atholic missions summer …...catholic missions in canada summer 2018 plus: remembering rev. msgr....

CATHOLIC MISSIONS IN CANADAWWW.CMIC.INFO SUMMER 2018

PLUS: Remembering Rev. Msgr. Philip Kennedy • Wasagamach • An Oath of Fidelity

MISSIONARY BISHOP

ORDAINED

EDITOR’S NOTE

ALPHA AND OMEGA

This issue began with your editor travelling to Yellowknife, Northwest

Territories, to cover a special Episcopal celebration. The installation and ordination of a new bishop, Most Reverend Jon Paul Christian Hansen, CSs.R., Bishop of Mackenzie-Fort Smith on Saturday, March 16th, 2018. It was a blessed occasion marked by the beau-tiful symbols you’ll see in our cover photo and made pri-marily by his flock. The ring was made by a family friend, the sealskin mitre and staff were gifts from the people of his former Parish of Our Lady of Victory in Inuvik.

Just before press, we received the sad news that former President (2006-2016), Rev. Monsignor Philip Kennedy, C.H.H. died on Thursday, April 5, 2018.

Our former Editor, Patria Rivera reflected:

“Monsignor Philip (still Father Philip in our hearts):

May you live on in the hearts and minds of those who loved and cared for you!”

Jeffery D. Muzzerall

contents CATHOLIC MISSIONS IN CANADACatholic Missions In Canada® is the magazine of Catholic

Missions In Canada, founded in 1908 under papal mandate as The Catholic Church Extension Society of

Canada, to support Canada’s missions.

President:Father David Reilander

National Director of Development: Kathleen Ancker, c.f.r.e.

Director of Finance and Administration:Lina Kim, cpa, cga

Editor: Jeffery D. Muzzerall

Officers of Catholic Missions In Canada are:Thomas Cardinal Collins of Toronto, Apostolic Chancellor;

Bishop Bryan Bayda, c.s.r., Eparchial Bishopof Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Vice-Chancellor;

James Milway of Hamilton, Ontario, Secretary; andLarry Murray of Toronto, Ontario, Treasurer.

Other members of the Board of Governors are:Most Rev. Robert Bourgon, of Moosonee, Ontario;

Archbishop Albert LeGatt of St. Boniface, Manitoba; Bishop Robert Anthony Daniels of Grand Falls,

Newfoundland and Labrador; Bishop Stephen Jensen of Prince George, British Columbia; Sister Carmen Catellier, s.n.j.m., of Winnipeg, Manitoba; Caroline Freitas of Toronto,

Ontario; John Gennaro of Toronto, Ontario; Patrick Jordan of Toronto, Ontario.

Published quarterly by CATHOLIC MISSIONS IN CANADA

201-1155 Yonge Street. Toronto, Ontario M4T 1W2

Tel: 416-934-3424 1-866-YES-CMIC1-866-937-2642 (toll-free)

Fax: 416-934-3425E-mail: [email protected]

Website: www.cmic.infoISSN Number: 1702-2894

Publications Mail Agreement 40044706Member of the Catholic Press Association

of the United States and Canada

©2018 Catholic Missions In Canada. All rights reserved.BN 11922 0531 RR0001

A yearly offering of $25 or more helps cover the costs of this magazine and our mission work.

Cover: “Bishop Hansen Blessing” by Brent Currie Photography, https://bcurrie.myportfolio.com/

Volume 37, Number 2 Summer 2018

20 Sister Fay Trombley, SCIC receives national honour

26In Memoriam: Rev. Msgr. Philip KennedyFr. David Reilander

32Josephine Heslenfeld: Timeless Kindness Anne Hanley

35Development of Benedictine values a social responsibility Joan Chittister

DEPARTMENTS 2 Editor’s Note 4 From the President’s Desk

FEATURES7

An Oath of Fidelity at Trapper’s Lake

Jeffery D. Muzzerall

12Missionary Presence

Anne Hanley

St. Marguerite d’Youville mission church in the Archdiocese of

Keewatin-Le Pas

Rev. Msgr. Philip Kennedy: President, Catholic Missions In Canada 2006-2016

Trapper’s Lake Retreat Centre, Yellowknife, NT.

CATHOLIC MISSIONS IN CANADA 32 SUMMER 2018

I’ve written about the difficul-ties of mission life previously, but I want to make this more

personal. I met two foreign priests last summer in Labrador of the Corner Brook Diocese. Fr. Paulouse Kannipilly, a Missionary of Faith, in Happy Valley-Goose Bay hosted me for a few days. He was responsible for Sheshatshiu reserve until Fr. Riccardo Rossi recently came to join him, a transplanted Siberian.

The Innu of Labrador are the most recent group of people in Canada to be designated a First Nation under the Indian Act. They are mostly based in the communities of Sheshatshiu and Natuashish. I visited both places in August. While CMIC does not fund Canadian Indigenous groups, their peoples benefit indirectly from our grants. Min-istry among Indigenous people is challenging, given historical,

cultural and language barriers. This is true the world over, how-ever. A factor that is not often taken into account is that the missionaries in our Canadian home missions are often from different cultures and languages with their own histories. Some adapt better than others. I can only imagine the difficulties, as I have never found learning a lan-guage easy and adaptation and I are not on the best of terms.

The three of us drove 45 min-utes to the reserve for a chat with Chief Eugene Hart. We discussed issues he is facing going into the last of a three-year term.

“Housing is our biggest con-cern,” he said. “I have 135 on my list and the government is giving us funding for a fraction of that.”

“135 people,” I ask? “No. Families.” He turns

to Fr. Riccardo saying,” That

reminds me. They’re starting to dig for the new church.”

Riccardo responds, “Ah, it’s going ahead.”

“Yes, all $2,000,000 of it.” He turns to me noting, “Don’t worry. We’re paying for it. I have to work out with Bishop Hundt whether Diocese of Corner Brook and Labrador will pay for maintenance and utilities.”

I breathe a sigh of relief and ask Fr. Riccardo what his role is here?

With a Russian accent, he says, “Mass-baptism.”

“What about religious education and sacramental preparation.”

“Yes…of course,” he replies, “Only the best we can.”

The priests take me to the church. There are problems with the roof and the priest’s quarter is but a tiny room off the main meeting area. I cringe when I see it. Fr Paulouse says the cemetery

needs expanding, which is why a new church with offices is being built, which was initiated by the band. It’s great to have the band’s cooperation. Where once our organization paid for the building of churches and chapels, we are no longer able to do so, though we will give loans for such purposes. The new church in Fort Simpson, NT, is a rare example of our granting to a structure.

Fr. Paulouse and Fr. Riccardo are inspiring to me. So far from home and any semblance of the familiar, to brave the Labrador winter. Please pray for our mis-sionaries, especially those from the other side of the world.

God bless them for what they do and for what they’ve given up to do it.

God Bless,Father David Reilander

FROM THE PRESIDENT’S DESK

BEING IN A FOREIGN LANDBY FATHER DAVID REILANDER

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In Chief Eugene Hart’s (left) office with Fr.Paulouse Kannipilly, Fr. Riccardo Rossi and Fr. David Reilander

4 SUMMER 2018 CATHOLIC MISSIONS IN CANADA 5

SOLEMN OATH

c Please send me a Will Planner.Name_____________________________________________________________________ Fr./Sr./Br./Dr./Mr./Mrs./Miss/Ms.

Address ___________________________________________________________________

City _________________ Province __________ Postal Code

Phone _______________________ Email

Mail to: Elvira Foronda, Charitable Gifts Manager Catholic Missions In Canada 201—1155 Yonge Street, Toronto ON M4T 1W2

Tel: 416-934-3424 Fax: 416-934-3425 Toll-free: 1-866-YES-CMIC (937-2642)

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How will they recognize Christin you?

Make your legacy of faith the light that announces

His path to generations of future Canadians.

AN OATH OF FIDELITY AT TRAPPER’S LAKEBY JEFFERY D. MUZZERALL, EDITOR

The night before Reverend Jon Paul Christian Hansen CSsR is scheduled to be

ordained as Bishop, he is anx-iously greeting celebrants at the Trapper’s Lake Retreat Centre, a modern tee-pee shaped struc-ture that provides spiritual solace and 360 degree views of lake, sky and land. It’s a quite repose for Catholic faithful in Yellowknife,

Northwest Territories. We are roughly 1,700km north of Cal-gary and 3,000km north west of Toronto as the crow, or in this case, Air Canada, flies. It’s the first time I’ve flown more than 8 hours to reach a colder destina-tion than home.

Tonight, is a special prayer assembly in honour of a unique priest—the 7th Bishop of Ph

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CATHOLIC MISSIONS IN CANADA 7

Mackenzie Fort-Smith Diocese —one of our world’s largest at 1,523,400 km2. The Diocese encompasses the Northwest Ter-ritories, the northern extremity of Saskatchewan and the extreme west of the Territory of Nunavut. There is a rapidly growing pop-ulation of more than 28,000 Catholics to serve in 32 parishes

and missions.Bishop “Jon” was born in

Edmonton and raised in Grande Prairie, Alberta. He was the pastor at Inuvik’s Our Lady of Victory parish, the landmark “igloo church” since 2015. He apparently first drove into town with a kayak tied to the roof of his vehicle and promptly bought Ph

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a snowmobile to get to work. Word got around quickly that he was going to fit in nicely.

Hansen said that his love of the North was one of the reasons he was chosen by Pope Francis to be bishop of the diocese. “I’ve been quite vocal about my love for the diocese, the people of the North, and the land,” he said.

“I think they saw in me someone who thrived here and was happy to be here, and that’s the most important part working amongst the people up here.”

Ably handling a smart phone, and a program in his hand, the Bishop-to-be sits just in front of me. We later learn he’s likely corresponding with his beloved


Editor’s perch between Bishop Emeritus Croteau & Bishop Hansen. Most Rev. Luigi Bonazzi, Apostolic Nuncio to Canada, seated, gestures warmly toward Bishop Gary Gordon, inspired child and celebrants.

brother, who’s been unable to make the flight to share the cel-ebration with him. Yet, he doesn’t miss a step, a kind word or a knowing glance among the gath-ered faithful.

Far to my right, in the circle that is a tee-pee, I see what looks like a familiar face, and can’t quite figure out why. She appears comfortably nestled in with friends or family, whispering politely and awaiting the service. Then I notice the glasses. She has a striking pair of frames that remind me of a photo from our Spring magazine.

This story details the courage, suffering, resilience and hope of residential school survivor, Monique Sabourin. I’ve awk-wardly brought a dozen freshly printed copies with me to share with supporters, donors, clergy and friends—or at least to verify that my sudden presence and camera fumbling has purpose.

I thumb through the issue to page 40, and there she is, a strong woman who says “I learned to forgive and to love and to accept who I am—I am a Dene.”

How does one say hello to someone you recognize, but only know from intimate details publicly revealed in the new documentary “In the Spirit of Reconciliation”?

Monique is among a small influential delegation that has made a pilgrimage to Trapper’s Lake to share the experience of Fr. Hansen’s ordination. Potential hope made flesh, the incarnate truth, reconciliation made real.

I pass the copies to my right and politely ask those next to me to pass them along. Monica receives one and thumbs through accordingly. I can tell by the knowing smile on her face when she reaches the page. There she is. Here we are. Time to talk—with files from CSsR News.

“I think they saw in me someone who thrived here and was happy to be here, and that’s the most

important part working amongst the people up here.”

10 SUMMER 2018

One sure way you can share your love of Christ in poor Catholic missions across Canada and guar-antee your retirement is by investing in a Charitable Gift Annuity with Catholic Missions In Canada.

A Charitable Gift Annuity provides you with a guaranteed income for life that can be totally tax free and at a higher rate of return.

You will also receive a one-time charitable receipt of 20% or more of your investment.

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Yours is the heart that gives witness to His Love.

Yours is the gift that helps missionaries share that Love.

c Please send me information about Charitable Gift Annuities. Name_____________________________________________________________________ Fr./Sr./Br./Dr./Mr./Mrs./Miss/Ms.

Address___________________________________________________________________

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Christ has no heart but yours to show them His love.

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A23,000 hectare wildfire in August 2017 forced the evacuation of over 5,000

people from the northern Mani-toba Oji-Cree communities of St. Theresa Point, Wasagamach and Garden Hill to Winnipeg and Brandon.

Located approximately 470 kms north of Winnipeg, the

Oji-Cree communities are iso-lated. St. Theresa Point has a small airport accessible to residents via a short boat ride from the community dock. Wasagamach though is without an airstrip; its residents can only reach St. The-resa Point and its airport after a 10-km small boat ride.

Along with residents of their

MISSIONARY PRESENCE – WASAGAMACH, MB “He’s our brother; he is part of our community.”STORY AND PHOTOS BY ANNE HANLEY

NORTHERN MANITOBA

Father Victor with Wasagamach Elder, Solomon Wood, preparing to minister the sacrament of Communion.

12 SUMMER 2018

St. Marguerite d’Youville mission church in the Archdiocese of Keewatin-Le Pas Oji-Cree community of Wasagamach, Manitoba, as seen from the mission rectory.

“ The language is sacred to them. When you speak their language, you show that you care for them, that you love them, that you respect their culture.”

mission communities, Father Messia Vallapadasu SDM of St. Theresa Point and Father Victor Savarimuthu SDM of Wasag-amach were part of the difficult evacuation.

The two missionaries were evacuated to Winnipeg, and it was there that Father Victor heard from people of Wasag-amach who’d been re-located to Brandon. “My community called me for Sunday service,” he wrote in a September email. “Now I am staying with my community in Brandon.”

He would have it no other way; his response is a theme of his ministry. “I feel that I am one with them. In their sorrows and celebrations, I am with them,” he said in August. “That is our ministry, being with them—not only in weddings and baptisms—but in grieving and whenever we can.”

Father Victor arrived with Father Messia in the Island Lake region of Manitoba in 2010. Originally from India, Father Messia is pastor in St. Theresa Point, while the 44 year-old Father Victor is pastor of St. Mar-guerite D’Youville mission in Wasagamach and visiting priest in Garden Hill.

Wasagamach has a population of 1,403, with an average age of 24.4.1 Unemployment rates

are high; Father Victor estimates only 3% of the community are employed. And with a 2015 median total income of $11,4991, it’s difficult for families to put healthy food on the table. Father Victor notes that a 4-litre jug of milk can cost up to $15.

A small garden behind the church supplements Father’s diet with fresh produce—which he shares with community mem-bers. “I share my goods with people,” he says naturally, “and they share moose meet and fish with me.”

When Father Victor first arrived in Wasagamach, he says, “I was a stranger. There was almost no one at Sunday Mass and no altar servers.”

Over the years of his ministry, that changed.

Community Elders, Sidney and Violet Wood, describe the difference his ministry has made. “He provides us with the sacraments, he attends our cel-ebrations and participates in everything. He is a tremendous comfort to all—even non-Cath-olics. He’s our brother; he is part of our community.”

It’s not a one-sided relation-ship; community members have been teaching Father Victor too. Since arriving, Father Victor has been learning Oji-Cree and can celebrate Mass in the language of

Father Victor, shown here on his visits to the homebound of Wasagamach, “welcomes all in the community and is out visiting us all the time” says one Elder. “He’s a tremendous comfort to all people.”

16 SUMMER 2018

the people. He can even joke in Oji-Cree—much to his delight and theirs!

“Once I started learning their language, it made a great impact,” he says. “The language is sacred to them. When you speak their language, you show that you care for them, that you love them, that you respect their culture.” He adds with laughter, “Even when I go on holiday, I speak their language, I forget!”

“Older people don’t speak English and really enjoy hearing Mass in our language because they understand it,” says one community Elder. “He keeps me going to church.”

Not only are Sunday Masses

well attended, but up to 20 people pray the rosary in St. Marguerite d’Youville mission church before the celebration of weekday evening Masses.

Fridays find Father Victor vis-iting and bringing Communion to the homebound of Wasag-amach, while Sundays see him making the boat trip to Garden Hill for the celebration of Sunday Mass—weather condi-tions permitting.

Even when travelling to Win-nipeg, he remembers people of the Island Lake area by bringing Communion to those in hos-pital. “That makes a difference in their lives,” he says. “They can see someone is working for them;

“I feel that I am one with them. In their sorrows and celebrations,

I am with them”

someone is supporting them.” Something was missing in

Father Victor’s early days in Wasagamach: a rectory. Prior to his arrival, the community had been without a resident priest, and so for the first 18 months of his ministry, he lived in the church sacristy—until members of the community pulled together to build a small rectory with support from the band and the Archdiocese of Keewatin Le Pas.

“We went to the band,” remembers one Elder with a smile, “and said, ‘Father’s living in the church. He’s here to help our community. He needs our help.’”

But it’s not just adults and elders who’ve been affected by Father Victor’s ministry. Ten chil-dren have been trained as altar servers and attend monthly practice sessions followed by volleyball games.

“You can’t force the children,” he says. “I’m slowly introducing moral training through the teachings of the Ten Command-ments: respect your life, respect your elders, respect yourself. I try to just be with them and support them.”

His ministry in Wasagamach, Father Victor explains, is one of “visiting, listening, hearing their

problems, standing with them in their suffering. God says, “I am with you, I am with them.”

And for the people of Wasag-amach, says one Elder, Father Victor “provides that hope and the spirit that takes care of us. He provides the steady presence. It’s a good feeling.”

Note: An emergency prompted Father Victor’s return to India in late 2017. We pray for his early return to the Island Lake region.

Father Victor is seen here ministering the sacrament of Baptism during the celebration of an early summer Mass in 2017.

1Statistics Canada. Census Profile, 2016. Wasagamach, MB (accessed May 1, 2018).


SISTER FAY TROMBLEY, SCIC

SISTER OF CHARITY RECEIVES NATIONAL HONOURNorthern Missionary Receives National HonourBY SR. ROMA DE ROBERTIS

VICTORIA, B.C. — Long-time northern Canadian missionary Sister Fay Trom-

bley received the prestigious Polar Medal from Governor General Julie Payette at Government House here March 21. The Sister of Charity of the Immaculate Conception (SCIC) has minis-tered in Tuktoyaktuk, NT. since late 2005 among mainly Inuvi-aluit Indigenous people.

The Polar Medal celebrates Canada’s northern heritage and those who render extraordinary service in Canada’s North. It recognizes those who

promote a greater understanding of Canada’s northern communi-ties and peoples.

“This award has made me so aware of the layer upon layer of persons who make projects pos-sible in Canada’s Arctic,” Sister Fay said in a recent telephone interview. Sister Fay serves with the Society of St. Vincent de Paul to help ensure emergency food and affordable clothing in the community. In 2017, repairs were completed on the building housing the thrift store.

A news release from the Gov-ernor General’s office notes

Sister Fay “collaborated with local community leaders and built a partnership” with the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. “By reinvigorating the food and clothing distribution centre, she demonstrated remarkable determination and leadership. The success of this partnership has become a blueprint for multiple northern communities similarly struggling with food insecurity.”

Originally from Powell River, B.C., Sister Fay entered her reli-gious community in Saint John, N.B. in 1956 and taught school

in New Brunswick, Saskatch-ewan and British Columbia. She then became the first Canadian woman to receive a doctorate in theology from the Catholic Uni-versity of Louvain in Belgium.

From 1983 to 2005, she taught spirituality and church history at Newman Theological College in Edmonton, Alta. and also served as a spiritual director.

After retiring from teaching, she followed a call to serve in the high western Canadian Arctic.

In the Diocese of Mackenzie- Fort Smith, she is pastoral administrator at Our Lady of

Sister Fay Trombley, SCIC received the Polar Medal March 21 in Victoria, B.C. from Governor General Julie Payette. She is wearing her Polar Medal on a gar-ment made by Inuvialuit women of Tuktoyaktuk. (Photo by Master Cpl. Vincent Carbonneau, Rideau Hall, Ottawa)


Travel is a challenge in every season.

Father Stephen Chilaka ministers in the remote northern Manitoba First Nations communities of God’s Lake Narrows and God’s River, and Sandy Lake in northern Ontario.

Father Stephen travels by small plane and ice road, which is not only expensive but potentially dangerous.

Collect Air Miles for Catholic Missions In Canada—send for your card today.

For every 95 Air Miles, we will receive $10 for our missionaries.

COLLECT AIR MILES FOR MISSIONARIES!

c Yes, I want to collect Air Miles for Missionaries!

Name_____________________________________________________________________ Fr./Sr./Br./Dr./Mr./Mrs./Miss/Ms.

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Mail to: Catholic Missions In Canada, Air Mile Program201—1155 Yonge Street, Toronto ON M4T 1W2Tel: 416-934-3424 Fax: 416-934-3425 Toll-free: 1-866-YES-CMIC (937-2642)

Email: [email protected] Website: www.cmic.info MA-

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Send for your Catholic Missions In Canada Air Miles Card today!

You can help!Grace mission in “Tuk” on the shores of the Arctic Ocean. The community witnesses midnight sun in summer and northern lights in winter.

Sister Fay also undertook a major project to repair the Catholic church building com-pleted in 2014. She is now hoping to refurbish a 40-foot sea container to be used for a small carpentry workshop in the community.

In 2010, Sister Fay received a Wise Woman award from the Status of Women Council of the Northwest Territories. She was chosen for her outstanding con-tribution to the community in

her region.At the recent west coast

ceremony, Sister Fay was joined by three guests: Jean Gruben, an Inuvialuit elder and leader from Tuktoyaktuk; Tom Orysiuk of Edmonton, a friend and supporter of projects in the northern community and Sister Monica Guest, SCIC of Van-couver, B.C.

Sr. Fay Trombley returns to spending her “retirement” in Tuktoyaktuk, NT., tirelessly working to ease the hunger, unemployment and spiritual needs of people in the Arctic. — Article courtesy of B.C.,

Catholic Staff

The presence of missionaries in these dark, far corners, on the other hand, gives us hope: God is there; God is present through his friends and

messengers; God is faithful and is the light of the world. God heals.

22 SUMMER 2018

(Due to overlapping territories, the two Ukrainian Catholic mission dioceses assisted by Catholic Missions In Canada are not indicated on the map.)

Coloured areas indicate Mission dioceses and territories supported by Catholic Missions In Canada.

Ellesmere Island

VictoriaIsland

Ba�n Island

Churchill-Hudson Bay

Msgr. Philip Kennedy died April 5th. Phil and I were in seminary together for

a short time. I was struck by his maturity and wisdom. I didn’t see him again until years later at the funeral of my cousin near Alliston, where he’d been pastor. It was then that he told me of his assignment to CMIC. The next contact was his invita-tion for me to speak at CMIC’s annual St. Philip Neri luncheon. In the summer issue of our 2006 magazine, he wrote of childhood

memories of missionaries and wanted to emulate them “encountering a new com-munity of the People of God, learning their customs and lan-guages, sharing the precious gifts of the Gospel, and teaching their brothers and sisters in imitation of Jesus himself.” Ten years later in the same magazine, he wrote, “In every mission, I learned about the people and their cus-toms and their faith journies.”

Thank you, Phil, for your dedication to our missions.

REV. MSGR. PHILIP KENNEDY (1946-2018) PRESIDENT CMIC (2006-2016)

IN MEMORIAMBY FR. DAVID REILANDER, PRESIDENT CMIC

“How lovely is your dwelling place,O LORD of hosts!”

—Ps: 84.1Father Philip Kennedy braves -20° cold before Christmas Eve Mass, 2010 at St. Gertrude mission church in Pelican Narrows, Saskatchewan.

28 SUMMER 2018

MONSIGNOR PHILIP KENNEDY BY ANNE HANLEY

“His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and trustworthy servant; you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge

of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’” —Matthew: 25.21

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”

—Matthew 28:19


Father Philip loved classical music. And staff at Catholic Missions In Canada could

always tell when it was Friday afternoon because about 3:00 p.m., music coming from his corner office was generally turned up a notch—heralding to all that the weekend was near.

To staff at Catholic Missions In Canada, Monsignor Philip Ken-nedy will always be remembered as Father Philip. And it was always especially appropriate when music coming from his office on those otherwise quiet Friday afternoons was any piece inspired by birdsong because he loved nature and all of God’s creatures.

I think that’s why he cranked up the sound system on Friday afternoons. In his own quiet and thoughtful way, Father Philip

wanted us to enjoy the wondrous beauty of God’s creation sur-rounding us.

Father Philip knew the vast-ness of our country. As President of Catholic Missions In Canada, he’d travelled across much of it, visiting missions to celebrate Mass, ministering the sacraments and just offering his peaceful, pastoral presence in communities without a resident priest.

He loved his ministry. He had a missionary heart and was devoted to our missionaries and their needs, to the people they minister among, and to rever-ently and joyfully sharing the Gospel—no matter the cost.

His fortitude knew no bounds; even recovering from illness and before retiring, his determination to make a last

Father Kennedy at St. Theresa mission church in Blanc Sablon, Quebec.

Father Kennedy stands in front of map of Canada in Catholic Missions In Canada office.

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See what love the Father has bestowed on us that we may be called the children of God. Yet so we are.

—1 John 3:1

c Tell me more about establishing an Endowment. Ask about how you can honour a loved one by doing so!


Address ___________________________________________________________________


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Mail to: Elvira Foronda, Charitable Gifts Manager Catholic Missions In Canada 201—1155 Yonge Street, Toronto ON M4T 1W2



Do Something Good That Lasts Forever

By establishing an Endowment with Catholic Missions In Canada, you’ll create a legacy of faith that will benefit missionaries and their minis-tries across our country forever.

Your Endowment Gift remains intact; interest from your Endowment will provide a permanent and reliable stream of financial aid to missions.

Build the future of our faith.

An Endowment is a way you can transform lives in our missions—for generations to come.

Your good gift will last for good— and do good always!

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mission trip was deterred only when his doctor vetoed the plan.

The news of his passing came suddenly and too soon. As staff, we’d looked forward to visiting him this summer, to hear of his annual visit to the Shakespeare Festival in Stratford, to talk about his garden and ask after any new cats he might have adopted —and which Shakespeare char-acters he’d named them after!

We share the response of one of our donors who, after being told of his passing, expressed her sympathy and then after a few seconds of silence, said “Oh, he’ll go straight to heaven.”

Whether he was showing us

his newest cup for our kitchen mug collection, happily beaming at our staff Christmas parties or helping us with our work, Father Philip had a gentle and child-like sense of wonder and joy about him. Leslie Gyulay, employee of the Archdiocese of Toronto and son of Patricia Gyulay, CMIC’s outreach officer, captured that when he said, “I can picture Father Philip in heaven right now; his eyes wide and shining; he’s just looking around thinking, “Wow...!”

We at Catholic Missions In Canada thought of ourselves as Father Philip’s family in Toronto. He was certainly part of ours.

Father Kennedy at Immaculate Heart of Mary mission in Teslin, B.C.

MAKING A DIFFERENCE

The devotion of donors to our missionaries knows no bounds. Every day, we see

the commitment of friends and benefactors in the donations, letters and calls that we receive from across our land.

Josephine Heslenfeld was one such friend and donor.

Josephine wrote to us in October 2017—enclosing a donation and letting us know that

at age 93 and after nearly 50 years of steadily supporting missionaries and their ministries, she could no longer be a regular donor to Catholic Missions In Canada.

“This almost breaks my heart,” she wrote.

Josephine’s long connection to our missionaries and sincerity of her letter touched our hearts. We even posted her letter on our small bulletin board as an

JOSEPHINE HESLENFELD: TIMELESS KINDNESS BY ANNE HANLEY

inspiration! Our own hearts were broken a

few days later when we received a call telling us of Josephine’s passing. Her funeral was less than two weeks after she wrote to us.

Josephine immigrated to Canada from Holland in 1951. In making that journey, she was fol-lowing her fiancé, Anthony, who had arrived the year before.

Now 95, Anthony says, “I

was the trailblazer, but when Josephine came over, we trail-blazed together.”

Married in 1952, the young couple began their married life in Vancouver, before setting up homes in Kamloops, Kemano, Kitimat, Prince Rupert, Terrace and Abbotsford. Along the way, five children were born, friends were made, and new homes built. Grandchildren and great

Josephine and Anthony Heslenfeld

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grandchildren followed.Anthony chuckles at the

memory of their early days, “Josephine was an excellent saver,” he says. “I didn’t have it, but she did!”

Tragedy hit the young family with the sudden death of their son Paul, at 4 years of age. His loss was a sorrow that Josephine carried for the rest of her life.

Throughout their lives in Canada, Josephine supported a number of charities, but as Anthony says, “Catholic Missions In Canada was her favourite.”

Over the years, Anthony

says, Josephine had read about conditions in Indigenous com-munities. “She knew and she felt that the best way she could help native people here in Canada was to donate to Catholic Missions In Canada.”

Josephine concluded that last letter to us by wishing us “many blessings.” Believe me, Josephine, your kindness continues to bless the work of our missionaries!

This is one in a series of columns highlighting the difference that friends and donors make to our missionaries and their ministries across Canada.

Josephine and Anthony Heslenfeld celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary in October 2012.

DEVELOPMENT OF BENEDICTINE VALUES A SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITYBY SR. JOAN CHITTISTER

LET THE CALL BE HEARD

34 SUMMER 2018

Benedictine Sister Joan Chittister delivered a keynote address at the Fourth International Oblate Con-gress, which took place Nov. 4 - 10 in Rome. The following is Chittis-ter’s address, “Let the call be heard.” It was published on National Catholic Reporter (https://www.ncronline.org) Jan. 9, 2018, and is reprinted with permission.

Finally, Oblate programs seen as both consumers of the tradition and as part of its

present carriers, as well, enable both its body of oblates and the religious community itself to strengthen the gifts of the other and to learn from the gifts of the other at the same time.

As Abba Arsenius and the old peasant knew, it is the wisdom we seek together that will be most likely true.

Oblates bring to the mon-astery the gift of immersion in another whole dimension of life with all its insights, all its under-standings, all its muddy, complex complications, and its cry for our awareness our understanding, our involvement, and our voice.

Monastics bring to Oblates the lived experience and real witness of a long-standing spiri-tual tradition that has withstood the test of time over centuries of challenge, stabilized whole layers of people in the midst of grave

dangers and given direction to whole bodies of seekers at times of great darkness.

In the fifth century, when the Roman Empire broke down and Europe lay in ruin, Bene-dictinism was there to give both spiritual meaning and social organization to a people left without either political centre or spiritual guidance.

It is a cry to us to continue to bring Benedictine values to the centre of every system.

When the emerging mercan-tile society began to consume the lives of the poor for the sake of a new economic system that robbed the poor of land and paid nothing for their labour, monastics educated the poor to prepare them to make the leap from serfdom to self-direction.

It is a cry to us to participate in the renewal of our own societies still caught in the materialism that dries out the soul and to engage ourselves, as well, in modelling other, deeper, longer lasting values.

When religion failed itself and spawned national divisions instead of peace, Benedictines struggled to create rule for war and sought to bring spiritual discernment to the intricacy of human relationships.

That model is a cry to us to see the development of

Benedictine values as our social responsibility—not an excuse to withdraw from society in the name of false and fruitless piety in the face of the Jesus who says clearly: “By their fruits you will know them.”

When family industries broke down, and family farms disappeared, when the new industrialization herded men into factories giving men money but women nothing, women monastics opened schools for girls and boys alike so that the seeds of a world without sexism would someday be not only possible but impera-tive. They began to provide women, too, with the education, and the child care, and the health care and the status their lives would depend on in coming generations.

It is a call to us, too, to gather up the forgotten again, to speak for the muted again, to paint across the sky again with our own lives the vision of a brighter, more just and equal world once more.

It is the depth of those spiri-tual traditions, the courage of those spiritual histories, the commitment of those monastics who brought us to this day, that monastic communities hold in trust for those who seek to find.

How can we fail, then, if we are truly forming strong Oblate programs, if we are truly seeking to be part of the spiritual tra-dition we treasure, to form justice-seeking people, strong and independent women and men, holy and spiritual laity for our own time?

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We must look to one another for the wisdom of experience each of us

brings to the table from a different part of life, another facet of living,

a completely distinct perspective on being Christian, on being whole.

in our spiritual jacuzzis, our pious spas and say that we carry the charisms of those before us? Oblate programs are not simply there for monastics to strengthen an Oblate’s special gifts but for the monastery to learn from the wisdom and knowledge that single life and married life of our oblates are offering us, as well.

And Oblates for their part

must learn the pervasive power of age-old spiritual traditions and truisms for the quality of life today.

Monastics, who are accus-tomed to the security of group projects, must learn the breath-taking impact of the kind of independent and individual actions that lay associates, in their isolated lives, risk every day, take for granted every day,

brave without end every day.We must look to one another

for the wisdom of experience each of us brings to the table from a different part of life, another facet of living, a com-pletely distinct perspective on being Christian, on being whole.

There are challenges, of course; it is an adjustment period for us all. In the first place, monastics and religious at

large are just learning to learn from the laity. Religious are coming to a sense of a wisdom beyond the conventional.

We are also rediscovering their own role to pass on a spiri-tual tradition as well as a set of institutional ministries or spiri-tual practices from another day.

We are discovering that with the open door that char-acterized the foundresses of Ph

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38 SUMMER 2018 CATHOLIC MISSIONS IN CANADA 39

our mission monasteries goes their own sense of perfect pri-vacy and antiseptic control of circumstances and physical envi-ronments and regular schedules and sanctifying seclusion.

We are learning that life itself is not neat and that neat can be a trap that swallows us into the middle of ourselves where nothing grows but narcissism.

Religious are finding that what the lay seeker, and most often lay women lack most, is space. They need space for the quiet that a clinging child does not give for one moment a day. They need space to talk about their own dreams and hopes and questions.

And they need someone to

talk to. They need connected-ness—a sense of being part of something larger than them-selves, something that enables them to know that on the wide stage of the planet, they too count on the issues that make the Gospel real and the beati-tudes true and the resurrection possible for everyone.

They are finding out that lay men need a sanctuary where being macho and tough, where inflicting pain and taking pain are not the measure of a man. They are coming to realize that lay men need a place where the spiri-tual life is nurtured in them, not derided or considered weak.

They are beginning to understand that there are lay men out there who want to learn from the spiritual wisdom of women for whom force and

power, money and profit are not the goals of life.

They are coming to under-stand that both women and men need to be invited, to be com-panioned into the soup kitchens and peace vigils and social jus-tice groups that confront the state on behalf of the poor and

cry out to the church on behalf of women and contradict the powers that chain the oppressed, and so renew the world with the message of the Christ.

They need monasteries that will lead them to take a monastic heart into a world in chaos.

They need, most of all, an opportunity to make a faith-journey that is regular and deep and tried and true—and they need someone to walk the journey with them. To teach them the way, to point out the path, to monitor the going, to applaud the efforts, and to care about both them and the tra-dition enough to walk the way with them.

Oblate programs are not meant to be this decade’s substitute for ladies aid societies or monastery guilds or alumnae programs or community auxiliaries.

Oblate programs need to be the spiritual ripple, the life companion, and the support of the monasteries to which they belong—a call to community that is so rare in a world of isolates.

They need to extend the out-reach, the depth, and the breadth of monasteries that built the last era and, now smaller, must begin to build again.

They are the hope that in this century, too, the life and values and spirituality of the

Benedictine vision—now centu-ries tried and true—can be born in us again, anew and always.

And most of all, if our Oblate programs are to be authentic, let there be Oblates who will carry these values beyond the monas-tery to city hall and Congress, to corporate offices and city streets —even, if necessary, into mon-asteries themselves that have become too quiet, too comfort-able with the world as it is, rather than committed to shaping a world as it must become.

In this most violent of cen-turies, the blood of our children runs in our streets because we have taught them violence well.

If our Oblate programs are to be authentic, let there be peacemaking Oblates, with the peacemaking charism of a Bene-dict of Nursia who put down weapons in order to do battle for Christ the King.

In this most sexist of worlds, women to this day are raped, beaten, bought and sold around the world, left to face wid-owhood without adequate resources, invisible in all the major decision-making arenas of both church and state, deprived of both equal pay and meaningful promotions.

If our Oblate programs are to be authentic, let there be asso-ciates with the spirituality of a

They need, most of all, an opportunity to make a faith-journey that is regular and deep and tried and true—and they need someone to walk the journey with them.


42 SUMMER 2018

Benedicta Riepp and Hildegard of Bingen who call the men of the world to conscience and accountability in both church and state.

Oblate programs are not meant to be pious additions to a string of private devotions. Bene-dictinism is a journey into the depths and demands of the con-templative life, into a prayer life that is real not simply ritualistic.

Benedictines stand on a mountain top of prayer immersed in the cries of the psalmist, challenged daily by the prophets, touched to the core by the demands of the Gospel and called by Jesus—liberator, redeemer, healer, and lover—to “Come follow me!”

And so Benedictine prayer leaves us with the questions: As a Benedictine, who are you strug-gling to liberate from the chains of rejection, poverty and greed? What have you redeemed in a world full of its own destruc-tion? Who do you love? Only the self or also the other and how would we know it if we ever saw it?

Now is our time to carry these vibrant and world-changing charisms back into a world that needs them so badly now.

For many, the pious image of Cluny and its 24-hour prayer schedule remains. But the Cluny

who refused starving peasants the harvest in their barns is an aberration of a great tradition of care and service, education and healing, justice and peace. And so the peasants of the day tore it down.

Cluny is at best a warning of what happens when a religious order goes sour.

Instead we are at a common table, you and I, called the church. We are called to share a common feast, with the world around us. We bear a common responsibility to bring the bread of life to every dying thing we see. We owe to the world now the cup of blood that is our own.

We are companions on the way and keepers of a great spiri-tual tradition, born in times of stress and discord, inheritors of merciless war and death, healers of spiritual poverty and physical pain, rampant oppression and great human need.

This is not a time to mistake the first great cenobitic tradition of history for some kind of spir-itual spa, where we can burrow in and ignore the call of Jesus to hear the call of the poor.

Now is our time to carry these vibrant and world-changing charisms back into a world that needs them so badly now.

Let us then with Ruth and Naomi, Elisha and Elija, Judith

and her maidservant, Timothy and Paul, as Oblates and monas-tics companion one another again to prophetic truth, to gospel voice, to brave witness, to contemplative courage to risk the new life everywhere.

Let us, in other words, be true to the tradition we hold in common.

Once upon a time a disciple asked the holy one, “Holy one, what is the difference between knowledge and enlightenment?” And the holy one said, “When you have knowledge, you use a torch to illuminate the way. When you are enlightened, you become the torch to lead the way.”

Where do you come from? You come from the heart of the Spirit.

Who are you? You are monastic gifts given by God for today.

What must you do? You must embody and extend the charisms or gifts of the Spirit

long embedded in this great monastic tradition in new and even richer ways.

So, why do you exist? For one reason, and one reason only: to become, like the great monastics before you, the blazing, flaming, searing light to others that you are really meant to be.

Finally, the truth is that the call to wisdom, to witness, and to oneness in community is common to us both: Oblate and monastic alike, and the call must be heard. Together you and I must make it happen.

May you, I, our monasteries and our Oblate programs every-where companion one another, listen to one another’s wisdom and so become even a stronger part of the tradition—both of us —than we can ever be alone.

Chittister is a Benedictine Sister of Erie, Pennsylvania.

“When you have knowledge, you use a torch to illuminate

the way. When you are enlightened, you become the

torch to lead the way.”


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When I was searching for some guidance my good friend, Fr. Thomas Lim,

told me about a special saying of Saint Padre Pio. He suggested that I try to live everyday as if it were my last. To live in the present moment, not to worry about the past and future, and give everything to that moment to fully experience God’s love.

When we experience moments of happiness, we hope that it would never end, but when difficulties come, we pray that the moment will quickly pass. Our lives are made of these highs and lows, which makes it exciting and challenging at the same time. Thanks to God’s grace, we are able to overcome.

2 Corinthians 12:9 says, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made per-fect in weakness.”

Challenges keep our relation-ship with our Lord in check. Every trial is an opportunity for us to lean on His mercy and grace, and experience His love. Each and every trial, big or small, makes us stronger.

Our missionaries have taken on the challenging role of spreading the Gospel. Theirs is a difficult task of being strong where there is pain, of being

generous in poverty, of being cheerful in sorrow, and in being alone to carry the burden of so many of our brothers and sisters at our missions. It takes much of their time and strength to guide, evangelize and lift up spirits. They also travel far and wide to bring Christ’s love, and to share the happy and sad present moments of their parishioners.

Each and every one of us is tasked to ensure the spiritual wellbeing of others; to be a dis-ciple of Christ. We try to do this in our own little way, but our missionaries have chosen to do this ministry full-time. Consid-ering what they are faced with, they definitely need our prayers and support to persevere.

At Catholic Missions In Canada, we have made this task of praying and supporting our


“ My past, O Lord, to Your mercy; my present, to Your love; my future to Your providence.” – Saint Padre Pio

LIVING IN THE PRESENT MOMENT BY ELVIRA SANTIAGO FORONDA, CHARITABLE GIFTS MANAGER

MERCY, LOVE & PROVIDENCE

Elvira and Fr. Thomas at the Sanctuary of our Lady of Fatima in Portugal.

Mail to: Elvira Foronda, Charitable Gifts Manager201—1155 Yonge Street, Toronto ON M4T 1W2

c I plan to leave a Gift in my Will to CMIC c Please send me information on Gift Annuities

Or you may prefer information on one of the following:

c Will Planner c Endowments c Shares

c TFSAs c RRSP/RRIFs c Gift Loans

FOR ANNUITANTS: Minimum Age: 70 Minimum Amount: $10,000

INDIVIDUAL: c Male c Female Birthdate: ______ /______ /______ Day Month Year

JOINT: c Male c Female Birthdate: ______ /______ /______ Day Month Year

Name ________________________________________________________Fr./Br./Sr./Dr./Mr./Mrs./Miss/Ms.

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Tel: 416-934-3424 Toll-free: 1-866-YES-CMIC (937-2642) Email: [email protected]

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missionaries our main focus. Every day we are blessed to serve and work with people, like you, who care and who take an interest to learn about the needs of our missionaries and of our brothers and sisters at the mis-sions, and who act on it. I am blessed with the opportunity to speak with you and share about the wonderful things that are going on at the missions, and even more blessed that you entrust your hard earned treasures to us for the work of our missionaries.

There are many different ways to help depending on your financial situation. Perhaps through a gift in your Will that allows you to enjoy your

treasures right now and provide for the missions later, or by investing in our Charitable Gift Annuity that offers mostly tax-free, guaranteed income for life at preferred rates. Please peruse our ads in this magazine or give me a call, if you need more information. I am pleased to talk about the best options for you.

When we trust our past and future to God’s mercy and providence, all we really have to think about is our present moment! Let’s say today was my last day, what will I tell God about my present moment? Did I love my neighbour as myself, as we are all tasked to do? I pray for His grace that I can say YES!

46 SUMMER 2018

Challenges keep our relationship with our Lord in check. Every

trial is an opportunity for us to lean on His mercy and grace,

and experience His love.

c Please send me more information on Gifts of Securities.


Address ___________________________________________________________________


Phone _______________________ Email _________

Mail to: Elvira ForondaCatholic Missions In Canada201—1155 Yonge Street, Toronto ON M4T 1W2Tel: 416-934-3424 Fax: 416-934-3425 Toll-free: 1-866-YES-CMIC (937-2642)


Access our Securities donation form on our website at https://www.cmic.info/cmic/gos-form/

By making a gift of Publicly Traded Securities to Catholic Missions In Canada, you’ll help secure the bless-ings of our Faith in 25 Canadian mission dioceses.

Gifts of Securities give people in Can-ada’s missions the security of keeping mission doors open and ministries available to all in poor and hard-to-reach mission parishes.

They’ll appreciate the rewards of your generosity forever…and you’ll appreciate it at tax time.

That’s because transferring securi-ties such as mutual funds, shares and stocks directly to Catholic Missions In Canada is a tax-efficient way of eliminating capital gains tax.

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Security for Canada’s missions and tax benefits for you.

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