What’s Up

March 8-14 is Catholic Sisters Week. The theme this year is Celebrating Traditions Changing the World.

Sr. Marie-Noëlle and Sr. Blandine share some of their experiences:

When I (Sr. Marie-Noëlle) arrived in Toronto in July 2006, I met a sister from the Congregation of Notre Dame, Sr Ann, who she told me right away, ‘Save the date. The first Saturday of Lent is a retreat day for Catholic Sisters of the Archdiocese of Toronto.’

In fact, for the past 25 years, Catholic Sisters of Toronto organize a retreat day on the first Saturday of Lent. The committee’s name is Together For Mission and such is the reality: we are all together on mission in the Archdiocese of Toronto. The facilitator is always a Catholic Sister from the Archdiocese. The themes and insights are different each year…. It is very special for me to pray and meet with others religious during this time of the year.

Here is a reflection by Sr. Blandine about the retreat on Saturday:

This does not mean that everything is always simple and easy. Joy is first a choice as Henri Nouwen reminds us, ‘Joy does not simply happen to you … We have to choose joy and keep choosing it everyday!’ 

The secret? Live each day in gratitude (which is like a muscle to exercise!). And cultivate this joy in the smallest things, the least of our encounters. Keep a sense of humour that rhymes with love.

This is what I wish for each and every one of us during this Lenten season. And to ‘joyfully spray that joy to others!’

A week later, I (Sr. Marie-Noëlle) saw many of the sisters again at the Festival of Women and Girls – Making a World of Difference organized by the Loretto Sisters, the Sisters of St. Joseph of Toronto and the University of St. Michael’s College.

Sr. Véronique lives in a Parisian suburb in France. She was recently selected to be part of ‘The Life‘ – a virtual panel of religious sisters from all over the world who write on a variety of topics – sponsored by the Global Sisters Report.

Here’s an advent reflection from Sr. Véronique:

In the etymology of the word « Advent », we hear an orientation – ad – but the aim of it doesn’t seem to be so clear: venire, ‘come!’ And so it is: Advent invites us to turn towards someone coming. As two people walking towards each other, they would definitely meet on the way and not at the end of the journey.

Before entering religious life, I searched for a congregation for such a long time that at times I thought God had forgotten about me. Everybody around me seemed to be able to achieve their goal (get married, get a job, travel…) and I kept looking for a congregation… I finally discovered La Xavière (the Xaviere Sisters) when I was 35… so more than 15 years after my decision to become a religious sister.

In the first year of my novitiate, as I got used to the Ignatian habit of reviewing my life, I realized just how much God had been present in my quest: He had not stood at the end of my journey (as an aim to target and reach) but He came to me and walked with me.

Here comes the significance of Advent in a very concrete way: God is coming to us who are yearning for Him and the meeting is not only to come but is already a reality. The feast of the Nativity sheds precious light on our lives: before a baby, all anxieties and worries often easily fade away. All the more for Jesus – the Word of God – silent and vulnerable, present like treasure to be taken care of: He seems to engrave in our hearts an orientation that will definitely remain and that has something to see with Hope.

As a teacher near Paris, I hear so many different voices expressing disillusions. Not only those of colleagues experiencing ruptures and losses in their private lives, but also those of teenagers who are worried because of the violence they witness – in their family or in the world – and the lack of security they fear regarding their future place in society and the ecological concerns. Most of these people – adults and teens – are not Christians, but like all of us, they thirst for justice, peace, security.

I do believe the season of Advent has something to tell them: in the present of our lives, certainly in a remote part of ourselves, there is a quiet place where we can sit in silence and review the traces of Hope. Helping them discover this place is one of my implicit but major targets in my educational options.

Today is the feast of Christ the King! While this feast day was instituted in 1925 a few years after the Xaviere sisters were founded, our foundress – Claire Monestès – had a special fondness to the reign of God. She called us daughters of the Kingdom.

J’ai choisi un roi bafoué, flagellé, trahi par la justice. J’ai choisi un roi crucifié. Je l’ai
choisi librement. Il me reste à faire les offres d’un plus grand prix.

Claire Monestès 1920

I chose a scorned and scourged king betrayed by justice. I chose a crucified king. I have chosen him freely. All that remains for me is to make the ultimate offering.

Today, 90 years later what does it mean to be daughters of the Kingdom? Here are some reflections from the Toronto Xaviere sisters!

Blessed feast of Christ the King to all of you!

In community, we eat a lot of vegetables and fruit. So it feels natural to me to make our own compost.

I like to mix it, ensuring that there is enough moisture but not too much, and to see how it evolves.

At this time of the year, after several months without opening the compost box (thoroughly mixed before winter), the cycle is complete. It smells like the ground in a thick forest…

We donated two large pails of freshly ‘harvested’ compost to the Garden Ministry at St Gabriel’s parish, our parish.

Sr. Marie-Noelle and other volunteers spread it to the young fruit trees.

The cycle of life and simple joys!

Sr. Claire

Best Wishes from the Xaviere Sisters in Toronto!

_{Image: Planet Earth (South and North America) – Photo by Elena Mozhvilo on Unsplash}