Category: Articles

During his visit to Rome, Fr. David Shulist S.J. (Director of the Anishinabe Spiritual Centre) visited the Coliseum.

Fr. David Shulist S.J., Director of the Anishinabe Spiritual Centre has arrived to Rome, he will be attending the Canonization of Kateri Tekakwitha on sunday 21.

Once in Rome, Fr. David Shulist S.J. went to the Residenza Pietro Canizio, where he will be staying among the Jesuit Community.

 

Fr. David Shulist at the Vatican Museum:

 

By Fr. David Shulist

There is something that comes from commitment and staying power.  This summer this was proven to us when Romero House, the refugee community from Toronto, ON, founded in 1992 by Mary Jo Leddy, a well-known Canadian Catholic author and social advocate, returned to the ASC for its 20^th annual camp.

During these ten days, the international world as a human community becomes small, and manageable. Therefore, the concept becomes believable, and so, less threatening for everyone present at ASC during that week. For some of the members of this multi-faith community, it is the first time for them to swim in a lake, hike over the forest laden land, and draw fresh fish from a lake, all of which characterizes “our” collective Canadian home.  Summer was indeed hot and like their Angolan, or Mexican, or Columbian or Iranian heat, the sun does shine and warm their concerned “refugee” mind, bodies and spirits as equally as it did in their homeland which they fled. Summertime, for most of us, takes out the frigid edges and has us blend into nature with an ease of safety, peace & getting-along; it is a time, especially for the RH campers, when culture mingles with eco-diversity without harsh condemnation or threat; and the comforts of clean water unifies us at some primal level that we all belong to; and basic necessities are so evident to reassure that playing is as essential as eating. Moms and Dads, children—young and old, families no matter what colour merge into one community, having one good time; that was the camp.    

I was moved after hearing what huge risks people took to seek asylum in Canada and to be finally at ASC.  I could not look at my birthplace the same, nor anyone’s for that matter; a gift that offered security and freedom which I have taken for granted so often.  The desire to want to give back was so evident among some of them.  Former refugees made the trek to return and work on and at this camp not just to relive the great time, but more importantly, to ensure that this life-changing experience would be shared by others who had followed them.

The one evening the refugees honoured Mary Jo Leddy and Fr. Jack Costello, S.J. who is their chaplain (and also Director of Jesuit Refugee Service and President of Regis College, a Jesuit graduate theology college ), brought tears to my eyes. Both leaders, along with the volunteers and RH staff have worked hard to ensure this memorable event happens year after year, 20 now.  I had never heard gratitude being expressed at such depth that night.  It came from knowing that there was a thin line that separated union from separation, having from poverty, freedom from oppression, and life from death.   As humans we can be family transcendent, and not have to share the same colour or even religion.  That week at the Centre, I witnessed what trusting, generous and good people we really can be to each other.  This is what happens when commitment, fueled by staying- power and the love of Christ turn so many things that come from our uncaring side upside down or make them obsolete.  Someone’s vulnerability can truly bring out the best in us and we can give in ways which we never thought we could.  

I walked back to my cabin that night of honouring. Full moon suspended a steady glow that reflected off the birch trunks that stood ceremoniously.  I could not but think of how fortunate we are here to help bring about these transcending experiences of healing, growth and hope.  Hospitality, that great act of inclusivity instigates new possibilities for those least expecting it, from the unborn, the stranger, the foreigner, the elderly, the disabled, from the weakest to the strongest with the hope that something good awaits us or a promise is made real.  We are at our best when any of us can be hospitable, receiving and extending it to others.  As Christ says, taking up a child into his arms, “whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.” (Mk 9:37).  So commitment to the goodness of the Creator God gives us reason to stay and be considered first by others by being last of all and servant of all.  (Mk 9:36) We are grateful to have served those who came this summer to celebrate, to heal, to rest and to renew their commitment to live and to choose life.

 We have a memento from the RH community hanging up on our wall, reminding us that “We Rise”.  I believe we at ASC are rising above the darkness of vulnerability and stay committed because together we believe in the divine hospitality of God. Thank you for joining us.

 

The Origin and Purpose of the Anishinabe Spiritual Centre (ASC) in the Native Sector of the Sault Ste. Marie Diocese.

By Fr. Michael Stogre S.J.

“Without a vision the people perish.” (Proverbs 29:18) Vatican II provided such a vision for the Roman Catholic Church. The Council drew from biblical, patristic, and contemporary sources in this renewal process. As a result the Roman Catholic Church entered a period of “revitalization,” that is a “deliberate, organized, conscious efforts by members of a society to construct a more satisfying culture.” (Anthony Wallace) It also opened the way for a native expression of Catholicism. In particular, the restoration of the permanent diaconate to the Latin rite was the stimulus for the development of a ministry program in the native sector of the Sault Ste. Marie Diocese.

In the midst of this church ferment, creative individuals like Fr. Michael Murray S.J., the builder and first director of the Anishinabe Spiritual Centre (founded 1979), set out to implement the Council vision. As a result the Jesuit way of being present to the native church of Northern Ontario changed dramatically. The circuit rider era of mission had drawn to a close-although through the 1970´s the ministries program without a fixed base continued the earlier tradition by taking the formation team on the road. Different communities would host the monthly gatherings during this period. The difficulties of this approach soon gave rise to a quest for a permanent home. Real estate near Spanish and Willisville itself were explored as future sites for a ministries centre. In the end the Jesuit mission community decided to redevelop a property on Anderson Lake near Espanola. It was time for the birth of a truly native church led by native people.

Bishop Alex Carter, Marcel Gervais, and Jean-Louis Plouffe, all played vital roles in moving towards this goal. The Sault Ste. Marie diocese, in which the ASC existed, had already affirmed similar directions at a local synod in which Fr. Dan Hannin S.J., a life long Jesuit missionary, played a co-ordinating role. Having supported the reintroduction of the diaconate, and going further by devising a commissioned ministry path for women -the Diocesan order of Women, the stage was now set for similar developments in the native sector.

Despite many present challenges, the Anishinabe Spiritual Centre continues receiving candidates for ministry. Today the vast majority are women. In addition to training seventeen men for the diaconate, and nineteen women for the diocesan order of women (now called the diocesan order of service), the ASC has helped prepare two men, Milton McWatch, and George Gardner, for the diocesan priesthood. Fr. McWatch presently serves in the Thunder Bay diocese while Fr. Gardner is a pastor in the Sault Ste Marie diocese.

There is a need for new and younger candidates for ministry. This will come about only if the Church´s call for a “new evangelization” is taken seriously, and implemented soon. The “Year of Faith” celebrating the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council began October 11,2012. This is a kairos moment for Church renewal.

During August, September and October, the ASC has been collecting the harvest from the garden started by the Director, Fr. David Shulist S. J. in these photos we can see Kelly O´connor and Lindsay Auge collecting a different variety of vegetables that will be used to provide meals at the Centre.