News from Visitation Province
CTV Mass for Shut-Ins, Sunday, May 29, 2022
In celebration of the Feast of the Visitation May 31st and the 40th Anniversary of Associate Relationship, a special Mass for Shut-Ins was taped at our Lady of Fatima Church, Sydney River, N.S.
Father Bill Burke was the celebrant; Father Bedford Doucette did the welcome and introduction. Sister Gwen O'Neil, CND, read the first scripture passage, and the second reading and Prayers of the Faithful were read by Winnie Odo, Associate.
Music was provided by our Congregation de Notre-Dame Sisters Connie MacIsaac, Mary Morris, Elaine Hawrylak [piano], Simone Abbass, and cantor Rosemary McGee. Many Sisters and Associates from various areas were present. The viewing will be aired on CTV Mass for Shut-Ins May 29th, 2022 at 11:30 am or through the Antigonish Diocese YouTube Channel.
Dianne MacAskill, Associate Coordinator
Sacred Earth, Sacred Self
Fortunately, some of us were able to access this video presented by Matthew Fox. The presentation began with the question: Where in our world today do we touch the Sacred and where does it touch us? The reality is, of course, that every breath we breathe is Sacred and every relationship is Sacred. However, we have lost the sense of this in our world today, because, he says, we have become victims of "Academic Barbarism". He uses this strong term to describe that all the emphasis and
shifts in our lives are based on the assumption that we have only a left-sided brain, the rational, and there is no acknowledgement or awareness of the "intuitive". There is no sense of our being "holistic" human beings, no awareness of the sacredness of all life leading to the damage of every kind we see to humanity and to the universe, eventually leading to war! How do we turn this around; turn ourselves and our world around so that we become living examples of sacredness and spreaders of the joy associated with that. He ends with a quote from Mary Oliver: "Pay Attention, Be Astonished, Share Your Astonishment!"
Anne T. Gillis, CND for JPIC
Encircle Us
Marguerite, Woman, ahead of your time
Dreaming dreams Intuitively moving
Beyond the safe, the known, the expected Encircle us in your veiled compassion.
Stretch us to see
Beyond our own personal, perhaps even polarized experiences.
As we journey, Visitation gifted,
With women and men, whose lives and stories Challenge us to respect
Pluralism, differences, both/and.
Inflame our hearts, as consumed charcoal, Enlarge our CND garden plot
To include more global “colours, saviours, fragrances.”
And, along the way,
Life us with that “crystal water
Springing up from God our Source.” by Janet Malone, CND (Deceased 2013)
Movie Recommendation
Between Two Worlds (French with English sub-titles) is based on the true story of a writer who decides to write a book on job insecurity and hides her identity to work as a cleaner. The movie captures the hardships and job exploitation of those on the margins such as the women she works with who despite this manage to maintain some camaraderie.
Kathy Kelly, Associate
Book Recommendation
Framed by Fire by Iona Whishaw, a retired Vancouver school principal, is the latest in her mystery series featuring Lane Winslow from England who settled in the Nelson BC area after WW2. Apart from the mystery plot it provides an insight into the history of the area where Indigenous peoples had lived as well as the early settlers from diverse countries and their many reasons for being there.
Kathy Kelly, Associate