It is the season of Lent and supposedly still winter. Lent may be 40 days of fasting, prayer and almsgiving, but this winter has hardly been 40 days, let alone the usual 4 months. I don’t know if the bears and other mammals are going to want to climb out so quickly from their hibernation. Who among us wants our rest disturbed? This winter scarcely had that feel of dormancy to it. Here at the Centre we were active, if not on the outside, then on the inside.
Recent events and historical events mark our time. We welcomed Fr. Shaun Carls, S.J. from South Africa. Justin Dittrick has joined us from Regina as a Jesuit Volunteer, with the hope that more will follow his footsteps, as Jesuits and lay colleagues try to reinstitute the programme. Arturo Garcia has begun to help us update our internet and telecommunications. Leonard Cywink is clearing some land to extend our garden. Paul Robson, S.J. and Gabriel Bennett devotedly work to launch a youth ministries programme. Paul and Justin started our Lenten Film Series. Gerry Forest, S.J. works to keep things balanced monthly, while Mike Stogre, S.J. has successfully completed a chapter on the Jesuit contact with the Native people in Canada, as part of the 400th anniversary of Jesuit presence in Canada. Mike uncovers, there and in this newsletter, some rather notable history, marking the 150th anniversary of the Treaty of 1862. As well, every effort to build a skating rink this winter was a feat. We also rejoice in the news that Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha will become a saint in October; and the ministries in the Native communities never go into hibernation. We have much to be grateful for from this “short” winter.
Blessings in the remainder of these 40 days, and may our hearts ponder ever more deeply the gift of Christ’s death and resurrection, and the early Spring that is surely on its way.
Fr. David Shulist SJ
