environmental.” Nature cannot be regarded as something separate from ourselves, the Pope says. “We are part of nature.” He argues in favour of an approach he calls integral ecology: “Strategies for a solution demand an integrated approach to combating poverty, restoring dignity to the excluded, and at the same time protecting nature.”

In this issue Karen Van Loon writes about the Pope’s call for a change of heart—for mercy—for our common home and for all creation living together on this planet. We also feature Pope Francis’s efforts to bring together and hear the voices of the world’s popular movements—people who thirst for justice, who struggle against what he calls “the prevailing paradigm…a system that causes enormous suffering to the human family, simultaneously assaulting people’s dignity and our Common Home in order to sustain the invisible tyranny of money that only guarantees the privileges of a few.”

The voices of Indigenous peoples are also heard in Kathy Murtha’s reflection on the KAIROS Blanket Exercise, a powerful teaching of history from the perspective of Indigenous peoples in Canada. Fr. Ron MacDonell writes too about the Tukano community in Manaus who embrace faith, hope, and love amidst situations of injustice. In Laudato Si’, Pope Francis says, “…it is essential to show special care for indigenous communities and their cultural traditions…For them, land is not a commodity but rather a gift from God and from their ancestors who rest there, a sacred space with which they need to interact if they are to maintain their identity and values.”

We present, too, women’s voices and perspective in the Development and Peace Share Lent 2017 Way of the Cross: Women at the heart of change.

This issue is filled with stories of people who hear the cry of the poor and the cry of the Earth. At Lent, we are invited to conversion, to a change of heart. As an essential part of this conversion, Pope Francis reminds us to engage in “grateful contemplation of God’s world.” To enter into the spirit of this invitation, and to this issue of Scarboro Missions, we invite you to meditate on a beautiful poem by Kate Marshall Flaherty, “Radical Lent 2017.”

In memory of Scarboro missionary Fr. Gerry Donovan, we wish you blessings on this Lenten journey and may peace be with you!

Editorial

It’s Christmastime again, as we begin to prepare for the coming of the Prince of Peace who heralds the Reign of God. God’s plan for all creation is a beautiful one—a world of justice, peace, and love. Yet, how do we continue to witness to that dream in divisive, divided, and unsettling times?

In this final issue of 2016, there are many stories of people living the Reign of God in the world today. Scarboro mis­sioner Fr. Ron MacDonell writes about his visit to the city of San Cristóbal de las Casas in Chiapas State, southern Mexico, where Indigenous women are empowered to change their lives and their communities. They once felt afraid and vulnerable, as Mary surely did on her journey to Bethlehem. Now they are women of hope and courage.

You will also read articles by Krista Bowman and Our Lady’s Missionary Sr. Christine Gebel about refugee families in Canada. Their journey, like that of Mary and Joseph, is fraught with uncertainty and upheaval. Yet many people are coming together to make them feel welcome and at home.

Anne-Marie Jackson, director of the Jesuit Forum for Social Faith and Justice, writes about her experience at the World Social Forum in Montreal this summer. She describes the event as “a graced gathering, people-centred, creative, full of energy and ideas. In this listening, sharing space, there is a feeling of hope and possibility, even up against the over­whelming challenges in our world.” Anne-Marie tells us about individuals who have come from all over the world to discuss shared issues and create movements for a sustainable, peaceful, just world.

In this issue, Anne-Marie also introduces us to an important new resource, On care for our com­mon home: A dialogue guide to Laudato Si’. Pope Francis has said, “I urgently appeal for a new dia­logue about how we are shaping the future of our planet. We need a conversation which includes every­one, since the environmental chal­lenge we are undergoing and its human roots, concern and affect us all.” (LS #14)

This resource would foster group dialogue in parishes, schools, and elsewhere in the community. The future of our planet is a concern for all.

Even though the Year of Mercy is now officially over, Pope Francis is calling all people to uphold the qualities of mercy so that mercy becomes our way of being. Deacon Robert Coleman in Sydney, Nova Scotia, writes in this issue about their community’s initiative to bring together people of the Jewish, Muslim, and Christian faiths for exchange and dia­logue to counter intolerance and foster peace. One of the speakers at this event, Fr. Damian MacPherson, director of the Ecumenical and Interfaith office in the Archdiocese of Toronto, unravels this beautiful mystery of mercy and writes, “Having experienced God’s enduring mercy, we are duty bound to let mercy rather than judgement be the leading edge of our Gospel witness.”

As we journey with the Holy Family this Christmas and celebrate Christ’s coming among us, may we hear again the call to witness to the Reign of God.

Witnessing to the Reign of God

We are happy to present this calendar issue of our magazine. We do so with a profound sense of gratitude for our call to God’s mission and for the many blessings we have received since our founding in 1918 by Monsignor John Mary Fraser. Our ministries are rooted in “presence.” Jesus took time to be present to people by listening, sharing meals, and healing the sick. His love was so great that he gave his life so that all may have new life, and he continues to be present to us today in the Eucharist, in our gathering as community, in our prayer, and in each other. 

Scarboro missionaries are called to live out Jesus’ mission of loving presence, to live in solidarity with the poor, accompanying them in their efforts to better their lives. We are also called to pastoral ministry, such as parish work and Christian leadership training in small communities, and attention to health care. We remember the Scarboro priest and three lay missioners who are dedicated to these ministries in Guyana, South America; the lay missioner doing adult education in China; the Scarboro priest working with the Asian bishops in reaching out to the many cultures and religions of the region; and the Scarboro priest involved in indigenous ministry, particularly language and culture rights, in Brazil. 

Here in Canada, Scarboro missionaries are called to announce the Reign of God through mission animation at our Mission Centre; through interfaith dialogue and the work of the Interfaith Department; and through the Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation Office. In his encyclical, Laudato Si, Pope Francis counsels us that all Christians need “…an ‘ecological conversion,’ whereby the effects of their encounter with Jesus Christ become evident in their relationship with the world around them. Living our vocation to
be protectors of God’s handiwork is essential to a life of virtue; it is not an optional or a secondary aspect of our Christian experience.” (LS 217) These are strong words! We can live this conversion in our daily lives by becoming more involved in issues like climate change and sustainable living, working with a local community or parish group, and even simply by following the three Rs—reduce, reuse, and recycle.

On behalf of Scarboro Missions we thank you, our benefactors, for your very generous support. Our ministry of presence is possible because of you. We remember you in our prayers, and we wish God’s many blessings for you and your loved ones in 2017.∞

In the glaring light of Divine Mercy, we are all revealed as both undeserving and blessed

By Kathy Murtha

Pope Francis’ little but mighty book, “God’s Name is Mercy,” is one of the most beautiful and brilliant expositions of Christianity I have ever encountered. He brings us back to the indisputable essence of our faith and reclaims the primacy of mercy. Mercy erases borders, demolishes walls, and builds bridges. I intend to keep this precious little book close at hand. It has given me much to ponder. 

I initially found his message hard to grasp because we are influenced by a culture immersed in a reward/punishment system, one that places judgement over mercy. Judgement is easy because it is clear: black or white, right or wrong. Anything other than judgement feels like a cop out. Fr. Richard Rohr says that judgement appeals to the ego, which likes nothing more than to feel separate and superior to others. Judgement gives us a false sense of power and control. Being fashioned into the clay of this mindset and hardened over time, we project our way of being onto God. Rohr perceptively remarks that “God created us in His image and we returned the compliment by creating God in our image.” In our image, God becomes the God of Judgement who is constantly making his list and checking it twice to see who is naughty and nice.

It is no wonder that I struggle to grasp the centrality of mercy and its profound implications. I need to rid myself of the toxic image of God fabricated by my human mind. I need to let go of my addiction to certainty, to control, and to superiority, and plunge myself into the ocean of Divine Mercy. Only in this way can Divine Mercy penetrate my judgemental heart of stone and refashion me so that I can be a channel of transformative love. 

A higher level of consciousness

Pope Francis’ affirmation of mercy is a bridge to help me get there. The Jubilee Year of Mercy is essentially a pressing invitation to move to a higher level of loving consciousness that defies human logic and common sense. We are called to move away from a consciousness that is rooted in a sense of scarcity, marked by stinginess, forever measuring, weighing, and judging who is worthy and who is not—making sure that people get what they deserve. This consciousness is driven by fear and inevitably creates borders that separate and exclude. It insists on a world of meritocracy, in which people are rewarded only for their ability and achievement. This way of being gives us the illusion that we are in control, in the right, and have our act together. However, this illusion comes at a great cost as it blocks the flow of Divine, lifegiving, “refreshing” mercy, a word used by Jane Sagar, a participant at Scarboro Missions’ recent retreat on mercy.  

A higher level of loving consciousness is rooted in a sense of abundance that finds expression in a joyful spirit of generosity. This is the consciousness that Jesus sought to instill through his parables of celebrating and feasting at the return of the undeserving, in the finding of unexpected treasure, in the outpouring of wine from water, and in the multiplication of the loaves and fishes. All of this shatters our painstakingly neat, rational distinctions of the worthy and unworthy. In the glaring light of Divine Mercy we are all revealed as both undeserving and blessed. Once we allow ourselves to experience the unconditional, limitless flow of Divine Mercy, we are propelled out into the world to become bridge builders of mercy. 

To allow ourselves to be led to this higher level of consciousness is no easy feat. It helps to realize that we are not alone. God, whose name is Mercy, is forever at the threshold, like the father of the prodigal son, awaiting the very sound of our footsteps to rush out and enfold us in His loving embrace. Pope Francis goes even further and states that even if we cannot take any steps in God’s direction, if we simply desire to move in that direction God will be there to engulf us in His liberating Mercy. 

Spiritual means and tools

Each one of us must find the spiritual means and tools to move into the unfamiliar, borderless, and transforming territory of a higher loving consciousness. I am particularly drawn to the parables of Jesus that seek to enflesh and usher in Jesus’ vision of the Kingdom of God. These logic-defying descriptions of God’s Mercy have the sacramental power to lead us to a level of consciousness whereby we can begin to glimpse the Kingdom. 

Most importantly, I am longing for a prayer life that will effectively nudge me towards this level of consciousness and keep me returning to the eternal fount of Divine Mercy. I seek a prayer life that moves me beyond my limited self, transforming me into the face of Mercy and keeping me in the flow of Love. I feel called to a prayer life that draws me away from my self-preoccupations and sends me out into the world to be merciful as God is merciful. 

In seeking to develop such a prayer life, I have been blessed to be introduced to the forgotten traditional practice of Christian Meditation as taught by Fr. John Main and Fr. Thomas Keating. It is a form of prayer that moves us beyond the noisy chatter of our judgemental minds. This form of prayer holds the possibility of Divine transformation by calling us to abide in the inner presence of the Loving Trinity. 

Mercy by its very nature flows out, builds bridges, and leads to transformative encounters with the “other.” The Mercy of God is unlimited and inexhaustible—a wellspring upon which Jesus drew and which is freely available to all.∞

Kathy Murtha coordinates Scarboro’s Mission Centre, a meeting place for groups and organizations. The centre also offers and facilitates retreats and workshops, including the weekly program, “Centering Prayer and the Spiritual Journey.” 

Guest editorial by Carolyn Doyle

In this issue, you will read articles from Scarboro priests and lay missioners, those working in Canada and those working overseas, as well as articles from former Scarboro lay missioners who were overseas, have returned to Canada, and are now engaged in ministry at home. All are living their own specific call and there are many different avenues for ministry both locally and globally. The stories in this issue also speak of discernment and we hope they will help you to follow your path in search of a life of passion, purpose, and joy.

We especially invite you to consider Scarboro Missions One-Year Mission Program as an avenue for living out your passion for a better world and a better life for all.

View Issue:

Inside this issue:
Vocations:  Called to love
Vocations:  In the service of others
Vocations:  Life after mission in Malawi
Vocations:  Rest your dreams on a twig
Vocations:  What would Jesus have me do?
Vocations:  The next step in the journey

“The entire universe speaks of God’s love.”

LS #84

A calendar of quotes from Laudato Si’ (Praise be to You) — Pope Francis’ encyclical ON THE CARE OF OUR COMMON HOME

Celebrating 50 years of Vatican II’s Declaration on the Church’s Relation with Non-Christian Religions 

On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Vatican II declaration Nostra Aetate (In Our Time), and in order to better understand the legacy of this interreligious achievement of the Council, we present a series of articles from accomplished international figures in the field of interfaith dialogue. As Pope Francis reminds us, “either we stand together with the culture of dialogue and encounter (in today’s world), or we all lose.” We hope that this issue will help to support and further the incredible interfaith outreach that is taking place within our communities today. May it also serve as an opportunity to examine the past, present, and future of interreligious encounter in a world with a growing need for peaceful coexistence.

View Issue

Related:  Nostra Aetate…Interreligious dialogue in the global village

Solidarity is a key principle of Catholic social teaching and one that can embody every other principle. In this issue, you will read that solidarity is important in upholding human dignity, caring for the environment, and creating economic structures that nurture and promote sustainable living. Solidarity means working for an inclusive society in which everyone can participate. It is about standing on the side of the poor in their struggles. It is about justice and peace. It is about learning to live in deeper relationship with the whole world, with people of every race, creed, and religion, both near and far. Solidarity is about the pursuit of the common good for all creation. It is about building the Reign of God.

View Issue

Inside this issue:  The common good