10th Anniversary of ‘The Dream Seed’

Stairwells, like wooded trails and roadways, are places of transition.  It isn’t every day that conversations in a stairwell give birth to a whole new life. Yet that is what happened. Conceived in conversation among Sisters Janet Fraser, Linda Gregg and Gwen Smith in a London Motherhouse stairwell in April of 1999, the Federation Ecology Committee was birthed in Toronto by a Federation leadership decision later that year.

In 1999 the General Superiors of each Congregation invited members to form the Federation Ecology Committee. A communication from Sister Jean Cunningham, Executive Director, to the General Superiors of our Congregations, dated Oct 8, 1999 states that the Committee met in Cobourg on Oct 6th. The letter reads: “At this meeting there was a great deal of concern expressed over the treatment of the First Nations’ rights regarding East Coast fishing.”  Early records are sketchy. We focused on creating and doing, not recording! We realized that “the Spirit caught our hearts.”  Our committee’s record of activities begins with the articulation of our vision: “The Dream Seed,” which we began in earnest in 2000.  Now, in 2010, we celebrate the 10thyear of the birth and development of our vision: “The Dream Seed.”

The Federation Ecology Committee’s Trinitarian vision recognizes the core relationships of the Holy Trinity revealed in creation; especially, the Trinity of principles at the centre of the universe (interiority, diversity and communion). It recognizes that our Charism, as Miriam Therese McGillis reminded us, is irrevocably rooted in the centre of the universe’s creation. Our vision is also Trinitarian in its expression: Ecological Spirituality, Earth Literacy and Ecological Practices for Sustainable Living. We have worked for the integration of theology, spirituality and praxis. This we express as the Trinity of knowing, being and doing.

As we reflect with gratitude on these ten years we recall how the Spirit urged us and guided us to develop and offer ecologically focused retreats. Many of you have participated in the following: Earth Spirit/CSJ Spirit; Water: Life-Blood and Birthright of All Creation; Doorways to the Heart: Aboriginal Perspectives on Ecology; and Walking Sacred Earth: contemplatively, ascetically and prophetically. These were graced moments both for participants and for team members. We also shared eco-focused prayers, most recently the Hamilton Ecology Committee’s Intercessory Prayers for the Care of the Earth. Sister Jeanne Fortin’s reflection: Ecology and the Maxims greatly enriched us. This too we shared with you.

With chuckles and smiles now, we remember the intensity of the struggle to articulate and support the development of the CSJ Earth Literacy program: “Village Earth.”  We affirmed that, although it is hosted at Villa St. Joseph in Cobourg, this is truly a Federation initiative. We are now a few steps closer to having it recognized as a University credit course. We have developed a Village Earth Outreach program for Youth and are currently working on a program for parishes. However, we grieve that we have not yet accomplished our vision to offer the program in our respective Congregations.

Other initiatives have expanded Earth Literacy to include education on the integrity of creation, relationships with wider social justice initiatives, and ecological perspectives on the Millenium Development Goals. The latter was presented in the Federation Newsletter.  We continue to enjoy the privilege and blessing of writing for The Green Window. We have become bridge builders. We have shared resources and raised congregational awareness. We have challenged both you and ourselves, to become more organic, more energy conscious and more ecologically aware. Our hopes of “Greening our Motherhouses” have been expressed in unanticipated ways.

We are graced with the beautiful artwork of two Sisters: Sister Anthony Daniel (SSM) for the Ecology Committee logo and Sister Angela Fleming (L) for the mandala on “sacred earth” which integrates CSJ spirit with earth spirit as expressed in the seasons. We are thankful for this shared beauty and creativity.

We want to acknowledge with gratitude the participation of each Congregation in the work of the Federation Ecology Committee, either as members or as the Congregational Leadership contact.

• Toronto: Sisters Janet Fraser, Gwen Smith and Janet Speth.

• Hamilton: Sisters Jean Cunningham, Isobel Gallotti and Nancy Sullivan.

• London: Sisters Margo Ritchie and Nancy Wales

• Peterborough: Sisters Linda Gregg, Shirley O’Rourke, Marilyn Meraw and Mary Rowell.

• Pembroke: Sisters Nicole Aubé and Marjorie FitzPatrick.

• Sault Ste. Marie: Sisters Rita Godon, Norah Murphy and Priscilla Solomon.

We also acknowledge the on-going interest, support and frequent presence of the Federation Office executive staff over the ten years: Sisters Pat Valeriote, Jean Cunningham, Kathleen Lichti, Veronica O’Reilly, Valerie Van Cauwenberghe and ever-responsive Ms. Margaret Magee. Thank you and God bless you!

As we celebrate we ask: “What if we had known the secret all along?”

For stairwells, wooded paths, transitions, and conversations we give thanks and praise to God. For the gifts of ever-deepening communion expressed in hard work, challenging ideas, meals together, occasional beers or glasses of wine, laughter and tears we are thankful.  Most of all, we are grateful for the blessing of ten years of exploring and communicating together, the vision of knowing, being and doing the vision: that All Creation is One in God and that all creation reflects the Trinity.  May God be praised!

“The kinship model knows that we are all connected. For all our distinctiveness, human beings are modes of being of the universe. Woven into our lives is the very fire from the stars and the genes from the sea creatures, and everyone, utterly everyone, is kin in the radiant tapestry of being. This relationship is not external or extrinsic to who we are, but wells up as the defining truth from our deepest being.”

Elizabeth A. Johnson CSJ

Reconnecting to our Earth Roots

The sun is dappled through the cucumber leaves and the tomatoes are showing the first blush of ripening. We are entering into the season of harvest and are privileged to enjoy the abundance of our earth. The sweet scents of summer are yielding to the ripening of a golden autumn season.

Yet, we know, the harvest is not being shared equitably. As large corporations take over food production increasingly, small farmers are edged out.  Agribusiness uses stealth and science to mask greed and control of the safety and diversity of our earth’s food supply. How did this come about? As human beings we have lost our connections to the sacredness of earth, denigrating in many subtle ways those who work with soil and hands. As we know the hierarchical, patriarchal systems of our Western culture and religions have served to sever the ties to the holiness of women and earth. In a recent Sisters of Earth conference in New York, the Indian food activist Vandana Shiva and her sister Mira, a physician, shared with us the systematic and often ruthless ways global corporations have run roughshod over the poorest and hungriest in countries such as India.

Modern global corporations see the world as something to be owned, a commodity for maximizing their profits.  Egregious corporations such as Monsanto determined that seeds are “intellectual property” and have sought patents. Many thousands have demonstrated against classifying seeds as property with rights of patent, it is a battle still being waged.  In India and in all documented cases, companies lure farmers with extravagant promises of increased crop yield from the use of these seeds. In fact, in India, the reality is that food production has decreased.  Farmers who have saved their seeds for generations are forced to buy the GM (Genetically Modified) seeds and the now necessary Western commercial fertilizers.  Monsanto claims that it “invented” wheat plants derived from a traditional Indian variety, which is nothing less than bio-piracy. Markets have been and are increasingly regulated so that only GM seed products are acceptable. Farmers in India have been incurring debt that has only deepened and spiraled each year, resulting in countless suicides. Such is the harvest in a de-sacralized world

There is, however, a different worldview, one of equality, diversity and respect for all beings.  As Thomas Berry often noted, “the earth is a communion of subjects, not a collection of objects.”  We live within a sacred global commons where the rights of all beings, human, animal, tree, river and wind have a place in the web of communion. There is much about which to despair but in equal measure there is much from which to draw hope.  We can each have a role in this time where the sacredness of all creation is threatened. Prayer is one deeply important response; our minds and hearts can chart a course each day toward healing of our earth. Key is an appreciation for and support of local farmers, advocating heritage seed saving, or growing a tomato plant. It is time to know that growing food for our sustenance is a holy task, a sacred agriculture.

As this reflection closes, the tomatoes are ripening yet and the harvest is still being gathered. The gift of a home-grown tomato sandwich is a celebration of deepest delight and a grace of holy communion. By this act we are reconnecting to our earth roots. May we bless all farmers and all beings for this gift of life.

See: Vandana Shiva, Earth Democracy: Justice, Sustainabilty and Peace, Cambridge, Massachusetts: South End Press, 2005.

Copenhagen Summer

Copenhagen Summit on Climate Change:
A Canadian Youth Perspective

By Laura Tozer and Janet Speth CSJ Toronto

Laura Tozer

“I have been involved in United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change international negotiations since 2005 as an advocate, a communicator, and a student. I work to represent young people who lack a voice in the negotiations that are deciding our future, and to communicate with the public directly about what is going on behind the scenes. I have gained a great deal of experience in this role and I have had the opportunity to work with some amazing young people that are dedicated advocates for action on climate change.

In Copenhagen, the world was supposed to conclude negotiating the new phase of greenhouse gas reduction and climate change adaptation commitments to take place after the first period of the Kyoto Protocol ends. Our leaders failed us and the negotiations sputtered to an end with the Copenhagen Accord drawn up by the US, Brazil, South Africa, India and China, which was not an outcome of the UN negotiation process and has nowhere near the level of ambition and action required to confront climate change.

Canada’s involvement was so shameful that the coalition of over 400 international environmental organizations awarded it the Fossil of the Year award – an ‘honour’ reserved for the country that is the most obstructive to progress on reaching a climate change agreement. Representing a country that so clearly worked against international action on climate change made us harsh critics very quickly. However, we were very frustrated as they accredited 45,000 people but the venue only held 15,000. By the second week non-governmental organizations representatives were barred and so with disappointment we watched voiceless from afar.

In Copenhagen Canada’s representatives did not put forward any money to help vulnerable countries adapt to climate change; they stuck with one of the worst greenhouse gas emission targets in the industrialized world, a 3% reduction from 1990 levels by 2020; they expressed a desire to replace the Kyoto framework, and they argued for a 2006 baseline (not 1990) that would forgive the emission growth that has happened in the interim.

It will be the youth of today who will be left to deal with life in a changed world tomorrow, based on decisions made in Copenhagen. However, I feel hopeful because of the amazing people that I worked with that are dedicated to this issue and because I met so many decision makers from other jurisdictions that are acting on climate change, from cities to provinces to the World Council of Churches. We all need to follow this example and start building a hopeful future by addressing climate change boldly.”  …Laura Tozer

We, Sisters of St. Joseph, can join Canadian youth to raise the dashed hopes of Copenhagen out of the arid dust of distrust and denial. To think critically is to counter the culture of denial that is discrediting climate science through the power of corporations and media. This belief states that human activity is not significant in global warming. There is no global emergency and no reason to change attitudes and behaviours. Is this the gospel imperative we embody? No! Together let us be the voice for our wounded earth building relationships of mutual respect and integrity. 

Recommended reading: Heat by George Mondiot, particularly the chapter on “ Denial Industry”