The EagleThe Eagle Eastertide 2010

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Grant us, O God, to fly on eagle’s wingsthat we, soaring high above

our daily roundmay see, and seeing understand

the complicated landscapes of our lives.

Grant us, O God, the sharp bright eyes of eaglesthat we, gazing from above upon

our daily roundmay see, and seeing understand

the depths and heights, the chasms and the meadows of our lives.

Grant us, O God, that keen tumultuous vision you gave to John in Patmos’ cave

that we, looking with inner eye uponour daily round

may see, and seeing understandthe shimmering seas, the gentle streams, the raging rivers of our lives.

Grant us, O God, to see, and seeing understandthat in the ordinary pacing out

of daily roundwe scale the heights and delve the depths, race the roads and swim the seas

and often, all unknowing, yet exemplify your presence in our lives.

Sr. Sue Elwyn, SSJD

Christian art usually represents St. John with an eagle symbolizing the heights to which he rises in the first chapter of his Gospel. This particular eagle is a form of Bunka Embroidery using a punch needle and synthetic thread. It is often known as “painting with thread” as the finished effect is one of a painting, the thread providing the texture and the colours and workmanship providing the depth. This ‘painting’ was embroidered by Nandrani Sawh, the mother-in-law of one of our night nurses, Rehana Sawh. (Nandrani was one of our night nurses many years ago.) It was given to us by the Sawh family as a Christmas gift in 2007.

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Dear Associates, Oblates and Friends,

The Easter Season had me pondering the image of the Phoenix rising from the ashes, one of the carvings which appears on the front of our altar. The Phoenix is an ancient symbol of life arising out of death which we see echoed in the death and resurrection of Jesus. How do we witness to the resurrection of Jesus Christ in our lives? We do so by telling others about our understanding of how Jesus is alive to us.

Sr. Constance witnesses with her remarkable life. She turned 106 on February 2nd. In November 2009, the US Ambassador, David Jacobsen, visited the Convent to present to Sr. Constance a letter of congratulations from President Obama. She is the oldest American citizen living in Canada. Her love for God is evident in her love for

people that she has expressed by a life of prayer and service in SSJD and in the larger community.

I was fortunate to attend the Synod of the Diocese of British Columbia this spring where the whole Diocese is seriously trying to live the resurrection life. They have boldly decided to dis-establish a number of parishes, to amalgamate some into hub churches and to form some new ministries. They are witnessing to the rest of the church their faith in resurrection—that new life arises out of what must seem like death to many. They are looking at new ways to encounter and reach out to people in their diocese, trying out the mixed economy model that Archbishop Rowan Williams speaks about. Pray for our Sisters’ work in that Diocese and for the Diocese of British Columbia as they take these bold steps.

Wonderful things are happening in the Diocese of Toronto which has embraced Natural Church Development and Fresh Expressions. Srs. Constance Joanna and Elizabeth led a well-received series on Passionate Spirituality with the parish of Holy Trinity Guildwood in the fall.

Sr. Anne has been teaching children the violin through the parish of St. Simon the Apostle in the St. Jamestown area. The Sisterhood, an expression of contemporary monasticism with our roots in the desert tradition, is excited about these opportunities to share our passion with others—to bring new life to others through our life of prayer, love and service.

Phyllis Tickle, visionary and writer/speaker in the Episcopal Church in the US, will be with us on May 16th for a public lecture. She will challenge our understanding of how to be the Emerging Church in the 21st century. The lecture will be followed by a reception and book-signing. Tickets are required for this event; call the Guest House to make your reservations.

In our community, you’ll be pleased to hear that we received Rhonda Cross as a postulant on April 7th. We ask your prayers for Rhonda as she begins her new life in SSJD. We ask your ongoing prayers for vocations to the Sisterhood and for the upcoming General Synod of the Anglican Church of Canada to take place in Halifax, NS in June. Five Sisters from SSJD will be attending Synod to represent the Sisterhood. Sr. Sue, the new Director of the Eastern Province of Associates, will be staying on after General Synod to visit Associates in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. We also ask your prayers for Patricia Gerrand who asked to leave our community in December. We wish her well on her continuing journey, now as an Associate.

You will soon receive our Narrative Budget telling the story of our response to God’s call to love, prayer and service. We do so appreciate your generous response to our Annual Appeal over the last two years which has enabled us to carry out our many ministries.

Hildegard of Bingen once wrote, “spiritual people, who in the devotion of their hearts often gaze at God like the angels, are marked with the eagle.” You know that the symbol of the eagle is the symbol for St. John, our patron. I pray that you too may have John’s fiery vision of heaven, his zeal for putting love into action, and his devotion to Christ Jesus.

Sr. Elizabeth Ann, SSJD Reverend Mother

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Can you envision this window in full colour in our Retreat Chapel? Were you to enter this space right now it might seem utilitarian and rather ordinary. Imagine the space transformed, turned into a sacred space which invites you in—a place to which you can “come away . . . and rest a while.”

This stained glass window was a gift to the Sisterhood of St. John the Divine by St. John’s Anglican Church in The Carrying Place, Ontario. The stained glass was designed by Yvonne Williams, the same artist who created the windows which grace the Chapel at St. John’s Rehab Hospital. This window shows the Risen Christ, St. John the Divine and St. Margaret of Scotland. It was dedicated to the memory of John Grier and Rose Margaret Grier, father and niece of Hannah Grier Coome, our Mother Foundress. It is fitting that the window should find a home in our Convent now that its former home has been dis-established. It is presently in storage, waiting to be restored and refitted to transform the Retreat Chapel into a truly sacred space.

Envision with us the transformation of the Retreat Chapel in the Guest House into an oasis of peace that invites you to enter and sit in silence, to meditate, to be at peace with God. The colours in the stained glass window will brighten and add a luminosity to the room, supporting the inward journey through the day. A working gas fireplace, opposite the window, will draw people there in the evenings and at night as a place for meditation, study and reflection.

We need your help to bring this vision to reality. To create this sacred space we need to:

• install the large stained glass window in the south wall

• put three smaller pieces of stained glass, from the convent on Botham Road, in the door to the chapel

• put in a gas fireplace with appropriate surround

• enclose the bookcases to provide storage

• replace the chapel furnishings to enhance the space for worship and meditation

We invite you to create with us this sacred space and bring this dream to fruition. Individuals and/or groups interested in funding the Retreat Chapel transformation are encouraged to contact us.

For more information, please call Sr. Elizabeth Ann, SSJD (416-226-2201, ext. 302) or Sara Lawson, Director of Development (416-226-2201, ext. 340 or e-mail sara@ssjd.ca)

Creating Sacred Space

Notice to all Associates and Oblates attending General Synod

in Halifax, June, 2010

Please join the Sisters at the CAROA Reception on Wednesday,

June 9th, 2010 at 4:00 p.m.

We are delighted to inform you that Sr. Elizabeth Ann has been re-elected

for a second term of office as the Reverend Mother of our Community.

Please keep her in your prayers.

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When a Sister makes her Life Profession in our Community, she makes this promise: “I will live in the perpetual observance of the Vows of Poverty, Chastity and Obedience as expressed in the Rule of Life, and herein I pray for the grace and heavenly assistance of the Holy Spirit . . . .” We are often asked what these vows mean in today’s world. The section on the vow of chastity in the Rule of Life of the Sisterhood of St John the Divine begins:

The vow of chastity is grounded in the wholeness of love with which Jesus embraced humanity and all creation. For us, chastity is expressed in the celibate state. It is a way of releasing all our energies for total commitment to Christ, a wholeness in love which is creative and generative, demanding integrity and purity of life.

Of the three vows that form the pillars of our vocation (poverty, chastity, obedience) celibate chastity could be called the vow of loving openness toward one another and all creation. It is bound up with mutual love, friendship and support for one another. It is the hard work of entering into paradox, into mystery, and of learning to live together with differences. It is being willing to commit oneself deeply to the pain and the joy of life fully lived. It is learning how to love and to listen without possessiveness, without imposing ourselves on others. With someone who is practising celibate chastity well, we may sense that we’re being listened to in a refreshingly deep way. And this is the purpose of chastity, not to attain some impossibly cerebral goal mistakenly conceived as ‘holiness’, but to make oneself available to others. The fruit of chastity is hospitality. It is a call to belong to everyone and to no one at the same time. It calls us to support one another, to empower one another, and to learn from one another. Community, the Rule reminds us, is to be built on “chaste” love, on love that does not use or exploit others, on love that can give without requiring equal payment in return, on love that is not based on the gratification of the self. It has a message, a ministry and a value much needed today in a culture in which sex and exploitation have become a consuming issue, a national passion, an underlying current in every social system.

The integrity and authenticity of the call to chastity rests upon a quality of engagement, of loving openness, to one another and to all of creation. It is a call to relatedness that is holistic and liberating, in becoming increasingly a warm, tender and sensitive person. It is a call to openness to seeing in each other the face of God, a gift that engages every human person on the journey to wholeness. Chastity embraced joyfully opens a capacity to relate warmly and lovingly with other human beings.

Friendships are an important aspect of authenticity in the complex dynamics that living lovingly and tenderly requires in the world of our time.

From our Rule: Friendship is a gift of God, to be developed responsibly and thankfully, for the enrichment of the whole community. It is through loving and responding to love that we grow in likeness to Christ. Our powers of human love find fulfilment in a living relationship with him; an ever deepening commitment and more generous self-giving to the spiritual family in which God has placed us; and a constant reaching out to embrace humanity and all creation.

Chastity is also a call to experience a growing sense of the universe itself—of loving openness to all of creation —that interconnectedness of spirituality and ecology, care for the earth. It awakens a passion for justice and right relationships across the entire spectrum of life. It is a call to life, to the wholeness that is released by living interdependently in our world.

Chastity rests in and is anchored in a contemplative context of prayer and solitude. It is in solitude and silence that we move into the togetherness of community. It is here that we give to each other that gift of silence where we can listen together and listen to one another. It is creative and generative, enabling healing and wholeness in loving openness to others and to all of creation. The vow of chastity is a call to open readiness for encounter, a willingness to be met—a vulnerability in which compassionately we walk this earth. It is the vow of community life, and our call is to embrace it in gratitude and freedom.

From our Rule: In chastity we bear witness that God is our whole love.

Sr. Doreen, SSJD

Loving Openness Toward One Another and all Creation

Sisters Merle and Amy

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Never in my wildest dreams, when I entered SSJD in 1977, did I think that one day I would believe that God delighted in me and loved me!!! For years, the verse “Be you perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Mt. 5:48) had haunted me. . . almost to the point of despair. What was I doing in a Religious Community when I was SO imperfect? How could I possibly become perfect? If I am not perfect, how can God love me? It took many years, hours of listening to homilies and addresses, reading hundreds of books and praying before I came across helpful “hints” to begin to answer that question:

In Genesis 1 it says: “God saw that the light was good” and “God saw everything that he had made, and indeed it was very good.” God delighted in all of creation—including people—and I gradually learned that God continues to delight in us!!!

In the book As Bread that is Broken written by Fr. Peter Van Bremen, S.J., the first chapter is entitled, “The Courage to Accept Acceptance”. He writes: “we like a person very much (90%) or in an ordinary way (50%) or very little (20%). God does not measure love. God cannot but love totally—100%. . . . God is Love.” (p.14) “When God loves me, I must accept myself as well. I cannot be more demanding than God, can I?” (p.15) No . . . but that command to be perfect still danced before my eyes. . . .

Then one Sunday Fr. Paul Gibson preached on the passage concerning “perfection”, and lights turned on for me. Fr. Gibson pointed out that the Greek word “telios” which was translated into English as “perfect” actually means “unique, complete, compassionate, or whole”!!! Now there was something more attainable to aim for—not easier but possible!!!

Then Fr. John Powell’s book Unconditional Love really put the icing on the cake for me—it is all about God’s unconditional love for us. Fr. Powell declared that conditional love is not God’s love. There is NO “if”, “when”, “only”, “after”, “while”, “during”, “maybe”, “possibly”, “despite”, about God’s love; God loves us, period!!! How wonderfully that message helped to erase well-meaning messages from my parents which said to me that I was really loved when I was “good” and a lot less when I was bad . . . . messages which did not help my struggle to love myself.

Jesus, when asked what was the greatest commandment, replied “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. This is the first and greatest commandment. The second is like it: Love your neighbour as yourself.”(paraphrase of Mt. 22: 37-39)

I have found it important to remember this: “That which dominates our imagination and our thought will determine our life and character. Therefore it behooves us to be careful what we are worshipping, for what we are worshipping we are becoming.” (Ralph Waldo Emerson) If we focus on a God who frowns on us, that is who we are worshipping. If we focus on a God who is always looking at our faults and mistakes (I prefer to call them “learning experiences”!), we will never realize that actually God delights in us and loves us—warts and all!!!

A “picture” from Margaret Silf’s superb book Landmarks is helpful: if we always have our faces to the Sun, to the God who is Love, our backs will be to the shadows of despair and feelings of unworthiness.

A final word from St. John of the Cross: “In the evening of life we will be judged by Love.” A Love which will not carry a Balance book; a God who will lovingly show us our past life so that we may learn from it and go forward into God’s eternal Life and Love.

God Delights in You!

Thanks be to God who loves us so passionately–forever!!!

Sr. Anitra, SSJD

Sister Helena was born and raised in Fort William (now Thunder Bay) in the depression which brought a variety of work experiences, one of which was modelling for a photographer as “Summer girl in her whoopee hat”. Having had some stenographic studies, she joined the Army because she “didn’t approve of what Hitler was doing”. Her positions included recruiting officer in Canada and assisting Australian wireless operators in Washington. After the war she went to Winnipeg and began studies at St. John’s Theological College to equip her to teach in a mobile Sunday School in northern Alberta. Her co-worker had had some contact with the Convent but Helena’s response to any information was “ugh—who wants to live like that”. She gave no thought to wanting to be a nun. And then, while reading the Abingdon Commentary one day, “I knew that God was right there with me holding up a picture of a nun holding a little flower. I knew God was calling me right out of the blue for I wasn’t a churchy person. I knew things would be strange but I just took things as they came.” And so Helena entered SSJD in 1947. She has done many things in Community (sewing, teaching Sunday School, making altar breads, cooking, housekeeping, being sacristan, giving retreats and talks) in many houses (St. John’s-on-the-hill in Aurora,Ontario; St. Michael’s Mission and later Maison St-Jean in Montreal; both the Priory and St. Elizabeth House in Edmonton; QDS in Regina, and the Church Home, Cana Place, and the Convent all in Toronto). Even now, she is known for her regular practice of Tai Chi as she is able.

Sister Joyce was born in a prairie town called Ardath. After Grade 12, university was out of reach financially. Although the Grey Nuns offered to train her as a nurse, she declined and went to technical school followed by a position at an Anglican hostel for teachers. As a “church-going girl”, she joined the staff at Emmanuel College in Saskatoon doing various jobs. From there she came to SSJD at 21, as she’d been wanting to try her vocation despite her parents’ opposition. She understood this as her decision removed a source of income from her family in the midst of the depression. She began at the Convent on Major Street, then went to Edmonton to work in the house for seniors next to the Sisters, and later to look after unmarried mothers. While there her doctor advised her to take up gardening which, to her surprise, she grew to love. After the onset of cancer and the closure of the house in 1979 due to government pressure, she returned to the Convent and asked for library training. Sr. Joyce was one who “championed changes in Community”. She worked in the hospital and was able to pressure Sister Philippa into letting her take up Chinese brush painting and calligraphy. Involvement in staff development, pastoral care and setting up the library all contributed to her being “happy there”. Life has been “more or less uneventful. I always had a great love for the Community, and seemed to hold all my jobs for a long time.”

Sister Thelma-Anne was born in Estevan, Saskatchewan, raised in Regina, and went to Queen’s University on a scholarship for a B.A. in Honours English and History. She then went to Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania, again on scholarship, followed by graduate study at Radcliffe College. She described herself as an agnostic but was drawn to English poets such as George Herbert. She started piano lessons at age eight and writing poetry in her teens. Organ studies in Toronto began after university, as well as singing in the choir of St. Mary Magdalene under the direction of Healey Willan. After pursuing office work opportunities in Toronto, including time at Church House, she entered SSJD in 1957. Although “at that time one was not encouraged to put one’s self forward”, Sr. Thelma-Anne began writing music, eventually becoming Convent organist and choir director. Involved in a variety of depart-ments, including deputy (later called assistant) to the Reverend Mother, she also worked in the houses in Regina, Edmonton and St. Lambert. While in St. Lambert she was diagnosed with Parkinson’s which led to the writing of her book, In Age Reborn, By Grace Sustained, in which she shares her spiritual journey. Sr. Thelma-Anne states “I never considered the possibility of leaving Community as this is where I belong. I’ve made good friendships. I’m lucky to have experienced times of transition, with good models to look to.”

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Our lives of

The highlight of the past year for Sister Constance was a visit from the newly appointed American Ambassador, David Jacobson, in December. The Ambassador brought a framed letter from President Barack Obama to honour her 105th birthday the previous February. It reads: “This is just a belated note to congratulate you on your 105th birthday. I hope you had a wonderful celebration with your family and friends. As you reflect upon a lifetime of memories, we hope that you are filled with tremendous pride and joy. You have accomplished much over the past 105 years, and your dedication to your faith and your community is inspiring. Congratulations on this extraordinary milestone. I wish you continued joy and blessings in the years to come.” Sr. Constance is thought to be the oldest American living in Canada. In February Sr. Constance received a letter from a person who somehow came across her on the internet. She doesn’t know how this happened, but she’d heard the end of an interview with Sr. Constance in which Sister said: “Here I am Lord, send me.” This had a profound effect on the woman who promptly offered to clean pots, pans and dishes for about 150 people at a church function. Prior to this she had felt unable to do it. So Sr. Constance continues to have an effect on others, many of whom she may never meet.

Born in Toronto, Sister Merle left home at age 16, pursuing work during the depres-sion at Simpson’s, then with a car dealership. She joined the Army in 1942 and was posted to Washington, as it was the focal point of Allied operations with the Canadian Joint Staff Mission, to do secretarial work. In 1944 she was seconded to the US War Department’s Pacific Military Intelligence Research Section, which translated captured Japanese documents, as Personnel Sergeant Major for the Unit. After VJ Day, she returned to Canada and settled in Montreal. Merle always wanted to be a nurse so she applied and was accepted at the Montreal General Hospital graduating in 1951. At age 45, after many years at MGH, she began to feel there was more to life than going to work every day. While attending St. John the Evangelist Church, she had informal contact with SSJD Sisters but no sense of call. Realizing she had never been baptised, she asked to be baptized and began wondering about the religious life. Knowing little or nothing of church but drawn to the ritual, she began inquiries of SSJD, was accepted, and entered in 1964. She “found religious life very difficult, a whole different ethos to what I’d been used to. Time and experience, a gradual loosening and levelling of demands, expectations, and customs in Community made it easier. I was a very nominal Christian when I came here.” Most of Sr. Merle’s time was at SJRH and she states warmly “I’ve grown to love the Community because of the changes that have taken place . . . and the very good individual relationships . . . . I have had a lot of illness but with God’s grace I’ve come back and my spiritual life is very deep.”

Sister Madeleine Mary was born in North Vancouver, BC, the middle child and only girl of three children, whose father died when they were very young. As she entered adulthood she became a registered nurse and spent a few years nursing in Penticton, BC. She worked for a year in Aklavik, Diocese of the Arctic, then moved to St. Luke’s Hospital, Pangnirtung on Baffin Island for three years, returning some ten years later to spend another two years there. In 1969 she was admitted as a postulant in SSJD, bringing with her a zealous love and concern for the Diocese of the Arctic. Sr. Madeleine Mary has served in a number of capacities within the Sisterhood, including the infirmary, sewing room, The Church Home for the Aged, Cana Place and St. John’s Rehab Hospital. Her love of nature is apparent in her many delightful watercolour sketches of wild flowers. Sister’s spontaneous wit is most clearly remembered from her recitations of “Little Albert” (Ramsbottom), complete with English accent. Her frequent witty play upon words is evident in an article she wrote during her time at St. John’s Rehab when she was the Chaplaincy representative on the A1 Care Team. She writes “The resiliency of the human body and spirit is an ongoing miracle which is daily demonstrated in patient after patient, and makes our Unit an A1 place to work.” This gentle, loving sister has spent the last number of years being cared for in the Infirmary at the Convent.

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Love and Service

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Have you ever thought about the footprint you want to leave on the world? In an article I read recently, I was reminded that every action we take and every sentence we speak has an effect on people around us, for good or ill, and we may never really know which it is. We may never know the influence we have had on another person. What is the footprint you want to leave behind? What is the legacy you want to leave at the end of your life?

What is the footprint that we as a church want to leave? As church we influence all those whose lives we touch—sometimes for good and sometimes not. What is the footprint God wants to leave? Scripture says that God’s desired footprint is love, mercy, forgiveness, compassion and grace. But how does God leave a footprint? Through you, through me, through all of us together as the church—through the footprint we leave both individually and collectively.

Do we speak, live, act, and interact with each other and the world around us in a way that is congruent with the footprint God wants to leave? Sometimes yes and sometimes no. Our reputation precedes us and often it’s not good. Our history isn’t great. We only have to think back to the Crusades.

A first century Roman writer sarcastically wrote these words: “How these Christians love one another.” Christians are still ridiculed today. We’re more often known for our prejudices, hypocrisy and in-fighting than for our love.

For example, three different denominations of Christians in Jerusalem look after the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, a sacred and holy space. They can’t agree on one brick being moved. The place is said to be filthy, but they can’t agree on who should move the dust, never mind whose dust it really is. How will they ever agree when the government wants to build a new doorway into the church? And why do they want to put a new doorway into the church? To make it easier for pilgrims to visit Jesus’ tomb.

As Christian community whether locally or within a denomination or ecumenically or worldwide, we are called to love one another. On the night before Jesus died, he said to his disciples:

“Let me give you a new commandment: Love one another. In the same way I loved you, you love one another. This is how everyone will recognize that you are my disciples—when they see the love you have for each other.” (John 13: 34-35)

The footprint that God desires comes about as we love one another. When we have loving relationships, we solidly plant God’s footprint. However, when we don’t act or speak in ways that show love, we tramp all over God’s footprint. We destroy it.

This morning we read 1 Corinthians 13, that beautiful, poetic passage that’s read at weddings. As I reflected on it, I realized that the passage has lost its meaning. We have romanticized Paul’s words and made them sentimental. We need to re-claim Paul’s intent in writing them. The Corinthian community was in conflict and this was destroying their ministry as a community of faith.

Can love overcome human failings? Paul declares unequivocally, yes! Will love have victory? Paul says yes, it can and yes, it will! Those who do not love as Paul describes are seen as immature. For Paul, the only way to settle any dispute—whether in families or churches or communities or between nations—is to love one another. It’s that simple. It’s the way of God. It’s the footprint of God. Imagine what we could do if only we loved one another in the truest and God-sense of the word.

I find Eugene Peterson’s translation of this passage quite powerful:

“Love never gives up; love cares more for others than for self; love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have; doesn’t strut; doesn’t have a swelled head; doesn’t force itself on others; love isn’t always “me first”; love doesn’t fly off the handle; doesn’t keep score of the sins of others; doesn’t revel when others grovel; love takes pleasure in the flowering of truth; love puts up with anything; love trusts God always; love always looks for the best; love never looks back; love keeps going to the end; love never dies.”

That is a definition of love in the truest sense of the word.

May that be the love to which we aspire as individuals and collectively, God’s love. Because if it is, then we will contribute to and leave God’s footprint on this world, in this time, in our time.

“How these Christians love one another!” May that not be a sarcastic comment but a sacred and holy truth!! Amen!

Homily by the Rev. Mark Kinghan Priest-Associate, SSJD

What Footprint Do You Want To Leave On The World?

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Over the years I have led several retreats on Hildegard of Bingen because I find her to be a fascinating person. When advertising a retreat, I usually describe her as a renaissance woman. Why? because she was a healer, a herbalist, a composer and musician, a writer, a cook, a visionary, a leader, and an outspoken critic of the Crusades. She was an ecologist who spoke out for the greening of the earth. She was a woman with extraordinary common sense and judgement. That’s why I particularly like her.

She was able to interpret her physical infirmities as a means through which God spoke to her. In some of the drawings we see of Hildegard having one of her visions, there are wavy lines above her line of sight. Some medical experts have suggested that she was probably experiencing migraine headaches which incapacitated her. However, as I said, she was able to embrace the pain, embrace the affliction and see in that a holy vision of the new Jerusalem, the reign of God on earth.

Hildegard had wonderful success in healing those who came to her and to her monastery. One of the reasons I believe she was so successful a healer was that she had water installed in her monastery so that the Sisters could wash their hands in between seeing patients. That’s what we now call infection control in our health care facilities!

Hildegard wrote the first historically recorded morality play as a way of teaching both her Sisters and others about God. In the play all the parts are sung except for Satan who has a spoken part—he is not allowed music. Hildegard and her Community were placed under an interdict by the Church and not allowed to sing the daily office nor to receive communion for over a year. I think that she probably felt the lack of music in her life most keenly.

She came under interdict again because she stood up for a man who had come to her and died while under the Sisters’ care. I believe the story went that he had returned from the Crusades. Before he died, he made his confession to Hildegard who, because she was a lay woman, was not allowed to offer absolution. Regardless, Hildegard and her Sisters had the man buried in holy ground because he had made his confession. The Church reacted strongly against the Community and placed them under interdict.

Hildegard also spoke out against Bernard of Clairvaux who was preaching a new Crusade as commissioned by the Pope. She herself was a noted preacher in the days when women were, like children, seen but not heard, especially in the Church. Her visions were recorded by a scribe and illuminated to try and capture the essence of her visions. They are densely packed material and really make you think. Altogether, a truly remarkable woman.

Below is a recipe for cookies attributed to Hildegard of Bingen, from her 1157 treatise on medicine. It was researched by Jeffrey Nelson with the help of a gracious doctoral student who wished to remain anonymous.

¾ cup butter or margarine, 1 cup brown sugar, 1 egg, 1 tsp baking powder, ¼ tsp salt, 1½ cups flour, 1 tsp ground cinnamon, 1 tsp ground nutmeg, ½ tsp ground cloves.

Let butter soften and then cream it with the brown sugar. Beat in the egg. Sift the dry ingredients. Add half the dry ingredients and mix. Add the other half and mix thoroughly. Dough may be chilled to make it workable. Heat oven to 350° F. Form walnut sized balls of dough, place on greased and floured cookie sheet and press flat. Bake 12-15 minutes (‘til edges are golden brown). Cool for 5 minutes, remove from cookie sheet and finish cooling on racks.

Hildegard says of the cookies that we are to “eat them often and they will calm every bitterness of heart and mind—and your hearing and senses will open. Your mind will be joyous, and your senses purified, and harmful humours will diminish.”

Enjoy the cookies and enjoy Hildegard of Bingen!

Sr. Elizabeth Ann, SSJD

Hildegard of Bingen — A Woman with Extraordinary Common Sense

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Life has many joys, but also many sorrows. By the time we are adults, most of us have had some experience of broken relationships, sickness and death. In difficult times, it’s natural to feel bewildered, confused by what’s happening, to question whether life has meaning or purpose.

In today’s Gospel reading, we’re with the disciples back in the upper room, this time with Luke. The disciples are confused, fearful. Jesus wasn’t dependable. He’s not who they thought he was. They’d put all their eggs in one basket. The basket has fallen, the eggs lie broken. The disciples are worse off than before they met Jesus. As they hit bottom, who comes to give them hope, faith, new life? Jesus! The significance of Jesus eating with them in this story is not so much to prove the physicality of the risen Christ as to celebrate that table fellowship has been renewed. In the Easter story we gain the insight that nothing is wasted by God, even human sin and ignorance are turned to good. The Gospel, the Good News, is that, by the grace of God, our rejection of Jesus has become the means of our salvation.

God turns everything to good and brings peace. We see the heart of God revealed in Easter. We see the heart of God revealed in our planet and the universe, the book of life, written in the stars and planets.

Michael Dowd in his book Thank God for Evolution describes the cosmic catastrophe of a supernova explosion. A star is a huge ball of hydrogen gas which, compressed by gravity, fuses into helium releasing enormous amounts of heat and light. In large stars, eight times as large as our sun, when the hydrogen fuel is all used up and even the helium has fused into carbon, a chain reaction begins. Carbon is fused into neon into oxygen into silicon into calcium into magnesium, eventually up to iron. Iron fusion doesn’t produce energy; it requires it. The star’s iron core implodes under excruciating heat and pressure and the heavier elements of cobalt, nickel, copper, tin, gold and uranium are formed when the star rebounds in an explosion so spectacular and breathtaking that its brightness briefly outshines its entire galaxy.

The explosion seeds the galaxy with a rich assortment of elemental stardust, essential for planets and life. Except for hydrogen, every atom of your body and everything around you was forged out of the stardust of a supernova explosion. Without the death of a star the basic stuff of planets and life would not exist.

Another example—dinosaurs ruled the continents for more than 150 million years. Mammals were small scruffy creatures, who stayed in burrows, and mostly came out just at night to best avoid dinosaurs.

Sixty-five million years ago, an asteroid ten miles across, travelling at a speed of fifty thousand miles per hour,

crashed into earth just off the Yucatán peninsula. The impact was a thousand times greater than all our nuclear weapons combined. The crater formed was over one hundred miles wide. It was a global catastrophe.

The sky became a cauldron of sulphuric acid. The resulting magnitude twelve earthquake was almost a million times more in magnitude than the earthquake in Szechuan province. The impact ignited a global firestorm, incinerating perhaps a quarter of the living biomass, releasing so much carbon dioxide that the average global temperature later rose by twenty degrees Fahrenheit and remained that way for one million years. Three out of four species went extinct. All the dinosaurs perished. Not one of the earth’s better days. But it was this catastrophe that allowed those mammals who survived in burrows to flourish and diversify, culminating in all the amazing mammals of today, including ourselves.

“So: no catastrophe, no whales or dolphins, no dogs or cats, no giraffes or elephants, no lions and tigers and bears (oh my!), and, of course, no me, no you.”

“So the next time a comet crashes into your psyche, or your life feels like sulphuric acid is raining on your head . . . or you’re greeted by a 300-foot tsunami . . . remember that you are part of an amazing creative universe that turns chaos and catastrophes into new growth and opportunities as regularly as day follows night. This is very good news.” (Michael Dowd, 47)

The universe seems resolutely determined to take bad news and turn it into new creativity. On the other side of Good Friday is Easter Sunday. The universe can be trusted.

Fine—for planets, stars and life, but what about you and me?

Is the goodness of the universe at work in us? Of course. Human beings are not separate from the earth or universe. We grew out from it. We are one with this universe, the creative reality in which we live and move and have our being. The same wisdom and intelligence that has brought the universe along for fourteen billion years is still at work, at work in you.

This Easter experience of the intelligence of the universe working through you—of life arising from death—once you’ve had it, you have to share it. You can’t stop yourself. You can’t hide such deep emotions of joy, thankfulness and love. For we are blessed, we are witnesses of these things.

Homily by the Rev. Stephen Kirkegaard Priest-Associate of SSJD

Reflection on the Road to Emmaus (Luke 24:36b-48)

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Amnesty International is a worldwide movement of people dedicated to the protection and promotion of human rights, as included in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international human rights standards. It takes action to stop grave abuses of the rights to physical and mental integrity, freedom of conscience and expression, and freedom from discrimination. It seeks to expose human rights abuses accurately and quickly and promotes public awareness and understanding of the full range of human rights. Working with a global community of organizations it ensures broad support and respect for all human rights. Amnesty International is governed by its members, is independent of all governments, political persuasions and religious creeds. It is funded by its members and donors, with no funds sought or accepted from governments.

Through our Associate, Joan Francis, we became interested in the work of Amnesty International in the spring of 1989 and decided to join her in making and selling Teddy Bears as a means of support. At that time Joan

sent Urgent Action letters and telegrams on behalf of the many

individuals suffering from persecution and other human rights violations throughout the world. The sale of the bears provided the necessary funds required to send the telegrams. She called this project “Teddies for Tellies”. Today, of course, e-mail is used but this is how it began. Now, over twenty years later, we send the entire proceeds of our sales to their headquarters in Ottawa.

Over the years many of our Sisters, Associates and friends have contributed to the making of the bears which are sold at the Convent through our book room. The knitting of “bear skins” is mainly done today by our Associate, Vivien Handforth, in Kingston, along with Margaret Hall in Toronto and Sister Heather Francis, OHP in Whitby, England. They send the knitted bear skins to the Convent to be stuffed, finished and named, then put into the book room to await adoption. Our current list of “bear stuffers” are Srs. Beryl, Jean, Helena, Thelma-Anne and Wilma. In addition the Rev. Canon Susan Sheen produces handsome bears made from her original Girl Guide pattern, usually complete with overalls, hats and embroidered buttons. Recently we have welcomed a number of smaller bears from the Craft Group at the Church of St. Timothy, Agincourt, which are proving popular with their variety of colours and facial expressions. These three sources keep our industry moving right along. To date we have made approximately 1,400 bears which has enabled us to send slightly more than $11,000 to Amnesty International.

We have received many letters of thanks. Included among these letters we read:

• “Millions of people depend on Amnesty’s voice being heard—in war-torn countries, in jail cells and detention centres, in the world’s darkest corners.”

• “Now more than ever, Amnesty must speak out for those who are denied the promise of freedom and equality. Your support inspires us to continue our lifesaving work.”

• “Your support means so much to the millions of people worldwide who look to Amnesty International for hope and protection. It means that we are able to continue to investigate and expose human rights violations, to campaign on behalf of the victims of oppression and to raise public awareness about human rights concerns, both at home and abroad.”

• “Together we are making a difference. Once again, thank you for helping us continue this vital work.”

Teddy Bears for Amnesty International

We thank all who have had a part in this modest share in the work of this excellent organization. Thank you to those who purchase our bears; this gives us the impetus to continue. We ask all of you to join us in praying for the work of Amnesty International.

Sr. Wilma, SSJD

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Enclosed with The Eagle is a copy of our most recent brochure for

those considering A VOCATION

to the Sisters of St. John the Divine.

We encourage you to put it on the bulletin board of your parish church or pass it on to someone you think might be interested in a vocation to our Sisterhood.

We have also enclosed with this Eagle a copy of

“Food for the Soul”, our brochure with all the retreat information for

2010-2011.

If you would like an extra copy for your parish church, please e-mail convent@ssjd.ca or

phone 416-226-2201, ext. 301.

The Houses of the Sisterhood www.ssjd.ca

St. John’s Convent, 233 Cummer Avenue, Toronto, ON M2M 2E8

416-226-2201; Fax: 416-226-2131e-mail: convent@ssjd.ca

St. John’s House, B.C., 3937 St. Peters Road, Victoria, BC V8P 2J9

250-920-7787; Fax: 250-920-7709e-mail: bchouse@ssjd.ca

ALTAR LINENS

Altar linens may be purchased from Sr. Jocelyn, SSJD, at St. John’s Convent. All linens are hand-sewn and made from Irish Linen. Items which may be purchased include Fair Linens, Credence Cloths, Purificators, Lavabo Towels, Baptismal Towels, Fair Veils, Palls on Plexi Glass, Corporals and Sick Communion Sets. For details, please contact Sr. Jocelyn: jocelyn@ssjd.ca

Phone: 250-920-7787; Fax: 250-920-7709

Top: Sr. Constance on her 106th birthday saying: “See you same time next year!”; Middle: Sr. Sue (2nd from left) in her role as mentor of EFM (Education for Ministry)Bottom: Jazz Vespers with George Koller on bass, Tara Davidson on saxaphone and the Rev. Tim Elliott on the keyboard.

Taizé Services at the Convent

Join the Sisters at St. John’s Convent on the third Friday of each month at 5:00 p.m.

This meditative form of prayer includes repetitive chants, candlelight, and anointing for healing.

May 21; June 18; July 16; August 20; September 17