The Catholic Women's League of Canada
Alberta Mackenzie Provincial Council
PRESIDENT
Communiqué #4
DATE: May 4, 2020
FROM: Judy Look President
Faith! Service! Social Justice!
Time for a Cup of Tea.
From the Resurrection to Pentecost (50 days) we celebrate the Easter Season as a time of rebirth and
renewal.
Christ has died! Christ is risen! Christ will come again!
We may be thinking with all that is happening in our country and the world that we are not seeing a lot of rebirth or renewal. First the virus, then the cancellation of all social gatherings including conventions, shutting down our parishes for the celebration of the Eucharist, the tragedy in Nova Scotia and the flooding in Fort McMurray are examples that do not speak to us of Easter. Do you think this was the way the apostles felt after the crucifixion and death of Jesus? What’s next? The next was the Holy Spirit. God never leaves His people. When we recommitted ourselves to the Lord through the renewal of our baptismal promises at Easter we strengthened our covenant with Him.
Knowing this we can take on any challenge. Cardinal Collins in one of his homilies in this Easter season suggested we read the Acts of the Apostles. As we journey with them and all their challenges we will be given the gifts of courage, strength and hope for this journey that has been forced upon us.
All of these gifts come to us through our relationship with Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit. In this period of “retreat” lets make this relationship a priority. Every relationship requires presence, time, conversation, reflection and action and our relationship with the Lord is no different. Presence and time is easy. Our conversation will be one of talking and listening. He will speak to us through the scriptures and we will respond to Him through our prayers, journaling his nudges and recommendations for action. This action will have many different forms but it will always be rooted in love for our neighbor. Presently this loving our neighbor is witnessed by our phone calls; meals prepared for shut-ins, masks made to protect our neighbors and ourselves; pictures drawn and displayed to lift the spirits of neighbors; inspirational and humorous emails sent to put smiles on the faces of others. On Friday April 24th action took the form of prayer as we prayed the Chaplet of Divine Mercy for our brothers and sisters in Nova Scotia and as we continue to pray for them let us add to our list our sisters and the people of Fort McMurray.
Let’s not stop there. Let’s use this gift of time to make a difference in other areas that affect our Church and Community.
